Doabi dialect explained

Doabi Punjabi
States:	Doaba, Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab
Region:	Punjab
Familycolor:	Indo-European
Fam2:	Indo-Iranian
Fam3:	Indo-Aryan
Fam4:	Northwestern
Fam5:	Punjabi
Fam6:	Eastern Punjabi
Map:	File:Punjabi_dialects.png
Mapcaption:	Doabi is in blue
Isoexception:	dialect
Glotto:	doab1238
Glottorefname:	Doab

Doabi, also known as Bist Doabi or Jalandhari, is an eastern dialect of the Punjabi language. The dialect is named after the region in which it originated, Doaba or Bist Doab,^[1] between the Beas and Sutlej. Its occurrence in parts of Pakistani Punjab owes to post-1947 migration of Punjabi Muslim populace from East Punjab. The region it is now spoken includes: the Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Una and Nawanshahr districts of Indian Punjab, including the areas known as the Dona and Manjki; and the Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad districts of Pakistani Punjab; and some areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

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

Phonology

Consonants

!Labial!Dental/Alveolar!Postalveolar!Retroflex!Velar!Glottal
Plosive/Affricate	Tenuis	pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t̪/	pronounced as /t͡ʃ /	pronounced as /ʈ/	pronounced as /k/
	Aspirated	pronounced as /pʰ/	pronounced as /t̪ʰ/	pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ/	pronounced as /ʈʰ/	pronounced as /kʰ/
	Voiced	pronounced as /b/	pronounced as /d/	pronounced as /d͡ʒ/	pronounced as /ɖ/	pronounced as /g/
Fricative		pronounced as /f/	pronounced as /s/ , pronounced as /z/*	pronounced as /ʃ/		pronounced as /x/
Approximant		pronounced as /ʋ/		pronounced as /j/		pronounced as /ɣ/	pronounced as /ɦ/
Nasal		pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/		pronounced as /ɳ/
Lateral			pronounced as /l/		pronounced as /ɭ/
Tap/Flap			pronounced as /ɾ/		pronounced as /ɽ/

Spirantisation of /pronounced as /pʰ// and /pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ// is quite common in Punjabi, but this is less apparent in Doaba. Similarly, other Persian-borrowed phonemes are also pronounced in a more indigenous manner. pronounced as //z, x, ɣ,// are pronounced pronounced as //d͡ʒ,kʰ, g// respectively. Another surprising aspect is that pronounced as //j// is almost always pronounced as pronounced as //d͡ʒ//.

Debuccalisation of pronounced as //s//, to pronounced as //ɦ// in between vowels also occurs.

In the modern generation, pronounced as //ɳ// and pronounced as //ɭ// are pronounced as pronounced as //n// and pronounced as //l//. Except, some youngsters end up replacing pronounced as //n// and pronounced as //l// with pronounced as //ɳ// and pronounced as //ɭ// completely, rather than preferring the alveolar counterparts. pronounced as //ɳ// and pronounced as //ɭ// are also often realised as nasal and lateral flaps.

Doabi's fortition pronounced as //ʋ// at the start of a word to pronounced as /[b]/ as in pronounced as //'ʋə̀ɖ:a:// (big) to pronounced as /['bə̀ɖ:a:]/ .

They also use pronounced as /[o]/ elsewhere in a word instead of pronounced as //ʋ// as in pronounced as //'kʰʋa:b// (dream) to pronounced as /['kʰoa:b]/. A distinctive feature of Doabi is the use of w. Where pronounced as //ʋ// appears in the middle of a word in Standard Punjabi, Doabis use pronounced as /[w]/ so that pronounced as //ɦəʋa:// (wind) becomes pronounced as /[ɦəwa:]/.

Also, the vowel pronounced as //ʊ// is pronounced pronounced as /[o]/. Accordingly, pronounced as //'kʰʊʃ// (happy) becomes pronounced as /['kʰoʃ]/ or pronounced as //'kʊʈ// (to beat - noun form) becomes pronounced as /['koʈ]/. In Doabi, any word beginning with stressed pronounced as //ɪ// is pronounced pronounced as /[e]/. For example, the word pronounced as //'kʰɪt͡ʃ// (to pull - noun form) is pronounced as pronounced as /['kʰet͡ʃ]/ or the word pronounced as //'ʋɪt͡ʃ// (in [something]) is pronounced as pronounced as /['bet͡ʃ]/.

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 Pahari. Some of the linguistic features of the Doabi dialect that separate it from other Punjabi dialects are as below:^[3]

Consonant	Doabi word	English translation
pronounced as /p/ (ਪ/)	pronounced as //pəl//	‘moment’ (ਪਲ/)
pronounced as /pʰ/ (ਫ/)	pronounced as //pʰəl//	‘fruit’ (ਫਲ/)
pronounced as /b/ (ਬ/)	pronounced as //baːləɳ //	‘firewood’(ਬਾਲਣ/)
pronounced as /t̪/ (ਤ/)	pronounced as //taːɾ//	‘wire’ (ਤਾਰ/)
pronounced as /t̪ʰ/ (ਥ/)	pronounced as //tʰaːl//	‘round tray’(ਥਾਲ/)
pronounced as /d̪/ (ਦ/)	pronounced as //daːl//	‘pulse’ (ਦਾਲ/)
pronounced as /ʈ/ (ਟ/)	pronounced as //ʈaːl//	‘pile’ (ਟਾਲ/)
pronounced as /ʈʰ/ (ਠ/)	pronounced as //ʈʰiːk//	‘correct’ (ਠੀਕ/)
pronounced as /ɖ/ (ਡ/)	pronounced as //ɖaːk//	‘mail’ (ਡਾਕ/)
pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ/ (ਛ/)	pronounced as //t͡ʃʰa:p//	‘imprint’ (ਛਾਪ/)
pronounced as /d͡ʒ/ (ਜ/)	pronounced as //d͡ʒoːk//	leech (ਜੋਕ/)
pronounced as /k/ (ਕ/)	pronounced as //kaːɡ//	‘crow’ (ਕਾਗ/)
pronounced as /kʰ/ (ਖ/)	pronounced as //kʰoːl//	‘open’ (ਖੋਲ/)
pronounced as /ɡ/ (ਗ/)	pronounced as //ɡaːɭ//	‘abuse’ (ਗਾਲ਼/)
pronounced as /m/ (ਮ/)	pronounced as //moːɾ//	‘peacock’ (ਮੋਰ/)
pronounced as /n/ (ਬ/)	pronounced as //nəɾ//	‘male’ (ਬੰਦਾ/)
pronounced as /ɳ/ (ਣ/)	pronounced as //ɦoɳ //	‘now’ (ਹੁਣ/)
pronounced as /l/ (ਲ/)	pronounced as //laːl//	‘red’ (ਰੱਤਾ/رتہ)
pronounced as /ɭ/ (ਲ਼/)	pronounced as //koːɭ //	‘near’ (ਕੋਲ਼/)
(pronounced as /s/ (ਸ/))	pronounced as //soɳ //	‘hear’ (ਸੁਣ/)
(pronounced as /ʃ/ (ਸ਼/))	pronounced as //ʃeːɾ//	‘lion’ (ਸ਼ੇਰ/)
(pronounced as /z/ (ਜ਼/))	pronounced as //zoːɾ//	‘strength’ (ਜ਼ੋਰ/)
(pronounced as /f/ (ਫ਼/))	pronounced as //fa:sla://	‘distance’ (ਫ਼ਾਸਲਾ/)
pronounced as /ɦ/ (ਹ//)	pronounced as //ɦoːɾ//	‘more’ (ਹੋਰ/)
pronounced as /ɾ/ (ਰ/)	pronounced as //ɾoːɡ//	‘disease’ (ਰੋਗ/)
pronounced as /ɽ/ (ੜ/)	pronounced as //piːɽ//	‘pain’ (ਪੀੜ/)

* does not occur word initially

Vowels

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

For example:

Vowel	Word	Translation
pronounced as //ə// ਅ	ਅੱਖ /pronounced as /əkʰ.kʰ//	'eye'
pronounced as //ʊ// ਉ	ਉਠ /pronounced as /oʈʰ//	‘awake’
pronounced as //ɪ// ਇ	ਇੱਟ /pronounced as /eʈ://	‘brick’
pronounced as //aː// ਆ	ਆਸ /pronounced as /aːs//	‘hope’
pronounced as //ɛː// ਐ	ਐਨਕ /pronounced as /ɛːnək//	spectacles’
pronounced as //uː// ਊ	ਊਠ /pronounced as /uːʈʰ//	‘camel’
pronounced as //eː// ਏ	ਸ਼ੇਰ /pronounced as /ʃeːɾ//	‘lion’
pronounced as //oː// ਓ	ਮੋਰ /pronounced as /moːɾ//	‘peacock’
pronounced as //ɔː// ਔ	/pronounced as /ɦɔːl//	‘fear’
pronounced as //iː// ਈ	ਤੀਰ /pronounced as /tiːɾ//	‘arrow’

One of the most distinctive feature of Doabi is how its short close vowels are pronounced. Phonemically, they are:

pronounced as //ʊ//
pronounced as //ɪ//

But are phonetecally :

pronounced as /[o]/
pronounced as /[e]/

Nasalisation

Nasalisation in Punjabi is phonemic.

Suprasegmental Features

Tone

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

Tone	Doabi word	English translation
Falling	ਭਾ pà	‘rate’
Neutral	ਪਾ pa	‘put’
Rising	ਪਾਹ pá	‘harsh’

This tonogenesis occurred from the loss of breathy voiced consonants. Word-initially, they became voiceless plosives, but remained voiced word-medially and finally. This loss of phonemes led to tone to distinguish between similar morphemes.

When the consonant (that was breathy-voiced) is word initial, the vowel that follows has a falling tone. When the consonant is medial or word-final, it has a rising tone.

Loss of word-final pronounced as //ɦ// also led to a rising tone in the preceding vowel.

Stress, however can change what tone on what syllable is present.

Stress

Stress in Doabi is realized in two ways, syntagmatically and paradigmatically.

Syntagmatically, stress-shift results in change of meaning. This kind of stress is often orthographically unmarked, and may shift any tone present in a word to the stressed syllable.

For example:

Doabi word	English translation
ਘੜਾ /'kə̀ɽa:/	‘pitcher’
ਘੜਾ /kə'ɽà:/	‘to shape, sculpt, mold’

Paradigmatically, Doabi has stressed and unstressed syllables;

Unstressed	Doabi word	English translation
s	satt	‘essence’
	sirnawa	‘address’

Stressed	Doabi word	English translation
s	sat	‘seven’
tt	patta	‘leaf’

Some basic vocabulary items

Doabi word	English translation
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਪੇਅ pronounced as //peːə//	‘father’
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਭੈਣ pronounced as //pɛːɳ//	‘sister’
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਭਰਾ pronounced as //pəɾɑː//	‘brother’
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਸੇਂਅ pronounced as //sẽə//	‘apple’
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਝੋੱਨਾ pronounced as //t͡ʃoːn.nɑː//	‘paddy’
Panjabi; Punjabi: ਬੱਡਾ pronounced as //bəɖ.ɖɑː//	‘elder’

Fortition of pronounced as //ʋ// word-initially

Doabi's drop the letter "v" at the start of a word and use the letter "b"^[4] as in "vàdda" (big) to "bàdda". 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.

Grammar

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 "Aistaran/Enj," "Jistaran/Jivven," and "Kistaran/Kivven," used in Punjabi's prestige dialect, Majhi.

Present Tense: Usage of aa (sing.) and aa (plu.)

Examples:

Phrase	Doabi	Standard Punjabi
He is doing	Oh kardā ā ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਆ	Oh kardā ɛ̀/e* ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ/ਏ*
They are doing	Oh karde (y)ā ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਆ	Oh karde han ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ
	spoken forms

Past Tense: Uninflected sī, or number- and gender-inflected sīgā/sīgī/sīge/sīgīā, in Doabi