| Majhi | |
| Region: | Majha |
| Ethnicity: | Punjabis |
| States: | Pakistan, India |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
| Fam4: | Northwestern |
| Fam5: | Punjabi language |
| Script: | Shahmukhi Gurmukhī |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | majh1252 |
Majhi (Shahmukhi: {{Nastaliq|ماجھی; Gurmukhi: Panjabi; Punjabi: ਮਾਝੀ; in Panjabi; Punjabi mä˦d̆.d͡ʒi˨/[1]), also known as Central Punjabi, is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language,[2] natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India. The dialect forms the basis of Standard Punjabi.
The native speakers of the dialect are known by the demonym 'Majhail'. The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar because of their historic significance.
There are various varieties of Majhi spoken across Majha. Although each city speaks slightly differently from the next, there are a few major categories of Majhi.
One of Majhi's most noteworthy features is the usage of pronominal suffixes, which it shares with Western Punjabi.
Pronominal suffixes are auxiliary replacements of the copula which act like pronouns. They function as a particular thematic role and agree to it in person and number (as a pronoun would).
The thematic/syntactic roles a pronominal suffix can function as are:
Majhi uses pronominal suffixes for the second and third persons and, similar to Western Punjabi, for both present and past tense.[3]
| Tense | Present | Past | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 2nd | īਈ | jēਜੇ | sāīਸਾਈ | sājēਸਾਜੇ | |
| 3rd | sūਸੂ | neਨੇ | sāsūਸਾਸੂ | sāneਸਾਨੇ | |
Examples in perfect transitive verbs (marking the ergative agent):
| Tense | Person | Number | Majhi | Standard Punjabi | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | 2nd | sing. | kī kītā ī? | tē̃ kī kītā hē? | What hast thou done? |
| pl. | jinnā khādhā je | jinnā tusā̃ khādhā hē | As much as you have eaten | ||
| 3rd | sing. | mēnū̃ suṇāī sū | osne mēnū̃ suṇāī hē | He/She hath told me | |
| pl. | pāṇī pītā ne | ehnā̃ ne pāṇī pītā hē | They have drank water | ||
| past | 2nd | sing. | jēs tarhā̃ ghallīā̃ sāī | jis tarhā̃ tē̃ ghallīā̃ san | In the way thou had sent them |
| pl. | cacer seātā sāje | tusā̃ cacer seātā sī | You had recognised cousin | ||
| 3rd | sing. | aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe sāsū? | esne aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe san? | Had he/she boiled the eggs? | |
| pl. | laṛāī kītī sāne | ehnā̃ ne laṛāī kītī sī | They had had a fight |
- Alternate auxiliary verbs
First person singular ā̃ or jē (ਆਂ, ਜੇ /) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / jē (ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਜੇ /)
Third person singular ī or è (ਏ, ਵੇ, ਈ /) is used. E.g. ṓ kardā ī (ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਈ /)
The Majhi copula does not differ from Standard Punjabi, except for in the third-person plural, where instead of han (ਹਨ /), it uses ne (ਨੇ /) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ /).
Nasalisation of tusī̃ (ਤੁਸੀਂ /) and asī̃ (ਅਸੀਂ /) are often not realised in Majhi, thus said as tusī (ਤੁਸੀ /) and asī (ਅਸੀ /) respectively.
In colloquial Majhi, the s sound in many words shifts to an h, such as in asī (ਅਸੀ /), sāḍā (ਸਾਡਾ /) and pēse (ਪੈਸੇ /), being heard as ahī, hāḍā and pēhe respectively.
hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.
The ēvẽ class of adverbial pronouns are used for "how" rather than ēddā̃.
- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for first-person and second-person point of view
| Phrase | Majhi | Standard Written Punjabi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I do | mẽ karnā ʷā̃̀ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ | mẽ kardā hā̃ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ | |
| Let's (m.) go home | asī kàr jāne ā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਘਰ ਜਾਨੇ ਆਂ | asī̃ kàr jānde hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ | |
| We (f.) do | asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ | asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ | |
| You (sing.) do | tū̃ karnā aĩ̀ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ | tū̃ kardā haĩ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ | |
| You (f.pl.) do | tusī karniyā̃ ò/je ਤੁਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਓ/ਜੇ | tusī̃ kardiyā̃ ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹੋ |
| Sentence | IPA | Translation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shahmukhi | Gurmukhi | |||
| {{resize|{{nq|تُوں لہور جاندا سیں | Panjabi; Punjabi: ਤੂੰ ਲਹੌਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੈਂ | /tũː lə̯ɔ̂ːɾᵊ d͡ʒaːndaː sɛ̃ː/ | You used to go to Lahore | |
| {{resize|{{nq|میں پہلوں ہی آکھدا ساں | Panjabi; Punjabi: ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲੋਂ ਹੀ ਆਖਦਾ ਸਾਂ | /mɛ̃ː pɛ̌ːlːõː îː aːkʰːᵊdaː sãː/ | I already said it | |
| {{resize|{{nq|اودݨ بھرجائی کتھے سن | Panjabi; Punjabi: ਓਦਣ ਭਰਜਾਈ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਸਨ | /oːdːəɳᵊ pə̂ɾᵊd͡ʒaːiː kɪtʰːeː sənᵊ/ | Where were the sisters-in-law that day? | |
Eastern Majhi refers to the subdialect native to region of Majha east of Lahore, i.e. the Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts and surrounding areas. It is also spoken by the descendants of those who migrated out of these areas.
Eastern Majhi often uses the past-tense inflection of the verb ḍahiṇā (ਡਹਿਣਾ /) to form continuous tenses, rather than pēṇā (ਪੈਣਾ/) which is used by most other Majhi sub-dialects and Punjabi dialects.
| Phrase | Eastern Majhi | General Majhi | Standard Punjabi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| He(prox.) was doing | eh karaṇ ḍahiā sīਏਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ | eh kardā peā sīਏਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ | eh kar rahiā sīਇਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ | |
| She(dist.) is doing | oh karaṇ ḍahī hēਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ | oh kardī paī hēਓਹ ਕਰਦੀ ਪਈ ਹੈ | oh kar rahī hēਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ |
Northwestern Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in the districts of Gujrat, Jhelum, and Bhimber.
In these areas, word-initial 'h' is fainter and more tonal, eventually disappearing in upper Punjabi dialects like Pahari-Pothwari and Hazarewal Hindko, as well as Dogri. Words like hatth (ਹੱਥ /) "hand" are said more as àtth.
Another notable difference is the use of the suffix -dā instead of -gā for indicative future tense.
| Standard / Central Majhi | Northwestern Majhi | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| kare gāਕਰੇਗਾ | kare dāਕਰੇਦਾ | [he] will do | |
| khāṇ gīā̃ਖਾਣਗੀਆਂ | khāṇ dīā̃ਖਾਣਦੀਆਂ | [they] (f.) will eat | |
| jāvo geਜਾਵੋਗੇ | jāvo deਜਾਵੋਦੇ | [you] (pl. m.) will go | |
| samjhā̃ gīਸਮਝਾਂਗੀ | samjhā̃ dīਸਮਝਾਂਦੀ | [I] (f.) will understand |