I went to my grandmother's this Saturday. She lives with my uncle in a village named Sanaur near my city of Patiala.
The thing that struck me the most, besides the primitive marketplace and poor internet coverage, was the near absence of English in everyday Punjabi. Also the dialect of Punjabi they use sounds rather queer.
Despite the near absence of spoken English and prevalence of desi Punjabi, the shops signs were nearly all in English.
Here is the one I particularly liked.
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I clicked it while walking because I didn't want to get beaten by a bunch of villagers. I feared what they would think, and do if they saw me with a camera in front of a ladies' beauty parlour.
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In Punjabi they write de instead of te in kiraye te mildi hai (available on rent). The English text shows a Punjabi influence. On rent basis.
They should use "parloir", the original French word.
ReplyDeleteSambahsa has "kira" too.
He he !! Parloir!
DeleteWhere does the Sambahsa "kira" come from?
You can have the answer here : http://sambahsa.pbworks.com/w/page/42013067/Arab%20etymologic%20kamus
DeleteThe list wasn't made by me, but by a taught Hungarian. I copy-pasted his page when his hosting website closed.
Indeed, "kira" is at the origin of Spanish "alquiler" too. So, no doubt that this word was adopted into Sambahsa.
Indeed, French "parloir" is more general than in the loanword "parlour"; it is "the place where it is spoken" (parler). So, it can refer, for example, to the jail room where prisoners, behind bars, can talk to their visitors.