Doabi dialect
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, 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.
Phonology
Consonants
Spirantisation of // and // 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. are pronounced respectively. Another surprising aspect is that is almost always pronounced as.Debuccalisation of, to in between vowels also occurs.
In the modern generation, and are pronounced as and. Except, some youngsters end up replacing and with and completely, rather than preferring the alveolar counterparts. and are also often realised as nasal and lateral flaps.
Doabi's fortition at the start of a word to as in to .
They also use elsewhere in a word instead of as in to. A distinctive feature of Doabi is the use of w. Where appears in the middle of a word in Standard Punjabi, Doabis use so that becomes.
Also, the vowel is pronounced. Accordingly, becomes or becomes. In Doabi, any word beginning with stressed is pronounced. For example, the word is pronounced as or the word is pronounced as.
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:
| Consonant | Doabi word | English translation |
| ‘moment’ | ||
| ‘fruit’ | ||
| ‘firewood’ | ||
| ‘wire’ | ||
| ‘round tray’ | ||
| ‘pulse’ | ||
| ‘pile’ | ||
| ‘correct’ | ||
| ‘mail’ | ||
| ‘imprint’ | ||
| leech | ||
| ‘crow’ | ||
| ‘open’ | ||
| ‘abuse’ | ||
| ‘peacock’ | ||
| ‘male’ | ||
| * | ‘now’ | |
| ‘red’ | ||
| * | ‘near’ | |
| ‘hear’ | ||
| ‘lion’ | ||
| ‘strength’ | ||
| ‘distance’ | ||
| ‘more’ | ||
| ‘disease’ | ||
| * | ‘pain’ |
Vowels
Doabi has ten vowels. These areFor example:
| Vowel | Word | Translation |
| ਅ | ਅੱਖ // | 'eye' |
| ਉ | ਉਠ // | ‘awake’ |
| ਇ | ਇੱਟ // | ‘brick’ |
| ਆ | ਆਸ // | ‘hope’ |
| ਐ | ਐਨਕ // | spectacles’ |
| ਊ | ਊਠ // | ‘camel’ |
| ਏ | ਸ਼ੇਰ // | ‘lion’ |
| ਓ | ਮੋਰ // | ‘peacock’ |
| ਔ | // | ‘fear’ |
| ਈ | ਤੀਰ // | ‘arrow’ |
One of the most distinctive features of Doabi is how its short close vowels are pronounced. Phonemically, they are:
But are phonetically:
*
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 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 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’ |
Fortition of word-initially
Doabi's drop the letter "v" at the start of a word and use the letter "b" as in "vàdda" to "bàdda". They also use the letter "o" elsewhere in a word instead of a "v" as in "Khvab" 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" becomes "hawa". Also, the vowel "u" is pronounced with an "o". Accordingly, "khush" becomes "khosh" or "kuht" becomes "koht". In Doabi, any word beginning with "i" is pronounced with "e". For example, the word "khich" is pronounced as "khech" or the word "vich" 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" and "sigey", instead of "han" and "san" or "si". "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 and aa
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 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
Examples:
| Phrase | Doabi | Standard Punjabi |
| He was doing | oh kardā sī/sīgā ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਸੀ/ਸੀਗਾ | oh kardā sī ਉਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਸੀ |
| They were doing | oh karde sī/sīge ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਸੀ /ਸੀਗੇ | oh karde san ਉਹ ਕਰਦੇ ਸਨ |
| You were doing | tũ kardā sī/sīgā ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਸੀ/ਸੀਗਾ | tũ kardā sɛ̃ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਦਾ ਸੈਂ |
| You were doing | tusī̃ karde sī/sīge ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੇ ਸੀ/ਸੀਗੇ | tusī̃ karde so ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੇ ਸੋ |
| I was doing | mɛ̃ kardā sī/sīgā ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਸੀ/ਸੀਗਾ | mɛ̃ kardā sã ਮੈਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਸਾਂ |
| We were doing | āppā karde sī/sīge ਆਪਾਂ ਕਰਦੇ ਸੀ/ਸੀਗੇ | asī̃ karde sã ਅਸੀਂ ਕਰਦੇ ਸਾਂ |
Orthograpy
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