ਕੀ

What does ki mean in Punjabi?

Ki (ਕੀ) is the Punjabi word for 'what'. It opens questions about a thing, an event or a reason: 'ki hoya?' means 'what happened?', 'ki kar rahe ho?' means 'what are you doing?', and 'tuhnu ki chahida hai?' means 'what do you need?'. It is one of the first words a learner of Punjabi should know.

The origin of ki

Ki comes from the Sanskrit word kim, meaning 'what'. The word is old: it was already recorded in Bhai Maya Singh's Panjabi Dictionary, published in Lahore in 1895, and it appears in the Punjabi University Punjabi-English Dictionary today. Hindi kya comes from the same Sanskrit root, which shows how the question word has travelled across the Indo-Aryan languages while keeping its job. In Shahmukhi, the script used for Punjabi in Pakistan, ki is written کیہہ.

Ki in everyday questions

Most of the time ki sits at the start of a question. 'Ki hoya?' asks what happened, 'ki gall hai?' asks what the matter is, and 'ki karna hai?' asks what is to be done. It also works inside a sentence: 'tu ki kehna chauna hai?' means 'what do you want to say?' and 'mainu das ki hoya' means 'tell me what happened'. Because the word is so short, speakers often stretch it for emphasis, saying 'kiii?' when they are surprised or have not heard properly.

What does 'ki hoya' mean?

'Ki hoya' means 'what happened?' It is the first thing a Punjabi speaker asks on hearing surprising news, and the usual answer begins with 'kujh nahi' (nothing) or a short account of the event. The phrase is so common that it also works as a friendly greeting: 'ki hoya, theek hai?' means 'what happened, are you all right?'

Does ki also mean 'whether'?

Yes, in a second use ki introduces a yes-or-no question, close to 'whether' in English. 'Ki tu kal aavenga?' asks 'will you come tomorrow?' Wiktionary records this sense alongside 'what'. In writing, the connecting word is usually spelled ਕਿ (ki, short vowel) while the question word is ਕੀ (ki, long vowel); in speech the two sound the same.