ਕਿੱਤਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਸ਼ਬਦ

A Punjabi village was once a world of its own, and every trade had its name. The potter made the vessels, the blacksmith kept the ploughs sharp, the goldsmith made the wedding jewellery, and the tailor sewed for every family on his list. These occupation words still live in surnames, village names and everyday talk, and each one below links to its full page in the Kosh.

The village trades

<a href="/kosh/words/darzi/">ਦਰਜ਼ੀ (darzi)</a> - tailor

<a href="/kosh/words/kumhar/">ਕੁਮ੍ਹਾਰ (kumhar)</a> - potter, maker of clay vessels

<a href="/kosh/words/luhar/">ਲੁਹਾਰ (luhar)</a> - blacksmith

<a href="/kosh/words/mochi/">ਮੋਚੀ (mochi)</a> - cobbler, shoemaker and shoe repairer

<a href="/kosh/words/suniar/">ਸੁਨਿਆਰ (suniar)</a> - goldsmith, maker of gold jewellery

<a href="/kosh/words/tarkhan/">ਤਰਖਾਣ (tarkhan)</a> - carpenter, woodworker

<a href="/kosh/words/mistri/">ਮਿਸਤਰੀ (mistri)</a> - mason, master craftsman, mechanic and handyman

<a href="/kosh/words/ustaad/">ਉਸਤਾਦ (ustaad)</a> - teacher, master of an art, craft or skill

<a href="/kosh/words/hali/">ਹਾਲੀ (hali)</a> - the ploughman, the driver of the plough

<a href="/kosh/words/kisan/">ਕਿਸਾਨ (kisan)</a> - farmer, the cultivator who works the land and grows the crops

<a href="/kosh/words/patwari/">ਪਟਵਾਰੀ (patwari)</a> - village land records official, keeper of the jamabandi

<a href="/kosh/words/halwai/">ਹਲਵਾਈ (halwai)</a> - confectioner, maker and seller of sweets

How to use these words

These words do double work in Punjabi life: they are job titles, and they are also family and caste names carried for generations, so a surname like Tarkhan or Suniar tells you the trade of the family that first bore it. That is why the words survive even where the village workshops have gone.

To ask someone's work, Punjabis say ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੀ ਕੰਮ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋ? (tussi ki kamm karde ho?), what work do you do? The word for work itself, ਕੰਮ (kamm), is on the everyday words page, and the farming trades sit with the farming words.

You will meet these words most often around a wedding or a festival, when the whole village economy wakes up: the ਦਰਜ਼ੀ (darzi) is buried in suits and salwars, the ਸੁਨਿਆਰ (suniar) is polishing the bride's set, and the ਮਿਸਤਰੀ (mistri) is raising the shamiana poles. Shopping for those days is its own vocabulary, and the phrases for it are on the Punjabi phrases page.

How do you say tailor in Punjabi?

Tailor in Punjabi is ਦਰਜ਼ੀ (darzi). The word is used across Punjab for the person who sews and repairs clothes.

What does mistri mean in Punjabi?

ਮਿਸਤਰੀ (mistri) means a mason or master craftsman, and in modern use any skilled mechanic or handyman. It comes from the Portuguese word for a master workman.

How do you ask someone's job in Punjabi?

Ask ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੀ ਕੰਮ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋ? (tussi ki kamm karde ho?), what work do you do? ਕੰਮ (kamm) is the everyday word for work or a job.