# Majhi dialect

Majhi (Shahmukhi: ماجھی; Gurmukhi: ਮਾਝੀ; Punjabi:), also known as Central Punjabi, is the most widely-spoken dialect of the Punjabi language, natively spoken in the Majha region of Punjab in present-day Pakistan and India. The dialect forms the basis of Standard Punjabi.
The native speakers of the dialect are known by the demonym 'Majhail'.

## Subdialects and geographic distribution

There are various subdialects of Majhi spoken across Majha. Although each city or district speaks slightly differently from the next, there are a few major categories of Majhi subdialects.
* Central Majhi, spoken in Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura districts and nearby areas
* Eastern Majhi, spoken in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts as well as surrounding areas
* Northern Majhi, spoken in Gujranwala, Sialkot and Wazirabad districts as well as surrounding areas
* Northeastern Majhi, spoken in Narowal, Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts
* Northwestern Majhi, spoken in Gujrat, Jhelum and Bhimber (Azad Kashmir) districts

## Notable features
### Pronominal suffixes

One of Majhi's most noteworthy features is the usage of pronominal suffixes, which it shares with Western Punjabi.
Pronominal suffixes are auxiliary replacements of the copula which act like pronouns. They function as a particular thematic role and agree to it in person and number (as a pronoun would).
The thematic/syntactic roles a pronominal suffix can function as are:
* the direct case subject
* the ergative agent
* the possessive determiner
* the addressee
Majhi uses pronominal suffixes for the second and third persons and, similar to Western Punjabi, for both present and past tense.
| Tense | Present | Present | Past | Past |
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| 2nd | ī ਈ ای | jē ਜੇ جے | sāī ਸਾਈ سائی | sājē ਸਾਜੇ ساجے |
| 3rd | sū ਸੂ سُو | ne ਨੇ نے | sāsū ਸਾਸੂ ساسُو | sāne ਸਾਨੇ سانے |
Examples in perfect transitive verbs (marking the ergative agent):
| Tense | Person | Number | Majhi | Standard Punjabi | Translation |
| present | 2nd | sing. | kī kītā ī? | tē̃ kī kītā hē? | What hast thou done? |
| present | 2nd | pl. | jinnā khādhā je | jinnā tusā̃ khādhā hē | As much as you have eaten |
| present | 3rd | sing. | mēnū̃ suṇāī sū | osne mēnū̃ suṇāī hē | He/She hath told me |
| present | 3rd | pl. | pāṇī pītā ne | ehnā̃ ne pāṇī pītā hē | They have drunk water |
| past | 2nd | sing. | jēs tarhā̃ ghallīā̃ sāī | jis tarhā̃ tē̃ ghallīā̃ san | In the way thou had sent them |
| past | 2nd | pl. | cacer seātā sāje | tusā̃ cacer seātā sī | You had recognised cousin |
| past | 3rd | sing. | aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe sāsū? | esne aṉḍe nū̃ riddhe san? | Had he/she boiled the egg? |
| past | 3rd | pl. | laṛāī kītī sāne | ehnā̃ ne laṛāī kītī sī | They had had a fight |
- Alternate auxiliary verbs
First person singular ā̃ or jē (ਆਂ, ਜੇ / آں، جے) is used. E.g. mẽ karnā ʷā̃ / jē (ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ, ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਜੇ / میں کرنا آں، میں کرنا جے)
Third person singular ī or è (ਏ, ਵੇ, ਈ / اے، وے، ای) is used. E.g. ṓ kardā ī (ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਈ / اوہ کردا ای)

### Copula

The Majhi copula does not differ from Standard Punjabi, except for in the third-person plural, where instead of han (ਹਨ / ہَن), it uses ne (ਨੇ / نے) or nẽ (ਨੇਂ / نیں).
| Phrase | Majhi | Standard Punjabi |
| They sleep | oh sōnde nẽ ਓਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਨੇਂ اوہ سوندے نیں | oh sōnde han ਉਹ ਸੌਂਦੇ ਹਨ اوہ سوندے ہن |

### Other Features

Nasalisation of tusī̃ (ਤੁਸੀਂ / تُسِیں) and asī̃ (ਅਸੀਂ / اَسِیں) are often not realised in Majhi, thus said as tusī (ਤੁਸੀ / تُسی) and asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی) respectively.
In colloquial Majhi, the s sound in many words shifts to an h, such as in asī (ਅਸੀ / اَسی), sāḍā (ਸਾਡਾ / ساڈا) and pēse (ਪੈਸੇ / پیسے), being heard as ahī, hāḍā and pēhe respectively.
hē(gā) sī is used instead of sīgā.
- Adverbial pronouns Majhi uses its own class of adverbial pronouns which, at their base, are common with Western Punjabi dialects; in contrast to the individually distinct class used by Eastern Punjabi dialects.
| Adverbial pronoun | Majhi | Malwai | Doabi | Pahari-Pothwari | Hindko | Saraiki | Jhangvi | Dhani | Shahpuri |
| Like this | enj اینج | ēvẽ ایویں | ēddā̃ ایدّاں | inj اِنج | injū اِنجوُ | hinj / īvẽ اِیویں / ہِنج | inj اِنج | inj اِنج | inj اِنج |
| Like that | unj اُنج | ōvẽ اوویں | ōddā̃ اودّاں | unj اُنج | unjū اُنجوُ | hunj / ōvẽ اوویں / ہُنج | unj اُنج | unj اُنج | unj اُنج |
| How | kinj کِنج | kivẽ کِویں | kiddā̃ کِدّاں | kinj کِنج | kinjū کِنجوُ | kinj / kīvẽ کِیویں / کِنج | kinj کِنج | kinj کِنج | kinj کِنج |
- Use of -na verb ending instead of -da ending for first-person and second-person point of view
| Phrase | Majhi | Standard Written Punjabi |
| I do | mẽ karnā ʷā̃̀ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਨਾ ਆਂ میں کرنا آں | mẽ kardā hā̃ ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ میں کردا ہاں |
| Let's (m.) go home | asī kàr jāne ā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਘਰ ਜਾਨੇ ਆਂ اسی گھر جانے آں | asī̃ kàr jānde hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਘਰ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ اسی گھر جاندے ہاں |
| We (f.) do | asī̃ karniyā̃ ʷā̃̀ ਅਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਆਂ اسی کرنِیاں واں | asī̃ kardiyā̃ hā̃ ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਾਂ اسی کردِیاں ہاں |
| You (sing.) do | tū̃ karnā aĩ̀ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਨਾ ਐਂ تُوں کرنا ایں | tū̃ kardā haĩ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈਂ تُوں کردا ہیں |
| You (f.pl.) do | tusī karniyā̃ ò/je ਤੁਸੀ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ ਓ/ਜੇ تسی کرنِیاں او/جے | tusī̃ kardiyā̃ ho ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹੋ تسی کردِیاں ہو |

### Examples of Majhi

| Sentence | Sentence | IPA | Translation |
| Shahmukhi | Gurmukhi | IPA | Translation |
| تُوں لہور جاندا سیں | ਤੂੰ ਲਹੌਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੈਂ | /tũː lə̯ɔ̂ːɾᵊ d͡ʒaːndaː sɛ̃ː/ | You used to go to Lahore |
| میں پہلوں ہی آکھدا ساں | ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲੋਂ ਹੀ ਆਖਦਾ ਸਾਂ | /mɛ̃ː pɛ̌ːlːõː îː aːkʰːᵊdaː sãː/ | I've already said it |
| اودݨ بھرجائی کتھے سن | ਓਦਣ ਭਰਜਾਈ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਸਨ | /oːdːəɳᵊ pə̂ɾᵊd͡ʒaːiː kɪtʰːeː sənᵊ/ | Where were the sisters-in-law that day? |

## Subdialectal differences
### Eastern Majhi

Eastern Majhi refers to the subdialect native to region of Majha east of Lahore, i.e. the Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts and surrounding areas. It is also spoken by the descendants of those who migrated out of these areas.
The subdialect has considerable Doabi influence, and often uses the past-tense inflection of the verb ḍahiṇā (ਡਹਿਣਾ / ڈہݨا) to form continuous tenses, rather than pēṇā (ਪੈਣਾ/ پَیݨا) which is used by most other Majhi subdialects and Punjabi dialects.
| Phrase | Eastern Majhi | General Majhi | Standard Punjabi |
| He was doing | eh karaṇ ḍahiā sī ਏਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹਿਆ ਸੀ اوہ کرݨ ڈہیا سی | eh kardā peā sī ਏਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ اوہ کردا پیا سی | eh kar rahiā sī ਇਹ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ اوہ کر رہیا سی |
| She is doing | oh karaṇ ḍahī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਣ ਡਹੀ ਹੈ اوہ کرݨ ڈہی اے | oh kardī paī hē ਓਹ ਕਰਦੀ ਪਈ ਹੈ اوہ کردی پئی ہے | oh kar rahī hē ਉਹ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ اوہ کر رہی ہے |

### Northwestern Majhi

Northwestern Majhi refers to the subdialect spoken in the northwestern side of the Majha region in Pakistan, primarily in the districts of Gujrat, Jhelum, and Bhimber.
In these areas, word-initial 'h' is fainter and more tonal, eventually disappearing in upper Punjabi dialects like Pahari-Pothwari and Hazarewal Hindko, as well as Dogri. Words like hatth (ਹੱਥ / ہَتّھ) "hand" are said more as àtth.
Another notable difference is the use of the suffix -dā instead of -gā for indicative future tense.
| Standard / Central Majhi | Northwestern Majhi | Meaning |
| kare gā ਕਰੇਗਾ کرے گا | kare dā ਕਰੇਦਾ کرے دا | [he] will do |
| khāṇ gīā̃ ਖਾਣਗੀਆਂ کھاݨ گیاں | khāṇ dīā̃ ਖਾਣਦੀਆਂ کھاݨ دیاں | [they] (f.) will eat |
| jāvo ge ਜਾਵੋਗੇ جاوو گے | jāvo de ਜਾਵੋਦੇ جاوو دے | [you] (pl. m.) will go |
| samjhā̃ gī ਸਮਝਾਂਗੀ سمجھاں گی | samjhā̃ dī ਸਮਝਾਂਦੀ سمجھاں دی | [I] (f.) will understand |