4.5 In 4.4 note the contrast between é merā kākā e, hardiāl. and the polite form é mere dost ne, jā́n samith.
4.6 The staple food in most Punjabi families is some kind of bread.
phulkā is neither the most ordinary nor the fanciest. With this is usually served some kind of vegetable, collectively, sabzī. There are many kinds. Some like góbī ‘cauliflower’ are familiar in America, though often prepared somewhat differently. Others like methi, a kind of greens, are not known in the West. sāg is another vegetable preparation unknown to Americans. Some kind of legume preparation is also commonly served. These are generally known as dāl. There are many kinds, most of them common English names. mā̃́ dī dāl is one kind. Meat, mās, is eaten only occasionally, but of course more often when there is company.
PRONUNCIATION
4.7 Punjabi k č t p are unaspirated. Similar sounds followed by rather strong aspiration also occur. We will write the aspiration h, and the aspirated sounds, therefore, kh čh th ph.
Punjabi kh ch th ph are more nearly like English
‘k č t p’ than are Punjabi k č t p. Remember, however, that there is also another very important difference between t and ‘t’. in that the Punjabi sound is dental. th is also dental, and thus differs strongly from English ‘t’ in this respect. In practicing words with th be careful to force the tongue forward against the back of the teeth.
The difference between k č t p and kh čh th ph very frequently distinguishes words in Punjabi, and must therefore be carefully observed and maintained. The following are a few such
bit of such listening practice, he will give you various words from this list to identify as aspirated or unaspirated.
pal (ਪਲ) phal (ਫਲ) tāl (ਤਾਲ) thāl (ਥਾਲ) kat (ਕਤ) khat (ਖਤ) pol (ਪੋਲ) khol (ਖੋਲ) tak (ਤਕ) thak (ਥਕ) kār (ਕਾਰ) khār (ਖਾਰ) pīs (ਪ੍ਸ) phīs (ਫ੍ਸ) sat (ਸਤ) sath (ਸਥ) lak (ਲਕ) lakh (ਲਖ) lep (ਲੇਪ) leph (ਲੇਫ) mit (ਿਮਤ) mith (ਿਮਥ) suk (ਸੁਕ) sukh (ਸੁਖ)
After some practice listening, repeat these words after your instructor, carefully imitating his pronunciation. Note that though English ‘k t p’ are aspirated, the degree of aspiration is not exactly the same as in Punjabi. Therefore, some care in imitation is needed.
4.8 The following words should be used for additional practice with k t p and kh th ph :
parī (ਪਰ੍) pol (ਪੋਲ) phir (ਿਫਰ) pī́ (ਪ੍ਹ) phītā (ਫ੍ਤਾ) khāl (ਖਾਲ) pó (ਪੋਹ) phé (ਫੇਹ) pāp (ਪਾਪ) phāl (ਫਾਲ) pītā (ਪ੍ਤਾ) potā (ਪੋਤਾ) tārī (ਤਾਰ੍) thap (ਥਪ) tol (ਤੋਲ) tī́rā (ਤ੍ਹਰਾ) thuk (ਥੁਕ) thā̃ (ਥਾਂ) pat (ਪਤ) topā (ਤੋਪਾ) tīk (ਤ੍ਕ) tāj (ਤਾਜ) tor (ਤੋਰ) tā̃ (ਤਾਂ)
kam (ਕਮ) kā́dā (ਕਾਹਦਾ) khālī (ਖਾਲ੍) kó (ਕੋਹ) kītā (ਕ੍ਤਾ) khatam (ਖਤਮ)
khā́ (ਖਾਹ) khol (ਖੋਲ) kol (ਕੋਲ) kār (ਕਾਰ) khabar (ਖਬਰ) khól (ਖੋਲਹ) čūp (ਚੂਪ) pāp (ਪਾਪ) rūp (ਰੂਪ) nephā (ਨੇਫਾ) nāpī (ਨਾਪ੍) topā (ਤੋਪਾ)
haphiā (ਹਿਫਆ) kapṛā (ਕਪੜਾ) kulphī (ਕੁਲਫ੍) jāpiā (ਜਾਿਪਆ) nepre (ਨੇਪਰੇ) dīpā (ਦ੍ਪਾ)
hit (ਿਹਤ) sāthõ (ਸਾਥ�) jāt (ਜਾਤ) sat (ਸਤ) jīto (ਜ੍ਤੋ) ethe (ਏਥੇ) rāt (ਰਾਤ) sītā (ਸ੍ਤਾ) othõ (ਓਥ�) tetī (ਤੇਤ੍) bͻ́t (ਬਹੁਤ) jit (ਿਜਤ) ik (ਇਕ) wakh (ਵਖ) lekh (ਲੇਖ) dukh (ਦੁਖ) jok (ਜੋਕ) sāk (ਸਾਕ) ākhar (ਆਖਰ) kālakh (ਕਾਲਖ) čīk (ਚ੍ਕ) suknā (ਸੁਕਨਾ) sakdā (ਸਕਦਾ)
čukā (ਚੁਕਾ)
čār (ਚਾਰ) čhe (ਛੇ) čáwī (ਚਵਹ੍) čūp (ਚੂਪ) čhawī (ਛਵ੍) čhil (ਿਛਲ) čar (ਚਰ) čo (ਚੋ) čhip (ਿਛਪ) čhin (ਿਛਨ) čīk (ਚ੍ਕ) čug (ਚੁਗ) kūč (ਕੂਚ) bač (ਬਚ) wičh (ਿਵਛ) boč (ਬੋਚ) jāč (ਜਾਚ) sač (ਸਚ)
nāčā (ਨਾਚਾ) hočhī (ਹੋਛ੍) sočiā (ਸੋਿਚਆ) bāčhā̃ (ਬਾਛਾਂ) pačiā (ਪਿਚਆ) račiā (ਰਿਚਆ)
4.9 What we have transcribed as w may have struck you as being two may be seen as soon as the use of the two sounds is investigated.
The details differ from one speaker to another, so your instructor’s speech may not be exactly as here described, but the following is typical. Before the vowels ī e ɛ i, the w is ‘v’ –like. Before ā ͻ o ū a u, the w is more ‘w’-like.The two pronunciations cannot occur before the same vowel. It is therefore totally impossible to find any two words that differ only in that one has a ‘v’-like sound and the other a ‘w’-like. There is nothing in the Punjabi language which in each place only one type of ‘p’ occurs. Thus, there cannot be a pair of words in English differentiated only by the fact that one has a ph-like sound and the other a p-like sound. Nothing forces the average American to learn to hear the difference, and he is therefore completely confident that the ‘p’ in ‘pin’ and the ‘p’ in ‘spin’ are exactly the same. Indeed, he tends to think it quite ridiculous to raise the question at all. In a sense he is right : the two sounds are functionally exactly equivalent in English, they are both ‘p’, and that learned it fairly early in life. He makes it as consistently as he makes any other distinction. We must also make this distinction if our
Punjabi is to sound right and sometimes simply if we are to be understood at all.
It is not a question of either sound being a new one. Both, or very near approximations to both, occur in English. The problem is rather that these two sounds are used quite differently in the two languages. New sounds are often nowhere near as much trouble in the long run as new uses of old sounds.
For a Punjabi speaker learning English, the difference between ‘v’ and ‘w’ is just as difficult as is that between p and ph for the American. It is not that these sounds do not occur in Punjabi-fairly close approximations do – but that these sounds are distinctive in English, but non-distinctive in Punjabi. An Indian learning English will have to drill extensively with pairs of words like 'vine' and ‘wine’, ‘vest’ and ‘west’, etc.
Americans learning Punjabi will perhaps never get over hearing the difference between ‘v’-like and ‘w’-like varieties of w, but they must learn to overlook it. It has no functional significance in the language. If it is not ignored, it merely imposes a profitless burden on the hearer. Americans must also build up the habit of selecting automatically the proper pronunciation of w for any given context. Only practice – imitation and drill – can do this. But with enough drill, it can become quite natural.
4.10 In Punjabi, vowels may be either nasalized or non-nasalized. There are many pairs of words where this is the only distinguishing factor.
The following will illustrate. First listen to your instructor's pronunciation. Later carefully imitate until you can make the difference easily and accurately.
(Gurmukhi) (I.P.A) (Gurmukhi) (I.P.A) ਲਾ lā ਲਾਂ lā̃
ਜਾ jā ਜਾਂ jā̃
ਵਾਸ wās ਵਾਂਸ wā̃s ਹੈ hɛ ਹ� hɛ̃
ਤਾ tā ਤਾਂ tā̃
ਕਾ kā ਕਾਂ kā̃
ਸੌ sͻ ਸ� sͻ̃
ਲੂ lū ਲੂੰ lū̃
The following are additional words for practice. Be particularly careful to get the tones right as you practice nasalized vowels.
torī (ਤੋਰ੍) lokī̃ (ਲੋਕ�) tolā (ਤੋਲਾ) nītī (ਨ੍ਤ੍) jītā̃ (ਜ੍ਤਾਂ) sītā (ਸ੍ਤਾ) pīte (ਪ੍ਤੇ) nītā̃ (ਨ੍ਤਾਂ) édrõ (ਏਧਰ� ) rͻ̃ (ਰ�) rū̃ (ਰੂੰ) jāī̃ (ਜਾ�) lā (ਲਾ) bā́rõ (ਬਾਹਰ�) sāthõ (ਸਾਥ�) pūrā (ਪੂਰਾ) dū́rā (ਦੂਹਰਾ) cālī (ਚਾਲ੍) tī́ (ਤ੍ਹ) tī̃́ (ਤ�ਹ) raī́ (ਰਹ੍) raī̃́ (ਰਹ�) sūtī (ਸੂਤ੍) laī̃́ (ਲਹ�)
juttī (ਜੁੱਤ੍) juttī̃ (ਜੁੱਤ�) hāḷī (ਹਾਲ਼੍) hāḷī̃ (ਹਾਲ਼�) terā (ਤੇਰਾ) terā̃ (ਤੇਰਾਂ)