A Reference Grammar Of Punjabi
A Reference Grammarof Punjabi1
Harjeet Singh GillHenry A. Gleason, Jr.A Reference Grammarof Punjabi2013 revised edition byMukhtiar Singh Gill2
PREFACEA Reference Grammar of Punjabi was first published as Hartford Studies in Linguistics,number 3, in 1962. The Patiala edition differs from the Hartford version in two respects :the revised section on the phonology of Punjabi reflects my stay at Paris (1964-68) as amember of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique with Professor Andre Martinetand there are two new chapters-On the Concept of Linguistic Sanjam and the Phonology ofPunjabi as compared to that of Hindi and other Aryan languages; secondly, in the chapterdealing with morphology and syntax, the Punjabi examples are given in Gurumukhiorthography instead of earlier phonemically transcribed words or phrases.If I had enough time, I would probably have rewritten the second part also to bring itcloser to my present theoretical inclinations. In a reference grammar of this type, however,the traditional presentation is perhaps more suited. Moreover, the syntactic analysis basedon the syntagmatic autonomy or the functional independence of phrases followed in thisgrammar is definitely closer to the Punjabi sentence patterns. This autonomy plays a vitalrole in stylistics and the present writer considers style to be an integral part of language,whatever level of discourse we may be analysing. The primordial interest here is not only toconstruct the so-called grammatical sentences but those sentences which serve tocommunicate the ideas or impressions most effectively. The ideal is communication, not justtalking. This is why, most of the examples given in this grammar are taken directly fromcontemporary literature. Those who are interested in a further expose of these views mayrefer to my article, Syntaxe fonctionnelle du pendjabi, published in the proceedings of theInternational Congress of Linguists, Bucharest, 1967.In the running text of the second part, the words written in Gurumukhi aresometimes given in oblique bars. This is by oversight and no phonemic significance may beattached to them.I regret very much that in preparing the Patiala edition. I did not have the privilegeof discussing all these changes with Professor Gleason under whose guidance the firstversion was presented.In the end I would like to thank Danielle Gill with whom I discussed many of thesetheoretical issues and who read the first part of this grammar with me.Patiala, November, 1969.Harjeet Singh Gill3
The 2013 edition is annotated and revised by Mukhtiar Singh Gill, ProjectAssociate with the active participation of Professor Gurpreet Singh Lehal, Directorof the Advanced Centre for the Technical Development of Punjabi Language,Literature and Culture, Punjabi University, Patiala.Harjeet Singh GillProfessor of EminencePunjabi University, Patiala, 2013.4
CONTENTSPREFACE3,4CHAPTER 1. ON THE CONCEPT OF LINGUISTIC SANJAM11CHAPTER 2. PHONOLOGY152.1 Consonants152.2 Phonetics of the consonants172.3 Notes on the oppositional network and neutralisation.182.4 Final clusters202.5 Medial clusters212.5.1 Geminates212.5.2 Clusters of stops - /ḷ/, /r/, or /ṛ/222.6 Vowels232.7 Phonetics of the vowels252.8 Notes on the oppositional set-up and neutralization262.9 Diphthongs272.10 Disyllabic vowel sequences272.11 Semivowels and glides282.12 Nasalised vowels302.13 The status of /a/31CHAPTER 3. TONES323.1 Oppositions323.2 Phonetics of the tones323.3 Notable vocalic variations345
3.4 Neutralisation353.5 Contrastive tonal contours353.6 Neutralisation363.7 A note on terminology363.8 Contrastive phenomenon in other languages36CHAPTER 3-A. THE PHONOLOGY OF PUNJABI AS COMPARED TOTHAT OF HINDI AND OTHER ARYAN LANGUAGES37CHAPTER 4. GURUMUKHI ORTHOGRAPHY414.1 General notes414.2 The alphabet424.3 Vowels and accessory signs434.4 Numerals and special characters454.5 Conjunct consonants and clusters464.6 Unwritten vowels474.7 “Voiced aspirates”514.8 The letter ਹ534.9 The vowels ”ਿ and ੁ544.10 The letter ਲ554.11 Irregular and morphophonemic writing554.12 Spellings for consonants574.13 Spellings for vowels and tones59PART IICHAPTER 5. PARTS OF SPEECH AND INFLECTION635.1 Word classes635.2 Morphophonemic adjustments-vowels646
5.3 Morphophonemic adjustments-consonants655.4 Nouns665.5 Pronouns685.6 Correlatives705.7 Gender715.8 Adjectives725.9 Numerals735.10 Tables of numerals765.11 Alternative method of counting775.12 Postpositions775.14 Verbal auxiliaries785.15 Causative extensions795.16 Basic verb paradigms805.17 Additional verb paradigms825.18 Present885.19 Past895.20 Future925.21 Hortative945.22 Optative955.23 Imperative955.24 Infinitives965.25 Verb stems975.26 Comparison with Hindi98CHAPTER 6. NOMINAL PHRASES1006.1 Definition and classification1006.2 One-word phrases1016.3 Modifiers of nouns1027
6.4 Order of modifiers of nouns1046.5 Modifiers of adjectives1056.6 Modifiers of numerals1076.7 Connectives1086.8 Apposition1096.9 Compounds1096.10 Postpositions1116.11 Examples112CHAPTER 7. VERB PHRASES1227.1 Scope and classification1227.2 Conjunct verbs1247.3 Catenatives1257.4 Reinforcers1317.5 Verbal compounds1367.6 Main verbal phrases1377.7 Subordinate verbal phrases1437.8 Adjectival and nominal verbal phrases1457.9 Longer phrases147CHAPTER 8. CLAUSES1498.1 Clause elements1498.2 The ‘indirect object’1498.3 The ‘direct object’1508.4 The ‘object’1508.5 Concord1528.6 Clause patterns1538
8.7 Postpositional phrases160CHAPTER 9. EMPHASIS1619.1 Principles1619.2 Meanings of particles1639.3 ਈ, ਹੀ1639.4 ਵੀ1649.5 ਜੁ1669.6 ਤੇ, ਤਾਂ1679.7 ਸਹੀ, ਭਲਾ1699.8 ਖਾਂ1709.9 ਹਾਂ1719.10 ਹੈ1719.11 ਥੁਹੜਾ1729.12 ਕਾਹਦਾ1729.13 ਿਕ1739.14 ਗਾ1739.15 ਨਾ1749.16 Iteration176CHAPTER 10. COORDINATION AND SENTENCE SEQUENCING17810.1 Coordination and balance17810.2 Connectives18010.3 ਜੇ.ਤਾਂ18110.4 Correlatives18210.5 Other patterns of coordination1859
10.6 Styles18610.7 Word order18610.8 Phrase order18710.9 Phrase order and sequencing19010.10 Pronoun omission19310.11 One phrase sentences19610.12 Poetic syntax197ABBREVIATIONS202WORKS QUOTED20310
ON THE CONCEPT OF LINGUISTIC SANJAMFollowing Ferdinand de Saussure, we believe that a linguistic structure is likea game of chess where the elements or pawns must be described in terms of their internalrelationship and oppositions. The structure of the labial oppositions p/b/ph/bh in Sanskrit,p/b/ph in Punjabi, p/b in English and a single labial stop /p/ in Tamil demonstrates clearlythat the function of /p/ in each language is different. The oppositional network of dental andretroflex stops in Sanskrit, Punjabi, English and Tamil is as hthṭhddḍdḍdhḍhṭIn simple mathematical terms, we can summarise the systems as 2 4, 2 3, and2 1. The division of the phonetic domains and the phonological arrangement in each ofthese language is congruent only to the oppositional network peculiar to the languageconcerned. In other words, each language has its own structural economy. We may comparea few vowel systems to see how different the structural organisations can be.LatinArabicTurkishPunjabiīīī ü ɯ oīūūūieoāä öā oue a oɛāͻāThe phonetic range of the Latin phoneme /ī/ covers most of what the Punjabi /i/does and in certain positions, the Punjabi /i/ is more like the Latin /e/. Similarly, the /e/ ofLatin coincides partially with the Punjabi /e/ and partially with /ɛ/ though under certainphonological conditions, the Punjabi /ɛ/ is closer to the Latin /ā/. A similar statement couldbe made about Latin /ū/ and /o/. The Arabic three vowel system has its own phonologicaloppositional net-work. Most of the distinctive sounds of Punjabi /ɛ ā a ͻ/ form a part of thedomain of the single Arabic phoneme /ā/. The Turkish vowel oppositions are structured in adifferent way. Both the front and back vowels have rounded and unrounded counterparts.11
Each system has its own structural economy or Sanjam. If there are two divisions of thefront vowels of Latin, the back vowel spectrum is also divided into two. Arabic has only onehigh front and one high back vowel. Turkish system of rounded and unrounded vowels has aparallel structure both with the high and the low vowels. The Punjabi vowels spectrum isdivided 2 4.A detailed analysis of the Punjabi vowel system shows other instances of structuraleconomy. There are two classes of vowels: peripheral vowels /ī e ɛ ā ū o ͻ/ and centralisedvowels /i a u/, sometimes known as long and short. Now, this dichotomy is established onthe fact that the centralised vowels never occur finally and the oppositions peripheral/central-i/ī, a/ā, u/ū are neutralised. Furthermore, in the pretonal position and beforegeminates, we have only the centralised vowels. In these positions, a Punjabi speaker haseconomy of the language required that all centralised vowels have a similar phonologicalpattern and they did.Another example may be taken from the Gurumukhi writing system. The symbolsਿ and ੁ are employed to designate different but structurally parallel vowels.ਿ ਿਕਸ/kis/ ੁ/i/ਕੁ ੜਤਾ /kuṛtā/ /u/ਿਕਹੜਾ /kéṛā/ /e/ਕੁ ਹੜਾ/kóṛā/ /o/ਕਿਹਣਾ /kέṇā/ /ɛ/ਬਹੁਤਾ/bͻ́tā/ /ͻ/With mid tone, ਿ and ੁdesignate parallel front and back vowels /i/ and /u/. Withhigh tone, hooked to the letter preceding ਹ, they correspond to the mid-low vowels /e/ and/o/ and with ਹ , the low vowels /ɛ/ and /ͻ/.Some scholars who do not understand this structural economy of our writing system try toalter the spellings of one of the members of this group without realising that they areactually heading towards a general disharmony and confusion.A structural harmony of this type may or may not exist at all times and in everylanguage but if there is an uneven system, the structural economy would require itshormonisation which is more often than not a clue to diachronic development.The concept of structural economy or its Punjabi rendering Sanjam ਸੰਜਮ in no wayimplies the usual sense of economising or being miserly. Even in economics where this termis borrowed from, it has a wide range of meanings denoting, organisation, planning,structure etc. The linguistic economy as explained by André Martinet in his monumentalwork, Economie des changements phonétiques, Berne, 1955 refers to structural economywhich in Turkish is maintained through a parallel system of front and back rounded andunrounded vowels, eight in all. In Arabic, only three vowels keep this equilibrium and, inPunjabi, we require ten.12
In diachronic adjustments too, the structural parallelism is necessary. Once the preclassical Sanskrit had borrowed the retroflex sounds /ṭ/ and /ḍ/ the structural economyrequired the development of their aspirate counterparts /ṭh/ and /ḍh/ to fill the gap in the twoseries /ph th ch kh/ and /bh dh jh gh/. Later on, when the tones became an integral part of thePunjabi language, it was not just one phoneme but the whole series of voiced-aspirates /bhdh ḍh jh gh/ that disappeared.The concept of structural parallelism need not however, force the researchers to itslogical extremes. It must be remembered that it is only a tendency or a phenomenon of whatare called ̒pulls ̓ and ̒pushes ̓ and may not always be an already established fact.As social scientists, we must recognise such incongruencies when the occasion arises.For example, /p/ and /b/ are in opposition in the initial position in German and Russian andare distinct phonemes but word-finally, this opposition is neutralised and we have what iscalled an archiphoneme. In French, /e/ and /ɛ/ are two distinct phonemes when they occur atthe end of a word but in other positions they are represented by their archiphoneme which isrealised as [e] or [ɛ] depending upon certain phonological conditions.There are several cases of neutralisation in Punjabi. n/ṇ, l/ḷ, n/η which are in oppositionwith each other in medial or final position are represented by their non-retroflexarchiphoneme in the initial position. The vowels i/ī, u/ū, a/ā are distinct phonemes in nonfinal positions under tonal contours. These distinctions are, however, neutralised in pre-tonalposition as in /wiˈkāiā/ ̒sold ̓ /čuˈkā/, ̒ help lift ̓ /saˈtāī/ ̒ twenty-seven ̓ where only thearchiphonemic forms of centralised vowels occur. Generally, p/b, t/d, ṭ/ḍ, č/j and k/g aredistinct phonemes in Punjabi but medially before a low tone, the oppositionvoiceless/voiced is neutralised and these phonemes are replaced by their archiphonemicforms /b d ḍ j g/.The concept of economy or Sanjam ਸੰਜਮ is not just restricted to phonology, it covers allaspects of linguistic structure such as morphology ਸ਼ਬਦ ਸੰਗੀਤ, syntax ਵਾਕ ਸੰਗੀਤ andsemantics ਭਾਵ ਸੰਗੀਤ. Each language has its own pattern or organisation ਜੁਗਤ. Furthermore,the elements of a structure are organised in a particular arrangement or order ਗ ਦ.The morphological categories in any two languages never coincide exactly. For the English,He leaves tomorrow, He throws a ball, He leaves her for good, we must have an entirelydifferent set of constructions in Punjabi. There is no parallel structure in any other Indian ornon-Indian language to the oppositional system within the Punjabi present-tense ਮ ਜਾਂਨਾ ਆਂand ਮ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਆਂ.In the domain of semantics, ਭਾਵ ਸੰਗੀਤ we have two things to consider: the associationalmeanings and the general semantic range that a word in a language has at a given stage inhistory. In the course of time, certain words acquire associational meanings of the type thatthey can no more be used in all social situations. For this reason, I consider my term ਭਾਵਸੰਗੀਤ more comprehensive than its equivalent ̒ semantics ̓ since the word ਸੰਗੀਤ refers toaesthetic taste. In Punjabi, the words like ਪੱਦ,ਗੱਦ,ਰੂੜੀ,ਿਬੰਬ are regularly used in some un-13
aesthetic contexts and the structure of the Punjabi ਭਾਵ ਸੰਗੀਤ does not allow us to employthese in literary discussions.The other aspect of semantics is its structural oppositional system as such. The way theEnglish words ̒good̓ and ̒ bad ̓ are related to and oppose each other is quite different fromwhere one can be used and not the other. For an example of a new emerging oppositionalstructure, take the Punjabi words, Khalsa and Sikh. The word ̒ Khalsa ̓, in Arabic, where itcomes from means ̒ pure ̓, ̒ possession ̓ etc. and is only a lexical item. But, after theepistemological decision taken by Guru Gobind Singh on the famous Baisakhi day, thisword acquires a heavily charged philosophical significance in Sikh metaphysics and isrelated to and in opposition with the word ̒ Sikh ̓ that came from Sanskrit where it certainlydid not have the peculiar semantic range it has today. The etymologies of these words willtell us very little, if anything, about the new structure.The Sikh greetings, Sat Sri Akal, means literally, Truth is immortal. This does notgive us any idea of how this phrase is used in modern times. Apart from the fact that it is aform of greetings, it is also a war cry, a proclamation of peace, a hurrah of agreement, aphrase that is used for an opening ceremony etc., etc. To understand the meanings of a wordor a phrase, one must know all the contexts in which it is used. It also demonstrates that overa period of time the semantic ranges change and for the proper use of language, we musttake notice of it.The word ̒ guru ̓ in Sanskrit had a wide range of meanings such as teacher,heavy, long, important, father-in-law, ancestor, proud, arduous, difficult, a long (syllable), aserious (affair) etc. etc. but only a few of these have any validity in modern Punjabi.Alongwith the morphological structure, ਸ਼ਬਦ ਜੁਗਤ and the syntactic structure, ਵਾਕ ਜੁਗਤthe semantic structure, ਭਾਵ ਜੁਗਤ is changed fundamentally over a long period of time. Theetymological approach of going back to the so-called original meanings ignores the newsemantic oppositions and relationships. The significance of elements in a given structure isdetermined by the way they are arranged. When the order changes, the significance changeswith it. This is not only true of individual words or phrases like Khalsa, Sikh or Sat Sri Akalas we discussed earliar but also of whole structural units like for example the composition,Japuji. Derivations of words or comparative studies of isolated concepts of Japuji with someother sacred texts does not tell us anything about the overall metaphysical significance ofthis composition. It is only the study of the inter-relationships of the epithets for God in themūlmantra and the pattern of correlation and oppositional network of thirty-eight steps orਪਉੜੀਆਂ of Japuji which are radically different from any othercomparable semantic structureanywhere that would lead us to its proper comprehension.14
CHAPTER 2PHONOLOGY2.1 CONSONANTSA set of twenty-nine distinctive consonantal phonemes is set up on the basis of thefollowing oppositions:1.VOICED AND VOICELESS čhaṭ‘find’‘fat’‘big bag’ḍoḷ‘drum’móḍī ‘leading’čhaḍ SPIRATE AND UNASPIRATE ss’khāḷīsukkhāsukh‘stream’‘a ed’čhāḷmaččhī‘jump’‘fish’15
nghold’‘mattress’p/ph3.t/ṭDENTALS AND ‘squint er sā́ d‘charity’‘half’‘Sadhu’ḍā́ ṇaḍḍīsā́ woolen’‘mind’ūṇīmaṇ‘not full’‘maund’pārīmèr‘a name’‘grace’pāṛīmèṛ‘tore away’‘stick’pālīmal‘a name’‘occupy’pāḷīmaḷ‘brought rpse’s/š16
2.2 PHONETICS OF THE CONSONANTSstops: voicelessvoicedaspiratenasalsflaps and �ḷšdentaltdthnrls(z)labialpbphm(f)h(y)(w)All consonants in word-final position have a slight vocalic release when the tone occurs onthe preceding syllable. This release is of importance in the tone system as is furtherdescribed in chapter three on tones.Stops and nasals occur at five points of articulation : velar, palatal, retroflex, dental andlabial. There are four series : voiceless unaspirate, voiceless aspirate, voiced unaspirate, andnasal. All twenty combinations occur and are phonemic.Velar articulations vary from pre-velar to mid-velar or slighty post-velar. The exactarticulation is conditioned by adjacent vowels.Palatal articulations are frontal and pre-palatal. The tongue tip is normally depressed.Palatal stops are clearly affricated with a sibilant quality in the off-glides.Retroflex articulations are apical and alveolar or very front palatal. The articulator is alwaysthe tip of the tougue, never the blade, and may involve the lower surface, The retroflexion,however, is generally weak.Dental articulations are generally post-dental and always blade rather than tip. Theopposition with the retroflex articulation is as much, at least, in the articulator as it is in thepoint of articulation.Labial articulations are bilabial.There is a clear opposition of aspirate and unaspirate in the voiceless stops. Thisopposition is maintained in all positions. Voiced stops and nasals are unaspirate only.Aspiration does not occur after voiced consonants within the word, even as a separatephoneme.17
Aspirate stops are treated as unit phonemes, though transcribed by diagraphs. This treatmentsimplifies the statement of pattern by eliminating all three-member final clusters. Treatmentas unit phonemes also simplifies equating phonemics and orthography. No confu
A Reference Grammar of Punjabi was first published as Hartford Studies in Linguistics, . p/b/ph in Punjabi, p/b in English and a single labial stop /p/ in Tamil demonstrates clearly . The Turkish vowel oppositions are structured in a different way. Both the front
Sufism generally and in Punjabi Sufi poetry specifically and to analyze the need and value of Murshid for Murid on the path of Salook with special reference of Punjabi Sufi lyrics of four Punjabi Sufi poets i.e Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, Nosha Ganj Bakhsh and Sultan Bahoo. Key Words: Sufism, Murshid, T
13. Mon Passeport pour le monde Level 1 Unisec Publication 14. Akharan di Khed Satya Prakash 15. Punjabi Sikho Varanmala Satya Prakash 16. Punjabi Sikho Lagaan Matran Satya Prakash 17. Punjabi Activity Book 1 Satya Prakash 18. Mehak Sulekh Mala 0 Saraswati 19. Punjabi Vyakaran Ate Lekh Rachna 1 Evergreen For New Students only 20.
When an English speaking person is learning Punjabi, they need to give special attention to the word order in Punjabi because it is different than the word order in English. Arranging words in the proper order is vital to being understood. In English the word order is (subject verb object) In Punjabi the word order is (subject object verb)
No account of Punjabi Sufism, its poets and poetry, will be complete without a short sketch of the origin and development of Sufism outside India. Punjabi Sufism, evidently, is a branch of the great Sufi movement which originated in Arabia, during the second century A.H. (A.D. 800)
Grammar Express 79 Center Stage 79 Longman Advanced Learners’ Grammar 80 An Introduction to English Grammar 80 Longman Student Grammar of Spoken & Written English 80 Longman Grammar of Spoken & Written English 80 Grammar Correlation Chart KEY BOOK 1 BOOK 2 BOOK 3 BOOK 4 BOOK 5 BOOK 6 8. Grammar.indd 76 27/8/10 09:44:10
IV Grammar/Comp Text ABeka Grammar 10th Grade 5.00 IV Grammar/Comp Text ABeka Grammar 10th Grade 5.00 Grammar/Composition IV ABeka Grammar 10th Grade 3.00 Workbook - Keys ABeka Grammar 12th Grade 10.00 Workbook VI-set ABeka Grammar 12th Grade 20.00 Daily Grams Gra
Hindi Madhup Hindi Pathmala - 3 Madhuban Sanshodhit Surbhika Hindi Vyakaran Mala-2 Eupheus Learning Punjabi Nikiyan Kaniyan Punjabi Path Pustak(1) (Candid) Evergreen Pub. Sirjan Punjabi Viyakaran Te Lekh Rachna(3) R.K.Publications Art & Craft Art Festival Art & Craft Rohan Book Com
2013 BERKELEY COUNTY SCHOOL 2ND & 3RD GRADE WRITING FOLDER 3 2nd grade Second Semester - Pen Pals.38
