punjabi

Is "to fly a crow, to fly crows" an idiom in Punjabi? I imagine, releasing that bird and trusting its instincts to find one's bearings because, apparently, crows are good at detecting landmasses in the sea, cities in the jungle, etc. Could it mean being utterly disoriented, making (futile)...

This word is from the song "Aaya Laariye", in the verse ਤੇਰੇ ਸਿਹਰੇ ਨੂੰ ਸਜਾਇਆ ਡਾਢਾ ਫੁੱਲ ਕਲੀਆਂ تیرے سہرے توں سجایا ڈاڈھا پھُلّ کلیاں The dictionary entries for ḍāḍhā as an adjective: "strong, mightly, solid, tight" also "strict, tending to use force, vicious" Some Punjabi speakers I spoke...

Friends, this is the last non-repeated stanza of the typical Punjabi bridal song "Aaya Laariye" My translation attempt differs too much from the "official" caption given in Coke Studio (4/9) Could someone who knows Punjabi please tell me how wrong I am? ਲੱਖਾਂ ਦੁਆਵਾਂ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਮਾਪੇ / ਮੰਗਦੇ ਏ ਰੱਬ ਤੋਂ...

I stumbled into a sentence of difficult translation, mostly because of the word "khillh" of the title. It is, again, in this song "Par Chenaab De", about folkloric lovers Sohni and Mahiwal. The general idea is that, despite difficulties, she should not be discouraged (when crossing the river to...

Please, I need help with this expression, which appears in the song "Paar Chenab de" (across the Chenab). The song is about folkloric lovers Sohni and Mahiwal, she can't swim, so she crosses the river with the help of the clay-pots she makes in order to meet Mahiwal. Someone cruelly replaces...

I found this word being used in old Punjabi films. A direct translation means "red work" so I'm not sure if it is rooted in Indo-Aryan vocabulary.

The beautiful song "Paar Chanaa De", which narrates the story of tragic lovers Sohni and Mahiwal, starts with this verse: ਪਾਰ ਝਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਦਿਸੇ ਕੁੱਲੀ ਯਾਰ ਦੀ پار چناں دے دسے کلّی یار دی Across the Chenab, appears the hut of my lover Am I right to assume that dise is a "subjunctive" (aorist...

It can mean both "thorns" or "riverbank" depending on the usage, so I'm curious as to what its etymological root is. <Gulab de kande> <Nadi de kande>

What is the etymology of soorma (meaning young, not mascara) and gabroo?

Are there any other words that South Asians here use for achaar?

Ardaas is a common word used by Sikhs for their prayers. Is ardaas still used in any of the other meanings mentioned below by Platts? And is ardaas now believed to be most likely derived from the Persian 'arz-daasht "petition, request" (with 'arz being of Arabic origin), or is it instead...

ਚੁੱਪ ਕਰਕੇ ਲੇਿਟਆ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ He would Remain lying down is not correct I know. It’s about a baby who wouldn’t cry even when hungry. What’s a better alternative translation?

The song Kamli (from the movie "Dhoom 3"), is largely in Hindustani, but with several Punjabi parts for effect. The 2 first recited verses go like this: maiṁ ruṭhiyaa yār manaavaaNgī - har cilman phuuNk jalaavaaNgī ... and the translation is something like: "I will persuade my...

Hello. I am listening to a well-known Hindi song, (Kamli, from the movie "Dhoom 3"), which is peppered with Punjabi terms for, effect. The 2 first recited verses go like this: maiṁ ruṭhiyaa yār manaavaaNgī / har cilman phuuNk jalaavaaNgī ... and the translation is something like: "I will...

Is the phrase flaanaa-thoNkaa used to mean 'and so on and so forth' or 'more '? Is it a slang version of something else? Actual spelling in Gurmukhi would be helpful.

Which of the following is correct? If neither is correct could someone suggest a corrected version? Is one more Panjabi and the other Hindi/Urdu influenced? Again apologies for any inaccuracies in transliteration. Dhanwaad. A. Oh paanii piindaa hai. -- Is this the more correct Panjabi...

Is tusīn as the formal/singular form of tūn a recent occurrence? I have heard that it was originally only used for plural, not singular. Does anyone know if this is the case and if so, when the change occurred?

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but what do you call a course? Specifically, an educational course. So far, the closest I could get is "مزمون," which I believe means either "article" or "subject." Examples: "One of my courses is English Honors?! But I qualified for AP!" "Which course...

Friends, what word would you use for "apple" in your language/s? If you are suggesting one word, what other word or words would you use for "apple". Thank you in advance for your participation.

Friends, The current book I am reading is in Urdu but written by a Punjabi. Hence, there are many terms in it that are not mainstream Urdu but would make sense to a Punjabi speaker/Urdu speaker from Pakistan. One such is the term باؤجی which the author uses at the beginning of sentences when...

These three words are no doubt of Persian origins but in the Urdu spoken in the Lucknow area and by Punjabi speakers they are pronounced in the manner indicated in the thread title. (xurshaid, sufaid, umaid)* My question is this. Were these words pronounced in this way in any part of the...

I am an American that married into a Punjabi-speaking family. They spoke Urdu as well. I’m used to the syntax and am in the process of refining my pronounciation and expanding my vocabulary. In any case, I’m diving into formally learning Urdu/Hindi and possibly a bit of Punjabi on the side...

Hi Folks, I have heard a phrase 'koorh (or perhaps kood?) di neeti (or perhaps niti?) karan waley' in a Sikh video, and wonder what it means. My understanding is that it means 'people who spread falsehood (or it might be translated as 'a precept of falsehood'?)'. Could someone please clarify if...

I was just idly looking at Punjabi grammar on Wikipedia and, unfortunately, I couldn't find any paradigm for ਹੋਣਾ hōṇā ("to be"), so I decided to try and construct the paradigm myself from what I could find online. Using google, I eventually came across this image and I noticed the form ਤੁਸੀਂ...

Perhaps this has been adressed before, but does anyone know why/how/when some sanskrit words with V in them started to become B in hindustani? Off the top of my head; veer --> beer, vikram --> bikram. Maybe this is not a hindustani thing but a dialect one. Thanks!

Dear Foreros', the word above is used by Punjabi-phones for an individual who does next to nothing i.e. one heck of an idle fellow who quite often is overweight. Any idea as to what its origins are or the actual definition of the word. best, Sheikh

Hi, Kya aap is popular Punjabi song ki ye dou linein Hindi me likh kar unka arth bata sakte hain? Addiyan ton ki paiyan jhanjara laung mare lishkare Kagna tera ni sanu kare ishaare

Hi, I've just started learning Punjabi, I'm having difficulty speaking this in Punjabi: Jisko papa ka aashirwaad mila usko moksh mil gaya.

In your experience is rab(b)/rabbaa "God" used equally by people of all religious backgrounds in these three languages, or is it relatively more commonly used by Muslims since it's of Arabic origin? Thanks

A phrase, or rather a couple of words, was spoken in Punjabi and I had no idea what it meant. The whole sentence was - "Meh je Roos ussi gay koi sau panja bande thai fajme uhna dethe aunde sade udar jande." My understanding of that is " We went to Russia, about five hundred men thai fajme...

I'm a teaching assistant for an undergraduate class which requires students to collect items of folk speech or folk practice from their friends and classmates. When an item of folk speech comes from a language usually written in a script other than Latin, the student is supposed to present both...

Most people tell me these vocabs are interchangeable and both are the object like apko in urdu/hindi. It sounds right when I say Tenu ki pata but I feel weird if I said Tuhanu ki pata. The only example I know to use tuhanu is in the sentence I forgot about you :"Tuhanu mai pooley gey". Maybe it...

I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing (can) but I don't know when to use one or the other. For instance if I wanted to say in punjabi can i help you I would say: Kya mai tuardi madat kar sakna va or if I wanted to say Can you help me I could say in punjabi: Ki toon meri madat kar sakna vei...

Hi, so far I can say that there are three (!) different suffixes -daan. This is quite a thing. 1) -daan as in bhuudaan भूदान بھودان - coming from a Sanskrit noun 'daana-' meaning 'offering, gift'. 2) -daan as in 3itr-daan ऎत्र (इतर)-दान عطردان meaning a receptacle; 3) -daan like the suffix of...

hey!!Can anyone tell that how can we differentiate different dialects of Punjabi on the basis of their tones?

I came across a song called "London thumakda" and, judging by the words and word forms used in the song, it is at least partially Punjabi. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the verb "thumakna" in Punjabi-English dictionaries online - mostly because I haven't mastered the Punjabi script yet...

Hello everyone. In lots of Punjabi songs I've heard the word "naiyo", which seems to have the same meaning as "nahin". At first I thought it was just "nahin" + "oh", but in Punjabi song lyrics on the internet they tend to transcribe it as "naiyo" (yes, ad-hoc Latinisation for song lyrics isn't...

Dear Foreros, During conversations with punjabis or in punjabi households the state of complete ignorance and knowing xaak is referred to as either kakh ککہ or kak کک . I would highly appreciate it if someone could come forward and state which one it in actuality happens to be. "FalaaN/FulaaN...

Dear Foreros, In the ghazal meraa piiyaa ghar aayaa o Laal nii, how would you translate "Laal nii?" Piiyaa ghar aayaa manifestly stands for my beloved has come home, now Laal is also used for a beloved primarily one's son/offspring but in this case who is being reffered to in the Laal nii bit...

Dear Foreros', Is the male equivalent of waarii jaaoN, waaraa jaaoN? Or in fact there is no distinction in this regard as is the case with qurbaan and sadaqah? This question comes in light of this highly informative thread Urdu/Punjabi: waari jaana . Best Regards, Sheikh

Salamalekom! Could you give me a brief explanation of the verb tenses in Punjabi by using some essential verbs? Verbs like: Do, like, give, get, take, put, look,see,hear,eat,come,be,go...etc. and could you also tell me how to know the root of the verbs in Punjabi? I know theres another post like...

Hi, I'm born in Britain but I speak (very bad) punjabi with my grandparents and although I can understand them very well I can't speak Punjabi very well. But when I hear my university friend speak Punjabi, the type of Punjabi he speaks sounds a lot more like a Hindi accent to my untrained ears...

Does Punjabi have a Sanskritized and non-Sanskiritized version that is spoken between Pakistan and India?

Dear Foreros, I would like to know what "chambaa" in a famed ruxsaatii song which starts off with "saDaa chiRiiyaaN daa chambaa" stands for? For some reason there are contradictory translations online, I felt chambaa means a flock of birds, in this case sparrows but some online sources state...

Which of the above pronunciations is used in Pakistani Punjabi, or is another pronunciation used instead? Thanks

Hey guys, how are you! I'm sorry to ask a question on this topic, but unfortunately I do hear these words thrown around in the local community quite a bit. I seem to hear some people using DoDaa and pùkkii as if they are consumed in two different ways. I thought that DoDaa just meant "poppy...

Hi, What is the usual word for ninety? Thanks

somebody can translate it in gurmukhi punjabi please: Grilled Chicken + 2 naan (bread) + Salad + Wedge Potatoes

I've long noticed that words like pushaak, xudaa, kalaam, Bashiireyaa will be pronounced by some Punjabi speakers as pṷsháak~pᵊsháak, xṷdáa, kᵊláam~kláam, Bᵊshíireya~Bshíireya. That is, vowels before a stressed syllable are very reduced in length, sometimes in quality or even deleted. Strong...

I've been instructed to provide the original wording for a proverb from north India that translates literally as "to pick fruit, you have to climb the tree." I'm stumped. This sounds too superficial to be a real proverb, but it might be a simplified version. If anyone can give me the original...