Majhi ( Gurmukhi: ਮਾਝੀ, Shahmukhi: ماجھی, Punjabi: [mä˦d̆.d͡ʒi˨] ^[1]) is the standard dialect of Punjabi ^[2] and is spoken in the Majha region of the Punjab. The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar because of their historic significance.

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Notable features

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Verbs

- Use of ḍíā ਡਿਹਾ / ڈہا ^[a] in continuous tenses^{[ citation needed]}:

- Alternate auxiliary verbs

han (ਹਨ / ہَن) is never used in spoken Majhi, it is replaced with nē (ਨੇ, ਨੇਂ / نے، نیں). E.g. ó kardē nē (ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਨੇ / اوہ کردے نے)

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 future-habitual aspect

- 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 usually does not indicate low tone through its script (except through the five tonal plosives, plus ṛh ੜ੍ਹ / ڑھ). Thus, low-tone syllables typically drop the h letter (ਹ / ہ) which is exclusively used for high tone.

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) ^[3] 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.

Low 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.

In more northern areas such as Gujrat, the word-initial 'h' is very faint, acting more as a low-tone marker, until it completely disappears in upper dialects such as Dogri. Words such as hatth ਹੱਥ ہَتّھ (hand) are pronounced more like àtth.

Other Features

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 in place of ēddā̃ and ēñj, which are not commonly used.

Examples of Majhi

References

Notes