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Langar Sign In Gurmukhi


johnyork

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This is some Gurmukhi text from a sign in a langar. There may be some mispelled words. Please give the correct spelling of any mispelled words if you see any. Give the correct spellings in Gurmukhi obviously. The subscript letters may not display correctly. Thank you for your help.


(1) ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ ਜੀ ਲੰਗਰ ਵਿਚ ਜੂਠੇ ਹੰਥ ਨ ਲਾਉ ਜੀ
(2) ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ ਜੀ ਜੂਠ ਨਾ ਛੱਡੋ ਜੀ
(3) ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਲਵੇ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਛਕਣਾ ਹੈ ਜੀ

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1) Dear holy congregation, please do not place contaminated hands in the langar (langar is the food distributed by the Gurdwara, and by 'contaminated hands' they mean hands used to eat or touch shoes etc. that have not been washed afterwards).

2) Dear holy congregation, please do not leave uneaten food (minimising waste)

3) Take only as much as you wish to eat (as above, minimising waste)

Hope that helps.

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Okay, let me ask my next question. I want to make sure I have sentence (1) understood as far as sentence structure goes. Please tell me if this correct.

(1)
ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ = members (Subject)
ਲੰਗਰ=food ਵਿਚ=with ਜੂਠੇ=dirty ਹੱਥ=hands (Object)
ਨ=don't ਲਾਉ=touch (Verb)

Members don't touch food with dirty hands.

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ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ = members (Subject)
ਲੰਗਰ=food ਵਿਚ=with ਜੂਠੇ=dirty ਹੱਥ=hands (Object)
ਨ=don't ਲਾਉ=touch (Verb)

Okay, so you want to understand the language. You probably know already, but Panjabi SYNTAX (order of words) usually mean VERBS end up at the END of a sentence. Whereas English usually has SVO (subject-verb-object), Panjabi/Gurmukhi syntax is commonly SOV.

ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ = To be pedantic it literally means 'holy congregation' and refers to the people attending the Gurdwara (Subject) : sadh = holy, sangat = congregation


ਲੰਗਰ= The word 'langar' can be used to refer to both 'the food' distributed by the kitchen and the whole endeavour taking place in the 'langar hall and kitchen'

ਵਿਚ= in

ਜੂਠੇ=dirty

ਹੱਥ=hands (Object)


ਨ=don't ਲਾਉ=touch (or place) (Verb)

Hope this helps. Try and make up a similar sentence with slightly different words to test yourself.

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dalsingh101, thanks for the continued help. I think I got it now. Please correct me if I am wrong. The word that was causing me problems was ਵਿਚ. I think ਵਿਚ is a preposition meaning "in" as you stated already. So it means "in the langar". It was confusing me because the prepostion ਵਿਚ came after the word langar.

So I can view this sentence as, "Members don't place dirty hands (in) the langar."

Do I have correct understanding of this sentence?

In Punjabi language, is this correct preposition placement within the sentence, to place the preposition after word it effects?

Like for example, ਵਾਿਹਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਾ ਖਾਲਸਾ. In this sentence, ਕਾ (preposition "of") comes after ਵਾਿਹਗੁਰੂ to indicate the Khalsas of Waheguru. So I am thinking, ਵਿਚ is follwing langar to let the "Members/ Holy Congregation Ji" no where not to place their hands. Don't place your dirty hands "IN" the langar.

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dalsingh101, thanks for the continued help. I think I got it now. Please correct me if I am wrong. The word that was causing me problems was ਵਿਚ. I think ਵਿਚ is a preposition meaning "in" as you stated already. So it means "in the langar". It was confusing me because the prepostion ਵਿਚ came after the word langar.

So I can view this sentence as, "Members don't place dirty hands (in) the langar."

Do I have correct understanding of this sentence?

Yes I think you do. And you are right, the preposition usually comes after the object it relates to i.e.

ਘਰ ਵਿਚ 'In [the] house'

ਕੁਰਸੀ ਉਤੇ 'On [the] chair' (ਉਤੇ = on, on top of, over)

Verbs also (usually) come at the end, so using the above given examples:

ਘਰ ਵਿਚ ਜਾ - Go in [the] house - (ਜਾ or jaa = go)

ਕੁਰਸੀ ਉਤੇ ਬੈਠ - Sit on [the] chair - (ਉਤੇ = on, on top of, over/ ਬੈਠ = sit)

Negating a verb (if that is the right way to refer to it?), usually involves placing the negative before the verb (although variations can take place).

So again, using the previous examples:

ਘਰ ਵਿਚ ਨਾ ਜਾ - Don't go in the house

ਕੁਰਸੀ ਉਤੇ ਨਾ ਬੈਠ - Don't sit on the chair

In Punjabi language, is this correct preposition placement within the sentence, to place the preposition after word it effects?

Like for example, ਵਾਿਹਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਾ ਖਾਲਸਾ. In this sentence, ਕਾ (preposition "of") comes after ਵਾਿਹਗੁਰੂ to indicate the Khalsas of Waheguru. So I am thinking, ਵਿਚ is follwing langar to let the "Members/ Holy Congregation Ji" no where not to place their hands. Don't place your dirty hands "IN" the langar

Sounds about right. Not really too hot on grammar myself.

Good to see someone taking a serious interest in learning the language btw.

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Okay, now onto sentence (3). My current understanding is as follows.

ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਲਵੇ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਛਕਣਾ ਹੈ ਜੀ

Unha̅ṁ(those) lave(near) jinha̅ṁ(whoever) chhakana̅(eating) hai(is) ji

Those near whoever is eating.

So what is this sentence trying to say? Does it relate to sentence (2) or no? Is it trying to tell you not to leave uneaten food on your plate near others who are eating? This sentence still has me puzzled. Any help is appreciated on this one.

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ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ = That much (you sure it is not ਉਨ੍ਹਾ without the dot ??)

ਲਵੇ - maybe typo, I think it should be ਲਵੋ = take

So together, the above means 'take that much'





ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ = As much

ਛਕਣਾ = consume

ਹੈ = sort of like 'will' in this context


Together the above broadly means 'as much as you will consume'



ਜੀ = typical honorific added as sign of respect


All together we get:

'Take as much as you will consume ji.' i.e. don't over do it and leave uneaten food on your tray.


NOTE: Panjabi words typically have multiple definitions and you nail the meaning based on context. I presume you are using a dictionary and although your definitions of words are technically correct, they aren't the definitions used in this context, which is probably what is confusing you??

Edited by dalsingh101
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Words you should look up to help you decipher (they are directly related to some of the words used in the original Gurmukhi sentences you posted):

ਲੈਣਾ

ਓਨਾ

ਜਿੰਨਾ and ਜਿਤਨਾ

Note: Careful with using bindis (dots) whee unwarranted as this can totally change a words meaning.

Edited by dalsingh101
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I will have to go back and look at where I copied the original sentence. I was writing by memory, so I may have written the sentence down wrong. Your translation makes sense.

Basically, be clean, don't waste food, take only what you can eat. Seems like an anticipated message you would receive in the langar.

Edited by johnyork
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Dal Singh Ji, here is an update on the original sentence I was trying to translate. The consonants are written correctly, however, the use of bindi may be wrong. This sentence may have been written from a person who usually writes in Hindi script (Devanagari) and maybe they put bindis where they are not supposed to. However, they may have spelled it correctly. I simply don't know. You were correct about ਲਵੋ though as I had written it down wrong.

ਉਨਾਂ ਲਵੋ ਜਿਨਾਂ ਛਕਣਾ ਹੈ ਜੀ

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Dal Singh Ji, I made some changes to the spelling on 2 of the words as I was having trouble finding some of the words.

ਓਨਾ (adj. that much)
ਲਵੋ (ਲੈਣਾ verb. take)
ਜਿੰਨਾ (adj. as much as)
ਛਕਣਾ (eat)
ਹੈ (will)

I am really struggling with ਲਵੋ because I have difficulty with Punjabi verb inflection (Punjabi verb conjugation).

I speak Español and I have a large Español verb conjugation dictionary that shows me all the forms, which I still consult from time to time. Would be nice if I had one for Punjabi verbs also. Do you know of any online resource that list the Punjabi verbs with all their different forms? If so, can you post the link?

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I am really struggling with ਲਵੋ because I have difficulty with Punjabi verb inflection (Punjabi verb conjugation).


Like I said, I'm no expert and many of the linguistics terms you use go straight over my head. It has been said that Panjabi is heavily inflected language and this is especially the case with verbs - so it probably is no surprise if people have difficulties in this area. Christopher Shackles says the following about the language of Sikh scripture which probably holds true of Panjabi in general. I don't understand this, but have a feeling you will (more than me at least):

[The] SLS (Sacred language of the SIkhs) is a quite highly inflected language. Of all parts of speech, the most highly inflected is the verb. In many languages it is possible to group verbs into conjunctions, just as nouns, adjectives and pronouns may be grouped into declensions. In SLS, however, verbs cannot be so neatly accommodated, and each set of forms must be dealt with on its own, verbs falling into one category in one tense, but grouped with other verbs in another tense.

If I've understood what you are saying above, I would suggest approaching it by creating tables, where the first column would have the root stem of the verb, note that conjunction is dependent on many things including whether the stem ends with a consonant or vowel.

Start with the following verb stems perhaps?

ਲੈ - take

ਪੀ - drink


ਕਰ - do

In the conjunction you referred to above these would become:

ਲਵੋ

ਪੀਓ

ਕਰੋ

I have no idea why the ਵ is added in ਲਵੋ . Every language has it's own idiosyncrasies I guess?

I speak Español and I have a large Español verb conjugation dictionary that shows me all the forms, which I still consult from time to time. Would be nice if I had one for Punjabi verbs also. Do you know of any online resource that list the Punjabi verbs with all their different forms? If so, can you post the link?

I'm not aware of any, but I haven't searched, see if you can find it. Otherwise, maybe use this online dictionary where you can (you probably know it already):

http://dic.learnpunjabi.org/default.aspx

Maybe a table from hee will help you get started? You may have to build your own over time.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Punjabi/Grammar/Verb

Is Español your first language?

PS - hope this helps a bit but bear in mind my own Panjabi is pretty poor, I'm 2nd generation.

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