Origin of Punjabi Word 'Gence'

[Guest Jigsaw_Puzzled_Singh]

Can anybody help me with tracing the origin of the Punjabi word 'Gence' ?

Not a word that's used as often as it used to be - my grandparents used to say it all the time as a way of describing a race or group of people - but I'm currently doing some research on the Greek settlements in Punjab and am unsure whether the Punjabi word is or isn't related to the Greek word 'genos' (as in 'genocide' - destruction of a group of people). Is the Punjabi word from the Greek or does it have some other origin ?  

[MisterrSingh]

Is it a hard G or a J-sounding G when pronounced? 

The closest Punjabi word to "Gence" that I'm familiar with is phonetically spelt "Jense" as in "Sense." I haven't heard it in decades. It was used as a noun to describe someone who is an incorrigible pain in the backside. I'm not sure of its true etymology. Regardless, if it's the word I'm thinking of it's never used in positive terms.

[puzzled]

My mum calls me a jense when I dont listen to her or when I dont stop talking/bullsh1tting  lol! 

But I think your talking about a different gense. 

I have heard the one your talking about as in "aah kairi gense aa"   is it the same as "nasle"  but I think that's used for animals lol 

[Guest jigsaw_puzzled-singh]

3 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

Is it a hard G or a J-sounding G when pronounced? 

The closest Punjabi word to "Gence" that I'm familiar with is phonetically spelt "Jense" as in "Sense." I haven't heard it in decades. It was used as a noun to describe someone who is an incorrigible pain in the backside. I'm not sure of its true etymology. Regardless, if it's the word I'm thinking of it's never used in positive terms.

Yeah, pronounced with a hard 'J'. You're right that it's not used in positive terms and so my theory is that much like what happened in the development of the English language where often Norse words and Norman French words are both used for the same thing, something similar happened to the Punjabi language, i.e. the original word for a race or group of people in Punjab was the Greek word 'gence' but later, as Farsi gained more influence, Farsi words for the same thing were also adopted, making both words in use in Punjab at the same time. And when that happens, like what happened to the English language, one of the words becomes a more positive formal word and the other takes on a more informal / negative meaning.  But by my reckoning, the original Punjabi word for a race or group of people, was the Greek word Genos, pronounced Gence' in Punjabi, as Punjab was at that time a very hellenized  place. It'd be nice of someone could shed more light on that for me. 

[MisterrSingh]

21 hours ago, puzzled said:

My mum calls me a jense when I dont listen to her or when I dont stop talking/bullsh1tting  lol!

Yeah, that's the one. It's sometimes used in conjunction with the phrase, "Kutte di poosh."

[MokhamSingh]

In this particular case, Jins can mean:

Variety. Different types.

Older Punjabi generations used this word in a derogatory manner for a mischievous child or person...

 

[puzzled]

2 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

Yeah, that's the one. It's sometimes used in conjunction with the phrase, "Kutte di poosh."

Haha yeah she calls me kuthe di poosh

With jense she says " eh munda puri jense aa" 

Or  "es jense ne meri matt maarli"

But yes  I do think it's one of those punjabi curse words that is heading towards extinction lol  unless they still use it in India.

The punjabi grandpa who lived next door to us back in the 90s used to call me that aswell when I used to misbehave lol. 

"Teet" with tainka is another one lol  my mum calls me that but not sure what it means though. 

She also says something like daddhe maa gaa    idnno how to pronounce it lol   its something like that 

 

[MokhamSingh]

Dheet means STUBBORN. But stubborn for bad things, as opposed to stubborn for good things...

[Guest khajanna]

55 minutes ago, puzzled said:

Haha yeah she calls me kuthe di poosh

With jense she says " eh munda puri jense aa" 

Or  "es jense ne meri matt maarli"

But yes  I do think it's one of those punjabi curse words that is heading towards extinction lol  unless they still use it in India.

The punjabi grandpa who lived next door to us back in the 90s used to call me that aswell when I used to misbehave lol. 

"Teet" with tainka is another one lol  my mum calls me that but not sure what it means though. 

She also says something like daddhe maa gaa    idnno how to pronounce it lol   its something like that 

 

Shocked at your punjabi language. Does your family speak anything more refined or sophisticated than this? I assume that you are a young person who has never heard punjabi being spoken in a classy environment. If I were you I would seek out a proper punjabi ustaad to learn proper punjabi language and then correct others when they come up with coarse punjabi like pendoos. It is so shocking to learn that  the older generations never went to school to learn proper punjabi. You are young, you can overturn that do you teach your children to speak eloquently in classy punjabi, which sounds sweet and enchanting! 

[MisterrSingh]

3 hours ago, puzzled said:

"Teet" with tainka is another one lol  my mum calls me that but not sure what it means though. 

She also says something like daddhe maa gaa    idnno how to pronounce it lol   its something like that

I use to come home from primary school, get changed, and lay down on the sofa to watch Rainbow. My dad use to say, "Eh munda kinha teet." I think it means either moderately lazy or a milder version of being cheeky; basically the person is pushing their luck, etc. Those old school Punjabi words -- the non-blue ones -- were amazing, lol.

EDIT: I just saw Mokham Singh's definition of "teet", and that definitely makes more sense!