Punjabi

[Savera]

Can someone please help me understand 'Chak De'?

The reason for my confusion: I get the common 'raise the roof/ chak de phatte' meaning but it has always confused me that the Bollywhat translation of the lyrics for the 'Hum Tum' song 'Chak De' are: 'cast it off, cast off every sorrow'. How can that be??

[Daniel]

Chakna is more like the english "to chuck" I think, to throw.  So you can throw your gham away, or you can throw your hands up in the air with abandon.  You can also chakna your food, if you eat it all up really quick-like.

[amit]

I thought it meant "to lift" (up). I'll double-check.

[Daniel]

Dang you.  Now I have to look it up.  Which is ok, since I haven't used my Panjabi dictionary or my gurumujhi skills in over a year...

chakkaNa -> see chukkaNa

chukkaNa -> to lift, pick up, take up, to raise, hoist, incite, instigate.

Ok give me some credit..."raise, hoist" is kinda like "throw it up" right?? 

[Amz]

"Chak de" simply means "pick it up" or "lift it up".

[dormeg]

Is chak de a common phrase all over India? Or is there a significant reason why they named the movie using a Punjabi phrase and I missed it?

[Amz]

"Chak De" is a common Punjabi phrase but has gained popularity through songs and bhangra music....from what I know.

[insaniaity]

Ok, I'm Punjabi and vaguely embarrassed to be asking this - but, what does "main sadke jaawan" mean?  I mean, I understand the underlying sentiment -but what does it literally mean?

[Daniel]

Well, since you are the Punjabi, I am sure you know better than I, but as far I understand the phrase its میں صدقے جاواں, and in urdu it would be میں صدقے  جاوں main sadqe jaun.  Sadqa jaana صدقہ جانا just means to be sacrificed, so "I would sacrifice myself for you" is what I literally translate it as.

Now lets see if anyone disagrees.

[Amz]

Ok, I'm Punjabi and vaguely embarrassed to be asking this - but, what does "main sadke jaawan" mean?  I mean, I understand the underlying sentiment -but what does it literally mean?

Well I asked my mum,  she says it's a "powerful" phrase, and the highest compliment in love, so I'm guessing it's along the lines of what Daniel said. She's hasn't been able to explain the exact meaning to me though, just that it's always said in a "good" context, almost like a blessing.

ETA: Just thinking, doesn't "sadke" also mean to call someone over? As in "onu sad" (call him/her over) so in the literal context "main sadke jaawan" would become "I come when you call" or "I come when called".  Right?

In "It's Rocking" the lyrics are Ishq mein yaara, mein sadke jaawan...so "in love, I come when called."

[insaniaity]

Well I asked my mum,  she says it's a "powerful" phrase, and the highest compliment in love, so I'm guessing it's along the lines of what Daniel said. She's hasn't been able to explain the exact meaning to me though, just that it's always said in a "good" context, almost like a blessing.

ETA: Just thinking, doesn't "sadke" also mean to call someone over? As in "onu sad" (call him/her over) so in the literal context "main sadke jaawan" would become "I come when you call" or "I come when called".  Right?

In "It's Rocking" the lyrics are Ishq mein yaara, mein sadke jaawan...so "in love, I come when called."

Thanks Amz and Daniel -  like I said, I totally understood that it's a favorable thing, something you say to someone you love...  I think Daniel's explanation, "i would sacrifice myself for you" makes a lot of sense when you put it in the context of Amz' mum's explanatiion of it being a very powerful sentiment. 

I asked the question after hearing 'it's rocking' because it didn't make sense in the context of the song really - but it is my stepmother often says it to her son.  Ah bollywood.

[Amz]

Thanks Amz and Daniel -  like I said, I totally understood that it's a favorable thing, something you say to someone you love...  I think Daniel's explanation, "i would sacrifice myself for you" makes a lot of sense when you put it in the context of Amz' mum's explanatiion of it being a very powerful sentiment. 

I asked the question after hearing 'it's rocking' because it didn't make sense in the context of the song really - but it is my stepmother often says it to her son.  Ah bollywood.

Yeah, my mum used the "mother to child" context as well to explain it to me, guess Bollywood turned it into an "in love" sentiment.

[Daniel]

Yeah, my mum used the "mother to child" context as well to explain it to me, guess Bollywood turned it into an "in love" sentiment.

I would be suprised if bollywood turned the phrase from something muhabbati to something more ishqi, if you get my drift.  I would suspect its been used in many contexts for a long time.  Its also pretty common in songs, I don't think its being pioneered in Its Rocking.  But I am just surmising, since...well, what do I really know anyways.


I remember learning the phrase from the song from ghadar:

Ud Ja Kale kawa tere munh vich khand pawa
Le ja tu sandesa mera main sadqe jawan.

[Amz]

I would be suprised if bollywood turned the phrase from something muhabbati to something more ishqi, if you get my drift.  I would suspect its been used in many contexts for a long time. Its also pretty common in songs, I don't think its being pioneered in Its Rocking.  But I am just surmising, since...well, what do I really know anyways.

No, you're right it has. I just mean it's more well-known (to Punjabi people at least) in the context myself and insaniaity have heard it. Though it has been used in Bollywood in an ishqi way and therefore has also become common in such context.

[bollyking]

Ah i love the thread graveyard!

Is 'Kidar' a punjabi word meaning where? Because i always use kahan in hindi.

[amit]

Ah i love the thread graveyard!

Is 'Kidar' a punjabi word meaning where? Because i always use kahan in hindi.

Kitthe is Punjabi. I think kidhar is Hindi/Urdu.

[bollyking]

Kitthe is Punjabi. I think kidhar is Hindi/Urdu.

Ah good times, thanks BB!

[omlick]

Ah i love the thread graveyard!

Is 'Kidar' a punjabi word meaning where? Because i always use kahan in hindi.

idhar, udhar and kidhar are common Hindi word:  over here, over there and where

idhar aaoo = come over here, is very common

[sarfarosh]

sadqe does mean to sacrifice (as daniel mentioned). It is the urdu influence on Punjabi. If I remember correctly sadqe is like bala utaarna (taking off eveil eye) or taking anything bad or evil coming to a loved person onto yourself.

[latishya]

ive just got TYP and am wondering about the sounds of the syllabary. in TYH Snell does a really good job of finding english equivalents for sounds like

घ              gha                            Aspirated form of  ग, as in 'doghouse'
छ              cha                            Aspirated form of च, as in 'pitch-hook'

in contrsat TYP 14 times simply says 'no english equivalent'. my question is this: how muxh of a correspondncy is there between gurmukhi letters and their devanagari counterparts like
छ and  ਛ
झ and ਝ
ख and ਖ
ट  and ਟ
ठ and ਠ
घ  and ਘ

Are they similar enough that snells helpful approximations will be of use in explaining the gurmukhi?

[AfgJasmine16]

I want to learn Panjabi sooo bad!

[latishya]

I want to learn Panjabi sooo bad!

I want to learn it so well! 

[AfgJasmine16]

Lol I have one problem there no resource for panjabi

[omlick]

ive just got TYP and am wondering about the sounds of the syllabary. in TYH Snell does a really good job of finding english equivalents for sounds like
in contrsat TYP 14 times simply says 'no english equivalent'. my question is this: how muxh of a correspondncy is there between gurmukhi letters and their devanagari counterparts like
छ and  ਛ
झ and ਝ
ख and ਖ
ट  and ਟ
ठ and ਠ
घ  and ਘ

Are they similar enough that snells helpful approximations will be of use in explaining the gurmukhi?

I think so, I think that this assumption is correct.  I would go to wordreference .com and the Indo-Aryan language forum for more assistance with panjabi.

[AfgJasmine16]

I found these two websites for Panjabi learning. Its such a fun langauge.

http://www.learnpunjabi.org.in/intro1.asp#consonants


http://www.sikhlink.com/punjabilearning/tabid/658/language/en-US/Default.aspx