Begin with a complete verb phrase

The 1851 Lodiana grammar attributed to J. Newton separates a verb’s lexical meaning from the forms around it. Its paradigm of sending places a masculine participle beside a feminine one, then supplies singular and plural rows. Under its “Instant Present” heading, the participle combines with an auxiliary translated as am, art, is or are. The Gurmukhi forms below come from that printed table. Comparing the two singular participles shows an agreement contrast; comparing the complete rows shows that the auxiliary also changes. An English gloss therefore represents a whole construction, rather than supplying one interchangeable translation for an isolated ending.[1]

Follow the auxiliary and agreement

Wilson’s Shahpur description likewise builds its “present imperfect” from a present participle and the present auxiliary. In the printed examples of doing, the singular and plural participles differ, while the auxiliary distinguishes the persons. A separate table gives contracted, full and emphatic auxiliary forms. Wilson also records contractions in which part of the participle joins the auxiliary. A short spoken-looking form can consequently contain more grammatical information than its spacing suggests. These are the forms and contractions of his documented regional description; they are not a requirement that every Punjabi speaker reproduce the same table.[2]

Keep the regional pattern visible

The two books also organise their English labels differently. The Lodiana paradigm distinguishes an indefinite present from an instant present; Wilson discusses several participle formations, including differences associated with the Thal and Salt Range. These are reasons to identify the source’s variety before extending an example. To read one of their present phrases, locate the lexical verb, inspect the participle’s agreement form, and then find the auxiliary and its person or number. Finally, read the author’s complete gloss. That sequence keeps a regional construction intact instead of assembling unrelated endings from different tables.[1][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 p.46 / PDF p.59, sending paradigm: Indefinite Present and Instant Present; original title/preface scope. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual original present paradigm was read and visually checked. The two isolated Gurmukhi participles were checked against its masculine/feminine columns. Historical labels and translations are attributed; no recording or modern usage survey was consulted.Return to Script form 1 ↑Return to Script form 2 ↑Return to Begin with a complete verb phrase, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Keep the regional pattern visible, paragraph 1 ↑
  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.38–40,45,51 / PDF pp.56–58,63,69: present participles, auxiliary table, present imperfect and contraction note. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual selected original pages were read. The auxiliary and present-imperfect tables were visually checked. Thal/Salt Range distinctions belong to this dated description, not a universal current standard.Return to Follow the auxiliary and agreement, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Keep the regional pattern visible, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0078 · English edition · human review not performed