Gender is a grammatical class

The 1851 Lodiana grammar distinguishes masculine and feminine gender and groups noun patterns accordingly. Gender belongs to the grammatical description of a word: its discussion includes objects as well as people and animals. It is therefore useful to record the gender alongside the noun and its meaning. The label helps explain the forms that accompany a word; an English translation alone does not supply that information.[1]

Endings give clues

Wilson’s Shahpur account offers tendencies rather than a rule covering every noun. It usually associates a final long a with masculine words and a final i with feminine words, while also discussing internal vowels. Its horse and mare pair illustrates a related masculine and feminine form. But its separate list pairs father with mother and son with daughter through different roots. Forming a feminine is not always a matter of exchanging one ending.[2]

The Lodiana grammar likewise says that no universal rule determines noun gender. Its declensions distinguish masculine nouns whose endings change from masculine nouns whose direct singular and plural remain alike, alongside feminine patterns. Thus an ending is evidence to consider with the whole word and its recorded behaviour. A consonant at the end is not, by itself, a sufficient test for assigning every unfamiliar noun to one class.[1]

Use a noun with its partners

A useful next step is to notice an adjective with the noun. Wilson describes adjectives agreeing in gender, number and case, and gives a good horse beside a good mare. This connects gender with something visible in a phrase rather than leaving it as an isolated dictionary label. Keep the source’s district and date with an unfamiliar example: his Shahpur forms and the Lodiana paradigms document particular descriptions, with variation and exceptions, rather than a single recording of all Punjabi speech.[2]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Lodiana American Presbyterian Mission Press; J. Newton attribution in the archive catalogue; Rev. J. Porter, press superintendent. A Grammar of the Panjabi Language; with Appendices ↗Historical descriptive and teaching grammar · Source date: 1851 · Locator: Printed pp 6–13 / PDF 19–26, especially sections 18,24–38 and 41–42; pp 14 / PDF 27 on adjective forms; original title PDF 6, preface PDF 8–9 and errata PDF 13. Accessed 2026-11-02.The specified pages of the actual 1851 Bodleian/Google scan were read. Displayed script examples were checked against rendered pages. The original title names the press and superintendent; the archive catalogue attributes J. Newton. The preface addresses readers familiar with Urdu and acknowledges regional variation. Its terminology and examples are historical descriptions, with no recording or complete account of present-day usage. Purist judgements and social hierarchies are not adopted. Later revised editions and editorial additions were not used.Return to Gender is a grammatical class, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Endings give clues, paragraph 2 ↑
  2. J. Wilson; acknowledged assistance of Munshi Mahbub Alam; Punjab Government Press. Grammar and Dictionary of Western Panjabi, as Spoken in the Shahpur District, with Proverbs, Sayings and Verses ↗Historical district grammar and dictionary · Source date: 1899 imprint; preface September 1898 · Locator: Printed pp 3–6 / PDF 21–24, Gender and irregular paired roots; pp 14–15 / PDF 32–33, adjective agreement; original title PDF 7 and preface PDF 11. Accessed 2026-11-02.The specified pages of the actual BSB original-edition scan were read. The title date 1898 and printing imprint 1899 are distinguished. Wilson credits Munshi Mahbub Alam and limits collection to historical Shahpur. Salt Range alternatives retain their local scope. Colonial purity rankings, caste characterisations and unseen earlier works are not adopted. Roman forms were not converted into newly asserted script spellings or certified pronunciation.Return to Endings give clues, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Use a noun with its partners, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0072 · English edition · human review not performed