SolomonL12 at 12:53, 8 March 2026

2026-03-08T12:53:07Z

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{{Short description|Dialect of Punjabi}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Malvi language]] of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Malwai
| pronunciation = {{small|Standard:}} {{IPA|pa|məlʋəi|}}{{break}}{{small|Malwai:}} {{IPA|pa|məlˈʋi|}}
| nativename = ਮਲਵਈ • {{Uninastaliq|مَلۡوَئی}}
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Malwa (Punjab)]]
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Northwestern Indo-Aryan languages|Northwestern]]
| fam5 = [[Punjabi dialects|Punjabi]]
| fam6 = [[Eastern Punjabi dialects|Eastern Punjabi]]
| ancestor = [[wikt:Old Punjabi|Old Punjabi]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haldar |first1=Gopal |title=Languages of India |date=2000 |publisher=National Book Trust, India |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788123729367 |page=149 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bhatia |first1=Tej K. |title=Punjabi: A Cognitive-Descriptive Grammar |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9781136894602 |page=XXV |edition=Reprint |quote=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).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Christopher Shackle |author2=Arvind Mandair |title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus : selections from the Scriptures |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9781136451089 |edition=First |chapter=0.2.1 – Form |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frawley |first1=William |title=International encyclopedia of linguistics |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780195139778 |page=423 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Austin |first1=Peter |title=One thousand languages : living, endangered, and lost |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=9780520255609 |page=115}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Braj B. Kachru |author2=Yamuna Kachru |author3=S. N. Sridhar |title=Language in South Asia |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139465502 |page=411}}</ref>
| script = [[Gurmukhī alphabet|Gurmukhī]]<br />[[Shahmukhi alphabet|Shahmukhi]]
| isoexception = dialect
| map = {{maplink
|frame=yes
|frame-align=center
|stroke-width=0.5
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|id=Q2353293
|title=Barnala district
|fill=#FF9933
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|id2=Q172488
|title2=Bathinda district
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|title3=Faridkot district
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|title5=Fazilka district
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|title6=Fazilka district
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|title7=Firozpur district
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|stroke-width8=0.5
|title8=Ludhiana district
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|stroke-width9=0.5
|title9=Fatehabad district
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|id10=Q107016021
|stroke-width10=0.5
|title10=Malerkotla district
|fill10=#FF9933
|type11=shape
|id11=Q172387
|stroke-width11=0.5
|title11=Mansa district, India
|fill11=#FF9933
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|title12=Moga district
|stroke-width12=0.5
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|title14=Sangrur district
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|map_caption=Geographical extent of Malwa (Punjab)
}}
| mapcaption = Malwa Region of Punjab
}}
{{Punjabis}}
'''Malwai''' ({{small|Standard:}} {{IPA|pa|məlʋəi|}}; {{small|Malwai:}} {{IPA|pa|məlˈʋi|}}) is an [[Eastern Punjabi dialects|eastern dialect]] of the [[Punjabi language]], spoken in the [[Malwa (Punjab)|Malwa]] region of [[Punjab]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Jamshid Ali |title=Politics of Coalition Governments in Punjab |publisher=Madaan Publications |year=2006 |pages=32 |quote=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 ...}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Mandeep |title=Punjab Today |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |others=Harvinder Kaur |year=2005 |isbn=81-7629-702-X |location=New Delhi |pages=11 |oclc=62536488 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life |date=2009 |publisher=Gale |others=Jeneen Hobby, Timothy L. Gall, Gale |isbn=978-1-4144-4893-0 |edition=2nd |location=Farmington Hills, Mich. |pages=808 |oclc=388481759 |quote=The other important Punjabi dialects are Malwa, Doabi, Powadhi, Dogri, and Bhattiani.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Duggal |first=Kartar Singh |title=Philosophy and Faith of Sikhism |date=1988 |publisher=Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A |isbn=0-89389-109-6 |location=Honesdale, Pa. |pages=77 |oclc=21934816 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Munday |first=Jeremy |authorlink=Jeremy Munday |title=Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=9781135198190 |edition=2nd |pages=138 |quote=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.}}</ref>

== Distribution ==

=== India ===

==== Punjab ====
Major Malwai speaking centers are [[Ferozepur district|Ferozepur]], [[Fazilka district|Fazilka]], [[Faridkot district|Faridkot]], [[Muktsar district|Muktsar]],<ref group="note">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]].</ref> [[Moga district|Moga]], [[Bathinda district|Bathinda]], [[Sangrur district|Sangrur]], [[Patiala district|Patiala]], [[Barnala district|Barnala]], [[Mansa district, India|Mansa]] districts and [[Jagraon]], [[Raikot]] and Ludhiana (West) tehsils of [[Ludhiana district]].<ref group="note">The Punjabi spoken in eastern tehsils of Ludhiana district (Ludhiana (East), Payal, Khanna and Samrala) forms a dialect continuum with [[Puadhi dialect|Pwadhi dialect]].</ref>

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

==== Rajasthan ====
The dialect is also found spoken in [[Sri Ganganagar district|Sri Ganganagar]] and [[Hanumangarh district|Hanumangarh]] districts of [[Rajasthan]], [[India]].

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

== Characteristics ==
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 '''<nowiki/>'ū'''' (ਊ) sound in all future-tense verb endings.
{| class="wikitable"
|+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 {{IPA|/l/|lang=pa}} (ਲ) in Malwai many of those words are pronounced with an {{IPA|/r/|lang=pa}} (ਰ) or {{IPA|[ɭ̆]|lang=pa}} (ਲ਼) instead.

The following peculiarities in vocabulary are also observed:

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! rowspan="2" | English
! colspan="2" | Standard Punjabi
! colspan="2" | Malwai
|-
!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

==See also==
* [[Punjabi dialects]]
* [[Languages of India]]
* [[List of Indian languages by total speakers]]
* [[List of Punjabi television channels]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Manmandar |title=Malwai Shabad Kosh |publisher=Language Department, Punjabi University |location=Patiala |language=pa |script-title=pa:ਮਲਵਈ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਕੋਸ਼ |trans-title=Malwai Dictionary}}
{{Punjabi dialects}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Punjabi dialects]]
[[Category:Languages of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Punjabi language in Pakistan]]

Malwai dialect - Revision history

SolomonL12 at 12:53, 8 March 2026