Malwai dialect: Difference between revisions

Malwai
Malwai
ਮਲਵਈ • مَلۡوَئی
Pronunciation	Standard: pa; Malwai: pa
Native to	India
Region	Malwa (Punjab)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabi Eastern Punjabi Malwai; ; ; ; ; ;
Early form	Old Punjabi
Writing system	Gurmukhī; Shahmukhi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

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Latest revision as of 18:23, 8 March 2026

Malwai (Standard: pa; Malwai: pa) is an eastern dialect of the Punjabi language, spoken in the Malwa region of Punjab.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Distribution[edit | edit source]

India[edit | edit source]

Punjab[edit | edit source]

Major Malwai speaking centers are Ferozepur, Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar,^{[note 1]} Moga, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala, Barnala, Mansa districts and Jagraon, Raikot and Ludhiana (West) tehsils of Ludhiana district.^{[note 2]}

Haryana[edit | edit source]

Many Malwai speakers also live in Dabwali, Kalanwali and Rania tehsils of Sirsa district and kaithal district of Haryana, India; the Jakhal and Ratia tehsils of Fatehabad district of Haryana, India.

Rajasthan[edit | edit source]

The dialect is also found spoken in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan, India.

Pakistan[edit | edit source]

In Pakistan, it is spoken in Vehari district of Punjab by the communities migrated from Indian Punjab after Partition 1947. It is also spoken in Bahawalnagar and Nankana Sahib districts.

Characteristics[edit | edit source]

Although the characteristic distinction among the various dialects of Punjabi language lies in the speech pattern, the Malwai dialect most notably differs from the other dialects through its distinctive 'ū' (ਊ) sound in all future-tense verb endings.

Verb Conjugation Differences
Standard Punjabi	Malwai Dialect
āvegā	āūgā
āvegī	āūgī
āvoge	āūŋge
pīvegā	pīūgā
pīvegī	pīūgī
pīvoge	pīūŋge

Another notable difference is that where other Punjabi dialects have /l/ (ਲ) in Malwai many of those words are pronounced with an /r/ (ਰ) or [ɭ̆] (ਲ਼) instead.

The following peculiarities in vocabulary are also observed:

English	Standard Punjabi		Malwai
English	Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi	Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi
He will come.	ਉਹ ਆਵੇਗਾ	اوہ آویگا	ਉਹ ਆਊਗਾ	اوہ آؤگا
I am coming.	ਮੈਂ ਆ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ	میں آ رہا آں	ਮੈਂ ਆਈ ਜਾਨਾਂ।	میں آئی جاناں۔
He is coming.	ਉਹ ਆ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ	اوہ آ رہا اے	ਉਹ ਆਈ ਜਾਂਦੈ।	اوہ آئی جاندَے۔
To lift/to pick (up)	ਚੁੱਕਣਾ	چُکنا	ਚੱਕਣਾ	چَکنا
To uproot/to dig (out)	ਪੁੱਟਣਾ	پُٹنا	ਪੱਟਣਾ	پَٹنا
Your	ਤੁਹਾਡਾ	تَہاڈا	ਥੋਡਾ/ਸੋਡਾ	تُہاڈا
(My/your/his/her) own	ਆਪਣਾ	اپنا	ਆਵਦਾ	آودا
By me/from me	ਮੇਰੇ ਤੋਂ/ਮੇਰੇ ਕੋਲੋਂ	میرے توں/میرے کولوں	ਮੈਥੋਂ	میتھوں
By you/from you	ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਤੋਂ/ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਕੋਲੋਂ/ਤਾਡਾ	تہاڈے توں/تہاڈے کولوں/تاڈا	ਥੋਤੋਂ	تُہاتھوں
Camel	ਊਠ	اُوٹھ	ਬੋਤਾ	اُٹھ
Son	ਪੁੱਤਰ	پُتر	ਪੁੱਤ	پُت
Friend	ਮਿੱਤਰ	یار/مِتر	ਮਿੱਤ	بیلی
Urine	ਮੂਤਰ	مُوتَر	ਮੂਤ	مُوت
Dew drop	ਤ੍ਰੇਲ਼	تریل	ਤੇਲ਼	تیل

Also, in contrast with Majhi dialect, 'ਹ' is not tonal. Exceptions are encountered when 'ਹ'/'ہ' is not followed by a schwa ending or a vowel sound, as in, ਕਹਿਣਾ, ਰਹਿ, ਘਾਹ / ۔کہنا، رہِ، گھاہ

Notes[edit | edit source]

↑ The language spoken in some southern villages of Fazilka, Muktsar and Bahawalnagar districts forms a dialect continuum with Bagri language, which is classified as a dialect of Rajasthani language.
↑ The Punjabi spoken in eastern tehsils of Ludhiana district (Ludhiana (East), Payal, Khanna and Samrala) forms a dialect continuum with Pwadhi dialect.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Haldar, Gopal (2000). Languages of India. New Delhi: National Book Trust, India. p. 149. ISBN 9788123729367. The age of Old Punjabi: up to 1600 A.D. […] It is said that evidence of Old Punjabi can be found in the Granth Sahib.
↑ Bhatia, Tej K. (2013). Punjabi: A Cognitive-Descriptive Grammar (Reprint ed.). London: Routledge. p. XXV. ISBN 9781136894602. As an independent language Punjabi has gone through the following three stages of development: Old Punjabi (10th to 16th century). Medieval Punjabi (16th to 19th century), and Modern Punjabi (19th century to Present).
↑ Christopher Shackle; Arvind Mandair (2013). "0.2.1 – Form". Teachings of the Sikh Gurus : selections from the Scriptures (First ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9781136451089. Surpassing them all in the frequent subtlety of his linguistic choices, including the use of dialect forms as well as of frequent loanwords from Sanskrit and Persian, Guru Nanak combined this poetic language of the Sants with his native Old Punjabi. It is this mixture of Old Punjabi and old Hindi which constitutes the core idiom of all the earlier Gurus.
↑ Frawley, William (2003). International encyclopedia of linguistics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 423. ISBN 9780195139778.
↑ Austin, Peter (2008). One thousand languages : living, endangered, and lost. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 115. ISBN 9780520255609.
↑ Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; S. N. Sridhar (2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 411. ISBN 9781139465502.
↑ Khan, Jamshid Ali (2006). Politics of Coalition Governments in Punjab. Madaan Publications. p. 32. Malwa region lies in the southern side of Satluj river. It includes the largest of all the three regions of the state. The dialects of Punjabi language define regional identities. Malwa is defined by Malwai, Majha by Majhai and ...
↑ Singh, Mandeep (2005). Punjab Today. Harvinder Kaur. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications. p. 11. ISBN 81-7629-702-X. OCLC 62536488. The people of the region speak the Malwa dialect, which is similar to Punjabi. Malwa is surrounded by the river Sutlej in the north, the river Ghaggar in the south, the Shivalik Hills in the east and Pakistan in the west.
↑ Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life. Jeneen Hobby, Timothy L. Gall, Gale (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale. 2009. p. 808. ISBN 978-1-4144-4893-0. OCLC 388481759. The other important Punjabi dialects are Malwa, Doabi, Powadhi, Dogri, and Bhattiani.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
↑ Duggal, Kartar Singh (1988). Philosophy and Faith of Sikhism. Honesdale, Pa.: Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A. p. 77. ISBN 0-89389-109-6. OCLC 21934816. According to the renowned Sikh Scholar, the late Principal Teja Singh, Punjabi is the language that the people of the Punjab have spoken from time immemorial. A living language keeps on changing its complexion. During the course of history, this change in complexion may result in the language being transformed beyond recognition. Punjabi has undergone this metamorphosis time and again and yet it remains Punjabi, the language to which the people in this part of the country belong. Even today the language spoken by the people living in Pothoar is different in flavor from the one spoken in Malwa, as much as the language spoken in Malwa is different in taste from that of Majha. It is said that the dialects in India start changing about every 30 kilometers. Like all other Indian languages, Punjabi, too, has a number of dialects. They can be as diverse as Pahari, spoken in the north, and Lehndi, prevalent in the south.
↑ Munday, Jeremy (2009). Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 9781135198190. A further factor is added by the setting of the novel in an isolated village in the Malwa region of Punjab. The poorly educated characters converse with each other in the local Malwai dialect of Punjabi. Their colloquial dialogue constitutes a crucial element of the fictional discourse, with the third person narrator portraying characters and situations through the character's speech rhythms and the cultural environment they evoke.