Printed in Great Britain (TY).

For copyright reasons, this book may

not be sold, issued on loan, or otherwise disposed of, except in its
original paper cover.
The Panjabi language
Languages of Asia and A frica
�anguages of Asia and Africa

Volume 2
The Panjabi language
A descriptive grammar

N. I. T olstaya

Translated by G. L. Campbell

Routledge & Kegan Paul

London, Boston and Henley

This translation first published in 19 81
b y Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd
39 Store Street,
London welE 700,
9 Park Street,
Boston, Mass. 0 2 108, USA and
Broadway House,
Newtown Road,
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Oxon RG9 lEN
Printed in Great Britain by
Thetford Press Ltd, Thetford, Norfolk
First p ublished as Yazyk Pandjhabi by
Oriental Literaturp Publishing lIou�e, MOScow 1960

English translation @ Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 19 81

No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without p ermission from the
publisher, except for the quotation of brief
passages in criticism

ISBN 0 7100 0939 9

Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

1 PHONOLOGY AND SCRIPT 6

Va.re1s
Consonants

Stress
Tones
Script

2 VOCABULARY 16

Word Formation
Compounds
The main pret'ixes used in word formation

The main suf f ixes used in forming nouns

Suf f ixes forming adjectives

3 MORPHOLOGY 24

The noun

Gender
NUIlber
Case

v
vi contents

The adjective
Degrees of comparison
Th e numerals
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Possessive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns
Relative pronouns
Indefinite pronouns
Emph asising pronouns
Th e verb

Non-conjugated forms
Th e conjugated forms of the indicative mood
Simple forms
Conjugation of the auxiliary verb ho�a
Forms made from the participles
Indicative lI100d
Hypothetical mood
Subjunctive mood
Conditional mood
Th e passive
Formation of transitive and causative verbs
Compound verbs
Compound verbal formations
A dverbs
Classification of adverbs by meaning
Morph ological classification of adverbs
Postpositions
Primary postpositions and their basic meaning
Composite ( derived) postpositions
vii contents

Conjunctions
A ssociative conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions
Particles
A ffirmative particles
Negative particles
Interrogative particles
Emphatic particles
Interjections

4 SYNTA X 66

The simple sentence

The subject
The predicate
Secondary components
Word order in the sentence
The composite sentence
The complex sentence
The compound sentence

5 SPECIMEN TEXT 73
Transcription
Translation

Vocabulary

Bibliography 78

Map 79
Introduction

Panjabi is one of the New Indo-A ryan languages, which form a

branch of the Indo-European family. It is widely spoken in
the Panjab, the western part of which is Pakistani territory,
while the eastern part forms the Indian state of the Panjab.
The total nWTber of Panjabi speakers in both areas is about
30 million. The most important dialects are: Majhi ( in the
territory between the rivers Ravi and Bias, with two major
cities, Lahore and Amritsar) ; Doabi (between the Bias and the
Sutlej, with two main tow ns, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur) ;
Malwai ( the Ludhiana region) ; Patialwi ( the Patiala and
Sangur region) ; Dogri ( the Jammu region) ; Pahari ( the
Chamba and Mandi r�gion) ; Laialpuri ( the Laialpur region) ;
Multani ( the Multani region); Hindko (the Hazara region);
Pothohari ( in the territory between the Jelam and the Indus,
with main town Rawalpindi) . If this classification is lack-
ing in precision, this is due to the fact that hardly any of
the se dialects have been studied in detail.
When Europeans began to study Panjabi in the first half of
the nineteenth century they turned their attention to the
Malwai dialect. The first Panjabi books - a translation of
the Bible, prayer books, grammars, dictionaries - were pub­
lished by the Ludhiana Mission Press in Ludhiana. Modern

1
2 Introduction

literary Panjabi, however, is based on the Majhi Cialect,

which is largely due to the presence in the Majhi-speaking
territory of such great political, commercial and cultural
centres as Lahore and Amritsar.
Dialects spoken in the western parts of the Panjab -
Multani, Pothohari and Hindko - differ considerably from the
literary language, and for this reason some scholars, follow­
ing Sir George Grierson, are inclined to regard them as off­
shoots of a separate language, to which they have given the
name Lahnda ( = 'western') . The western Panjabi dialects
display certain phonological and morphological traits linking
them to the languages of north-west India and Pakistan ( Sindhi
and, partly , Kashmiri) , while the eastern Panjabi dialects,
along with the literary language based on them, te�d more
towards Hindi. Grierson's explanation for this state of
affairs is that the development ( evolution) of the eastern
Panjabi dialects has been greatly influenced by the neighbour­
ing dialects of Hindi, while characteristic features of NIA
languages belonging to the north- western sub-group have been
retained much more clearly in the western Panjabi dialects
( 'Lahnda') . In practice, there is no evidence for Grierson's
proposed contrast between eastern and western Panjabi
dialects. The very word 'Lahnda' is known only to a few
specialists. Speakers of western an d of eastern dialects
alike use the same literary Panjabi as literary language, and
many Panjabi scholars are inclined to regard the eastern and
western dialects as forms of one single Panjabi language. *
Panjabi is written in the Gurmukhi script, whict. is related
to Devanagari and shares common traits with the Kashmiri

*
c. Shackle points to the emergence over the last few

decades of Siraiki (western Panjabi) as a literary language.

3 Introduction

alphabet, Sharada, and with Mahajani (used in Rajasthan) •

Gurmukhi was first used by Sikh religious teachers - by

'gurus ' that is to say - and the word means literally 'pro-
ceeding from the mouth of the guru'. The cursive form known
as Lahnda is us ed specifically in commercial documents. In
addition, the A rabo-Persian script is used in the western
Panjab (Pakistan) , and eastern Panjabi ( in India) can also be
written in Devanagari.
Panjabi scholars date the beginnings of Panjabi literature
in the ninth century AD, when remnants of the Yoga and Natha
sects of Buddhism were active in the Panjab. The hymns pro­
duced by members of these sects are regarded as the first
literary works in Panjabi.
The oldest literary monument written in the Gurmukhi script
is the 'A di Granth', the holy book of the Sikhs. It was com-
posed in 16 04 in Amritsar by order of the fifth Sikh guru,
A rjuna ( 1 56 3-16 06 ) , whose sermons it contains along with hymns
written by various religious teachers of the twelfth to the
fifteenth centuries, both Hindu an d Moslem - Namdev, Kabir,
Farid, etc.
For a variety of historical reasons, however, literature in
Panjabi was denied an y chance of free development until late
in the nineteenth century . The invasion of India by Turkic
troops and A fghan and Mongol rulers, and the establishment of
their alien rule in the Panjab formed a serious obstacle to
the emergence of a Panjabi literary language. Throughout the
Middle Ages literature in the Panjab was written in Persian
and in Persianised Urdu. In the sixteenth century, under the
influence of Arabic and Persian models, a new genre made its
appearance in the Panjab - the kissa-kawi, or romantic love
poem. The poets Damodar and Varis Shah had much to do with
the growth of this genre. The most important representatives
4 Introduction

of the later Sufi poetry were Shah Hussein and Bullhe Shah,
whose works were well kncwn, not only in India, but also in
Iran and in Egypt.
By the middle of the nineteenth century Urdu had made
itself pre-eminent in the Panjab; it was the language of
primary education, of legal proceedings and of the press.
A part from a rich folklore nothing was written in Panjabi
except Sikh religious works.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century a movement
made itself felt among Panjabi intellectuals in favour of the
development of a literature in Pan jabi, and of naking Panjabi
the main medium for the social and cultural life of the
province. There ensued a struggle for the introduction of
Panjabi into the educational system and for the general use of
the Gurmukhi script.
At the same time, new literary genres began to evolve - the
novel, the short story and the play. These new literary
forms were also imbued with new ideas. The writers of the
first half of the twentieth century such as Bhai Vir Singh,
Dhaniram Chatrik, Nanda, Charan Singh Shahid and Puran Singh
took up the burning issues of their time - education for
women, remarriage of widows, social injustice. They ridi­
culed Indian s who tried to be more English than thP English,
the stupidity and the conceit of the rich, the venality of
judges. The question of freedom for India was taken up with
particular enthusiasm. In 19 26 the leading writers united to
form the Panjab Literary Society.
The birth of the Republic of India in 19 50 gave a new
impetus to the development of Panjabi, as it is Indian govern­
ment policy to encourage the grow th of local languages.
Panjabi is now recognised as the official language of the
State of Panjab; it is the language of educatiol1 both for
5 Introduction

primary schools and for higher education, and many newspapers

and periodicals are published in it. The best known periodi-
cals such as 'Prit Lari', 'A rsi' and 'Bal Sandesh' act as a
forum for writers of both the older and younger generations.
In the last twenty years, Panjabi literature has produced
poets ( such as Mohan Singh, Shiv Kumar, Santokh Singh Dh ir,
Amrita Pritam, Prabhjot Kaur and Pritam Singh Safir), prose
writers ( Nanak Singh, Gurbaksh Singh, Kartar Singh Duggal,
Sujan Singh , Kulvant Singh Virk, Navtej Singh and Ajit Kaur)
and playwrights ( Balvant Gargi, Harcharan Singh and others) •

By publishing and distributing books in Panjabi, the Panjabi

Writers' Cooperative founded in Delhi in 19 59 has made a major
contribution to the growth of modern Panjabi literature. In
addition to writers of tile older generation, the Cooperative
also includes younger writers such as Mahip Singh, Rajindar
Kaur and Bachint Kaur.
Panjabi speakers living in Pakistan where the official
language is Urdu are campaigning for the use of their mother
tongue in the educational system, in legal proceedings and in
various other spheres of cultural life and in public affairs.
A large group of writers in western Panjab are at present
publish ing their works in Panjabi written in the Urdu script.
Chapter 1

Phonology and script

VCJ4ELS

In Panjabi th ere are three short vowels: u, a, i, and

" ,..
seven long: u, a, i, e, 0, ae, ao. Th e long vowels
are h eld longer and pronounced more tensely than the sh ort
vowels ( see Table 1) .
i : a h igh front vowel, unrounded, as in ' beat' : pinda
drinking
i h igh front vowel, unrounded, as in 'sit': vidia rthi
= student
e high middle vowel, unrounded, as in French 'ete':
vises a� = adjective
� (E) : h igh middle vowel, unrounded, very long, corners
of the mouth are drawn sharply back like d in

' mad' : b�!-h l}a = to sit

a low front vowel, unrounded, as in ' about'. When
a
stressed, it is as in German 'h at': kar m business
affair.
Sh ort a ch anges somewhat in ch aracter before h
followed by sh ort i tending then towards open e,
e. g. pah ila at first
kah il}a speak
rah il}a live ( in these words h is not
pronounced) •

6
7 Chapter 1

- a
a low middle vowel, unrounded, as in 'father': akh I'}a
= to speak
u high back vowel, rounded, as in 'food': duja = second
u high back vowel, rounded, as in 'put': kUfi = girl
0 middle back vowel, rounded, as 0 in 'hate': lo�
necessity
ao (�) : middle back vowel, rounded, as in 'wall': faoj
army
These are all pure vow els, non-nasalised. - To each there
corresponds a nasalised counterpart: i, i, e, ie, a, a,
,...
u, ii, 0, ao. Nasalisation of final long vowels is
extremely common, especially in dialects.

TABLE I

Front Middle Back

High i u
i u

Middle e 0
,.... ,...
ae (E) ao (-;»

Low a a

Reduction of short a

Depending on its position in the word, short -!- is p ronounced

either fully or is reduced almost to the point of inaudibility. *
It is pronounced fully:
1 In the initial syllable of the word: aluc a cherry-p lum
parsiddh famous

* Reduced a is indicated as a sup erscrip t only in the

phonological part of this book. In the other sections it
is not specially marked.
8 Chapter 1

2 In the penultimate syllable, if it ends on a consonant p lus

a
a reduced short vowel: dipak lamp
a
jihlam Jelam (river)
Short -5- is reduced:
a
1 In final position: hatth hand
a
sanbandh union
2 In the penultimate syllable of a four-syllable word ending
a
on a long vow el: nikal � a to go out, to app ear
a -
samajh �a to understand
3 In the middle syllable of a t hree-syllable word ending on a
a -
long vowel: kar na to do

4 In the second syllable of a four-syllable word, if the first

a
syllable is not a prefix: bah laUl}a to amuse, entertain
a - -

ghab raUl}a be disturbed

CONSONANTS

In Table 2 the consonants of Panjabi are classified according

to point and manner of articulation.
P, t, k, are pronounced as in the French 'Paris', 'tout',
'calme', i. e. without aspiration; ph, th, kh are the
corresponding aspirates; c is close to the English ty; the
corresponding aspirate ch is like the ch ill English 'child'.

The cerebrals �, �, �, ! are formed by curling the

tongue upwards so that the tip touches the front part of the
hard p alate. T and d differ from the English t and d
in that the tip of the tongue is higher and articulation is
instantaneous, unaccompanied, that is, by the affricate
quality present in English. Cerebral nasal � is an inde­
pendent phoneme in Panjabi. In the literary pronunciation,
the lateral cerebral 1 is usually replaced by 1.
Cerebral f is not rolled. To form it, the t ip of the
 \Q
T ABLE 2
n
:r
Place of I»
'C
rt
/D
.,
Manner of ....
articulation labial dental cerebral palatal velar uvular pharyngeal

occlusive voiceless p ph t th � �l;t k kh k

voiced b d � 9
III
� flap unvoiced r
�
e
�
affricate unvoiced c ch
III
voiced j
-8
fricative unvoiced f s S x

voiced z 9 h

nasal m n � (ii) * (�)

III
�
� fricative v 1 (1) y
1\1
6 lateral
III

trill r

* The sounds ft and � are p ositional variants of the phoneme n.

10 Chapter 1

tongue is bent backwards and then quickly thr'Jst forwards in a

sort of flick on the front of the hard palate. In the flick-

ing action, the tongue is in the same position as it occupies
in the formation of the other cerebral consonants.
The sounds ph, th, chi kh, are aspira�ed. Each is
formed in the same way as the corresponding stop but is
accompanied by an expulsion of breath. In the case of
sonants the aspiration is voiced, in the case of surds it is
unvoiced. Sonant aspirates in the middle and at the end of a
word generally lose their aspiration; e. g.
a a
sambhal �a (= to support) sounds like sambal Qa
panjhi ( =twenty-five) sounds like panji
In initial position in a sy llable with rising tone, the sonant
aspirates not only lose the aspiration but are also devoiced.
The sibilant s is pronounced as in English 'shut'. In
native Panjabi words this sound has been replaced by S; s
is now found only in Sanskrit words and in borrowings from
Arabic, Persian and English.
The sound h is as in English; kh is as in Scottish
'loch'; f and v are as in English but weaker.
In words borrowed from Persian, Arabic and T urkish the
following uvular sounds are found: k (unvoiced occlusive) ,
x (unvoiced fricative) , � ( voiced fricative). In normal

pronunciation they are realised as the Panjabi velars k, kh,

g. T he sounds f ( may be replaced by ph) and z ( may be
replaced by j) are also found in borrowings.

STRESS

Stress in Panjabi is dynamic, an d may fall either on a short

or on a long vow el. Unstressed sy llables are pronounced as
clearly and precisely as stressed sy llables.
The position of the stress in a word is determined by the
11 Chapter 1

number and distribution of long and short syllables in it.

Reduced a is syllabic (syllable-forming) and hence a final
consonant or group of consonants is traditionally regarded as
forming a sep arate syllable: e. g.
a
hatth hand
- a
kiva� door
In disyllables, the stress normally falls on the first
syllable:
'gho�a horse
'vii�I grove
In trisy llables, the stress falls on the second syllable if
this is long: e. g.
sa'vere in the morning
ra'sol kitchen
ma 'hIna month
If the seccnd syllable is short, the stress moves to the first:
a
'�angar cattle
a
'ratan Ratan ( p roper name)
a
'p ich lI the last ( fern. )
In four-syllable words, the stress falls on the first if
the second and third are short: e. g.
a a
'av sar case, event
a a
'mat lab meaning
a -
'nikal lJa to go out, to ap p ear
'samasia problem
If the p enultimate syllable of a four-syllable word is long,
the stress falls on it: e. g.
a i ii
cam \ l glittering
kala 'karl art, skill
An exception is p rovided by the p articiples and imperative
forms: e. g.
sama 'jha having suggested
ka'ro do!
12 Chapter 1

Each component of a compound word retains its ow n stress

p attem: e. g.
a
'bad , calan badly behaved
'mata'p ita = p arents
Sometimes, however, a compound word has a strong stress on its
last component and a weaker stress on the others: e.g.
p usta'ka la = library
Phonetically, words with the following suffixes are akin to
compounds with the stress on the last component
-vala, -har, -hara, -dir, -kar, -van: e.g.
a - -
likh� 'vala writer
a a
cittar 'k r artist
a
sirjan 'ha r creator of the world

TONES

'J'here are three p honemic tones in Panjabi, which affect the

stressed syllables of words - the low, the high and the even.
The low tone is indicated in writing by the presence of h
or a voiced asp irate p receding the syllable bearing this tone,
the h is not p ronounced, and the voiced asp irates are de­
voiced and pronounced as the equivalent surds: e.g.
gho�a / kora /
,

horse
baha rI / b� ri / broom
The high tone is indicated by the same letters p laced after

the vowel. Again, h is not pronounced, and the asp irates

lose their aspiration but retain voicing: e.g .
koh�a or ko!ha / kora /
..

leprous
cih / c; / tea
The even tone is not indicated graphically, that is, it is
used in stressed syllables which have neither h nor a voiced
asp irate: e.g.
bari / ba ri I door
ca / c;. I wish
13 Chapter 1

In a final open sy llable ending on -a or -au, this tone

takes on a low contour, remaining, however, in contrast with
the low tone proper.

SCRIPT

The Gurmukhi alphabet used for Panjabi consists of 35 letters,

and is for this reason also known as 'peinti' ( paeti = 35 ) .
AS explained before, the word 'gurmukhi' means 'proceeding
from the mouth of a guru'. At the time of Nanak, the first
'
guru of the Sikh community ( 1469-1538 ) , three alphabe ts were
in use in the Panjab. One of these - bhatakshari - was used
by Nanak for his religious works, an d it was on the basis of
this alphabet, as amended and extended by the guru Angad
( 15 38-5 2 ) , that Gurmukhi developed.
The Gurmukhi alphabet is as follows:
(3 Ura 'J.H aifi 'e .R "J
. ifi sa ha
6- ka t:t kha .n ga "'1 gha "'19 '1a
:0 ca a; cha ;;r ja � jha � iia
l ta 6 t:ha '5 da (; dha � na
"3 ta " tha r: da q dha A na
4 pa 2; pha '3 ba � bha � ma
� ya d ra (f') la � va � �a
The Gurmukhi script. like Devanaqari and its other vari­
ants, is sy llabic: apart from the first three letters «(!,
�,� ) , all the signs represent consonants plus the short
vowel a. The order of the letters in Gurmukhi differs some-
what from the normal order found in Devanagari and other
Indian scripts; thus, there are only three independent vowel
signs, and the consonants sa and ha precede the other
consonants .
Vowels other than short a are indicated by means of
additional signs written above, below , before or after conso-
14 Chapter 1

nants. These are: .... u, �

- .......
u, 0, T ......
a, .,\ ae, --<' ,....
ao, 1 i, ., r
, e. For ex�ple, added to the consonant ka, they give
the following row:
- ,
t:.. ...:l � � - --..-
;( ka, � ka, 10. ki, 6.,1 kI , � ku, � k u, d- ke, d: kae, d: ko, .;J; kao
The first three letters of the alphabet: � �a, � a i�a, and
i i;1 are used as bearers for free-standing vowels, i. e.
vow els without a consonant. In point of fact, only one of
these can be used alone, � aira (= a) . The other two take
the relevant vowel sign as follows:
-'I ,... � ,... t:.. �- '
10
�_ u, .a- I!;
� u, \:) 0, � a, Jof -a, lA.i ae, L..! ao, I� i, 't.1 i, � e.
0::
The superscripts · 'bindi' an d " 'tippi' indicate nasalisa-
tion of the vowel ( usually the first) and, in medial position,
the presence of nasal consonant before other consonants
(usually the second) : e. g.
asi we �.
.:>.
mae I ';).t
ta�g narrow 3"1l
panjib Panjab �";1'�
.
c;lalJc;la stick i5'
cand moon ;f�
tamb a ku tobacco �)rd..
"$

The superscript sign ..., 'adhak' indicates gemination of the

following consonant: e. g.
satt seven
sacc truth
Ligatures, i. e. composite characters formed from two conso-
nantal signs, are not numerous in Panjabi. T�ey are made by
taking the first consonant in its complete form and adding
either below or beside it the characteristic outline of the
second: e. g. :R sva, �u rha, a rha, and so on. When ra is
-t, · wi
the second consonant in the ligature, a special form is used:
I.. thus, � pra, � tra, dJ. gra, and so on.
15 Chapter 1

Non-Panjabi sounds found in words borrowed from other

languages are rendered by means of the nearest Panjabi equiva­
lents; and a dot is placed under the letter: e. g.

� 8
k
�
x =
4;t
g
�
f �
z= ?
European punctuation is used in Panjabi, with the sole
difference that instead of the full-stop the sign I is used.
Chapter 2

Vocabulary

The Panjabi vocabulary can be divided into several groups

according to origin. The largest of these comprises words
deriving from A ncient Indo-Aryan stock which have developed
naturally through the Middle and Modern IA stages to their
present shape and meaning in Panjabi. A bout 60 per cent of
Panjabi vocabulary is accounted for by this group.
Secondly, there is a group of words drawn directly from
Sanskrit. The number of Sanskrit borrowings in literary
Panjabi is already very large, and there is a tendency for
this group to grow as the language of belles :ettres, of
public and social affairs and of science and industry con­
tinues to draw on Sanskrit.
Thirdly, there are the borrowings from Iranian (mainly
Persian) , Turkish and Arabic; these form a very important
component in the Panjabi press.
Lastly, we have borrowings from European languages,
especially English. These are mainly political and scienti-
fie terms. At presellt there is a tendency to replace these
borrowings by words of Indian origin, principally from
Sanskrit.

16
17 Chapter 2

WORD FORMATION

Word building in Panjabi is basically by means of compounds or

with the help of affixes - mainly prefixes. In both cases
the components are as a rule genetically homogeneous, though
the formation of a compound from genetically heterogeneous
components is not excluded.

Compounds

Three types are distinguished. In the first type, the co-

ordinative ( Sk. dvandva) , the two components are syntactically
independent of each other: e.g.
mata-pit a = parents ( 'mother (and) father')
din-rat = 24 hours ( 'day ( and) night')
The second ty pe is the determinative compound ( Sk.
karmadharaya) . The first element depends grammatically on
the second; this first element may be an attribute ( with or
without concord) , the object or an adverbial modifier: e. g.
pustak-ala library ( 'dwelling-place of books')
janam-�ta God ( 'giving life')
de�-nikal a exile ( 'expulsion from country')
The third type is the bahuvrihi or exocentric compound.
This type is derived from the previous C�o. Words of this
type define other words and thus play the part of adjectives.
The last element in them is alway s a noun: e.g.
kam-zor = weak ( 'he who has little strength')
bad-calan = badly behaved ( 'distinguishing oneself by bad
conduct')

The main prefixes used in word formation

Formation of words by prefix is not ty pical of modern Panjabi.

Such prefixes as are used are nearly all applied to borrow ed
18 Chapter 2

words, and most of them are non-productive. The following

may be mentioned:
upa- (indicates proximity, help, subordination)
upa-kar = help, kindness
a- , an- , a�- (indicates negative, absence of something)
adikkh unprecedented
ar:jan unknown
anjo� disconnected
adh- = half
adhmoia = half-dead
ap- , ava- (indicates removal, negative qualities)
apjass infamy
avagUl) defect, flaw
sa- , su- (indicates positive qualities)
saputtar a good son
sukarm = good work, business
sva- , svae- = one's own, belonging to one
svaraj independence (self-rule)
-

svaeman self-respect
"

san- = with
sanman esteem
sanjog union
ham- = with
hamdard I sympathy
ka- , ku- , dur- (indicates negative, unfavourable
qualities)
kar;p ugliness
kumatt bad opinion
durghap;a misfortune
ni- , nis- , nir- = without
nitaJ}.a powerless
nisphal fruitless
nirdo!; not guilty
19 Chapter 2

par- , pra - (indicates superiority, being ahead or

beyond)
parde!; abroad (foreign countries)
prabal powerful
pa:r- = fore-
pa:rdada = great-grandfather
man- = not, un-
mankhattu not earning
mantaru not floating
maha- = big, large
mah � I r great hero
la - = not, un- , without
lapravah careless
l a varas childless
vi- = without, un- , from within
unfounded, vain
unfolding
vijog $epardtioll
be- = without, U"l-

be�l unreasonable
beant endless
ba - = with
b a x3.:>ar knowin;r

The main suffixes used in forming nouns

Morphemes forming feminine nouns:

-I is used to form feminine nouns, adjectives and par­
ticiples from nouns which end in -a in the masculine:
la rka boy lafk I girl
canga good cangi good (fern.)
likhi a written 1 i1th I (fern. form)
-
-an, -a�, -ni , -�i, -ani, -aJ}i, -:ri: these are used
20 Chapter 2

to form feminine nouns from masculine nouns not ending in

-a :
panj �i Panjabi man anj�� Panj abi woman
pandit pandit p��iti�I pandit ' s wife
nag snake nagnI fema le snake
naukar s ervant naukrani = fema le s ervant
Morphemes us e d to des ignate people with reference to their
occ upa tions or to obj ects us e d or possessed by them:
-vala , - va l , -hara , -har
gharvala man ( ' owner of a hous e ' )
sanjhi va l shareholder
likhanhara wri ter
s i r j anhar creator o f the world
-ia
bhanwia s i s te r ' s husband
-u
kamau worker ( ' He who works ' )
daru = coward
-ik, -aka
tarik swimmer
laraka warrior
-i
pan j �i = a Panjabi
-ari
likh ar i wri te r
-ava
kh i � va tutor , educator
- kar , -gar , -gar
c i trakar artis t
yadgar monument
sudagar me rchan t
-ta
neta leader
21 Chapte r 2

-k
j acak inves tigator
-dar
zindndar land-owner , landlord
-ban
bagban gardene r
-van
dhanvan = rich man
The fol lowing morphemes are used to make diminutives or nouns
of endearment :
-e l , - ica , - ci , - fa , (-fI) :

gal i ca smal l s treet

sandUkcI,sandUkfi sma l l box
mukhfa li ttle face
Th e following morphemes ( among others ) make abs tract nouns :
-ai
pafha i learning , teaching
-va t
thakava� tiredness
-ha�
ghabraha � anxiety

-ap
s ia.r:ap wisdom
-pan
bacpan = ch i ldhood
-pal}
bholapal} kindness
-gi
narazgi = dissatis faction
22 Chapte r 2

-ti
mi�ti = quantity , measure
Morphemes used to make name s of countries , place-names :
- s tan, -is tan
h indus tan India
p;tkis tan Pakis tan

S uffi xes forming adj ectives

-a
bhukha hungry
-akal
9-ar;tkal appalling
-ael
� usae l angry
-a l u
k i rpalu gracious , kind

bringing sorrow
-ik
i tihas ik h i s tori cal
-it
dukh i t pained , afflicted
-I
muglaI mogul
-Ila
rangIl;t colourful
-sar
mi lar:sar friendly
-dar
samajhdar reasonab l e , intel ligent
-man
saktimiin powerful
23 Chapter 2

-mand
a l!- lmand reasonable
-vant
sukhvant happy, lucky
-var
tal!-atvar strong
-van
dhanvan rich
-val
san jhi va l collective
Chapter 3

Morphology

THE NOUN

Gender

Panjabi distinguishes two grammatical genders - masculine and

feminine. Nouns ending in -a, -a, -p� are masculine:
e.g.
gho�a horse
hIa heart
bacpal} childhood
An exception is provided by ma mother, which is feminine
in spite of its ending (there are a few other similar cases).
A few nouns ending in -i are also masculine. These are
nouns denoting nationality or profession: e.g.
nai barber
panjabI Panjabi
bangall Bengali
The majority of nouns ending in -i are feminine: e.g.
istri woman
kurI girl
There are no formal rules for identifying the gender of nouns
wi th other than the above endings. In the case of animate
nouns, grammatical gender corresponds to natural gender; in

24
25 Chap te r 3

the cas e of inanimate nouns/ one mus t cons ult the dicti onary :
e.g.
balad (m . ) b ul l
j a �� ( m . ) peasant ( ' j a t ' )
j ama ( f. ) class
panj�aQ ( f . ) Pan j abi woman
viakaraQ ( m . ) grammar
The grammatical gender of certain inanimate nouns is
uns tab le : e .g.
th a ( m . and f. ) p lace
lam ( m . an d f. ) a rmy
ghatt ( m . and f . ) grass
Feminine nouns can be formed from many masculine nouns
e i the r by changing th e final -a to -i : e.g.
ghora ( m . ) horse
gho;:- i ( f . ) mare
or by adding -it -fi , -Qi , -ni to mascul ine nouns ending
on a consonan t : e.g.
j a�� ( m . ) pe asant jaHI ( f . ) peasant woman
bal ( m . ) boy balf! ( f . ) girl
gum ( m . ) mus ician ��! ( f . ) female mus i cian
z imin&r (m . ) =. landowner zimIndarnI ( f. ) = female
landowner

Numbe r

TWo numbers are dis tinguished - singular and plura l .

Masculine nouns ending on a consonant or on any vowe l
excep t -a do not change to form the plural direct cas e : e.g.
vi llage/vi l lages
crow/crows
nai barber/barbers
Mas culine nouns ending in -a change this vowel into -e to

form the di rect p l ura l :

26 Chapter 3

horse horse s
dog dogs
Nouns of re lationship form an exception to this rul e , as do
nouns of Sanskri t origin and a few of Iranian origin : e.g.
bhra brother bhra brothers
neta -= leader neta leaders
p i ta father p i ta fathers
dada rive r daria rivers
:.
Femi n ine nouns , apart from those ending in -a , -a, form
=
thei r direc t plural by adding the ending -a : e.g.
b hae� s i s te r bhael}a s is ters
�

b i l lI cat b i l lIa cats

dhI daugh ter ; dhIa daughters
gal l word gal la words
=
The direc t plural of feminine nouns ending in -a , -a is
:.
made by adding the ending - va to the singular : e.g.
= - :.
ma mother mava mothers
katha s tory kathava s tories
Mati! = mother excep tiona l ly has p lura l mata = mothers .
I n some cases , where a s i ngular feminine noun ends in -ah
or in a consonant the plural direct cas e is made by adding
-i : e .g .
s a lilh counci l salilhI counci ls
rat nigh t ratI nights
A smal l number of feminine nouns ending in consonants make
:.
the direct form of the plural by adding the ending -u : e.g.
�

han j tear han j � tears

khumbh mushroom khumbhu mushrooms
�

vas t thing vas tu things

Certain nouns are us ed only in the plura l : e .g.
peke , dadke (m. pl . ) paren tal home
10k ( m . p l . ) people
27 Chapter 3

Case

TO express syntactical relations between nouns in a sentence,

Panjabi uses two methods: I synthetic, which adds case

endings to nouns, and 2 analytic, which combines nouns in the

oblique case with auxiliary postpositions.
In addition to the three cases common to most New Indo-
Aryan languages - direct, oblique and vocative - Panjabi
retains synthetic forms of three other cases - instrumental,
dative and locative. These can be formed from only a limited
number of nouns, however, and are used comparatively seldom,
being replaced more and more by analytic formations.
The direct case is the case in which the noun stands as
subject, as the nominal part of the predicate, or as the
direct object. It is also the dictionary entry form for
nouns.
The oblique case is not used independently. In order to
express case relations (corresponding to the indirect rela­
tions of other inflected languages) it must be accompanied by
postpositions, which are always understood as being present
even when omitted in practice. The forms of the oblique
case are as follows:
.::
Masculine nouns in -a and -a change these endings to
.::
-e or -e to form the singular oblique case: e. g.
.::
mUl}�a (m. ) boy; mur: � e nu to the boy, boy (acc. )
.:: =
sarna (m. ) time; same to in time
An exception is formed by nouns of relationship and also by
a few words of Sanskrit origin which do not change the final
vowel: e. g.
da di (m. ) grandfather da da kol grandfather's
neta (m. ) leader neta na l with the leader
A ll other masculine nouns and all feminine nouns remain un-
changed in the singular oblique case: e. g.
28 Chapter 3

.::
l Umb a� ( m . ) fox l Umba � nu fox ( acc . ), to the
fox
gho � I ( f . ) mare gho �I ute on the mare
sabbh a ( f . ) mee ting sabbh a wal � from the meeting
The p lura l ob lique form of masculine nouns ending in -a or
.: .:
-a i s formed by adding -i a to the base of the word : e .g .
.
=
mw;t�a (m . ) boy m�9i a nu = boys ( acc . l , to the boys
= .::
sarna ( m . ) time sami a to in ti me s
.::
Feminine nouns which have a p lura l direct case ending in -a
.::
or -wa , remain unchanged in the p l ural obl ique : e .g.
gal l a words ga ll a n a l = w i th , by words
.::
mawa mothers mawa nu = to, of mothers
.:
A l l other nouns take the ending -a in the plura l ob lique
case : e.g.
.::
me z ( m . ) table me za ute on tab les
kurs I (L) = chai r k ursI a ute on cha i rs
The vocative case is the form use d to address someone . In
th e s ingular maSCUl ine, nouns ending in a consonant take the
ending -a to form the vocative : e.g.
h e puttr a Oh son !
he rabb a Oh God !
Feminine nouns in the s ingula r make a vocative by adding
-e to the direct case form : e.g .
ni dh Ie ! Oh daughter !
sika rane ! Oh huntsman's wi fe!
In the p l ura l , all nouns make a vocative in 0-: e.g.
dhIo! daugh ters !
putt ro ! sons!
The p l ural ins trumental form is made w i th the ending -i .
(Old Pan j ab i had several ways of forming the instrumental
case , including forms ending in -i and -hi ): e .g.
hatth I wi th hands
akkhI with the eyes
29 Chap ter 3

In the s ingula r , an ablative form can be made with the ending

-0 or -i u : e.g.
gharo = from ( out of) th e house
ko�iu = from out of the room, hut
Loca tive forms are found in both s i ngular and plural numbers .
For the singula r , -e may be added ( i n Old Pan j abi , -i , -e ,
-hi) or the form may coinci de with the di rect case : e.g.
ce te in the mind
hanere s avere by nigh t and in the morning
uh ghar gia he went into the house
The p lura l locative can be formed by adding -i ( Old
Pan j abi, -I) : e .g.
thai in places
cah uvI pas I e verywhere ( ' on four s i des ' )
rad on nights

'mE ADJECTIVE

The two characte ris ti c endings of adj ectives in Panj abi are
::
-a , -a (mas culine ) and -i ( feminine ) . The adj ective
normal ly precedes the subs tantive i t quali fies and agrees
w i th it in gender , number and cas e ( d i rect or ob lique) •

Masculine adj ectives in -a , or -a , change th i s vowel into

-e or -e in the s ingular ob lique and the plural direct
cases. A l l other masc uline adj e cti ves remain unchanged in
both cases : e.g.
canga 9hofa = fine horse ; cange ghofe da of the fine
horse ; cange 9hofe = fine horses
.:
nava ghar = new hous e ; nave ghar da of a new hous e ;
nave ghar = new hous es
saphal ka mm = s ucces s fu l work ; saphal kamm da of s uc-
cessful work; saphal kamm = s uccess ful works
.:
Mas culine nouns ending in -a , -a add the ending -ia to
30 Chap ter 3

the base to form the p lural ob l ique . Othe r adj ecti ves
remain unchange d , excep t s abbh = a l l , wh ich takes the
=
ending -na :
s abbhna mi la � malik the owner of all the fac tories
Th us :
.::
cange gho�e fine horses; cangi a gho�ia � of fine
horses
.::
nawe ghar = new houses; nawia ghara da = of �ew hous es
sapha l kamm s ucces s ful works; saphal kamma da = of
s ucce s s ful works
Feminine adj ectives ending in -i do not change for the
:
ob lique cas e of the singular , but take -a in the plural in
both dire c t and obl ique cas es : e.g.
ca �gI gho !I = good mare ; cangI ghO�I �a of a good mare ;
_
cangIa gho�I a = good mares ; cangii 9hofIa da of good mares
An adj ective qua l i fying a noun in one of the other ob lique
cases i s p ut in the ob l ique cas e: e .g.
mae ap�e hat thI kamm karda ha I do the work wi th my own
hands

DEGREES OF COMPARISON

The re is more than one way of expressing the comparative

degree of adjectives in Panj ab i . Adj ec tives in -a a lone
form a simp le comparative by adding -era to the base : e.g.
long lammera longer
big vaddera b igger
If the adj ective ends in - f a, this � of the base becomes r
in the compara tive , and the affix -era becomes e �a ; i . e .
th e cerebralisation i s trans ferred from the base to the a f f i x :
e.g.
tagfa = s trong tagre!a = s tronger
A compos i te form of the comparative is made by means of
the words vaddh ( = bigger) and gha�� ( =smaller) : e.g.
31 Chapter 3

uh vaddh tagfa hae = he i s s tronger

Compari son is express ed by placing the adj ective ( in i ts
pos i ti ve or i ts comparative form) after the obj ec t with which
the comparison is made, and to whi ch the pos tposi tions nalo
(= (=
- -

than ) and to , tho from) are added : e.g.

uh mae tho tagfa hae he is s tronger than me
meri k UfI nalo ted wac;1c;1I hae your daughter is bigger
than mine
On ly the composite form is us ed in making the s uperlative
degree ; the pos tposi ti on to is added to the adj ective in
the oblique case p lus the simple form of the comparative
degree of the same adj ective : e.g.
cange to cangera the bes t
-

man de to mandera the wor s t

Mos t frequently , however , the s uperlative is expres s e d
analytica l ly with the help o f the syntacti c cons tructions
s abbh to (= of a l l ) , s abbhna nalo (= than a l l ) , s abbhn � th �
(= of a l l ) and saria nal o ( = than a l l ) : e.g.
ih s abbhna t� n ikkI h£e she is the smallest of a l l
uh saria nal � mara hae h e is the weake s t o f a l l

'mE NUMERALS

das 10 vih 20 tih 30 cali 40

1
- -

ikk yara 11 ikkI 21 ikti 31 iktalI 41

do 2 bara 12 bai 22 battI 32 bata l I 42
tinn 3 tera 13 teI 23 teti 33 tarta lI 43
car 4 caoda 14 caovi 24 cacti 34 caota l i 44
pan j 5 pandara 15 pan j hI 25 paeti 35 panjtalI 4 5
che 6 sola 16 chabbI 26 cha tti 36 chatal I 46
.:
satt 7 s a tara 17 sataI 27 saeti 37 santa l I 47
a�� B a�hara 18 a�aI 28 atthti 38 a th talI 48
,..... 9
nao unni 19 unnti 29 untalI 39 unan j a 49
32 Chapte r 3

pan j ah 50 sattar 70 navve 90

- �

ikvan j a 51 ikhattar 71 ikanve 91

bavanj a 52 bahattar 72 banve 92
�

tarvan j a 53 tihattar 73 taranve 93

curanj a 54 cuhattar 74 curanve 94
pacvanj a 5 5 panj hattar 7 5 pacanve 95
chivan j a 5 6 chihattar 76 chi anv� 96
satvanj a 5 7 sathattar 77 satanve 97
a�vanj a 58 at:hhattar 78 a�anve 98
unahat:h 59 unas i 79 narinve 99

s a1;t:h 60 assi 80 sao 100

ik�a1;h 61 ikasi 81 hazar , haj ar 1000
baha1;h 62 b iasi 82 lakkh 100000
trehat:h 63 tirasi 83 kavo� 10000000
caoha�h 64 c urasi 84 kharb 100000000
paehat:h 65 pacasi 85
chiahat:h 6 6 chias! 86
satahat:h 67 satas I 87
ath�ath 68
. .
at:has i 88
unhat tar 69 unanve 89
The cardinals are not decl ined un less they re fe r to nouns in
the obl ique case . They then take the ending -a: e g.
.

das a gho��a de milik the owners of ten horses

=

p an j a baccI a nu = to five girls

The ordinals are formed from cardinals by the addi tion of the
s uffix -va :
s attva seventh
dasva tenth
There are a few exc eptions :
pahila fi rs t
d�ja ( dUsra ) second
ti j a ( ti s ra ) thi rd
-

caotha fourth
,...,
33 Chapter 3

If a cardinal ends in -a or -a, these vowels are dropped

be fore addi tion of th e ordina l s uffi x : e.g.
fi fty-eight at=hvanj va fi fty-e igh th
satara s eventeen s a tarva seventeenth
I f a cardinal ends in -ve , th i s becomes -va in the
ordinal : e.g.
;
pacanv = nine ty - five pacanva = ninety- fi fth
Forma l ly , the ordinals are declinable adj e c tives ; thus
tIj a m�9a the thi rd boy
tIj e m��e ne k iha the th i rd boy said
Fractional numbers : there are special terms for the
followi ng :
s ava + 1 or 11 (with weights and measure s )
-
paoQa or ' a quarter to '
,...

sac?he +

tihaI
ge rh 11
addha I
dha i 21
The numera ls addha and paoQa are formal ly declinable
adj ective s (not to be con fus ed with sava and sa�e whi ch are
indeclinab l e ) .
Col lective numerals are formed from the cardinals ('-10
inclus i ve ) by adding the s uffixes -e , -e : e.g.
dove coup le
tinne threesome
care foursome
pan j e five of • • •

dase ten of
Another way o f forming col lectives is analy tica l ly by means
of the pos tposi tion � in i ts various forms : e.g.
doha de do = couple
34 Chapter 3

h undred of
=
panja dii panj k U{Ia five gi rls
Multip l i cative numeral s are cons tructed by means of the
word -g �a (= times ) : e .g.
do-gW]a or d� i two times
tinn-gW]a or ti�i three times
caoqUQa or caoQa four times as big
panj- gW]a five time s as big
s ao-gW]a a hundred time s as big
Certain adj ectives and adverbs may appear in the rol e of
inde fini te numerals :
anek many
hor stil l more
bahute many
s abbh all
sare wholly , a ltogether
The particle k u (= about , approximately ) and the pronoun
koI (= someone ) are also used to form indefini te numerals :
e.g.
panj ku about five
s ao ku about a hundred
koi das rupae about 10 rupees

PRONOUNS

Pan j ab i di s tinguishes pe rsonal , possessive , reflexive , demon­

s trative , in terrogative , indefini te , re lative and e�phatic
pronouns . A l l pronouns have special oblique forms , but no
vocative forms .

Personal pronouns

The firs t and second p ersonal pronouns are display ed in the

fol lowing tabl e :
35 Chapter 3

case 1st person 2nd person

sing . pl . s ing . pl .

direct mae
,..,
asi tu tusi
= =
ob lique mae , mae as a , s a tae , tae , tusa , tus a ,
�

me asa tu t uh;

The demons tra tive pronoun uh ( = this , th a t , he , she , i t )

se rves as third personal pronoun
The pronoun tu ( = thou) is us e d famil i arly to younger
members of the family , or impolite ly to pe rsons lower in
social s tanding than the speaker ; tus I ( = you) is used as a
singula r pronoun of addres s to relatives , friends and people
who are younger than the speake r .
The pronoun ap ( = you) ( often accompanied b y the particle
j I ) is us e d as both a s ingular and a pl ural form o f address to
people of higher social s tanding , or s imply as a ma rk o f res -
pe c t and pol i teness . Occas ionally , ap may refer to a third
pe rs on , of whom on e is speaking with respect .

Pos s e s s i ve pronouns

The personal possessive pronouns me ra ( = my ) , tera ( = thy) ,

s a �; ( = our) and tuh ; �; ( = your ) are formal ly adj e ctives and
are declined as such . They also s tand for the corresponding
pe rs onal pronouns in cons tructions with the compound pos t-
pos i tions . In these ci rcums tances the firs t part o f the
compound pos tposi ti on ( de , d I ) is omi tte d : e.g.
tuha �e la I for you
s age bare about us
36 Chapter 3

Re flexive pronouns

The pronoun ap is us e d as a reflexive . From i t is formed

the reflexive -possess ive pronoun ap�a ( = one ' s own) , whi ch
repl aces ap in cons tructions wi th pos tpos i tions , like the
pos sess ive pronouns : e.g.
apJ} e nal wi th oneself
apJ} e laI for onese l f
=
Cons truc tions of the type : ap�e ap nu ( = of ones e l f ) ap�e ap
tho (= from ones e l f ) , etc . are common.

Demons trative pronouns

These include nominal and adj ecti val pronouns and , associated
with the la tte r , adverbial pronouns . Two degrees of prox-
imi ty are dis tingui she d : ' thi s ' and ' that ' , i . e . near a t
h an d and further away .
( a) person , obj e c t :
ih , aeh this , these
uh , aoh that, those

S ingular P l ura l

Dire c t case Ob lique case Direct case Oblique cas e

ih i s , ih ih ihn a , inha
aeh ...... ,.... -
aes , aeh aeh aena , ahina
uh us , uh uh uhna , unha
,.. -
aoh aos , aoh aoh aohn a , aona

(b) indi cators :

a j eha such
iho j eha such as this
uhoj eha such as that
( c) quan tity :
inna , unna = so much
37 Chapte r 3

( d) mass , degree , meas ure :

e99a , u9�a = so big

I n terrogative pronouns

(a) person :
k ao,: = who?
ob j ect :
ki = what?

S ingular P l ural

Dire ct case Obl ique case Dire ct case Ob lique case

kis , kih kinha

(b) indica tors :

kihra = what sort of?
kihojeha = like what? , how?
( c) quanti ty :
kinna = how much?
( d) mas s , degree , meas ure :
how big? , how much?

Relative pronouns

(a) o f person or ob j ect :

jo = who , whi ch , that (oblique case : s ingular j is , j ih ,
plural j ihna , j inh a )
(b) indi cators :
j ih fa = as
( c) quan tity :
j inna = as much as
(d) mas s , degree , meas ure :
j e��a = as b i g as , as much as
38 Chapte r 3

Inde finite pronouns

koI = someone , somebody , someone or other ( s ingular ob lique

� �

case : kise ; p l ural obl ique : kinha , kihna)

k ujh some thing
ka i some

Emphasising pronouns

xud , ap = self
s abbh all ( ob lique : sabbhn a)
sara a l l , the whole of ( declinable adjective )
sabbh kujh a l l ( indeclinab l e )
har ik each , every ( inde clinab l e )
s arba t = a l l ( indeclin ab le )
anek = ( ob lique case aneka)

THE VE RB

Non-conj uga te d forms

The infini tive is taken as the bas i c form of the verb ; as

nomen actionis i t is mas culine in gender .
The infini tive is formed by adding the morpheme -�a to
the verbal base ; i f the bas e ends in r, �, �, �h , the
morpheme -na is adde d : e.g.
j aI} a to go
kam a to do
la fIla to figh t
s unna to lis ten
pa;-hna to read
The ob l ique case of the infini tive is formed by dropping
-a : e .g.
i tthe mae pa;-han laI aI I ( fern . ) came here in order to
learn
39 Chapter 3

The verbal base is distinguished from the infini tive by the

absence �f the morpheme -Qa ( -n a ) . Any verbal base may be
used as a noun ( us ua l ly feminine ) , bearing the abs tract mean­
ing of the root : e.g.
khe �Qa to p lay
khel} ( f . ) play ing , p lay , game
The nomen agentis is formed from the ob lique case of the
infinitive by addi tion of the suffixes -va la , -a l a , -har .
Th e res ultan t form may b e us ed e i ther as a noun or a s an
adj ective : e.g.
vekhaz:!va la looking a t , observer
bhaj j aQa la runner
karanhar doing , doer , agent
The nomen agentis is a lso used to indicate readiness to
perform an ac tion , i . e . as the particip l e of intention : e.g.
uh auz:!va la h ae = he ' s getting ready to come ( ' here he comes ' )
The simple imperfective particip le is formed by adding the
formant s uffix -d- and the ending -a to the bas e of the
verb . For the simple perfective particip le the ending -ia
is added to the bas e : e .g.
pa;'hda mUz:!l}a the boy who is reading
rangia dupaHa .. painted ( dyed) veil (shaw l , cover)
I f the base of the verb ends on a vowel or on orthographic h
( a fter a vowe l ) , - n- is inserted be fore the -da ending of
the imperfective participle :
khaQ a to eat J-.h anda eating
roz:!a to weep ronda weeping
aUQa to approach a unda approaching
l aehl}a to descend l aehnda des cending
Idiosyncratic forms of the imperfective parti ciple are found ,
-
ending in -na (m. ) , -ni ( f . ) in the singular and in -ne
( m. ) , and - nia ( f . ) i n the plura l .
40 Chapte r 3

Some perfecti ve parti cip les are formed i rregularly . The mos t
important are :
kama to do kIta ( m . ) , kid ( f . ) done
j a�a to go gia , gai having gone
marna to die moia , moi having died
pina to drink p i ta , p i ti drunk
kahi!)a to s ay kiha , kah i said
de�a to give di ta , did given
laeI}a to take lia , lai taken
As a rule , the perfective particip les of transitive verbs are
pas s i ve in meaning . Other participles have an active
meaning .
The compound participle is formed by combining the s i mple
parti ciple of any verb wi th the perfecti ve participle of the
verb ho!)a ( = to be) . The compound participle is perfective
or impe rfective , depending on the simple participle used ;
thus, impe rfective
pafhda hoia = reading (pres . part . ) , engaged in reading
(present or pas t)
looking at (pres . part . ) , engaged in looking
at (present or pas t)
perfective
vekhia hoia seen
kI ta hoia done
The compound participle agrees w i th the word it de te rmines in
gender and number .
The absolute form of the participles , both simple and com-
pound , may be used in an abso lute sense . In this case , the
=
participles take the ending -ia, and are not declined : e.g.
� - �

. . nu parhdia
mae munde hoi a s �ia I heard the boy reading
-- �

mae ram nu aundia vekhia I s aw Ram approaching

Th e adverbial parti cip le is formed from the verbal base by
adding the s uffi x -ke : e .g .
41 Chapter 3

to speak kah i -ke = having s a i d

to do kar- ke = having done
I f the base ends in -au , the u is dropped be fore adding
-ke : e.g.
,.... -
ph ae la�a = to s traighten , let out ; phae la-ke having let
out , s traigh tened

The conj ugated forms of the indica tive mood

Simpl e forms

The simple forms , made by adding the pers onal endings to the
verbal base , include the impe rative mood , the s imple s ub j unc­
tive forms and the forms of the simple future which are
deri ved from the latter .
The only forms us ed of the imperative mood are those of the
second pe rson , s ingular and p lura l . The second person s i ngu-
lar is i dentical wi th the verbal base :
kar do !
b ae � sit!
The morpheme -0 is added to these forms to make the plural
impe rative :
k aro do !
b ae �o sit!
The singular forms are us e d i n addressing menbers o f family or
intimate friends ; in other contexts it is us ed s ligh tingly .
A long s i de these imperative forms there are also the so-
.
called polite or respectful forms , made by adding -i ( -vi )
to the ve rba l base for the second person singula r , a�d - io
( -vio) for the second person plural : e.g.
. -
tu b ae � I please s i t
tu pivi p lease drink
t us i bae�io please s i t
tus i pi vio please drink
42 Chapter 3

The infini tive may also be us ed in an imperative s ense for

both singular and plural of the s e cond pe rson :
.: -
tus i na bae��a = don ' t s i t down !
,,

The s ubj unc ti ve mood expresses pos s ib i l i ty , doub t , s upposi-

tion , uncertainty , des i re and so on . The s i mple s ub j un ctive
forms are i dentical for both genders :
mae pa;-ha I ( m . o r f . l may read
S ingular P l ural
mae kara asi karie
tii. kar; tusi karo
uh kare uh karan
The s i mple future is made by adding the forma tive parti cle
-ga ( fern . gi ; p l . mas c . - ge , p l . fern . -gial to th e
pres ent s ub j unctive forms (wi th the exception of the firs t
person plura l , where a form ending in -a is usedl .
S ingular P l ural
mae karaga ( fern . karagi l asi karage ( fern . karagial
tu karega ( fern . karegi l tus i karoge ( fern . karogia l
uh k arega ( fern . karegi l uh karange ( fern . karangIa )

Con j ugation of the a uxi l i ary verb ho�a

The auxi liary verb ho�a - whi ch is also the copula - enters
into the composi tion of mos t of the remain i ng inflected forms
made from the parti ciples - the indi cative simple pas t and
present , the s ub j unc tive , the hypoth e tical and the condi tiona l
moods .
The simple present indi cati ve of hOQa :
Singular P lura l
mae ha asi ha
-

tii. hae tus I ho

uh hae uh han
The simple pas t :
43 Chapter 3

S i ngular P lural
,.., .:: =
mae s a asi sa
'"'
tu s ae tus i sao ( sao )
-.J

uh si uh s an
The s ub j unctive :
S ingular P lura l
--- -
mae hova as i hoi e
tu hove tus i hovo
uh hove uh hor:' (hovan )
Hypothe tical mood and future indicative :
Singular P l ural
mae hova g a ( f . hova g i ) as I hovage ( f . hova g Ia )
. .
tu hov; ga ( f . hove g i ) tus i hovoge ( f . h ovogI a )
uh hovega ( f . hoveg i ) uh hOr:'ge ( f . hOr:'g ia )
Condi tional mood :
S ingular P lura l
. .
mae , tii , uh hunda asI , tus i , uh hunde ( f .
( f . hundi ) f . hundi a )

Forms made from the participles

Indi cati ve mood

The present tense of any verb is made by comb ining i ts imper­

fe ctive participle with the present tense ot the auxi liary :
e.g.

S i ngular P l ura l
. .
�e b ae �da ( f . b � � dI ) h a as i ...b ae thde
. ( f . b ae thdI
.
i ) ha
....

tii b ae �da ( f . bae�di ) h ae tusI b � 1:hde ( f . bae� � ia) ho

uh b ae� da ( f . b ae �di ) hae uh b ae 1:hde ( f . b ae �hd ia ) han
The present tense expresses cus tomary action , the mos t
immine n t future a n d also the his tor i cal presen t . I t also
indicates action taking p lace a t a given moment in time : e.g.
44 Chapter 3

;:
bhI f vi co avaza aunde han = voices rise from the crowd
For th i s meaning , howe ver , another cons truction is normally
pre fe rred - a combination of the s imple participle of the
main verb w i th the perfective participle of the verb rahiQa
( = to live , dwel l , s tay ) plus the present tense o f the
auxi liary : e.g.
� �

asI j a rahe ha we are going ( a t present)

A second form of the present tense - less often us ed -
serves to indicate the continuance of action at a given
momen t , and is made from the impe rfective participle in -na .
I t is used only in the firs t and s econd persons singular and
in the firs t person p l ura l : e . g .
tu pauna hae you are putting , placing ( a t the present
moment )
asi nhan I a ha we ' re washing ourse lves ( now)
The pre s ent perfective tense of a verb is formed by combining
i ts pe rfective parti cip le with the present tense of the
auxi liary :
S ingular P l ural
- - - - -
,...
mae baet:bia ( f . b ae � I ) ha as I b � t:he ( f . b ae � I a ) h a
�

- - _ -
,...
tu bae�ia ( f . bae � I ) h ae tus I b ae �e ( f . b ae �I a ) ho
uh b ae � ia ( f . b ae !=h I ) hae uh b ae �e ( f . b ae !=h I a ) han
A transi tive verb us ed in thi s tense or in any other tense
incorporating the perfective parti ciple agrees not w i th th e
s ub j ect ( ob l ique cas e ) which i s marked b y th e pos tpos i tion �
but with the di rect obj e c t whi ch is not marked; where no
direct obj ect is expressed, the verb is always in the th i rd
person masculine s ingula r : e . g .
� �

mae us n u akkh I te kadi nahI velthia h � I ' ve never seen

him wi th my own
eyes
The pres ent perfecti ve tense expresses an action whi ch has
45 Chapte r 3

been completed at the moment of speaking , but whose results

are s ti l l making themselves fe lt .
The pas t continuous is formed by combining the imperfective
participle w i th the pas t tense of the auxi liary : e . g . from
likhQ a = to wri te
Sinqular P lural
;; =
mae likhda ( f . likhdI ) s a asi likhde ( f . likhdi a ) s a
tu likhda ( f . HkhdI ) s ae tus i likhde ( f . Hkhdi a ) s ao ( sao)
,...

uh l ikhda ( f . H kh di ) s i uh likhde ( f . likhdi a ) san

Thi s tense is us e d to indicate action taking place at some
time in the pas t , w i thout reference to i ts completion : e.g.
- �

par tu hi te ik din kahindi sae t� aorat ; rna ; =

We ll you see tha t ' s j us t wha t you said to me : you ' re a

woman , you ' re a mother
In order to express the pas s age of time a t a given moment
in the pas t a combination of the simple pa rticiple o f the
re levant verb p lus the pe rfective participle of the verb
rahiQa and the pas t tense of the auxiliary is use d : e .g.
uh ja riha s i = he was going ( a t a given moment i n the pas t )
The p luperfect tense is formed by combining the perfective
participle of the re levant verb wi th the pas t tense of the
auxi liary : e.g.
u��Qa = to rise
Sinqular P lura l
;; : =
T=
mae u��ia ( f . u��hI ) sa asi u��he ( f . utth1a � sa
�
tu u��ia ( f . u��i ) s ae �
tusI u��e ( f . u�� i a ) s a'o ( s ao )
uh u��ia ( f . u�� I ) s i uh u��e ( f . u��ia) san
The p luperfect indi cates an action whi ch has finished by a
given moment in the pas t ( or b e fore the commencement of
another action ) : e.g.
a j e tak us ne mUQ�e da hath mazb�tI nal pha� rakhia s i
up to tha t point h e had been ho lding the child firmly by
the hand
46 Chapte r 3

The pas t perfec tive is formal ly identica l with the perfective

particip le ; i t expresses a completed ac tion wi thout reference
to the moment of i ts completion : e .g.
i k bU9he ne amma nu puchia = s ome old man turned to mother
w i th the ques tion
The forms of the pas t perfec tive change only for gender and
null'ber :
S ingular P lural
� �

mae , tu , uh u��ia asi , tus i , uh u��e

( f . u�� i ) ( f . u��Ia )

Hypothetical mood

The imperfective form i s made by combining the impe rfective

participle wi th the hypothetical mood of the auxiliary verb :
e.g.
uh pa;hda hovega = h e mus t b e ( i s very probably ) reading
This tense indicates an action whi ch is held to be very
probable .
The perfective form uses the perfective participle in this
formation wi th the hypothetical tense of the auxiliary ; it
expresses a n ac tion whose completion is held t o be , o r have
been , ve ry probab le .
uh pafhia hovega = he very prob ab ly read i t through ,
finished reading i t

Subj uncti ve moo d

The i!perfecti ve form i s formed by the imperfecti ve parti cipl e

plus auxi liary verb i n S ub j unctive . I t indicates the pos s i -
bi l i ty of comp le tion of a n action or i ts incomp l e te s tate :
e.g.
perhaps the hoy i s not s leeping
47 Chapte r 3

The �erfective form is forme d from the perfective participle

plux auxil ia ry verb in s ub j unctive . I t is used to indicate
the possibi l i ty that an action has been complete d : e.g.
munda j agia hove = p robably the boy has woken up

Condi tiona l mood

Thi s mood i s used to indicate that an action could have taken

p lace but did not do so because of certain ci rcums tances , i . e .
i t imp l i es the impos s ib i l i ty of such and s uch an action taking
p lace . There are three pos s ib le forms :
The genera l form is expressed by the impe rfec tive parti ciple :
e.g.
j e mae j agda ta bah ut cangia hunda i f I could have kept
awake i t would have
been very good
The imperfective form is made from the imperfective parti cip le
plus the auxi liary verb in i ts condi tional form : e.g.
j e mUQqa j agda hunda = i f the boy had kept awake ( then • • • )
The perfecti ve form is made from the perfective participle
p lus the a uxil i ary verb in i ts conditional form : e.g.
j e m�ga j agia hunda = i f th e boy had woken up ( then • • . )

The pass i ve

There are two ways of making the pas s i ve i n Panj ab i :

(a) by combining the perfective participle of a trans i ti ve
verb with forms of the verb j a�a ( = to go ) : e.g.
pa�I gurcharan t� pita j an da hae = Gurcha ran drinks water
( li te ra l ly , ' water is b eing drunk by Gurcharan ' )
(b) by combining a specia l parti ciple in - ida w i th forms of
the auxi liary ve rb ho'}a : e.g.
pah i la ro�I pakaidI hae , phi r khaIdI hae =

f i rs t of a l l , bread mus t be baked , and then eaten

48 Chapter 3

mere kolo nahi j aida hae = I ought not to go

This second form is us ed on ly in the th i rd person singular ;
over and above the pas s i ve me aning , the form implies obl i ga­
tion . I t can be made from transi ti ve and intransi ti ve verbs
alike : when the verb is trans i ti ve , the parti ciple agrees
with the direct ob j ect if th e re is one ; i f the dire ct ob j ec t
is marked b y a pos tpos i tion , the parti ciple is in the mas c u-
line s ingular . In the ca�e of an intrans itive verb , the
participle s tands likewise in the masculine s ingular .
In addition to the usual perfective parti c iples ( s imple and
compound ) of transitive ve rbs , whi ch have a pas s ive meaning ,
there is another compound participle in Panj abi made wi th the
help of the verb j a�a : e.g.
parhi a gi a = read (pas t pt . )
Thi s form is not much us e d .

Formation of transi tive and caus ative ve rb s

Transi ti ve verbs can b e formed from certain intransitives b y

changing the root vowel and , where neces s ary , the fol lowing
consonan t :
vikl)a to be for sale vec�a '" to sell
gull}a to be move d doll}a to move ( trans . )
phissl}a to be fi l led phehW1a to fi l l
t:-u!J:a to break , be b roken ton:a to break ( trans . )
marna to die marna to ki l l
There are two categories of causati ves ( causal verbs ) made by
changing the verbal base . Causatives of the firs : category
are made by adding the morphemes -au, -aI , - la u to the
ve rbal bas e ; those o f th e se cond category by adding -vau or
-lva u . I n b o th cas es , th e root vowel ma y change .
 1s t category 2nd ca tegory "'"
\0
causative caus ative
n
::r
u�t:h!)a to rise u�aUl)a to rais e ut:hvaUl)a to cause to be rais e d III
'0
�
hilni
. to move hi launa
.
to move hilva Ul) a to caus e to be moved 11)
.,

( intrans . ) ( trans . ) IN
-
,....
daofna to run dUfaUl)a to chase d llt' va UQ a to caus e to be chased
dekhl}a to look , see dikh a Ul)a , dikhl;iUl)a , dikhvaUl)a to caus e to b e shown
dikhall}a = to show
s ikh!)a to learn s i khaUl)a , s ikhlaUl)a , sikhvaUIJa to cause to be taught
s i khalna = to teach
de!)a to give du;iUl)a , diva Ul)a , di lvaUIJa to cause to be handed
di laUl)a = to hand ove r ove r
ro!)a to weep ruaUlJa , ruvaUl)a , rUlvaUl)a to caus e someone to be
ruall}a to caus e to made to weep
weep
50 Chapte r 3

The causative form of an in transi ti ve verb means ' to induce

someone or some thing to carry out the action denoted by this
intrans itive verb ' : e .g .
us ne mae nu ap�a dos t ba�aia he made me his friend
( i . e . 'made to become ' )
us ne saj j e hatth vic thae la lamkai
she hung her bag on her righ t hand ( i . e . ' caused to h ang ' )
The causative form of a tran s i ti ve verb means ' to cause some­
thing to be done by s omeone ' : e.g.
dikhlaUQa = to show ( i . e . ' cause to b e seen )
or ' to induce someone to do s ome thing ' : e.g.
khi laUQa = to feed ( i . e . ' to caus e to eat ' )
A second ca tegory caus a tive indi cates that two agents
ins tead of one are impli cated in the action : e.g.
us n e cupas I vekhi a k i koI aesa hae j ihra is s anka� paso us
di khalasi karvae = he looked around him - was there no one
who could free him from thi s difficult pos i tion? ( i . e .
' someone who coul d cause s omeone to • • • ')
I t is not possib l e to · form causatives from a l l verbs .
Such ve rbs as paUQa ( = to receive ) , j a�a (= to go) , aUQa
(= to come ) and laUQa (= to bring) do not form caus a tives .

Compound verbs

Denominatives are formed by combining a noun or adj ective with

any of th e following verbs :
kama to do
ho� a to be
rakhi�a to put , hold
along w i th a few others whi ch are less frequently us e d : e .g.
tiar kama to prepare
ti ar ho�a to prepare ones e l f for ( tiar ready )
s imran karna to remind , recall
51 Chapter 3

s imran ho�a to rememb e r , reca l l ( s imran memory )

bharosa rakhi�a to hope ( bharosa = hope )
n i grani rakhina to watch , to s upervise ( nigranI
s upervi sion)
taras auna to feel sympathy ( taras sympa thy ,
compass ion )
I n the las t three e xamples , the noun retains a certain
degree of independence . This is s een when there is a direct
ob j e c t whi ch is in these circums tances governed by the pos t-
pos i ti ons ute , nu, na l , e tc . and a l s o b y the fact tha t
th e ve rb then agrees n o t with the ob j e c t but wi th th e noun
component of the denominative compoun d : e.g.
us nu me re ute taras aunda hae he sympathises wi th me
mae masko cal� da bharos a rakhdi sa I hoped to go to
Moscow
pan j ah s ipahI ne � i l e dI nigrani rakhI fi fty soldiers
guarded the fort

Compound verbal forma ti ons

In compound verbal formations the main seman tic weigh t is

borne by the main sense verb whi le th e s e cond formant los es to
some degree its own origi nal meaning and modi fies in various
ways th e meaning of th e main verb .
1 Formations wi th the truncated particip le of the main
verb ( = base )
Forman t ve rbs give a parti cular s lant to the action
expre s sed by the main verb and indi cate in various ways more
precise ly in wha t manner the action proce e ds or the s tate
contin ues .
The mos t wi dely used of these formant verb s are :
( 1) j � a ( = to go , go away ) , in combinati on w i th a verb of
motion , gives the latter an added meaning of departure , of
�2 Chapter 3

motion away from the pe rcipient s ub j e ct , or away from th e

phy s i cal point in ques tion : e .g.
utar j aQa = to go out , descen d , leave ( utarn a = to des cend)
In combinati on with other verbs - mos tly verbs of s tate - j a�a
indicates a s teady progress from one s ta te to another , or from
one p rocess to another : e .g.
bae� j anda h ae = i s i n th e process o f s i tting down
(2) a�a (= to come , to arrive , approach ) indi cates motion
towards the s cene of the action , or towards th e percipient
s ub j e c t : e.g.
utar a�a = to des cend towards
( 3) cal l�a ( = to go , move ) , and (4 ) turna ( = to go , move )
have very li ttle diffe rence in meaning . The former , cal l�a ,
is not often comb ined with verbs o f motion ; as a rule , i t
indi cates s teady progress from one s tate to another ; turna ,
on the oth e r h an d , is frequently combined wi th ver�s o f
motion , t o whi ch i t gives the meaning of departure from the
scene of action . Both of these verbs can take the p lace o f
j a�a .
(5) laeQa ( = to take , take away ) , and ( 6 ) deQa ( = to give ,
deliver , dis tribute) identify the action expressed by the main
verb as being directed towards the speake r or th e percipient
s ub j e ct ( lae�a) or , away from them ( de�a ) . In mos t cases ,
lae�a gi ves the me an ing of inte res tedness , of action in one ' s
own inte res ts , for ones e l f ; wh ile de�a s ugges ts action on
beha l f of someone else , or the agen t ' s dis interes t in the out-
come : e .g.
bhe j de�a to send away ( from ones e l f ) ( bhej�a = to send)
lu� l ae� a to rob ( lu�a = to rob )
( 7) u���a ( = to get up , s tand up ) serves as an inchoative ,
often also s ugges ting an element of surprise or of unexpecte d­
ness : e.g.
to s tart speaking ( dass�a to speak)
53 Chapter 3

( 8) b6e��� (= to s i t , settle ) conveys the idea of total

comple tion of an action , some times also i ts particularly
ene rge tic comple tion : e.g.
to b urn )
(9) rakhi�a ( = to place , hold) also gives the idea of a more
ene rge tic completion of the action of the main verb : e.g.
bannh rakhil}a to bind s trongly (ban� a to b ind ,
combin e )
10 ) ma rna ( = to beat, s trike , ki l l ) is usual ly combined with
verbs s emantica l ly close to i t , so that the resultan t com­
pound e xpresses an intensi fication of the action of the main
verb : e .g .
vagih marna = to hurl ( violen t ly ) ( vagah�a = to throw )
( 11 ) s u���a ( = t o throw , bea t , s t rike) intensi fies action of
main verb , often wi th the additional notion of alien a tion ,
dispersal , remova l . s U��l}a is clos e in meaning to marna but
s u��a is us ed over a much wi der s emantic field : e .g.
nap i r sU!:FJa to squeeze out to the las t drop (napi rna
to pres s , squeeze )
( 12 ) cukk�a ( = to finish) is not us e d independently . When
i t is us e d w i th the adverbial participle of another verb it
is in th e presen t perfective tense or the pluperfect . It
then emphasi ses the full range o f th e action expressed b y the
ma in verb , its total comple tion - whi ch is in any case indica­
ted by th e tense form used: e.g.
mae j ive agge kah i cukki ha = as I ( f . ) h ave already made
plain b e fore this
( 1 3) cha99Qa ( = leave , abandon ) introduces into the action
the notion of liberation from some th ing or other, the
achievement of a desi rable res ult ; and also th e i dea o f a
s tab l e s tate res ul ting from completion of the action : e.g.
i s maj h nu vec cha99 = s e l l th i s buffalo ! ( ge t rid o f it ! )
54 Chapte r 3

( 14 ) pae�a (= to fa l l , lie , to happen ) gives the idea of the

s urp rise or unexpected nature of the conc lusion of the
ac tion : e .g.
uh kah inda hoia uth paenda with these words he leaps to
his feet
( 15) s akk�a (= to be in a s tate , to be able ) . This ve rb is
not us e d independen tly . combined w i th the adverbial par-
ticiple of another verb it s uggests the like lihood or poss i ­
bil ity th a t the action e xp ressed i n th i s verb wi ll be conc lu­
ded : e .g.
s anu i j azat mil s akdI h ae = we can get permiss i on
2 Forma tions w i th the perfe ctive participle of the main
verb
Duratives : the verb rah i�a ( = to l i ve , dwel l , s tay) empha­
sises the dura tion o f the action : e .g.
uh su�de rahinde han they go on and on lis tening
sari rat mae usnu u9ikdI rahi I ( f . ) wai ted all n i gh t for
him
Dura tive-progressives : j a�a and a�a emphasise th e unbroken
growth of an action : e.g.
admIa dI bhi r. pale pal ghatdi
. j andI s i
the crowds thinne d out wi th eve ry minute that pas s ed
uh s ada n uk tacInI hi k arde ae san
all they ever di d was cri ticise
Comb inations wi th the verb a�a indicate that an action
s tarte d in the pas t is continuing into the present .
3Forma tions wi th the perfective participle of pae � a
The perfective parti ciple of pae �a can combine wi th the pe r­
sonal forms of any ve rb to indi cate dura tion and s ome times
growth of ac tion ; the particip le then agrees wi th the s ub j ec t
in gender an d number : e.g.
; a i d bhe ru p ia aunda hae perhaps this is Bhe ru drawing
near
55 Chapter 3

is da dil dharakda pia s i = his heart con tinued to beat

4 Combination with the verbal noun
I terati ve verbs are formed by combining the formant karna wi th
the ve rbal noun in -ia , whi ch coin cides formally with th e
perfecti ve participle ( e xcept in th e case o f the verb j a�a
whi ch makes its ve rbal noun j aia) . This verbal noun is
indecl inab le : e .g .
uh s ah i r j aia karda s1 he went habi tua l ly to town
tu gaudrej saba� vartia kar wash a lways wi th Gaudre j soap !
5 Combination wi th infin i ti ve in ob lique case
Th e combination of the verb laggQa (= to be attached to) and
the in fini tive of another verb in the ob lique case has an
i te rative meaning : e.g.
uh kamm karan lagga = h e began to work
The combination of pae�a w i th an infin i t i ve in the ob lique
cas e indicates the pos s ib i l i ty of completing the action
expressed in the main ve rb : e .g.
uh dekhaz:! pia he was able to look at it
The combination of de�a with an infinitive in the obl ique
case carries the notion of permission , l eave to do some thing :
e.g.
mae nu bae\:h� de�a = a l low me to s i t down

ADVERBS

Clas s i fi cation of adve rbs by meaning

Quali tative adverbs or adverbs of manne r modi fy verbs , e tc . in

vari ous ways :
canga well
th1k righ t
tez sharp ly
sahi j e = ligh t ly , eas i ly
56 Chapter 3

A specia l group is formed by the quanti tative adve rbs which

denote degree of qua l i ty and intens i ty of action . Adj ectives
in the direct case of the masculine s ingular o ften fulfi l this
func tion : e.g.
bahut very , much
thofa li ttle
ik once
dubara twice , again
kai vari some
Adve rbs of time include :
h un
.
now
savere tomorrow
ajj today
kal yes terday , tomorrow
-

kado when
-

j ado when ( re l ative)

tad then
Adve rbs of place or di rection :
dUr far away
nefe near
upar above
het=ha be low
saj j e on the ri gh t
khcWl.J� un the lett
� adve rbs include :
kiuki = b ecause
is laId= because
k arke = th anks to

MOrphologi cal clas s i fication of adverbs

Morphologica l ly , adverbs can be divided into primary and

derived .
57 Chapter 3

P rimary adve rbs comprise the simple pronominal adverbs

which coincide formal ly with the pronominal adj ectives :
-
inn a , unna so much , so many
u��a , e��a , je<l<la ( re lative ) so much
kinna how much , how many
ke��a how much , how many
j inna how much , how many ( relative )
Adverbs of th e type aj j ( = today ) , h� ( = n ow ) and kal
(= yes terday ) also belong here , as do a few borrowe d words
such as hamesa (Persi an ) (= always ) •

Derived adverbs incl ude :

(1) Adverbs whi ch are the corre latives of adjectives .
Indeclinable adjecti ves are us ed as adverbs without change of
form : e .g.
big (adj . ) , more ( adv . )
correct/correctly
te z = sharp/sha rp ly
Decl inable adjectives us e d as adverbs may e i th e r retain the
form of the direct case of the mas culine singular : e.g.
canga good/well
b ura = bad/badly
or take the oblique case form :
saj j e o n the righ t
khabb e on the left
s ah i j e e as i ly
(2) Adve rbs formed from nouns in their ob lique form ; forma­
tion from the direct form is rare r :
save re in the moming
dine by day
che t! quickly
Nouns wi th pos tpos i tions may also appear as adverb s : e.g.
saver nu = in th e morning
58 Chapte r 3

( 3) Adverbs forme d by reduplication of nouns : e.g.

che tI-che tI qui ckly
galat- ga lat probably
bhI-bhI pers i s tently (bhi = buzzing of a wasp)
Some time s the components are connected by the linking vowel
-0- or by a pos tpo s i ti on : e.g.
dino-din from day to day
rato-rat eve ry night
gha�-to-gha� = very little
che ti-t� -chetI ve ry quickly
( 4) Pos tpo s i tions may also appear as adverbs : e.g.
sihml}e ahead
upar above
kol alongside
(5) Some adverbs are forma l ly iden tical to adverbia l par­
ti ciples , and some are made with the h e lp of the adverbial
particip l e : e.g.
soc-vic;r-ke conscious ly , inte l ligently
citt l;-ke a tten tively
mi l-ke together
dil lag; -ke di ligently

POSTPOS I TIONS

The pos tposi tions s erve to identify the grammatical re lations

between words in the propo s i tion . Pan j abi pos tpos i tions are
eith er primary or derive d .

Pri ma ry pos tpos i tions and their bas i c meanings

da - serves as the affix of the gen i tive cas e , and is

decl ined according to the gender and number o f the noun
fo l lowing i t :
59 Chapter 3

da be fore s ingular mas culine noun in di rect case

de be fore s ingular masculine noun in ob lique case
de be fore plural mas culine noun in direct cas e
dia ( de ) be for� p l ura l masculine noun in ob lique case
dI before s i ngular feminine no� in direct } case
ob lique
dIa before plural feminine noun in di rect } cas e
ob lique
e.g.
mohan da ghO� � Mohan ' s horse
mohan de gho�e nu of ( to ) Mohan ' s horse
moh � de g�o � : Mohan ' s horses
mohan dia gho�ia nu of ( to ) Mohan ' s horses
mohan dI bhae Mohan ' s s i s ter
- -

mohan d1a bhae � a nohan ' s s i s ters

_
mahan dra bhaena nu to Mohan ' s s i s ters
.:
nu serves as an accus ative and dative marke r ; some time s also
as a locative marker : e .g.
us nu de�a to give to him
us nu vekhna
.- to see him
j anvarI nu in January
.:
nu is also us ed to indicate obligation in the cons truction
-
male nu udIkna hae = I have to (ough t to) wait
to ( and i ts variants tho , thI ) is the ab lative marker :
ghar to = from th e house
te and ute bas i ca l ly correspond to the English preposi tion
' on ' : e .g .
manje ute on the bed
-
inha te is gal da asar pia this made an impression on
them
vi c corresponds to the English ' in ' , ' among ' , ' between ' :
apl]e pil)9 vic in one ' s own vi l lage
m\ll} d ia vi c among bcys
60 Chapter 3

tak , tIk corresponds to English ' b e fore ' : e .g.

is qha Ma tak be fore th i s event
rat tI k be fore the night
ne : this pos tpos i tion acts as a s ub j ect marker where th e
predi cate contains the perfective participle of a transi tive
verb : e.g.
us ne kiha he said

Compos i te ( derived) pos tpos i tions

Compos i te pos tpos i tions are derived from meaningful parts of

speech - mos tly from nouns - where the original meaning of the
source word is more or less clearly discernib l e in the resul-
tant o They are compos i te in that they are j oined to the word
they gove rn by means of the primary pos tpos i tions da ( in the
form de or di) and to : e.g.
i s de karan because of this
ghar dI tha instead of the house
mere putt di xati r for the sake of my son
is to b ini wi thout this
bini s ikhae de w i thout ins truction
dupahi r t� baad a f ter mi dday
In modern Pan j ab i there is a tendency to drop the connec­
ti ve parti cle , i . e . the primary pos tpos i tions dii and to ,
in these compos i te formations . Thus , vall , kol , nal ,
upar and some others are used wi thout dii .
A comb ination of the adverLi a l parti ciple wi th the primary
pos tpos i tions may also be used as a pos tpos i tion , as may the
absolute parti cip le : e.g •

.:
us nu chac;IcJ ke e xcluding him
is to vadh ke apart from this , over and above this
kujh din a hoe a few days ago
61 Chapte r 3

Thp.re follows a list of the mos t important derived pos tpos i­

tions in Pan j abi .
ute , te on
upar on , above
andar inside
agge b e fore , in front of
a le-duale around , on all sides
sadka becaus e of , as a res ul t of
sahllll) e be fore , in front of
sIdha b e fore , up to
s ehad to , towards
kol , kole a t , in the possession o f , belonging to
xatir for , on b ehalf of
chufere , car c ufere around , on a l l s i des
taI , tIkar , tI k ,
tilkar , ta�i , takk to , up to , as far as
thalle under , below
na l with , togeth e r with
ne re near , a longs i de , about
pare beyond, outs i de
pas to , at, towards
picche b ehind, beyond
bilhi r outs i de , out of
bajh � , bijh wi thout , exc luding
baad a fter
bina , bin w ithout
bhItar in , ins i de
magar b ehind
rilhI by means o f , with the help of
laI for , for the sake of
val l to , towards
vas te for , for the s ake of
62 Chapter 3

::.
vag like
vi ckar , viskar in , among
The adj e ctive yoga (or j oga ) ( = proper , s ui table) is used
as a pos tpos i tion agreeing with the noun governed by the whole
pos tpos i tional ph rase : e.g.
me re yogi ro�i l i a = bring me bread s ui tab le for me
The pos tpos i tion mara (= becaus e o f , as a res ult o f ) agrees
with the s ub j e c t : e.g.
uh bhar da mara nahi aia he di d not co�e because of
fear
.::
sarm dIa maria kuria nahI aia the girls did not come
because of embarrassment
( confusion )

CONJUNCTIONS

Associative conj unctions

Associ ative con j unctions are s ubdivi ded into :

(a) connective conj unctions :
ate , te and
sago not only , b ut also
nale and , and also
(b ) adversative conj unctions :
aepar , par but
"

hattho but , however

sago , tad vi , ta bhI , phi r bhI neve rtheless
p rantii , lekin but , on the other hand
(c) dis j unctive conj unctions :
athava , ki , j a or
:: =
ja • • • , ja • • • e i ther . . - , or
cahe ei ther . .. , or
in the opposi te case • • . , no , but • . •
63 Chapter 3

Subordinating con j unctions

These include conj unctions of :

(al caus e , result:
i s karke , is vas te = the re fore , for th i s reason

I
ki �ki
-
k i uj u
cunki beca�e
- --
tahio
-
ta j o
(hI

I
res ult :

:: i::�� ki
and s o , there fore

ju

,I ·
(cl in tention , aim
ki
-
ta ki
-
ta j o that
-
mata
mate
i s lai k i in order that , s o that
(d) con d i tion .

kadI
ki te
jad
j ekar
· . .

· . . ,

· . .

· . . ,
, ta

, ta
�
ta
..

-
ta
I _hen . . . , then , i f .
. . , then

je · . .
, ta
(el comparison :
- �

k i , mano = as i f , like
( fl explanation :
ki , j u , pai = that
64 Chapte r 3

(g) place :
j 1 tthe • • . , utthe = whe re • . • , there
(h) re lation :
j o = who , whi ch , that
(1) concess ion :
bhave . . . , par

}
- -
although
bhave . . . , phi r v i
c att e . . . ,

cahe . . . , ta k i
c att e , par
phi r vi

• • •
1 even i f . . . , none the less

(j) ti me :
ki a l l at once

}
jad ki when
j ad , ta � then
when ,
. • •
. • •

j ad • . • , U
j ad to = s ince when
j ad takk ( k i ) unti l
j is same • . • , ta when . . • , then

PARTICLES

Aff i rmative particles

ha , ji, ha j i (= yes ) are placed at the beginning of the

affirmative answer ; ha is us e d in neutral s ty le , whi le ji
and h ; j I are more pol i te . The adverbs zarur and �hIk are
also used as affirmative particles .

Negative particles

na not
nab ! no , not
The particle ma t is us e d only w i th negative i mperative
forms .
65 Chapter 3

Inte rrogative parti cles

ki is the i n te rrogative marker used if the s entence does not

contain the interrogative kiu (= what? )

Emphatic particles

hi is a rein forc j ng and de l imiting particle , corresponding

to ' name ly ' , ' alone ' .
j iha i s a comparat ive particle :
p i ta j iha = l i ke father
ji, sri are added to p roper names in ve ry pol i te addres s .
tak e ven
ta the English e xpre ssions ' well , you see ' ,
' yo u know '
bhar a ll
bhi , vi even ( then) , too , as we l l

INTERJECTIONS

Some of the interjections used in addres s are : oe , he , ve ;

hi is used on ly when address ing a woman . As a rul e , th ey
are placed be fore a noun in the vocative cas e .
The following interj ections express emotions o f various
kinds :
vill , vah! j oy
h� h�, kas s urpris e , disbelief
hae , ui , uph , ha ha , sok sorrow
canga good !
bhala good , fine ! (approval )
cup s ilence !
dure , dur dur away wi th • • • ! off w i th • • • !
behaya , bes arm shame !
oe • • • h us iar , xabardar look out ! be careful !
Chap te r 4

Syntax

THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

The s ub j ect

The s ub j ect in a Pan j ab i sentence is us ual ly in the direct

cas e . Howeve r , i f the verba l predi cate contains th e pe rfec-
tive parti ciple o f a t rans i tive verb then the s ub j ect is in
the oblique case and followed by the pos tposi tion �. If
th e s ub j ect i s a first o r second personal pronoun , � is
omi t ted but the pronominal s ub j ect s ti l l appears i n the
ob lique case : e . g.
mae kake de j anm-din dI xabar s un i I heard the news of
the birth cf the chi l d
� �

t5e mae nu p us taka di tIa han y o u gave m e books

us ne mihnat kItI h� tried ( rrado an

effort)
= '" ::
asa tinn m��ia nu vekhi a s 1 we saw three boys
� �

tusa ih ki tiba pa �h I a han you have read th e s e

books
loka ne zor la ke ph i r dukana usar la I a =
the peop le made renewed efforts and bui l t up the shops

66
67 Chap te r 4

The predi cate

I f the s ub j e c t is in the direct case , the predicate agrees

w i th i t in person , gender and number : e.g.
mae patrika pafh da h � I read ( am rea ding ) the newspaper
larkia b � th gia the girls s a t down
This is known as the s ub j ective cons truc tion .
The ob j ecti ve construc tion is us e d when the predi cate con­
tains the perfective participle of a transi tive verb , in whi ch
cas e the s ub j ect is in the oblique cas e , and the predicate
agrees in gender and numb e r wi th the di rect ob j ect : e.g.
kheti varI de k amm vic unha ne h ae ran karanvalI trakkI
kIti hae = in the fie l d of agri cul ture they have made
s triking progress
I f the predicate con tains both a perfective parti ciple and
a di rect ob j e c t in th e ob lique cas e ma rked by a pos tpos i tion ,
the ve rb is in the form of the masculine s ingula r : e.g •

.::.
tae nu kis ne bulaia who cal led you?
.::.
mae teri bhae nu viah t � pahi la vekhia

I s aw your s i s te r before the marriage

Thi s is known as the neutral cons truc tion .
I f several s ub j e c ts of the s ame gr amma tical gender govern
a single pre dicate , the latter is in the form o f the singular
or p l ural of th e gender to which the s ub j e cts be long . I f the
s ub j e cts are of differing genders , the predicate takes the
gender of the s ub j ect clos e s t to i t in the s entence , or -
less frequently - is put in the form of the masculine plural .
The same rules apply for the agreement of th e predica te wi th
multiple ob j e c ts in the ob jective cons truction : e.g.
i s gha r vi c do mard te tinn m��e ika�the hoe s an
two men and th ree boys as s emb led in this house
.::.
asa do mUQ�e te tinn k Ufra vekhI a
we saw two boys and three girls
68 Chapte r 4

is kamre vic tinn mUQ�e te do kUfia ae han =

three boys and two gi rls came in to th i s room

The case may arise where one s ub j ect governs two or more
predicates containing perfective parti ciples of both trans i -
tive and in trans i ti ve verbs . I n this case , th e s ub j ect wi ll
appear ei ther in th e direct or the oblique case according to
wh i ch type of participle is contained in the predica te c loses t
to i t ( the s ub j ect) ; and each of the ve rbs wi l l take i ts own
due form irrespecti ve of the form of the s ub j ect : e.g.
h e came down and
drank a cup of tea
unha ne patrika pafhi te gharo niklia
he fin i shed reading the pape r and wen t out of the hous e

Secondary componen ts

1 The ob j ect . The ob ject of a transi tive verb is ei ther in

the dire c t case or - if i t denotes a speci fic ob j ect - in th e
=
ob l ique case w i th the pos tposi tion nu: e.g.
uh citthi pa �h da h� he reads a le tter
uh mae nu vekhcta h� he sees me
=
I t is cus tomary for anima te nouns to be marked with nu.
2 Th e attribute . This may be an adj ective , a parti cip le or
- and it agrees w i th the word qua l i fi e d in
a n ume r a l in -a ,

gende r , n umb e r and case ( direct or obl ique ) : e .g.

cangi pus tak = good book
va��a ghar = big house
va9�e gharo = from ( o ut of) the big house )
Where one attribute re lates to several nouns whi ch di ffer
in gr amma tical gende r , the attribute agrees in gender w i th th e
noun nea res t to i t : e.g.
mere putt te dhi = my son and daughter
69 Chapter 4

Word order in the sentence

In the s imple sen tence the s ub j ect s tands at the beginning and
th e predicate at the end : e .g.
harI ne gurmIt n u vekhia = Hari s aw Gurmi t
The obj ect usually pre cedes the predicate ; the direct
obj e c t fol lows the indi re c t : e.g.
s a� j amat ne i k munde n u k a l ap�a mani �ar c� lia
yes terday our class pi cked a boy to be class monitor
( pre fe ct)
The attribute precedes the word qua l i fi e d : e.g.
uh kurup , patla la�ka s 1 = he was a n ugly , thin boy
A predicative adj unct follows the word quali fied and pre cedes
the predicate : e.g.
ku�1 rondi hoI gha r a vafi weeping , the gi rl ran into
the hous e
Spatial and temporal modifi ers are placed be tween the s ub j ect
and the predicate . Temporal modi fiers us ual ly precede
spatial ones : e.g.
ik vidiarth1 savere skul a i a in the morning one pupil
came to s chool
These modifiers may also s tand at the beginning of the
sentence : e.g.
�
a j j us ne mi ttr nu vekhia = today he saw his friend
Adverb i a l phrases of manne r are p laced between th e predi ca te
and the ob j e c t : e.g.
- -

mae us nu cangI tarha maria I ( f . ) gave him a proper

beating
The order of words a s here des cribed is norma lly re tained in
i n te rrogative and exclamatory sentences , but may be ch anged
for express i ve reasons . I f a word is to be particularly
emphas i s e d , it can move to the beginning of the s entence .
Some times syntactic components may exchange thei r norma l
orde r : e.g.
70 Chap te r 4

uh nab I s i j ;u:di = he knew absolutely nothing about it

In some cases , the predicate may pre cede the s ub j ect : e.g.
bahut s undar s I uh ranI the queen was very beauti ful

COMPOSI TE SENTENCE

The complex s entence

TWo simp le sentences can be united to form a comp lex sentence

by means of con j unctions and connective words : e.g.
s i n ama xatm ho gia te asi ghar mur pae = the film ended and
we wen t home
The conne ctive may not always be expressed .

The compound sen tence

Word orde r i n p rincipal and s ubordinate clauses is the s ame

as in simple sentences . I t is us ual for the subordinate
claus e wi th re la tive conj unctions to precede the principal
claus e .
An attributive s ubordinate c lause i s in troduce d by the
pronoun jo ( = whi ch , that , who ) , or by the pronominal adj ec-
tive j ih ra ( = whi ch ) • The corresponding component in the
principal claus e is the relative pronoun uh ( = that , s uch a ) :
e.g.
;:
j is duk�n vi c mae bae �; sa uh s i tal s ingh III hd.. �

the sh op in whi ch I was si tting be longs to S ital S ingh

mae j ih �a nava l kharIdia uh chetI gumm ho gia =

the nove l I bought soon got los t

I f the word to which the s ubordinate claus e re fers is at th e
e n d of the principal c lause , th e s ubordinate claus e may
fol low the latter : e.g.
gh ar vi c ik is tr1 a1 j i s da putt lapata ho gia
i n to the hous e came the woman whose son -..,as missing
71 Chapter 4

sometimes the attrib utive s ub ordinate c lause is ins erted into

th e principal clause immediately after the word governed by
it: e.g.
uh gi anI j ih ra mae nu kal mi lia s a�e skul avega
the s cienti s t who met me yes terday wi ll come to our s chool
A completive s ubordinate c lause fol low s the principal clause
and is int roduced by the con j unction ki : e.g.
us ne s amjhia k i mae nu ih ciz cangI na lag1
he unders tood that this thing did not p lease me ( that I
did not like this thing)
Some times the word ki introduces direct speech , that i s
t o s ay , it p lays the part of inverted commas : e.g.
us ne kiha k i mae chetI ghar vapas avaga =
he said : ' I ' l l go home quickly '
A s ubordinate clause of ti me or place is in troduced by a
rel ative adve rb and is normally p laced be fore the principal
claus e : e .g.
j ado mae kake de j anm din d1 xabar s w:1 ta mae n u bahut
when I heard tha t the chi l d was born , I felt a
gre a t j oy
j i tthe gal l karo utthe ap�i i zzat p�eda karo =
whe re you de live r a speech you make yours e l f respected
A s ub ordinate clause of cause follows the principal claus e ,
and i s in troduced b y CClUl:i Cl l c.;onne c tives , e.g.

mae i s la1 nahi j a sakia k i me re p i ta j I b imar s an =

I COUldn ' t go for the reason that my father was i ll

uh pas ho gia kitiki us ne mihna t k1 t1 s1 =

he pas sed the e xamination be cause he s tudied very hard

A s ubordinate clause of purpos e us ual ly fol lows the principal
clause and is introduced by s uch conj unctions as ki and
ta jo (= so that) : e .g.
cit de ke pa�ho ta j o s aphalata prapt kar s ako
s tudy diligently so as to be s ucces s ful
72 Chapte r 4

A condi tional s ubordinate cla us e is int roduced by the conj unc­

tions je (= i f ) , agar ( if) , whi ch may , howeve r , be ommi t-
-
=

ted . Th e link word in the main claus e is ta , whi ch may

also be omi tte d : e.g.
- =
tu saphalata prap t kar l aw� ga j e ci t nu tika ke pa fhega
you w i l l be succes s ful i f you (wi ll ) s tudy di ligently
� �

is tara karo ta �Ik hove i f you do so ( l ike th i s ) , i t

w i l l b e right
Indi cative , s ub j unctive and condi tional forms may be used
in condi tional s ubordinate claus es , depending on the degree
to whi ch the condi tions are rea l or unreal
A conces s i ve s ubordinate clause is in troduced by the con j unc­
tion bhav� (= a l though ) : e.g.
phi r vI uh dhokhebaz nahi bhav� uh � arib h�
a lthough he i s poor , he is not a cheat
S ubordinate claus es o f manne r , comparison , degree and res u l t
follow the principal clause and a r e in troduced by s uch con­
j unct ions as j is tarh a ( = as ) , j inna ( = ( i n ) as much as ) ,
i, e tc . : e.g.
I have done as
you sai d
j inna cangiai karoge unni i zzat paoge in so far as you
do goo d , in so far wi l l you acquire fame ( glor/ )
Specimen text
( From Nanak S i n gh , Adam-khor , Amri tsa r , 19 5 3 )

'H11.f� i=ll � (Ii ]:Il'Efl i Ul o �;3f�lHi 'ill �� � 'R�:ai"iT

'
-

� ac �la 'lITEl l I.IQ R7fe;:! ftt;' nl� '01 €'R �� H e')

(lli u1' ]:11 s falW I �u �� 50 �1 l! ;IT �1J ;rui!:�Tl'51 1'11,
�;:! fif 1.131 r{ @R � ]:I�-a , UJa' fn Ol i'Se 3' IIfill'51 �u"T

f3u'Gl � f'2iit l'5�1 f8R'G fOleT'i!l 'R1 ;a1;;1i fl'S'I\Il�e ��I

=

�v lW" RIQl fi!'il131 �3 � 3 � �v(lii ;a1i;ll �l f<ne 31

fine;:!l 0\11 ]:11 �\I31lWi i!�l�i f�nj 3' l.lIo f�� ,�fiit1 lH i
5�1'1J.1i 'An , 3 i'ilti5 ol� 1.431 �3 q ;:Il �llWi �2;:!1 Q'il1
'Al l �"R � f':tlW1 l'5 f�� }ra� �l �nTnl �3 ]:/; 3' glol
'IJ.Ifn'IJ.Il�· 5 f� �\1 " n 1 n1 ;{ 3i \lQ � i5 {3R cl lHi
f;:iH�lal'1J.1i f'il-31 f;f31 � � 'R�I af.ft!l 5 I.fQ lWTI..Ii�l '1J.1i
fifH�lQll)li 3' vl1J;1i 1').[l;4i H121 a � c l 5 1

TRANSCRIPTION
- -

apQe j I van- s athI nu gha r va�d ia hI vekh-ke s ulocana ne

phat:kar paL par said inne nal hI us da man nahI sI bharia ,
uh a j e hor vi b a �a kujh kahi� �a 1I s I , j ad ki patI n u us nc
save re gha r� n ik a 1 an t� pah i 1 a duh ra tihra ke ik lammI l i s t.
.

� �
... ...

g i � I s I cI za l i a� laI . uh aj � a rI � iha�
m � -mu � -ke wlna
�
c I za dI gIn tI g i n dI rah I sI j ehrIa
. k aI; dina to ghar vi c
- � . -

mukkIa: hoIa s an , t e na 10-na 1 pa tI ute kacIcIa: va � �dI rah I sI .

us de xi � l vi c ma rd da zan anI ute s abbh t� bharI an iau h ae k i

73
74 Spe cimen text

un zananI n � ta har ve le us dI : zimmevaria c itta-ci tta-ke

kos d� rahin� hae , par ap�i a zimmev�rIa t� hamesa akkha-mI�I
rakh� hile .

TRANS LATION

At the sigh t of her life-companion ente ring the house ,

S ulochana fe l t shocked . Evidently , even this (his re turn)
did no t bring satis faction to her min d ; now s h e me a n t t o say
far more to her husband than she had in the morn ing , when ,
be fore he l e f t the hous e , she had given him a long lis t of all
the things th a t had to be bough t . Today , she had spent the
whole day reckoning up , over and over again , all the things
that h ad been lacking for s ome time now in the house , and at
the s ame time ge tting angrier w i th her "husband . I t was her
opinion that ( as she s aw it) the chie f i n j us ti ce in the re la­
tionship be tween man and woman lay in the fact that the man
is continua l ly abus ing the woman , reminding her of her ob li­
gations wh i le shutting his eyes to his own ob ligations .

VOCABULARY

ap� a one ' s own (his , hers ) : reflexive ­

pos ses sive pronoun
l i fe companion ( m . l : de terminative
compound
nu pos tpos i tion for acc . and dat . case
ghar in to the house : loca tive cas e
vardi a hI adverb i al participle from verb var�a
(= to go)
vekh-ke participle of vekhQa (= to see , to look )
sUlocana proper name ( f . )
ne pos tpos i tion in di ca ting agent
75 Specimen te xt

pha �kar blow ( f . )

pai thi rd person singular feminine pas t p e rfective
of paUIJa (= to receive)
par b ut : adve rsative conj unc tion
., -
s aid possibly , pe rhaps : adve rb
inna such a : pronomina l adj ective
nal wi th , wi th the he lp of: pos tpos i tion
hi only , n ame ly : emphatic particle
us ob lique case of th i rd personal pronoun
uh (= he , i t )
da pos tposi tion of genitive cas e
man mind , spirit (m . )
nah i not : negative
bharia s i thi rd person singular mas culine of p l u­
perfect of verb bharna ( = to be fil led up
with , s a ted w i th , content wi th )
uh di re c t case of thi rd personal pronoun
he , she , i t
aje up to now , s ti l l : adverb o f time
hor s ti l l , more : adverb of manner
vi e ven : parti c le
bara big : adj ective
kujh some : inde fini te p ronoun
kahilJvalI about to speak : participle of i nten tion
from kahilJa (= to speak )
j a d ki when : conj unction
s ave re in the morning : adve rb of time
gharo from the house : abla ti ve case
nikalan ob lique cas e of in fini tive of nikal�a
(= appear , be revealed)
to pahi la before : compound pos tpos ition
duhra - tihra-ke compound formed from the parti ciples of
76 Specimen te xt

two verbs c los e to each other in meaning :

duhraur: a (= repeat) ( speak for the second
time ) and tihrauI}a ( = repea t) ( s ay for the
third time ) plus one participial marke r ,
ke
ik one : cardinal number
lanuna long : adj ective
l i s !­ list ( f . )
gi�ai s i third person singular feminine pluperfec t
of qiI}aUI}a (= cause to be counted ,
enumerate)
ob lique case of in fini tive of liaUI}a
( = bring)
laI for , on behalf o f : postpos i tion
diha�-I day ( f . )
mur-mur-ke again and again : adverb
ihna ob l ique case plural of pronoun uh
( = th a t , thes e )
ciza ob lique case p lural of c i z ( = thing ( f . »
gir:tI amoun t , quanti ty ( f . )
giI}di rahI s i verbal compound , pas t durati ve ( con tin­
uous ) of gi�n a ( = count , reckon )
which : rela tive adj ectiva l pronoun ,
feminine p lural
kaIa ob liq ue case plural of indefinite pronoun
' some '
dina ob lique cas e plura l of din ( = day ( f . »
to pos tp os i tion of ab lative case
vic in: pos tposi tion
compound perfective particip le of mukkr:a
(= be finished) in feminine p l '.1ra l form
s an third person p lural , s imp le pas t of
auxi liary hor:a
77 Specimen te xt

and : conj unction

toge ther wi th , along with : adverb
ute on : pos tpos i tion
kac I c Ia p l ural of kac I c I ( = gnashing o f teeth )
va ��d I rah I sf ve rbal compound of durat i ve ( conti n uous )
aspe ct of va�� a ( = to twis t , rol l , bind) ,
p l us auxiliary , in s i ngular feminine
though t , opinion ( f. )
zanani woman ( f . )
bh a ri heavy , b i g : variant of adj ective bh a ra
aniau inj us ti ce ( f . )
hie third person s ingular of presen t tens e of
auxi l i ary verb ho�a
ki that : subordinating con j unction
har vele continuous ly , all � I e time : adverb of
time
zimmevaria plural of zimmevari ( = responsib i l i ty ,
ob ligation ( f . »
redup l i ca ted particip le of ci t ta UQa
(= to remind) , express es uninte rrupted
or repeated ac tion
kosda rahinda hae verbal compound of durative ( continuous )
aspect of kos� a ( = to s cold , reprove ) in
th i rd person mas culine singula r , present
tense
harnes a always : adverb
akkh a - mI tI covering the eyes ( f . ) : dete rminative
compound
th i rd person s i ngular mas culine of present
tense of rakhi� a ( = to place , put , hold)
Bibliography

Bai ley , T . G . , ' Panj ab i Phonetic Reader ' , London , 19 1 4 .

Cummi ngs , T . F . , Ba i ley , T . G . , ' Panjabi Manua l and Gramma r , A
Gui de to the Col loquial Panjab i of the Northern Panj ab ' ,
Calcutta , 19 25 .
Grierson , G . , ' Lingui s tic S urvey of India ' , vol . I X , p ar t 1 ,
Indo-Aryan Fami ly , Centra l Group , Calcutta , 1 9 1 6 .
New ton , E . P . , ' Panj ab i Grammar ' , Lodhiana , 189 8 .
Shackle , C . , 'Panj ab i ' (Teach Yourse l f S . ) , London , 19 72 .
S i ngh , Karam , ' Navin pan j � I viakara� ' , bhag 2 , Amri ts a r ,
19 31 -
Singh J.lan , Mohan , ' Pa n j � I viakaraJ} , , Jalandhar , 19 5 7 .
S ingh Sodhi , Surindar , ' Saphal pan j � r viakara� " Jalandhar ,
19 56 .
S ingh , Bhai May a , ' The Panj�I Dictionary ' , Lahore , 189 5 .
S i ngh , Gurcaran and S ingh , Saran , ' pan j � I - Eng lish Dictionary ' ,
Amri tsar , 19 5 4 .

78
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79
LAN G UAG ES OF AS IA AND AFR ICA
1 The Swah i l i Language
2 The Panjabi Language
3 The Languages of South Asia
4 The Polynesian Languages
5 The Hausa Language
The Panjabi Language
Panjabi (or Punjab i ) is spoken by about 35 mil lion people in the
Panjab region of Pakistan and India. and is the vehicle for recording
the teachings of the gurus of the Sikh religion. In the last thirty years
its use for official documents. education and literature has grown
considerably.
This is the second volume i n the Languages of Asia and Africa
series. The book was originally publ ished in a very limited edition in
the Soviet U n ion and has now been fully revised by the author for this
new translation into English .

The Panjabi Language covers phonology and script . vocabulary.

morphology. syntax and a specimen tex t . I t provides a useful
summary of g rammar both for begin ners and for those a l ready
familiar w ith the language.

Natalya Tolstaya was educated at Len ingrad U niversity and

obtained her doctorate in 1 956. Si nce then she has worked as an
editor and freelance writer and translator

ISBN 0-7 1 00-0939-9