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Doabi dialect

A dialect of Punjabi, spoken in Doaba.

Doabi Punjabi
Native to	Doaba, Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab
Region	Punjab
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabi Eastern Punjabi Doabi Punjabi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	doab1238
Doabi is in blue

Doabi, also known as Bist DoabiorJalandhari, is an eastern dialect of the Punjabi language. The dialect is named after the region in which it originated, DoabaorBist Doab,^[1] between the Beas and Sutlej. Its occurrence in parts of Pakistani Punjab owes to post-1947 migrationofPunjabi Muslim populace from East Punjab. The region it is now spoken includes: the Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

Spirantisation of /pʰ/ and /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. /z, x, ɣ,/ are pronounced /d͡ʒ ,kʰ, g/ respectively. Another surprising aspect is that /j/ is almost always pronounced as /d͡ʒ/.

Debuccalisationof/s/, to /ɦ/ in between vowels also occurs.

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

Doabi's fortition /ʋ/ at the start of a word to [b]^[3] as in /'ʋə̀ɖ:a:/ (big) to ['bə̀ɖ:a:] .

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

Also, the vowel /ʊ/ is pronounced [o]. Accordingly, /'kʰʊʃ/ (happy) becomes ['kʰoʃ]or/'kʊʈ/ (to beat - noun form) becomes ['koʈ]. In Doabi, any word beginning with stressed /ɪ/ is pronounced [e]. For example, the word /'kʰɪt͡ʃ/ (to pull - noun form) is pronounced as ['kʰet͡ʃ] or the word /'ʋɪt͡ʃ/ (in [something]) is 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:^[4]

* does not occur word initially

Vowels[edit]

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

For example:

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

• /ʊ/
• /ɪ/

But are phonetecally :^{[citation needed]}

• [o]
• [e]

Nasalisation[edit]

Nasalisation in Punjabi is phonemic.

Suprasegmental Features[edit]

Tone[edit]

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

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 /ɦ/ also led to a rising tone in the preceding vowel.

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

Stress[edit]

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:

Paradigmatically, Doabi has stressed and unstressed syllables;

Some basic vocabulary items[edit]

Fortition of /ʋ/ word-initially[edit]

Doabi's drop the letter "v" at the start of a word and use the letter "b"^[3] 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[edit]

Sentence structure[edit]

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:

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

Examples:

Vocabulary[edit]

Orthograpy[edit]

Doabi uses the Gurmukhi script.

Tone that occurs from the loss of breathy voiced consonants is shown through the following characters in orthography:

• ਘ
• ਝ
• ਢ
• ਧ
• ਭ
• ੜ੍ਹ

See also[edit]

• Languages of Pakistan
• Languages of India
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• Malwi dialect
• Puadhi language
• Omission of word-final shwa in Indo-Aryan languages.

References[edit]