Learn Punjabi Punjabi SPN - Vocabulary And More

[Astroboy]

ਜਲਿ ਥਲਿ ਮਹੀਅਲਿ ਪੂਰਿ ਪੂਰਨ ਕੀਟ ਹਸਤਿ ਸਮਾਨਿਆ ॥
जलि थलि महीअलि पूरि पूरन कीट हसति समानिआ ॥
Jal thal mahī*al pūr pūran kīt hasaṯ samāni*ā.
The Lord is permeating and pervading the water, the land and the sky; He is contained in the ant and the elephant.
Guru Arjan Dev - [SIZE=-1]view Shabad/Paurhi/Salok


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[dalsingh]

Crocodile - Native to the Indian subcontinent, this is the marsh crocodile or "mugger." The third verse from Guru Nanak Dev calls him "magaaramashh." In modern Punjabi, one name for crocodile is "magar machh." Very interesting.

Modern Punjabi n. sanar. M; magar machh. M;

From Sri Guru Granth Sahib

1. Page632 Line 6 Raag Sorith: Guru Teg Bahadur

ਜਬ ਹੀ ਸਰਨਿ ਗਹੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਨਿਧਿ ਗਜ ਗਰਾਹ ਤੇ ਛੂਟਾ ॥
jab hee saran gehee kirapaa nidhh gaj garaah thae shhoottaa ||
As soon as the elephant took to the protective Sanctuary of the Lord, the ocean of mercy, he escaped from the crocodile.



2. Page982 Line 5 Raag Nat: Guru Ram Das

ਜਿਉ ਕੁੰਚਰੁ ਤਦੂਐ ਪਕਰਿ ਚਲਾਇਓ ਕਰਿ ਊਪਰੁ ਕਢਿ ਨਿਸਤਾਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
jio kunchar thadhooai pakar chalaaeiou kar oopar kadt nisathaarae ||1|| rehaao ||
as He protected the elephant, when the crocodile seized it and pulled it into the water; He lifted him up and pulled him out. ||1||Pause||


3. Page1009 Line 17 Raag Maaroo: Guru Nanak Dev

ਮਾਗਰਮਛੁ ਫਹਾਈਐ ਕੁੰਡੀ ਜਾਲੁ ਵਤਾਇ ॥
maagaramashh fehaaeeai kunddee jaal vathaae ||
The crocodile is caught by the hook and line;

Look at the difference between Guru Nanak's spelling ਮਾਗਰਮਛੁ and the modern equivalent m`gr m`C. Very little difference apart from a khanna after the first letter in the old version.

Maach is also an interesting word and corresponds to a large sea creature. Presumably some poor fellow was passing some lake and was chased by the crocodile - giving it the name magarmuch. "Trans: Large sea creature that chases you!"

 

[spnadmin]

Dalsiingh

A personal hypothesis about the English "mugger" the marsh crocodile. Mugger and marsh may be what the English heard or thought they heard when someone said magarmachh. The "a" in magar, is pronounced like a short "u" in English.

 

[dalsingh]

Indian elephant

and like the modern Punjabi, From Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Page141 Line 17 Raag Maajh: Guru Ram Das

ਤਾਜੀ ਰਥ ਤੁਖਾਰ ਹਾਥੀ ਪਾਖਰੇ ॥ਬਾਗ ਮਿਲਖ ਘਰ ਬਾਰ ਕਿਥੈ ਸਿ ਆਪਣੇ ॥ਤੰਬੂ ਪਲੰਘ ਨਿਵਾਰ ਸਰਾਇਚੇ ਲਾਲਤੀ ॥
thaajee rathh thukhaar haathhee paakharae || baag milakh ghar baar kithhai s aapanae || thanboo palangh nivaar saraaeichae laalathee ||
The horses, chariots, camels and elephants, with all their decorations; the gardens, lands, houses, tents, soft beds and satin pavilions-Oh, where are those things, which they believe to be their own?

Modern Punjabi n. hathi. M; hathni. F;

Namjap: I noticed the variation hasti too!

Chal chal chal mera hathi - nee mera sathi.............


Singhs and elephants:

 

[dalsingh]

Dalsiingh

A personal hypothesis about the English "mugger" the marsh crocodile. Mugger and marsh may be what the English heard or thought they heard when someone said magarmachh. The "a" in magar, is pronounced like a short "u" in English.

I never knew the English called a crocodile by that name!

The Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) (literally "Crocodile of the marsh"), also called the Iranian, Marsh, or Persian Crocodile (in Persian گاندو Gandu), is found throughout the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries (India, Pakistan). In Pakistan's coastal regions of the Makran and delta marshlands of Sindh it is known as the Indus Crocodile in Pakistan itself it is the National Reptile of the Country (Nationalistic Symbols), although they do exist in parts of Bangladesh, and parts of Nepal and Iran. The name "Mugger" is a corruption of the Hindi word magar which means "water monster" in the Hindi language.[1]

I always thought the magar bit came from how a crocodile chases people. Guru Nanak was aware of this word as he used it thus:

ਮਗਰ ਪਾਛੈ ਕਛੁ ਨ ਸੂਝੈ ਏਹੁ ਪਦਮੁ ਅਲੋਅ ॥੨॥
magar paashhai kashh n soojhai eaehu padham aloa ||2||
But they cannot even see what is behind them. What a strange lotus pose this is! ||2||

From the dictionary:
Translation for "mgr"

(1) Except, but. (2) Back, behind.

I would add to this: (3) After.
​

 

[spnadmin]

There you go Dalsingji

Thanks for doing the research. I posted a picture of the "mugger" but it disappeared.

 

[dalsingh]

horses and camels.

Interesting!

The camel is one of the first animals we encounter when learning Panjabi because many alphabet primers use the oot with oora of the Panajbi alphabet.

Panjabi dictionary gives us:

Translation for "camel"aUT, boq


However Guru ji doesn't seem to use this word at all and mainly uses


ਕਰਹਲੇ (plural?) or ਕਰਹਲਾ (singular?)


ਅੰਤਰਿ ਨਿਧਾਨੁ ਮਨ ਕਰਹਲੇ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਭਵਹਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਾਲਿ ॥
anthar nidhhaan man karehalae bhram bhavehi baahar bhaal ||
The treasure is deep within, O camel-like mind, but you wander around outside in doubt, searching for it.



The nearest we get to modern oot is ousatt, like below.


27. Page1160 Line 14 Raag Bhaira-o: Guru Arjan Dev

ਤੁਰੇ ਉਸਟ ਮਾਇਆ ਮਹਿ ਭੇਲਾ ॥
thurae ousatt maaeiaa mehi bhaelaa ||
Horses and camels are absorbed in Maya.

Lets do horses next. My favorites!

 

[dalsingh]

Thanks Antonia. I think we have some clarification here!

So ਰੋਝ refers to blue bulls or nilgais. Oversight on my part!

ਤਹ ਕੇ ਸਿੰਘ ਘਨੇ ਚੁਨਿ ਮਾਰੇ ॥ ਰੋਝ ਰੀਛ ਬਹੁ ਭਾਂਤਿ ਬਿਦਾਰੇ ॥
तह के सिंघ घने चुनि मारे ॥ रोझ रीछ बहु भांति बिदारे ॥
There I killed may lions, nilgais and bears.

ਭਾਂਤਿ ਭਾਂਤਿ ਬਨਿ ਖੇਲ ਸਿਕਾਰਾ ॥ ਮਾਰੇ ਰੀਛ ਰੋਝ ਝੰਖਾਰਾ ॥੧॥
भांति भांति बनि खेल सिकारा ॥ मारे रीछ रोझ झंखारा ॥१॥
I went hunting various kinds of animals in the forest and killed bears, nilgais (blue bulls) and elks.1.

This makes sense as this type of creature is found in the foothills of the himalayas, where dasmesh pita grew up.

They are found in the north Indian plains from the base of the Himalayas in the north, down to the state of Karnataka in the South, and from the Gir forest and from all along the entire eastern length of Pakistan and over across the border of Rajasthan in the West to the states of Assam and West Bengal in the East. (wikipedia)

From Mahan Kosh:

ਰੋਝਸੰਗਾ- ਗਵਯ. ਨੀਲਗਾਯ. ''ਰੋਝ ਰੀਛ ਬਹੁ ਭਾਂਤ ਬਿਦਾਰੇ.'' (ਵਿਚਿਤ੍ਰ)

I looked up ਰੋਝ in my dictionary and it said a "wild hybrid between a cow and a horse" - which seems plain crazy to me!

Looking at the picture below sort of explains why the above misconception can take place.

 

[spnadmin]

Now that my copy of Dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib by Professor Surindar Singh Kohli has arrived, I can look up any word. What would you like me to look up?

Also, we need to include the phonetic translit along with the Gurbani. There are still plenty of Punjabi speakers who can't read the Gurmukhi letters.

 

[dalsingh]

Hiya

Couldn't access the site for a few days. Some of the posted pics also seem to have disappeared.....hhhmmm

 

[spnadmin]

Dalsing ji

I will check. That happened to me with the mugger pic. Now it is the weekend and there is time for this thread -- a little time.

The blue bull is back in your post. Found one and pasted it in.

 

[futurekaur]

Aad ji, Nam Jap ji, Dal ji; my apologies for missing this conversation for so long. I'm finally able to log onto this site after what 2 weeks! It's so odd. Anyway in this time books arrived! Both SGGS and new Punjabi grammars by Shackle and the invaluable dictionary to SGGS by S. Singh Kohli...

 

[spnadmin]

Well we haven't addressed bears, lions or elks, Dalsing ji. But they can wait. So horses can be next.

ਦਰ ਘਰ ਮਹਲਾ ਸੋਹਣੇ ਪਕੇ ਕੋਟ ਹਜਾਰ ॥
dhar ghar mehalaa sohanae pakae kott hajaar ||
Beautiful gates, houses and palaces, solidly built forts,


ਹਸਤੀ ਘੋੜੇ ਪਾਖਰੇ ਲਸਕਰ ਲਖ ਅਪਾਰ ॥
hasathee ghorrae paakharae lasakar lakh apaar ||
elephants, saddled horses, hundreds of thousands of uncounted armies
ਕਿਸ ਹੀ ਨਾਲਿ ਨ ਚਲਿਆ ਖਪਿ ਖਪਿ ਮੁਏ ਅਸਾਰ ॥੩॥
kis hee naal n chaliaa khap khap mueae asaar ||3||
-none of these will go along with anyone in the end, and yet, the fools bother themselves to exhaustion with these, and then die. ||3||

In modern punjabi - GoVw, qurMg, qurw
n. ghora. M; http://www.ijunoon.com/


And even more interesting is that this line in Gurbani uses a word for horse that is also similar to one of the modern uses.

ਲੈ ਤੁਰੇ ਸਉਦਾਗਰੀ ਸਉਦਾਗਰੁ ਧਾਵੈ ॥
lai thurae soudhaagaree soudhaagar dhhaavai ||
The traders buy horses, planning to trade them.


​

 

[dalsingh]

From the Dasam Granth (I know I said I wouldn't):

ਕੋਟ ਤੁਰੰਗ ਕੁਰੰਗ ਸੇ ਕੂਦਤ ਪਉਨ ਕੇ ਗਉਨ ਕਉ ਜਾਤ ਨਿਵਾਰੇ ॥
कोट तुरंग कुरंग से कूदत पउन के गउन कउ जात निवारे ॥
With millions of horses galloping like deer, moving faster than the wind.

And

ਨਿਲਜ ਖਾਨ ਭੱਜਿਓ ॥ ਕਿਨੀ ਨ ਸਸਤ੍ਰ ਸਜਿਓ ॥
निलज खान भ्जिओ ॥ किनी न ससत्र सजिओ ॥
The shameless Khans fled away and none of them wore the arms.

ਸੁ ਤਿਆਗ ਖੇਤ ਕੋ ਚਲੇ ॥ ਸੁ ਬੀਰ ਬੀਰਹਾ ਭਲੇ ॥੭॥
सु तिआग खेत को चले ॥ सु बीर बीरहा भले ॥७॥
They left the battlefield though they pretended to be the valiant heroes.7.

ਚਲੇ ਤੁਰੇ ਤੁਰਾਇ ਕੈ ॥ ਸਕੇ ਨ ਸਸਤ੍ਰ ਉਠਾਇ ਕੈ ॥
चले तुरे तुराइ कै ॥ सके न ससत्र उठाइ कै ॥
They left on galloping horses and could not use the weapons.

From my experience GoVw is the most commonly used name for horses by Panjabis. Bhai Gurdas's vaars refers to horses in this way many times.


(Pic - A "blue" Arabian horse - Guru Gobind Singh Ji had one of these).

 

[spnadmin]

!

Ahh!

 

[spnadmin]

Felt the need to return to the camel.

Camel

Modern Punjabi ਊਠ camel, dromedary, ਇਕ ਜਾਨਵਰ ਜੋ ਕਿ ਮਾਰੁਸਥਲ ਵਿਚ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ. ਊਤ, foolish, crude, tactless, rude, ਬੇਸਮਝ, ...

n. utt. M; utth.m; utthni . F dachi fa; sannhani . F; 1. A young camel botta. M; today. M; 2. A camel up to five years of age doak. M; 3. A camel driver. Sarwan. M; 4. A camel's guiding rope nakel f; 5. A cakel's saddle kachawa. M; http://www.ijunoon.com/



In this line from Gurbani, we can see how the older form of "camel" is similar to the modern one ਤੁਰੇ ਉਸਟ ਮਾਇਆ ਮਹਿ ਭੇਲਾ ॥
thurae ousatt maaeiaa mehi bhaelaa ||
Horses and camels are absorbed in Maya.



Camel-mind that would rather scrounge in the dirt searching for weeds than drink the ambrosial nectar.

ਮਾਰਵਾੜਿ ਜੈਸੇ ਨੀਰੁ ਬਾਲਹਾ ਬੇਲਿ ਬਾਲਹਾ ਕਰਹਲਾ ॥
maaravaarr jaisae neer baalehaa bael baalehaa karehalaa ||
As water is very precious in the desert, and the creeper weeds are dear to the camel,

Camel-mind that is shrewd and clever, and cannot settle down and find peace

ਮਨ ਕਰਹਲਾ ਤੂੰ ਚੰਚਲਾ ਚਤੁਰਾਈ ਛਡਿ ਵਿਕਰਾਲਿ ॥
man karehalaa thoon chanchalaa chathuraaee shhadd vikaraal ||
O camel-like mind, you are so fickle; give up your cleverness and corruption.

My father spent several years in the middle east, where he rode camels. He detested the animals -- saying that they were stubborn and they spit. They could not be trusted and were unpredictable. So of course, they had to hold great fascination for me -- stubborn, but I don't spit. Trustworthy and Predictable? Well I won't say. It is said that camel men are the happiest men in India.

Camels at work in India

 

[futurekaur]

Great thread: back to horses: ghoraa is singular masculine
now is horses: ghorae ? (sorry keyboard problems can't type in gurmukhi yet. I need phonetic keyboard..or a picture to find all the keys)

that blue arabian is magnificent. Dal ji, Aad ji do you know the name of Guru Gobind Singh 's horse?

 

[dalsingh]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Yes FutureKaur ghora is the singular masculine and ghorae are simply horses (plural).[/FONT]
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[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Regarding the name. From Guru Gobind Singh blue horse neela[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]
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[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Guru Gobind Singh Ji was famed for his blue coloured horse, in fact Guru Sahib Ji is sometimes known as ‘Neelay ghoray whalla’ or the owner of the blue horse and many a folk songs and vars sing the exploits of ‘Neelay ghoray they swaar’ the rider of the blue horse. [/FONT][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Just as his grandfather Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, Guru Gobind Singh instructed his Sikhs to make offerings of arms and horses in readiness for the turbulent times ahead. In anticipation of this Guru Gobind Singh Ji learnt the art of horsemanship from an early age under the guidance of his maternal uncle (mama) Bhai Kirpal Chand.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]As Guru Sahib Ji grew up he became an accomplished horseman and would spend time travelling the country side on horseback blessing his people who would inevitably gather wherever he went. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]
It is not clear where the blue horse, affectionately known as Neela, was acquired from, it may have been a gift from a royal dignitary or from a devotee.


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Horses were very important to Sikh warriors in the 18th century. They were referred to by the Khalsa as "Jaan Bhai" literally translated as "life brother"

I'll post some more about this in a bit.
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[dalsingh]

Taken from Siques, Tigers or Thieves - Madra and Singh

(Note the variation on how Sikh was spelt in the past)
A passage which I extracted from a memoir written in Delhi in 1777, exhibits a lively picture of this people and their military capacity. "The Siques" it represents "are in general strong and well made; accustomed from their infancy to the most laborious life and hardest fare, they make marches and undergo fatigues that really appear astonishing. In their excursions they carry no tents or baggage, except, perhaps a small tent for the principle officer: the rest shelter themselves under blankets which serve them also in cold weather to wrap themselves in, and which, on a march, cover their saddles.They commonly have two, some of them three, horses each, of the middle size, strong, active and mildly tempered. The provinces of Lahore and Moultan, noted for the best breed of horses in Hindostan, afford them an ample supply; and indeed they take care to encrease it by all means in their power. Though they make merry on the demise of their brethren, they mourn for the death of a horse; thus shewing their love of an animal so necessary to them in their professional capacity.

George Forster 1783


Accustomed from their earliest infancy to a life of hardship and difficulty, the Seiks despise the comforts of a tent; in lieu of this, each horseman is furnished with two blankets one for himself and the other for his horse. These blankets, which are placed beneath the saddle, with a gram bag and heal roped, comprize, in time of war, the baggage of a Seik. Their cooking utensils are carried on tattoos. Considering this mode of life, and the extraordinary rapidity of their movements, it cannot be matter of wonder if they perform marches, which to those who are only accustomed to European warfare, must seem almost incredible.

William Francklin 1803

 

[dalsingh]

Had to add this:

This is a favorite horse of Maharajah Ranjit Singh painted by Emily Eden.