Introduction to Punjabi

266 Pages·9.907 MB·Panjabi-English

VALIDATION COPY 1.0 JUNE 2007

INTRODUCTION
to Punjab

Cities of Punjab

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GEOGRAPHY

Punjab is an Indo-Iranian word meaning “The land of five
rivers”. It is one of India's 36 states, situated in the northwest,
occupying 1.54% of the country’s total geographical area. It is
bordered by Pakistan to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the
north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast and Haryana to the
south. Prior to the Partition of India, Punjab extended across
both sides of what is now the India-Pakistan border, and its
former capital Lahore is now the capital of the Punjab state in
Pakistan.

CAPITAL

Chandigarh, designed by the famous Swiss architect Le
Corbusier is the capital of both the states of Punjab and Haryana.
It is administered as a Union Territory from Delhi. Special
features in Chandigarh include the Secretariat, High Court, State
Library, Assembly Chambers, University, Botanical Garden and
a beautiful man-made lake, Sukhna. Asia's largest rose garden,
Zakir Gulab Bagh, spreads out over 30 acres of land, and includes 50,000 rose-trees of different species.

CLIMATE

Temperature varies between 10 to 35 degrees Celsius. There are
three well defined seasons in the Punjab. These are:

1. Hot Season
(mid-April to the end of June)
2. Monsoon Season
(early July to the end of September)
3. Cold Season
(early December to the end of February)

The Rock Garden in Chandigarh POPULATION
consists of unique collection of figurines
made from used ceramic material. Total population of Punjab State is 24.29 million.
Photograph courtesy of Julian Benjamin

HISTORY

Punjab represents Indian culture dating back to 7000 B.C, when one of the earliest human civilizations, known
as the Indus Valley Civilization was known to have existed in the Punjab region. Over the centuries Punjab has
seen invasions by numerous foreigners including the Persians, Alexander the Great, a few prominent Chinese
tribes, the Mughals and finally the British. With each invasion and subsequent change of rulers Punjab absorbed
a lot of the culture and traditions of the invaders, eventually creating the wonderful amalgamation of present
day Punjab. Besides being one of the leading grain producers in the country, Punjab also has significant hosiery,
textile, and thermal power related industries.
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RELIGION

Sikhism, the prevalent religion was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak Sahib. It was propagated further
by the other nine gurus who were regarded as reincarnations of Guru Nanak ji. Eventually, the tenth Guru, Guru
Gobind ji modified the Sikhs to a community and formed the Khalsa. All Sikhs who take Amrit (the holy
nectar) have to abstain from alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants and also adhere to the 5 Ks’ (norms) of
donning a Kach (underwear), Kara (metal band), Kirpan (small sword), Kanghi (comb) and Kes (uncut hair).

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LANGUAGES

Punjabi and Hindi.
Many people are fluent in English and Urdu.
The Golden Temple at Amritsar is the
most sacred temple of the Sikhs.

CUSTOMS

Punjabis observe many holidays related to all the prevalent religions
present in the country and many dancing and music festivals are held
throughout the year. Vaisakhi is celebrated to commemorate the creation
of the Khasla. Guru Purav for Guru Nanak’s birthday. Lohri is to
welcome the spring. In addition, both young and old enjoy sports, namely
soccer “football”, cricket, and tennis nationwide.

One of the prevailing attractions in Punjab is the colorful and diversified
attire of its people: the silk saris, brightly mirrored cholis, colorful
lehangas and the traditional salwar-kameez.

Despite cultural progress, arranged marriages are still common
in Punjab; and even though it is illegal, giving dowry to the
groom is still very common.

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THE PUNJABI LANGUAGE

Punjabi is the language of the natives of Punjab and Pakistan province of Punjab. It evolved during the period of
religious revival in the 15th and 16th century, by Guru Nanak. It is written in the Gurmukhi Script, which
literally means ‘from the mouth of the Guru’, referring to its use in the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, the holy scripture
of the Sikhs.

Gurmukhi character is followed by its Roman transliteration with each consonant to end in ‘a’, in the absence
of any other vowel sign, consonant is followed by an inherent ‘a’ sound (like ‘a’ in majority), unless it occurs at
the end of each word, when it is not pronounced or is otherwise silenced. Aspirated consonants are produced
with an audible expulsion of breath, non-aspirated consonants with minimal breath. Punjabi for example
distinguishes unaspirated ka and ta from kha and tha. Then there are the dental and retroflex consonants. In
dental the tongue touches the upper front teeth, whereas with the retroflex the tip of the tongue is curled
upwards against the palate. Nasal sound in this text is shown
as ‘n*’.

VOWELS

(cid:88)Vowels may take on a long form (top row) or a short form (bottom row); this eliminates the need to write out
the complete letter. Punjabi has three vowel symbols.

X oora
a aira
^ iri

These are used only in the beginning of a word or as second member of compound vowel. Names are given for
the short form.

a a; i^ ^I X C ^ e ^ w ao a *
a ã i Ï u ü e ai o au
;
i I u U e w o *

Kanna sihari bihari aunkar dulainkre la dulawa hora kanaura

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CONSONANTS

For easier identification, use the first two alphabets of the Romanized form.

O a ^ s h
oora aira iri sasa haha

k % g / {
kaka khakha gaga kagha nana*

c z j Z }
chacha chhacha jaja cajha nana*

$ # @ ! ,
tainka thaththa dada tadha nana*

t q d / n
tata thaththa dada tadha nana

p f b . m
pappa phaphpha baba pabha mama

y r l v x
yaya rara lalla vava rara

S
sha

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CONSONANTS PROUNUNCIATION WITH EXAMPLES

oo as in ugh Utha (camel)
O C#|
ai as in un Amb (mango)
a a|b
i as in ill Engine (engine)
^ i^j|,
sa as in suit School (school)
s skUl
ha as in hat Hath (hand)
h hq|
ka as in car Kabootar (pigeon)
k kbUtr
kha as in kit khargosh (rabbit)
% %rgoS
ga as in go gamla (vase)
g gml;
gha as in dog ghadi (watch)
/ /xI
na* as in ink nasal sound
@∑
che as in cheese chemacha (spoon)
c cmc;
cha as in church chataree (umbrella)
z z|trI
ja as in jean jag (pitcher)
j jg|
jha as in jar jhanda (flag)
Z Z@\;
na* nasal sound
}
ta as in talk tokari(basket)
$ $okrI
tha as in tum thela(cart)
# #el;
da as in drum dumroo (drum)
@ @mrU
Doha as in dong dholaki(rounddrum)
! !olkI
na nasal sound
,
ta (no English equivalent ) tota(parrot)
t t*t;
tha as in thank tharmas (thermos)
q qrmos
da as ‘d ‘ in breadth dawat (ink )
d dv;t
dha (no English equivalent ) dhobi (washer man)
` `obI
na as in nose nalka (tap)
n nlk;
pa as in pin parda(curtain)
p prd;
pha as in found phal (fruit)
f f|l
ba as in bin bagicha (garden)
b bgIc;
bha as in bun bhaloo (bear)
. .;lU
ma as in mother ma(mother)
m m;
ya as in you yudh(war)
y yu`|
ra as in role rath (chariot)
r rq|
la as in love ladki (girl)
l lxkI
va as in when velena* (year)
v vel,;
rara (no English equivalent)
x
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sha same as shudder shalagam (turnip)
S Slgm

Utha (camel)
O C#
Amb (mango)
a a|b
Engine (engine)
^ i^j|,
School (school)
s skUl
Hath (hand)
h h`|
Kabootar (pigeon)
k kbUtr
khargosh (rabbit)
% %rgoS
gamla (vase)
g gml;
ghadi (watch)
/ /xI
nasal sound
@∑
chemacha (spoon)
c cmc;
chataree (umbrella)
z ztrI
jag (pitcher)
j jg
jhanda (flag)
Z Z@\;
nasal sound
}
Tokari (basket)
$ $okrI
thela(cart)
# #el;
dumroo (drum)
@ @mrU
Dholaki (rounddrum)
! !olkI
nasal sound
,
Tota (parrot)
t t*t;
tharmas (thermos)
q qrms
dawat (ink )
d dv;t
dhobi (washer man)
` `obI
nalka (tap)
n nlk;
Parda (curtain)
p prd;
phal (fruit)
f f|l
bagicha (garden)
b bgIc;
bhaloo (bear)
. .;lU
ma (mother)
m m;
yudh (war)
y yu`|
rath (chariot)
r rq|
ladki (girl)
l lxkI
velena* (year)
v vel,;
8
Not used
x
shalagam (turnip)
S Slgm

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Lesson 1
VALIDATION COPY 1.0 JUNE 2007
Geography and People
.Ugol ate lok÷jnt;
bhagol atei lok/janta

This lesson will introduce you to:
- simple greetings and basic introductions in Punjabi
- how to greet people in formal and informal situations in Punjabi
- personal pronouns
- possessive pronouns
- how to use the verbs “to be” and “to live” in the present tense
- basic geographic names in Punjab State.

PEOPLE

1. Listen as the following people introduce themselves.

privd\r se%*N a;idty; c*h;n kLpn; jsv;l r;j is\/
Parvinder Sekhon Aditya Chauhan Kalpna Jaswal Raj Singh

blbIr is\/ sn;h t*mr srIt; kor gorI .@\;rI
Balbir Singh Sanah Tomar Sarita Kaur Gauri Bhandari

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