Majhi dialect

Not to be confused with the Majhi language of Nepal.

Majhi
ਮਾਝੀ ماجھی
Native to	Pakistan, India
Region	Majha
Ethnicity	Punjabis
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabi Majhi
Writing system	Shahmukhi Gurmukhī
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	majh1252

Dialects of Punjabi

Majhi (Shahmukhi: ماجھی; Gurmukhi: ਮਾਝੀ; Punjabi: [mä˦d̆.d͡ʒi˨]) is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language, natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India. The dialect forms the basis of Standard Punjabi.

The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar because of their historic significance.

Subdialects

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.

• Central Majhi, spoken in Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib, and Sheikhupura districts and nearby areas
• Eastern Majhi, spoken in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, and Tarn Taran districts and surrounding areas
• Western Majhi, spoken in Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin districts
• Northeastern Majhi, spoken in Gujranwala, Narowal, Sialkot, and Wazirabad districts and surrounding areas
• Northwestern Majhi or Northern Majhi (also known as Gujrati Majhi), spoken in Gujrat, Jhelum, and Bhimber (Azad Kashmir) districts
• Southern Majhi, spoken in Okara, Sahiwal and Pakpattan districts

Verbs

Copula

The Majhi copula does not differ from Standard Punjabi, except for in the third-person plural, where instead of han (ਹਨ / ہَن), it uses ne (ਨੇ / نے) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ / نیں).

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Punjabi
They sleep	oh sōnde nẽ ਓਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਨੇਂ اوہ سوندے نیں	oh sōnde han ਉਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ اوہ سوندے ہن

Notable features

Some more eastern Majhi sub-dialects use the past-tense inflection of ḍahiṇā ਡਹਿਣਾ / ڈہݨا verb to form continuous tenses.

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Written Punjabi
He was doing	oh karaṇ ḍaheā sī ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ اوہ کرن ڈہیا سی	oh kar rihā sī ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ اوہ کر رہیا سی
She is doing	oh karaṇ ḍahī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ اوہ کرن ڈہی اے	oh kar rahī hē ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ اوہ کر رہی ہے

- Alternate auxiliary verbs

First person singular ā̃ or jē (ਆਂ, ਜੇ / آں، جے) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / jē (ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਜੇ / میں کرنا آں، میں کرنا جے)

Third person singular ī or è (ਏ, ਵੇ, ਈ / اے، وے، ای) is used. E.g. ṓ kardā ī (ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਈ / اوہ کردا ای)

- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for habitual aspect

Phrase	Majhi	Standard Written Punjabi
I do	mẽ karnā ʷā̃̀ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ میں کرنا آں	mẽ kardā hā̃ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ میں کردا ہاں
Let's (m.) go home	asī kàr jāne ā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਘਰ ਜਾਨੇ ਆਂ اسی گھر جانے آں	asī̃ kàr jānde hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ اسی گھر جاندے ہاں
We (f.) do	asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ اسی کرنِیاں واں	asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ اسی کردِیاں ہاں
You (sing.) do	tū̃ karnā aĩ̀ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ تُوں کرنا ایں	tū̃ kardā haĩ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ تُوں کردا ہیں
You (f.pl.) do	tusī karniyā̃ ò/je ਤੁਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਓ/ਜੇ تسی کرنِیاں او/جے	tusī̃ kardiyā̃ ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹੋ تسی کردِیاں ہو

- Absent subject realised in auxiliary verb

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਈ کی کیتا ای : What have you (sing.) done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਜੇ کی کیتا جے : What have you (sing. formal / pl.) done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੂ کی کیتا سُو : What has he/she done?

ਕੀ ਕੀਤਾ ਨੇ کی کیتا نے : What have they done?

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਈ لڑائی کیتی ساای : You (sing.) made a fight.

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਜੇ لڑائی کیتی ساجے : You (sing. formal / pl.) made a fight

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਸੂ لڑائی کیتی ساسُو : He/She made a fight.

ਲੜਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਸਾਨੇ لڑائی کیتی سانے : They made a fight.

Tone

Unlike typical Punjabi, Majhi does not always write tonal h in script. Thus, syllables often drop the h letter (ਹ / ہ) when written although this does not affect the pronunciation.

Standard Written	Majhi	IPA	Meaning
ਹਾਂ ہاں	ਆਂ آں	/ã̀ː/	am
ਨਹੀਂ نہیں	ਨ​ਈਂ نئیں	/ˈnə.ĩ̀ː/	no, not
ਤੁਹਾਡਾ تہاڈا	ਤੁਆਡਾ تواڈا	/tʊ.ˈàɖ̆.ɖaː/	your/yours
ਹੈ ہے	ਐ اے	/ɛ̀ː/	is

Variation

Because of the lack of standardisation in Shahmukhi, words with the six tonal consonants (gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh, ṛh) which are now unaspirated and voiceless word-initially^[a] (k, c, ṭ, t, p) have multiple spellings. The word kàr (house) for example is sometimes written as ghar گھر or kar کر.

^a ṛh does not occur word-initially and is always voiced.

Falling-tone, in general, is not well represented, and low-tone words in both major scripts have various spellings, e.g. tuā̀ḍḍā (your/yours): تواڈا ਤੁਆਡਾ, ਤਵਾਡਾ, تاڈا ਤਾਡਾ, تہاڈا ਤੁਹਾਡਾ etc., though the pronunciation remains consistent.

Other Features

See also: Punjabi grammar § Derivates

Nasalisation of tusī̃ (ਤੁਸੀਂ / تُسِیں) and asī̃ (ਅਸੀਂ / اَسِیں) are lost in Majhi; pronounced tusī (ਤੁਸੀ / تُسی) and asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی) respectively.

Sometimes when speaking fast in Majhi, the s sound rounds to a h sound, as in words like asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی), sāḍā (ਸਾਡਾ / ساڈا), pēse (ਪੈਸੇ / پیسے), 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.

Examples of Majhi

Sentence		IPA	Translation
Shahmukhi	Gurmukhi
تُوں لہور جاندا سیں	ਤੂੰ ਲਹੌਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੈਂ	/t̪ũː ləɔ̀ːɾᵊ d͡ʒaːn̪d̪aː sɛ̃ː/	You used to go to Lahore
میں پہلوں ای آکھدا ساں	ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲੋਂ ਈ ਆਖਦਾ ਸਾਂ	/mɛ̃ː pɛ́ːlːõː ìː aːkʰːᵊdaː sãː/	I used to tell it from before
اودݨ بھرجائی کتھے سن	ਓਦਣ ਭਰਜਾਈ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਸਨ	/oːdːəɳᵊ pə̀ɾᵊd͡ʒaːiː kɪtʰːeː sən̪ᵊ/	Where were the sisters-in-law that day?

Subdialectal differences

Northwestern Majhi

Northwestern, Northern or Gujrati Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in Gujrat district and extending into Jhelum and Bhimber districts.

In these areas, tone is stronger; word-initial 'h' is very faint, acting more as a falling-tone marker, until it completely disappears in upper dialects like Pahari-Pothwari, Hazarewal Hindko, and Dogri. Words like hatth (ਹੱਥ / ہَتّھ) "hand" are said more as àtth.

Another notable difference is the use of -dā instead of -gā to indicate future tense.

Standard	Northwestern Majhi	Meaning
karegā	kare dā	[he] will do
khāvegī	khāve dī	[she] will eat
jāvoge	jāvo de	[you] (pl.) will go
jāvanga	jāvã da	I will go

See also

• Punjabi dialects
• Punjabi literature
• Jhangvi dialect
• Shahpuri dialect
• Dhanni dialect