Doabi dialect

Doabi is a Punjabi dialect spoken in the Doaba.^[1] It is spoken in the Indian Punjab and parts of Pakistani Punjab owing to post-1947 migration of Muslim populace from East Punjab. The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialect was historically spoken between the rivers of the Beas and the Sutlej in the region called Doaba. The region it is now spoken include the Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr districts in Indian Punjab, including the areas known as the Dona and Manjki, and the Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad districts in Pakistan Punjab where the dialect is known as Faisalabadi Punjabi.

The sub dialects of Doabi include Dona and Manjki.^[2]

Analysis

The Doabi dialect in its eastern part blends with the Malwai dialect of Ludhiana district, and in its Northern side, it shares the linguistic features of the Pahari. Some of the linguistic features of the Doabi dialect that separate it from rest of the Punjabi dialects are as below:^[3]

Consonants

Consonant	Punjabi word	English translation
p ⟨ਪ⟩	pəl	‘moment’ (ਪਲ)
pʰ ⟨ਫ⟩	pʰəl	‘fruit’ (ਫਲ)
b ⟨ਬ⟩	baːl	‘child’(ਬਾਲ)
t̪ ⟨ਤ⟩	taːɾ	‘wire’ (ਤਾਰ)
t̪ʰ ⟨ਥ⟩	tʰaːl	‘round tray’(ਥਾਲ)
d̪ ⟨ਦ⟩	daːl	‘pulse’
ʈ ⟨ਟ⟩	ʈəl	‘pile’
ʈʰ ⟨ਠ⟩	ʈʰiːk	‘correct’ (ਠੀਕ)
ɖ ⟨ਡ⟩	ɖaːk	‘mail’ (ਡਾਕ)
t͡ʃ ⟨ਚ⟩	tʃəp	‘imprint’
d͡ʒ ⟨ਜ⟩	dʒoːk	leech (ਜੋਕ)
k ⟨ਕ⟩	kəɡ	‘crow’
kʰ ⟨ਖ⟩	kʰoːl	open
ɡ ⟨ਗ⟩	ɡəl	‘abuse’
m ⟨ਮ⟩	moːɾ	peacock
n ⟨ਨ⟩	nəɾ	‘male’
ɳ* ⟨ਣ⟩	ɦʊɳ	‘now’ (ਹੁਣ)
l ⟨ਲ⟩	ləl	‘red’
* ⟨ਲ਼⟩	koː	‘near’ (ਕੋਲ)
(s ⟨ਸ⟩)	sɪɾ	‘head’
(ʃ ⟨ਸ਼⟩)	ʃeːɾ	‘lion’
(z ⟨ਜ਼⟩)	zoːɾ	‘strength’ (ਜ਼ੋਰ)
(f ⟨ਫ਼⟩)	fəslə	‘distance’
ɦ ⟨ਹ⟩	ɦoːɾ	‘more’ (ਹੋਰ)
ɾ ⟨ਰ⟩	ɾoːɡ	‘disease’
ɽ* ⟨ੜ⟩	pɪɽ	‘pain’ (ਪੀੜ)

does not occur word initially

Vowels

Doabi has ten vowels. These are /ə, ɪ, ʊ, aː, ɛː, eː, iː, ɔː, oː, uː/

For example:

Vowel	Word	Translation
ə ਅ	ək	'eye'
ʊ ਉ	ʊʈʰ	‘awake’
ɪ ਇ	ɪt	‘brick’
aː ਆ	aːs	‘hope’
ɛː ਐ	ɛːnək	spectacles’
uː ਊ	uːʈʰ	‘camel’
eː ਏ	ʃeːɾ	‘lion’
oː ਅੋ	moːɾ	‘peacock’
ɔː ਔ	ɦɔːɾ	‘more’
iː ਈ	tiːɾ	‘arrow’

Other suprasegmental phonemes

Tone, stress and nasalization in Doabi are phonemic.

Tone

Three tones are used in Doabi; low, mid and high. For example;

Tone	Punjabi word	English translation
Low	bha/pa^{[clarification needed]}	‘rate’
Mid	pa/pa^{[clarification needed]}	‘put’
High	pah/pa^{[clarification needed]}	‘influence’

Stress

Stress in Doabi is realized in two ways. Syntagmatically and paradigmatically.

Syntagmatically, stress-shift results in change of meaning.

For example:

Punjabi word	English translation
gharha^{[clarification needed]}	‘pitcher’
gharha^{[clarification needed]}	‘get something worked into some shape’

Paradigmatically, Doabi has stressed and unstressed syllables;

Unstressed	Punjabi word	English translation
s^{[clarification needed]}	satt^{[clarification needed]}	‘essence’
t^{[clarification needed]}	pata^{[clarification needed]}	‘address’

Stressed	Punjabi word	English translation
s^{[clarification needed]}	sat^{[clarification needed]}	‘seven’
tt^{[clarification needed]}	patta^{[clarification needed]}	‘leaf’

Some basic vocabulary items

Punjabi pronunciation	English translation
papa	‘father’
bhaen	‘sister’
bhara	‘brother’
seb	‘apple’
conna	‘paddy’
bara	‘elder’

Features

Substituting letters

Doabi's drop the letter "v" at the start of a word and use the letter "b"^[4] as in "Vada" (big) to "Bada". They also use the letter "o" elsewhere in a word instead of a "v" as in "Khvab" (dream) to "Khoaab". A distinctive feature of Doabi is the use of the "w" sound. Where "v" appears in the middle of a word in standard Punjabi, Doabis use "w" so that "hava" (wind) becomes "hawa". Also, the vowel "u" is pronounced with an "o". Accordingly, "khush" (happy) becomes "khosh" or "kuht" (to beat) becomes "koht". In Doabi, any word beginning with "i" is pronounced with "e". For example, the word "khich" (to pull) is pronounced as "khech" or the word "vich" (inside) is pronounced as "bech".

Doabis do not use "z" and therefore substitute "j". This is common in the Punjabi language as "z" is not indigenous to the area.

Sentence structure

Doabi's end sentences with "aa" (present tense) and "sigey" (past —tense), instead of "han" (present tense) and "san" or "si" (past tense). "Aiddan", "Jiddan", "Kiddan" are all commonly used adverbs in Doabi as opposed to the ”Inj / Aistaran", "Jistaran", Kistaran" used in Punjabi's prestige dialect, Majhi.

Vocabulary

Doabi	English	Standard Punjabi
"Houga"	Will Happen	"Hovega"
"Baarha"	Cow shed	"Haveli"
"Dhaun"	Neck	"Gardan"
"Paala or Thand"	Cold weather	"Sardi"
"Kunji"	Key	"Chabi"
"gathay"	Onions	"Gandeh"
"Neyaneh"	Children	"Bacheh"
"Dekhna"	To See	"Vekhna"
"Karda Haigah / Karda Si”	To Be Doing	"Kar Riha Hai"
"Gabey"	Middle	"Vichkaar"
"Leeray/Kaprhey/Talley"	Clothes	"Kaprhey"
"Leeta"	Bought	"Khareeda"

References

[1] Punjabi University, Patiala.

[2] Tribune 28 January 2009 Sarbjit Dhaliwal

[3] ttp://punjabrevenue.nic.in/Chapter%203.htm

[4] ttp://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_gdr5.htm

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]