Gurbani Di Bhasha Te Vyakarn

[Akaali]

GURBANI DI BHASHA TE VYAKARAN (Punjabi)

A Review by Inderjeet Singh

By Dr Harkirat Singh

Published by Punjabi University, Patiala, 1997,

ISBN : 81-7380-323-4,

Pages : 370; Price : Rs. 200/- (H.B.)

The efforts to prepare the grammar of the language of the Sikh Scripture were begun in the early decades of this century. The most important factor behind these efforts was the necessity to know the hidden secret of the vowel-symbols attached at the endings of the words and to fathom the abstruse sense and meaning of Gurbani. As a result, the famous grammar of the Sikh Scripture, Gurbani Vyakaran by Prof. Sahib Singh appeared about 60 years ago. This was the first, yet unique and successful, publication on the grammatical aspect of Gurbani. Prof. Sahib Singh did not present any ready-made model of grammar for Gurbani text. Rather, he discovered some important rules of the linguistic structure of Gurbani after its deep study. Later on, he presented a complete commentary on the Sikh Scripture in the light of this very grammar; which, being more reliable, is still serving as a lighthouse for later commentators. The grammatical system used by Prof. Sahib Singh was based on a particular scientific vision, and the source of this vision was the grammar of Panini (the great Sanskrit grammarian). At the time when he prepared his grammar of Gurbani, it was really a miracle that such an extensive and authentic work on this subject could be presented. As the modern achievements of linguistics were not available, some shortcomings were not improbable.

The phonetic concept of Prof. Sahib Singh was based on the view propounded by Siddhant Kaumudi (a fifteenth century Sanskrit grammar by Bhattoji Dixit). That is why Dr Siddheshwar Varma (a renowned phonologist and linguist) had to express the need to recast the entire phonetic portion of his Gurbani Vyakaran. Moreover, Prof. Sahib Singh prepared a common grammar for the whole text of Gurbani. As a result, some people have begun to misuse the rules given in his grammar without fully understanding it. So, there was a need to present separately studies of the morphological aspects of several varieties of the language of Gurbani. It was not considered right to prescribe the same grammatical rules for all these varieties. The language of Gurbani is not mere old Punjabi; it contains the old forms of other dialects of northern India as well. As such, the need of a grammar of the Sikh Scripture imparting advanced information on such an important matter, in the light of modern achievements of linguistics, was being felt intensely. The book under review seems to fulfil this requirement.

Gurbani di Bhasha te Vyakaran (in Punjabi), by Dr Harkirat Singh, presents a well-researched study on the philological and grammatical aspect of Gurbani. This book, comprised of 30 chapters, is divided into three sections. First section gives general information about the concept of language and grammar, and shows the history of Indo-Aryan languages as well as specimens of different languages used in Gurbani. It also describes the script-structure and the phonology of the language of Gurbani.

Second section presents the grammar (specially a study of various parts of speech) of the language of the bani of the first five Gurus, as the grammatical structure of the language of the five Gurus from Guru Nanak to Guru Arjun is almost identical.

Third section discusses the grammatical aspects of the bani (compositions) of Guru Tegh Bahadur and of four Bhagats, viz., Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas and Farid separately. A common grammar has been given for the Swaiyyas of the Bhatts. However, only those portions of the language of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Bhagats and Bhatts have been considered for study which have some difference from the linguistic nature of the first five Gurus.

Some important observations of Dr Harkirat Singh on the linguistic aspect of Gurbani are as under :

a) > is itself a complete written symbol, and this symbol cannot be divided. Removing the upper curve-line of this symbol, the remaining part `U' cannot be separately read as /oam/. Similarly, the upper line Ð, which is an inseparable part of the symbol, cannot be separately uttered as /kar/. No doubt, the pronunciation of this undividable symbol is /Oamkar/. The digit 1 (one) has been prefixed to it as an adjective, and È means — The Being whose signifying sound is Oam, is One, i.e., "There is but One God"

b) The language of the bani of Guru Tegh Bahadur is Braj Bhakha, whereas the bani of the first five Gurus is composed mainly in Sadhu Bhakha or old Punjabi. Thus, many grammatical rules as found in the bani of Guru Tegh Bahadur are somewhat different from those of the bani of the first five Gurus.

c) The language which is found in Gurbani under the headings Sahaskriti and Gatha, is a new kind of Hybrid-Sanskrit in the tradition of ancient Buddhist Hybrid-Sanskrit.

d) Guru Arjun has written plenty of bani in unmixed Lehndi under the title Dakhane. In fact, Dakhane is not the name of any dialect; but the name of a specimen of folk-poetry, which now-a-days is called dhole. It is notable that cameleers are called dakhane in Multani (the leading dialect of Lehndi) and the songs by cameleers were also called dakhane in old Multani.

e) Gurmukhi script was developed to write Gurbani correctly. Even though many Gurmukhi letters were existing before the time of Guru Nanak, but mere letters never form a script. A script is a systematic arrangement of letters, whereas letters by themselves are merely the symbols signifying the speech-sounds. Guru Nanak (or Guru Angad) established a systematic writing method in the form of Gurmukhi script using some letters which were already in use.

f) The sounds /sh/ and /z/ did not exist in the language of Gurbani. The sibilant /sh/ was not uttered even in Pali, Prakrit, and Apabhramsa languages; and mere /s/ consonant existed as sibilant in the pronunciation. The same sound, (only /s/) is found in the language of Gurbani, because Gurbani was uttered and also written according to the phonology of then Indo-Aryan language(s) of the times.

- The sound /z/, which is used in the original words of Arabic and Persian languages, did not exist in the pronunciation of the Indo-Aryan languages of the Guru period. It started coming into use in our languages in the beginning of the twentieth century. So far as Gurbani is concerned, to pronounce the sounds /s/ and /j/ as /sh/ and /z/, respectively, cannot be justified according to the grammar of Gurbani.

g) The short vowels /u/ and /i/ were generally pronounced in the endings of words in Apabhramsa. Absolutely, the same position is found in the case of Gurbani. So, it is against the grammatical rules of Gurbani to reject the pronunciation of these short vowels (/u/ and /i/) at the endings of the words of Gurbani. Writing always follows the pronunciation, therefore, we should try to read the old writing in tune with the old pronunciation.

h) Vowel-nasality in the language of Guru period was not as much in vogue as in the modern period. In fact, the language of Gurbani is nearer to Prakrit and Apabhramsa from the aspect of nasality.

The description of the Lehndi elements in the language of Gurbani is a special achievement of this book. The linguistic criticism presented by the author imparts also some guidelines for interpretation and separation of the words (gd-S/d) in Gurbani text.

Dr Harkirat Singh is a well-known linguist. He has been the convenor of the Committee for Punjabi Spellings (Punjabi University, Patiala), and has written several books and articles on grammar and linguistics. The present work is the result of his devotion and hard-work in his field. Despite some proof-errors, this book is a significant contribution to the philological study of the Sikh Scripture.

[.- Prabhjot Singh -.]

Wjkk Wjkf Talikhaak Veer Jeo,

I soo want this book! Is there any place in the uk where I can buy it from? Or online? Please let me know!

Fateh ji!