چنی

Punjabi

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀘𑀼𑀡𑁆𑀡 (cuṇṇa) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀇𑀓- (-ika-), from Sanskrit चूर्ण (cūrṇa).

Cognates

Compare Urdu چُنَری (cunarī) / Hindi चुनरी (cunrī) and Braj चुनर (cunar) / چُنَر (cunar).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃʊn.niː/, [t͡ʃʊ̃n.niː]
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

چُنّی • (cunnī) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਚੁੰਨੀ)

1. scarf, dupatta

   Synonym: دوپَٹَّا (dopaṭṭā)

   • 1958, احمد راہی [Ahmad Rahi] (lyrics and music), “میری چُنّی دِیاں ریشَمی تَنْداں [merī cunnī dīyāṉ reśamī tandāṉ]”, in جَٹّی [jaṭṭī], performed by زُبَیدَہ خانَم [zubaidah xānam]:

     میری چُنّی دِیاں ریشَمی تَنْداں
     مَیں گُھٹّ گُھٹّ دینی آں گَنْڈھاں کِہ چَنّا تیری یاد نا بُھلّے

     merī cunnī dīyāṉ reśmī tandāṉ
     maiṉ ghuṭṭ ghuṭṭ denī āṉ ganḍhāṉ kih cannā terī yād nā bhulle

     The threads of my silky scarf
     I knot them all so tightly, lest, my love, your memories fade

Declension

Declension of چنی

	singular	plural
direct	چُنّی (cunnī)	چُنِّیاں (cunniyāṉ)
oblique	چُنّی (cunnī)	چُنِّیاں (cunniyāṉ)
vocative	چُنِّیے (cunniye)	چُنِّیو (cunniyo)
ablative	چُنِّیوں (cunniyoṉ)	چُنِّیاں (cunniyāṉ)
locative	—	—
instrumental	—	—

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “چُنّی”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “ਚੁੰਨੀ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “cūrṇa”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press