Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical
Punjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
(north western
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and in north eastern
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
). For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language. Punjabi can be subdivided into two varieties, known as Eastern Punjabi and Western Punjabi.
According to the
EthnologueEthnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
2005 estimate, there are 88 million native speakers of the Punjabi language, which makes it approximately the
10th most widely spoken language in the world. According to the 2008 Census of Pakistan, there are 76,335,300 native Punjabi speakers in Pakistan and according to the 2001 Census of India, there are 29,102,477 Punjabi speakers in India.
The Punjabi language has many different dialects, spoken in the different sub-regions of greater Punjab. Since the Partition of Punjab in 1947, Punjabi spoken in the two countries has deviated from each other, with
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns relying more heavily on
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
vocabulary through
HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. The
Majhi dialectMajhi dialect is referred to as the standard dialect of Punjabi language originating from the Majha region of the Punjab...
is Punjabi's
prestige dialectIn sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
. This dialect is considered as textbook Punjabi and is spoken in the historical region of
MajhaMajha is a region of the Punjab comprising the modern districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran in the Indian State of Punjab and the districts of Narowal, Lahore and Kasur in the Pakistani Province of Punjab. The term previously applied to Panjabis living north of the Sutlej...
, centralizing in
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and
AmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
.
Along with
LahndaThe Lahnda or Western Punjabi Languages are an Indo-Aryan languages dialect continuum that are Mutually intelligible and are spoken in South Asia.According to the Ethnologue they include:...
and Western Pahari languages, Punjabi is unusual among modern Indo-European languages because it is a tonal language.
History
Punjabi is an
Indo-AryanThe Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
language like many other modern languages of
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. It is a descendant of the Shauraseni language, which was the chief language of medieval northern India.
Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 11th century. The first traces of Punjabi can be found in the works of the
NathThe Sanskrit word nāthá or नाथ, is the proper name of a Hindu initiatory tradition and the word itself literally means "lord, protector, refuge"...
yogis
GorakshanathGorakshanath was an 11th to 12th century Hindu Nath yogi, connected to Shaivism as one of the two most important disciples of Matsyendranath, the other being Caurangi. There are varying records of the spiritual descent of Gorakshanath. All name Adinath and Matsyendranath as two teachers preceding...
and Charpatnath in the 9th and 10th century. The Punjabi literary tradition is popularly seen to commence with
Fariduddin Ganjshakar (Baba Farid) (1173–1266), many ancient Sufi
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and later
Guru Nanak DevGuru Nanak was the founder of the religion of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The Sikhs believe that all subsequent Gurus possessed Guru Nanak’s divinity and religious authority, and were named "Nanak" in the line of succession.-Early life:Guru Nanak was born on 15 April 1469, now...
, the first Guru of
SikhismSikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. The early Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The poetry written by Sufi saints has been the folklore of the Punjab and is still sung with great love in any part of Punjab.
Between 1600 and 1850, Muslim Sufi, Sikh and Hindu writers composed many works in Punjabi. The most famous Punjabi Sufi poet was Baba Bulleh Shah (1680–1757), who wrote in the
Kafi style. Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like
Shah HussainShah Hussain was a Punjabi Sufi poet who is regarded as a Sufi saint. He was the son of Sheikh Usman, a weaver, and belonged to the Dhudha clan of Rajputs. He was born in Lahore...
(1538–1599),
Sultan BahuSultan Bahu was a Muslim Sufi and saint, who founded the Sarwari Qadiri Sufi order.Sultan Bahu belonged to the Awan tribe, and was born in Anga, Soon Valley, Sakesar . Like many other Sufi saints of South Asia, Sultan Bahu was a prolific writer, with more than forty books on Sufism attributed to...
(1629–1691), and
Shah SharafSahah Saharf is a famous Punjabi Sufi Poet. who wrote his work in Kafi style.-See also:* Baba Bulleh Shah*Punjabi language*Punjabi people*List of Punjabi language poets...
(1640–1724). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet
Waris ShahWaris Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet, renowned for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is best-known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature...
(1722–1798), of
Heer RanjhaFor 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
fame.
Waris ShahWaris Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet, renowned for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is best-known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature...
's rendition of the tragic love story of
Heer RanjhaFor 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
is among the most popular medieval Punjabi works. Other popular tragic love stories are
Sohni MahiwalSohni Mahiwal and is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, LiLa Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
,
Mirza SahibaMirza Sahiba is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Heer Ranjha and Mirza Sahiba, including Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun are the four tales from Punjab, narrated in Punjabi...
and
Sassi PunnunSassi Punnun ; is one of the seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marui, Sohni Mehar, Lila Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Momal Rano and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
.
Shah MohammadShah Mohammad was a Punjabi poet who lived during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and is best known for Jangnama— a colossal work that gave an eyewitness account of the First Anglo-Sikh War that took place after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.- Controversy over native place :It was...
's
JangnamaThe famous “Jangnama,” is believed to have been written around 1846.Historians have pointed out that close relatives of Shah Mohammad were employed in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army.It was with their help that the poet could piece together a complete picture of the battle between the Sikhs and the...
is another fine piece of poetry that gives an eyewitness account of the
First Anglo-Sikh WarThe First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the war:...
that took place after the death of
Maharaja Ranjit SinghMaharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
.
The linguist
George Abraham GriersonSir George Abraham Grierson OM KCIE was born to a prominent Dublin family in 1851. His father and grandfather, both also named George, were well-known printers and publishers.-Biography:Educated at St...
in his multivolume
Linguistic Survey of IndiaThe Linguistic Survey of India, often referred to as the LSI, is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. It was a project of the British Raj conducted between 1894 and 1928, under the direction of George A...
(1904–1928) used the word "Punjabi" to refer to several languages spoken in the
Punjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
: the term "
Western PunjabiWestern Panjabi is an Indo-Aryan language and is referred to specify the Punjabi language spoken and written in Punjab Province of Pakistan...
" (
ISO 639-3ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...
pnb) covered dialects (now designated separate languages) spoken to the west of
MontgomeryMontgomery District was an administrative district of the former Punjab Province of British India, in what is now Pakistan. Named after Sir Robert Montgomery, it lay in the Bari Doab, or the tract between the Sutlej and the Ravi rivers, extending also across the Ravi into the Rechna Doab, which...
and
GujranwalaGujranwala District is a district in Punjab, Pakistan.- History :The village of Asarur which has been identified as the location of Taki, an ancient town, visited by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang contains immense ruins of Buddhist origin...
districts, while "Eastern Punjabi" referred to what is now simply called Punjabi (
ISO 639-3ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...
pan) After
SaraikiSaraiki , transliterated as Sirāikī and sometimes spelled Seraiki and Saraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages. It is a language spoken in the heart of Pakistan...
, Potwari and Hindko (earlier categorized as "Western Punjabi") started to be counted as separate languages, the percentage of Pakistanis recorded as Punjabi speakers was reduced from 59% to 44%. Although not an official language, Punjabi is still the predominant language of Pakistan.
Modern Punjabi is not the predominant language of the
Sikh scripturesThe principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth , more commonly called the Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikhs do not regard this as their "holy book" but as their perpetual and current "Guru", Guide or Master...
(which though in Gurmukhi script are written in several languages). A few portions of Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi dialects, but the book is interspersed with several other languages including Brajbhasha,
KhariboliKhariboli , also Khari Boli, Khadiboli, Khadi Boli or simply Khari, is a Western Hindi dialect spoken mainly in the rural surroundings of Delhi, the northern areas of Western Uttar Pradesh and the southern areas of Uttarakhand in India...
,
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
.
Guru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
, the last Guru of the Sikhs composed
Chandi di VarChandi di Var, also known as Var Sri Bhagauti Ji is a composition included in the 5th chapter of Dasam Granth. It is based on an episode from the Sanskrit work Markandeya Purana, and describes the conflict between the Gods and the Demons...
in Punjabi, although most of his works are composed in other languages like Braj bhasha and Persian.
However, in the 20th century, the Punjabi-speaking Sikhs started attaching importance to the Punjabi written in the Gurmukhi script as a symbol of their distinct identity. The Punjabi identity was affected by the communal sentiments in the 20th century.
Bhai Vir SinghVir Singh was a poet, scholar and theologian and a figure in the movement for the revival and renewal of Punjabi literary tradition....
, a major figure in the movement for the revival of Punjabi literary tradition, started insisting that the Punjabi language was the exclusive preserve of the Sikhs. After the
partition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, the
Punjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
was divided between Pakistan and India. Although the Punjabi people formed the 2nd biggest linguistic group in Pakistan after Bengali, Urdu was declared the national language of Pakistan, and Punjabi did not get any official status. The Indian Punjab, which then also included what are now
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, became
HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
-majority.
In the 1960s, the
Shiromani Akali DalThe Shiromani Akali Dal , translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a Sikh nationalist political parties based in Punjab. The current party to be recognized by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Parkash Singh Badal...
proposed "
Punjabi SubaPunjabi Suba was a proposed state in northwest India. It was proposed by Shiromani Akali Dal in 1966. The Punjabi Suba movement resulted in the trifurcation of the East Punjab into three states: Punjab , Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.-References:...
", a state for Punjabi speakers in India. Paul R. Brass, the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies at the University of Washington, opines that the Sikh leader
Fateh SinghFateh Singh was an Indian Sikh religious and political leader, and a key figure in the Punjabi Suba movement. He was revered as Sant Fateh Singh among his followers.- Early days :...
tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying the religious basis for the demand—a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved. The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states:
Punjab (India)Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
,
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
.
Modern Punjabi
Modern Punjabi consists of several dialects and is rich in their use in Punjab. Majhi (Standard Punjabi) is the written standard for Punjabi in both parts of Punjab. Since the partition of the Punjab in 1947, the Punjabi language as spoken in India has replaced numerous Persian and Arabic loan words (acquired via Urdu) with words of Sanskrit origin, due to the domination of Hindi instead of Urdu in India. In addition, recent modernization and industrialization has witnessed an English influence in both parts of Punjab, as Punjab has undergone Science and Technology development. "Modern Punjabi" uses the Gurmukhī script in the Indian Punjab, which is specifically developed for the Punjabi language. Pakistani Punjabis, however, use the older
ShahmukhīShahmukhi is a local variant of the Urdu alphabet, which itself is a Perso-Arabic derivation that has used to write and record the Urdu language in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Nastaʿlīq is a portmanteau word of naskh of Arabic and ta'aliq,...
script, which is a modified Persian-Nasta’liq script. These two scripts are considered the official scripts of the Punjabi language. In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 languages with official status in India. It is the first official language of Punjab (India). In Pakistan, even though Punjabi has no official status, it is the most spoken language and is the provincial language of
Punjab (Pakistan)Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
the second largest and the most populous province of
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
The famous Punjabi writers from Pakistan include:
- Shareef Kunjahi
Shareef Kunjahi ) was a leading writer and poet of Punjabi. He was among the first faculty members of the Department of Punjabi Language at University of Punjab in 1970s and contributed to Punjabi literature as a poet, prose writer, teacher, research scholar, linguist, lexicographer and...
- Mir Tanha Yousafi
Mir Tanha Yousufi, born Muhammad Saleh on January 1, 1955 in the village Adam Ke Cheema, tehsil Daska, district Sialkot, Punjab Pakistan, is one of well-known and popular contemporary Punjabi and Urdu writers....
- Sanawar Chadhar
- Abid Tamimi
-Introduction:Abid Tamimi is a Punjabi poet. He was born on 1st September 1955. His father's name was Noor Hussain Tamimi. His profession was banking. He was living in Chiniot Tehsil of District Chiniot, Punjab . He started poetry in year 1971...
- Prof.Anwar Masood
Anwar Masood born on November 8, 1935 in Gujrat, Pakistan, is a Pakistani poet well known for his comic poetry, however, his works include other genres as well. He writes in Punjabi, Urdu and Persian language.-Biography:...
- Afzal Ahsan Randhawa
Afzal Ahsan Randhawa is a Pakistani writer. He has written several novels in the Punjabi language including Sooraj Grehan and Doaba. In 1986, he was awarded the Prof. Piara Singh Gill & Karam Singh Sandhu Memorial Antar-Rashtari Shiromani Sahitkaar/Kalakaar Award at the International Association of...
- Aatish
- Shaista Nuzhat
Shaista Nuzhat ) is a Punjabi linguistic and cultural expert, and the Director of the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture.-Biography:...
The famous Indian Punjabi poets in modern times are:
- Prof. Mohan Singh
Mohan Singh born 1905 at Mardan , was one of the best Punjabi poets.He obtained a Master's degree in Persian and started his career as a Lecturer in Persian at Khalsa College, Amritsar....
- Amrita Pritam
Amrita Pritam was a Punjabi writer and poet, considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border, with a career spanning over six decades, she...
- Balwant Gargi
Balwant Gargi was a renowned Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, and short story writer, and academic.-Early life:Balwant Gargi Born on December 4, 1916 in Neeta Khandan in Bathinda...
- Shiv Kumar Batalvi
Shiv Kumar 'Batalvi was a noted Punjabi language poet, who was most known for his romantic poetry, noted for its heightened passion, pathos, separation and lover's agony...
- Surjit Paatar
Surjit Patar is an Indian Punjabi language poet who debuted in 1960s-Biography:Dr Surjit Patar is a renowned Punjabi poet. He obtained a Masters degree from Punjabi University, Patiala and then a Ph.D in Literature on "Transformation of Folklore in Guru Nanak Vani" from Guru Nanak Dev...
Pakistan
Punjabi is the most spoken language of
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Punjabi is spoken as first language by over 44.15% of Pakistanis. Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group in the country. Punjabis are dominant in key institutions such as business, agriculture, industry, government, army, navy, air force, and police which is why about 70% of Pakistanis can understand or speak Punjabi.
The Punjabi speakers in Pakistan are composed of various social groups,
castesCaste system among South Asian Muslims refers to units of social stratification that have developed among Muslims in South Asia.Religious, historical and socio-cultural factors have helped define the bounds of endogamous groups for Muslims in South Asia...
and economic groups.
Muslim RajputsMuslim Rajputs or Musulman Rajputs are Muslims belonging to the Hindu Rajput Kshatriya groups of Indian subcontinent, who converted to Islam.-History:...
, Jat,
TarkhanTarkhan is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic Tarqan; Mongolian: Darkhan; ; ; ; alternative spellings Tarkan, Tarkhaan, Tarqan, Tarchan, Tarxan, Tarcan or Targan) is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic...
s,
DogarDogar is a Muslim, Punjabi tribe in the Punjab region of Pakistan. It is also used as a family name in Turkey and Northern Iraq among some Kurds and Turks.-Ethnography:...
s,
GujjarThe Gurjar are an ethnic group in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gujar, Gurjjara and Gūrjara. The spelling Gurjara or Gurjar is preferable to the rest....
s,
GakharsThe Gakhars are an ancient warrior clan who have predominantly resided in what is present day northern Punjab and South-Western Kashmir, Pakistan. In particular in the cities of Rawalpindi, Jhelum and regions of Gilgit, Baltistan, Chitral, Khanpur and Mirpur, Pakistan...
,
KhatriKhatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
or
Punjabi ShaikhSheikh , is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, Honorable revered old man, or Islamic scholar. In South Asia it is used as an ethnic title generally attributed to Muslim trading families....
s, Kambohs, and
ArainThe Arain , are a Muslim agricultural caste settled mainly in the Punjab, with significant numbers also in Sindh. They are chiefly associated with farming, traditionally being landlords or zamindars.- Origin :...
s, comprise the main tribes in the north, while
AwansAwan , is a South Asian Zamindar tribe, putatively of Arab origin, living predominantly in northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, Pakistan...
,
GilaniGilani or Jilani or Kilani may refer to:* a gentilic of Gilan, Iran* MV Gilani, an Empire F type coaster which sank at Montreal on 22 April 1972.* Gillani Railway Station, a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan....
s,
Gardezi- Origin :The name denotes people from Gardez, the capital of the Paktia province in Afghanistan.The name denotes people from Gardez, one of the 34 provincial capitals in Afghanistan. As such, the surname is widespread among the people in Afghanistan. One of the most famous Gardezis is Abu Saʿīd...
s,
SyedSyed is a masculine given name derived from the title Sayyid, it is not to be confused with the similar looking name Sayid...
s and
QuraishiQuraishi , is a family name that originates from Arabs in Saudi Arabia, particularly from the city of Mecca.- Lineage :...
s are found in the south. There are
PashtunPashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
tribes like the
NiaziThe Niazi are a tribe of Ghilzai Pashtun people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey. The name Niazi is derived from Niazai, like the other forms of Pashtun tribes, such as Yusufzai and Orakzai...
s and the
lodhiLodhi is a Batani Pashtun tribe mainly found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were part of a wave of Pashtuns who pushed east into what is today Pakistan. Often accompanying the Timurids who conquered South Asia, the Lodhi established themselves during the Islamic period as a Muslim ruling class...
s, which are very much integrated into Punjabi village life. People in major urban areas have diverse origins, with many post-Islamic settlers tracing their origin to
AfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Persia,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Arabia,
Indus Valley civilizationDravidian peoples is a term used to refer to the diverse groups of people who natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Populations of speakers of around 220 million are found mostly in Southern India. Other Dravidian people are found in parts of central India, Sri Lanka,...
(
HarappaHarappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from...
and
Mohenjo DaroMohenjo-daro is an archeological site situated in what is now the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BC, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements, existing at the same time as the...
) and
Central AsiaCentral Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
Census History of Punjabi Speakers in Pakistan
| Year |
Population of Pakistan |
Percentage |
Punjabi Speakers |
| 1951 |
33,740,167 |
57.08% |
22,632,905 |
| 1961 |
42,880,378 |
56.39% |
28,468,282 |
| 1972 |
65,309,340 |
56.11% |
43,176,004 |
| 1981 |
84,253,644 |
48.17% |
40,584,980 |
| 1998 |
132,352,279 |
44.15% |
58,433,431 |
Source:
In the National Census of Pakistan (1981) Saraiki, Pahari-Potohari and Hindko (Before categorized as "Western Punjabi") got the status of separate languages thats why number of Punjabi speakers got decreased.
Provinces of Pakistan by Punjabi speakers (2008)
| Rank |
Division |
Punjabi speakers |
Percentage |
| – |
Pakistan |
76,335,300 |
44.15% |
| 1 |
Punjab Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
|
70,671,704 |
75.23% |
| 2 |
SindhSindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
|
3,592,261 |
6.99% |
| 3 |
Islamabad Capital TerritoryThe Islamabad Capital Territory is one of the two federal territories of Pakistan. It includes Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, and covers an area of 1,165.5 km² of which 906 km² is Islamabad proper...
|
1,343,625 |
71.66% |
| 4 |
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
396,085 |
0.97% |
| 5 |
BalochistanBalochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
|
318,745 |
2.52% |
| 6 |
Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
|
12,880 |
0.23% |
India
Punjabi is spoken as a native language by over 2.85% of Indians. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of
PunjabPunjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
.
The Punjabis found in India are composed of various ethnic groups, tribal groups, social groups (caste) and economic groups. Some major sub-groups of Punjabis in India include
AhirsAhir is an Indian caste. The term can be used synonymously with Yadav, as the latter term refers to Ahirs who have identified as Yadavs. The major divisions of Ahirs are: Yaduvanshi, Nandvanshi, and Gwalvanshi.-Etymology:...
,
AroraArora is an Indo-Aryan community of the Punjab region. Commentators differ in their opinions regarding the relationship between the Arora and the Khatri community....
,
BaniaBania is an occupational caste of bankers, money-lenders, dealers in grains, spices and in modern times numerous commercial enterprises. Baniya is a distinct caste mostly coming from Western India and Central India but spread now all over India...
, Bhatia,
BrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
,
ChamarChamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
,
GujjarThe Gurjar are an ethnic group in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gujar, Gurjjara and Gūrjara. The spelling Gurjara or Gurjar is preferable to the rest....
, Kalals/Ahluwalias,
KambojThe Kambojs , also Kamboh, are an ethnic community of the Punjab region. They may relate to the Kambojas, an Iranian tribe known to the people of Iron Age India and mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts and epigraphy. Kamboj is frequently used as a surname in lieu of the sub-caste or the gotra name...
s,
KhatriKhatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
s, Lobanas, Jats, Rajputs,
SainiSaini is a Rajput descent caste of India. Sainis, also known as Shoorsaini in Puranic literature, are now found by their original name only in Punjab and in the neighboring states of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh...
,
SoodSood/Sud is a mercantile caste similar to Khatri and Arora. They claim Kshatriya descent. Soods are found in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Nepal....
and
TarkhanTarkhan is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic Tarqan; Mongolian: Darkhan; ; ; ; alternative spellings Tarkan, Tarkhaan, Tarqan, Tarchan, Tarxan, Tarcan or Targan) is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic...
. Most of these groups can be further sub-divided into clans and family groups.
Most of East Punjab's Muslims
(in today's states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh) left for West Punjab in 1947. However, a small community still exists today, mainly in
MalerkotlaMalerkotla is a city and a municipal council in Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was the seat of the eponymous princely state during the British Raj...
, the only Muslim princely state among the seven that formed the erstwhile
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). The other six
(mostly Sikh) states were:
Patiala,
NabhaNabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district to the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. In 1998, the annual income of Nabha state was Rs 1,50,000/-.- Princely State of Nabha :...
,
JindJind is a town in Jind District, Harayana state, India.It is one of the oldest districts of Harayana. It is one of the first Sikh Kingdoms. It lies in central Haryana and is the fourth district of the Jat belt .The city is beautiful...
, Faridkot,
KapurthalaKapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...
and
KalsiaKalsia was a state in east Punjab , India. It was founded by Gurbaksh Singh in 1760. After India's independence, it was included in Indian Punjab...
.
Census History of Punjabi Speakers In India
| Year |
Population of India |
Punjabi Speakers in India |
Percentage |
| 1971 |
548,159,652 |
14,108,443 |
2.57% |
| 1981 |
665,287,849 |
19,611,199 |
2.95% |
| 1991 |
838,583,988 |
23,378,744 |
2.79% |
| 2001 |
1,028,610,328 |
29,102,477 |
2.83% |
| 2011 |
1,210,193,422 |
33,038,280 |
2.73% |
The Punjabi Diaspora
Punjabi is also spoken as a
minority languageA minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
in several other countries where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers, such as the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(where it is the second most commonly used language) and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where in recent times Punjabi has grown fast and has now become the fourth most spoken language.
List in order of native speakers
| Rank | Country | First language |
| 1 |
 Pakistan |
76,335,300 |
| 2 |
 India |
29,109,672 |
| 3 |
 United Kingdom |
200,000 |
| 4 |
 Canada |
365,000 |
| 5 |
 United Arab Emirates |
200,000 |
| 6 |
 United States |
200,000 |
| 7 |
 Saudi Arabia |
100,000 |
| 8 |
 Hong Kong |
100,000 |
| 9 |
 Malaysia |
185,000 |
| 10 |
 South Africa |
30,000 |
| 11 |
 Myanmar |
120,000 |
| 12 |
 Early Modern France |
90,000 |
| 13 |
 Greece |
80,000 |
| 14 |
 Thailand |
75,000 |
| 15 |
 Japan |
75,000 |
| 16 |
 Mauritius |
70,000 |
| 17 |
 Singapore |
70,000 |
| 18 |
 Oman |
68,000 |
| 19 |
 Libya |
65,000 |
| 20 |
 Bahrain |
60,000 |
| 21 |
 Kenya |
55,000 |
| 22 |
 Australia |
50,000 |
| 23 |
 Tanzania |
45,000 |
| 24 |
 Kuwait |
40,000 |
| 25 |
 Germany |
35,000 |
Dialects: linguistic classification
In Indo-Aryan dialectology generally, the presence of transitional dialects creates problems in assigning some dialects to one or another "language". However, over the last century there has usually been little disagreement when it comes to defining the core region of the Punjabi language. In modern India, the states are largely designed to encompass the territories of major languages with an established written standard. Thus Indian Punjab is the Punjabi language state (in fact, the neighboring state of Haryana, which was part of Punjab state in 1947, was split off from it because it is a Hindi speaking region). Some of its major urban centers are
Ludhiana,
AmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
,
ChandigarhChandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
,
JalandharJalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, and
Patiala. In Pakistan, the Punjabi speaking territory spans the east-central districts of Punjab Province.
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
,
RawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Faislabad,
GujranwalaGujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
,
SargodhaSargodha is a city in the Sargodha District of Punjab province, Pakistan.Sargodha is located in the northwest of Pakistan. It is the eleventh largest city of Pakistan and also known as Pakistan's best citrus-producing area. It is an agricultural trade centre with various industries...
,
SialkotSialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
,
Jhang- Demographics :According to 1981 census of Pakistan population of Jhang was 1,970,944 with the 434,495 housing units in Jhang. In 1998 census, population of Jhang was 2,834,545, whose annually growth rate was 2.16%. Male population was 1,474,099 and female population was 1,360,446...
,
SargodhaSargodha is a city in the Sargodha District of Punjab province, Pakistan.Sargodha is located in the northwest of Pakistan. It is the eleventh largest city of Pakistan and also known as Pakistan's best citrus-producing area. It is an agricultural trade centre with various industries...
,
SahiwalSahiwal is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is approximately 180 km from the major city Lahore and is the city between Lahore and Multan...
,
BahawalnagarBahawalnagar is the capital city of Bahawalnagar District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. As well as being district capital it also the administrative headquarters of the tehsil.-Administration:...
,
MultanMultan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
, Jhelum and
GujratGujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
.
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
the historic capital of Punjab is the largest Punjabi speaking city in the world.
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
has 86% native Punjabis of total population of the city. and
IslamabadIslamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
the Capital of
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
has 71% Native Punjabis of total population.
Major Punjabi dialects
MajhiMajhi dialect is referred to as the standard dialect of Punjabi language originating from the Majha region of the Punjab...
- The Majhi dialect is Punjabi's prestige dialect
In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
and spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The Majhi dialectMajhi dialect is referred to as the standard dialect of Punjabi language originating from the Majha region of the Punjab...
, the dialect of the historical region of MajhaMajha is a region of the Punjab comprising the modern districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran in the Indian State of Punjab and the districts of Narowal, Lahore and Kasur in the Pakistani Province of Punjab. The term previously applied to Panjabis living north of the Sutlej...
, which spans the LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, FaisalabadFaisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, SheikhupuraSheikhupura or Shekhupur , formerly Kot Dayal Das or Singhpuria or Virkgarh , is an industrial city in the province of Punjab slightly northwest to Lahore in Pakistan. It is known for its historical places, and is commonly known locally as Qila Shaikhupura, because of the fort in the city,...
, KasurKasur , the capital of Kasur District in Pakistan. Kasur is located adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala between Pakistan and India, and is a tourist attraction because of the daily occurring Flags lowering ceremony...
, OkaraOkara is the capital city of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The name Okara is derived from Okaan, a name of a tree, the city is located south-west to the city of Lahore and is famous for its agriculture-based economy and cotton mills...
, GujranwalaGujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
, WazirabadAYAZ KHANWazirabad is an industrial city located in Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. Wazirabad is situated on the banks of the Chenab River nearly 100 kilometres north of Lahore on the Grand Trunk Road. It is 45 kilometres from Sialkot, 30 kilometres from the district capital - Gujranwala...
, SialkotSialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
, NarowalNarowal is a city in the northeast of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the capital of Narowal District and tehsil. It is situated on the banks of Ravi River about 4–5 km from the Indian border.-Etymology:...
, GujratGujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
and to some extant in JhelumJhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
District of Pakistani Punjab and AmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Tarn Taran SahibTarn Taran Sahib a city in the Indian state of Punjab. It is the district headquarters and hosts the municipal council of Taran Taran district.-History:Tarn Taran Sahib was founded by the fifth Sikh Guru Shri Guru Arjan Dev Ji...
, and GurdaspurGurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals...
Districts of the IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n State of PunjabPunjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
.
ShahpuriThe Shahpuri is a dialect of Punjabi language, named due to the town of Shahpur, currently in Sargodha district. This dialect has been spoken by the people of District Sargodha including Dera Chanpeer Shah, Khushab, Jhang, Mianwali, Attock, parts of Faisalabad , parts of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera...
- The Shahpuri dialect is mainly spoken in Pakistani Punjab. It is named due to the town of Shahpur, currently in Sargodha district. This dialect has been spoken by the people of District Sargodha including Dera Chanpeer Shah, Khushab, Jhang, Mianwali, Attock, parts of Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur), parts of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Chakwal, Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab and Mandi Bahauddin districts.
JhangochiJhangochi is the oldest and most conservative dialect of the Punjabi language. Jaangli,Jhangvi,Chenavri,Changvi and Rachnavi are alternate names of this dialect. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting from Khanewal and Jhang at both ends of Ravi River and Chenab River to Gujranwala...
- Jhangochi
Jhangochi is the oldest and most conservative dialect of the Punjabi language. Jaangli,Jhangvi,Chenavri,Changvi and Rachnavi are alternate names of this dialect. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting from Khanewal and Jhang at both ends of Ravi River and Chenab River to Gujranwala...
dialect is spoken in Pakistani Punjab.Jaangli,Jhangvi,Rachnavi,Changvi and Chenavri are alternate names of this dialect.It is the oldest and most idiosyncratic dialect of the Punjabi. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting from KhanewalKhanewal is the capital city of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is notable for being the host city to the second largest train station in Pakistan. Khanewal is located at 30°18'0N 71°56'0E with an altitude of 128 metres and is named after the earliest settlers here who...
and Jhang at both ends of RaviThe Ravi is a trans-boundary river flowing through Northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of the six rivers of the Indus System in Punjab region ....
and Chenab to Gujranwala districtGujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
. It then runs down to BahawalnagarBahawalnagar is the capital city of Bahawalnagar District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. As well as being district capital it also the administrative headquarters of the tehsil.-Administration:...
and ChishtianChishtian "The City of Love" is located in Bahawalnagar district of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The city is situated at 150 meters above sea level. It was a sub-division of Bahawalpur Division, which was part of Bahawalpur State....
areas, on the banks of river SutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
. This entire area has almost the same traditions, customs and culture. The Jhangochi dialect of Punjabi has several aspects that set it apart from other Punjabi variants. This area has a great culture and heritage, especially literary heritage, as it is credited with the creation of the famous epic romance stories of Heer RanjhaFor 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
and Mirza SahibaMirza Sahiba is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Heer Ranjha and Mirza Sahiba, including Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun are the four tales from Punjab, narrated in Punjabi...
. It is spoken in the Bar areas of PunjabThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, i.e., areas whose names are often suffixed with 'Bar', for example Sandal BarThe Sandal Bar is a region between the rivers Chenab and Ravi in Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the Rechna Doab. It spreads over almost 80 km in width and 40 km in length . "Bar", in the local language, means a forested area where there are no resources for cultivation, like water...
, Kirana BarKirana Bar is a portion of the Chej Doáb, it takes its name from the Kirana Hills found here. The hills are not, as generally supposed, outliers of the Salt Range This region is divided between the Sargodha and Jhang districts of Punjab, Pakistan...
, Neeli BarNeeli Bar is a geographical region in Punjab, Pakistan. It is between the rivers Ravi and Satluj. "Bar" is the name given to areas in Punjab which were thick forests before the arrival of the modern canal irrigation system. Its soil is very fertile, as this plain is formed by the mud that has been...
, Ganji BarGanji Bar is the lower valley region from the old flow of the rivers Satluj and river Beas or river Hakra to Ravi. Districts lying in this area include Bahawalnagar and Chishtian...
and also from KhanewalKhanewal is the capital city of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is notable for being the host city to the second largest train station in Pakistan. Khanewal is located at 30°18'0N 71°56'0E with an altitude of 128 metres and is named after the earliest settlers here who...
to Jhang includes FaisalabadFaisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
and ChiniotChiniot is a city and administration headquarter of Chiniot District, in the state of Punjab, Pakistan. Located between the heart of river Chenab with the heads of small rocky hills, it is known for its wooden furniture architecture which has a great attraction in all over the world.- Name and...
.
Potwari
- This dialect is spoken in north-western Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. mainly The area where PothowariPotwari , also known as Potohari ), is a rich north Indian sub-continent dialect spoken in the Pothohar Plateau around Rawalpindi, Kahuta, Gujar Khan, Jehlum, up to Gujrat in the south and Chakwal in the West, Hazara in the north, Azad Kashmir in the east and also by Sikhs from the Pothohar...
is spoken extends in the north from MuzaffarabadMuzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located in Muzaffarabad District on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers...
to as far south as JhelumJhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
, Gujar KhanGujar Khan is a city in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Gujar Khan Tehsil, the largest tehsil of Punjab. It is approximately 55 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan and 220 km to the north west of Lahore, capital of Punjab...
and RawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
. [phr] 49,440 (2000 WCD). Murree Hills north of Rawalpindi, and east to BhimberBhimber is the chief town of Bhimber District, Azad Kashmir. The town is situated on the border between Azad Kashmir and Pakistan at a distance of about 50 km from Mirpur, about 48 km from Gujrat and about 166 km from Islamabad.-History:...
. Poonchi is east of RawalakotRawalakot , is a city in Azad Kashmir, and is the capital of Poonch Division and Poonch District. It is in a saucer-shaped valley at an elevation of 1,615 metres ....
. Potwari is in the plains around Rawalpindi. Alternate names: Potwari, Pothohari, Potohari, Chibhali, Dhundi-Kairali. Dialects: Pahari (Dhundi-Kairali), Potohari , Chibhali, Punchhi (Poonchi), Jhelumi, Mirpuri. Pahari literally translates as 'mountain' referring to a string of divergent dialects, some of which may be separate languages. Lexical similarity 76% to 83% among varieties called 'Pahari', 'Potwari', and some called 'Hindko' in MansehraMansehra city is located at in Mansehra District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is very near to Abbottabad city. It is a major stop for tourists on the Karakoram Highway which leads to China...
, MuzaffarabadMuzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located in Muzaffarabad District on the banks of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers...
, and Jammu. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northern zone, Western Pahari.
Dhani
- The people of Pothohar speak Pothohari dialect. However, the people of Chakwal or the Dhanni area in particular do not speak Pothohari and are ethnologically not regarded as Potoharis. They speak a distinctive Chakwali or Dhanni dialect of Punjabi, which is closer to Shahpuri, a dialect spoken in the Shahpur-Salt Range area and also has a slight element of Saraiki
Saraiki , transliterated as Sirāikī and sometimes spelled Seraiki and Saraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages. It is a language spoken in the heart of Pakistan...
and Pothohari.
Hindko
- Classified under Lahnda languages
The Lahnda or Western Punjabi Languages are an Indo-Aryan languages dialect continuum that are Mutually intelligible and are spoken in South Asia.According to the Ethnologue they include:...
by many linguists; perhaps differs from Punjabi. Hindko dialect is spoken in north west Pakistani Punjab and North-West Frontier ProvinceKhyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
mainly this dialect is spoken in districts of PeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, AttockAttock is a city located in the northern border of the Punjab province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Attock District...
, NowshehraNowshehra or Naushera is a town and a notified area committee in Rajauri district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.-Geography:Nowshehra is located at . It has an average elevation of 1,575 metres .-Demographics:...
, MansehraMansehra city is located at in Mansehra District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is very near to Abbottabad city. It is a major stop for tourists on the Karakoram Highway which leads to China...
, BalakotBalakot , is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 earthquake and later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims , a Saudi relief organization...
, AbbottabadAbbottabad is a city located in the Hazara region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistan. The city is situated in the Orash Valley, northeast of the capital Islamabad and east of Peshawar at an altitude of and is the capital of the Abbottabad District...
and MurreeMurree city is a popular hill station and a summer resort, especially for the residents of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and for the cities of the province of Punjab, Pakistan...
and the lower half of Neelum DistrictNeelum District is one of the eight districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Until recently it was part of Muzaffarabad District. It is bound by the Gilgit to the North, with Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore Districts of Indian-administered Kashmir in India to the South and Southeast,...
mirpur District saraialamgir and Muzafarabad.
Malwi
- Malwi spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main areas are Ludhiana, Moga
Moga district is one of the Twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West Republic of India. It became the 17th district of Punjab State on 24 November 1995. It is also known as NRI district. Most Punjabi Non-resident Indians belong to rural areas of Moga District, who immigrated to the...
, SangrurSangrur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of the Sangrur district. It is located at the intersection of the roads connecting Delhi with Ludhiana and Patiala with Bathinda, at a distance of 80 km from Ludhiana and 48 km from Patiala. The...
, BarnalaBarnala is an Indian city in the Punjab state of India which serves as the head quarters of the Barnala district. It is situated in the heart of the state. Barnala is well known for textile market in the area.-History and famous people:...
, FaridkotFaridkot district is one of the twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West Republic of India. According to Punjab's Geo-Area, Faridkot is a Malwa District. It is one of the biggest cotton markets in South-East Asia. The name 'Faridkot' is derived from Baba Farid, a god-lover who wanted...
, Patiala, Fatehgarh SahibFatehgarh Sahib is headquarters of Fatehgarh Sahib district, one of the twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West India.-History:The city is an historically important town north of Patiala, especially for the Sikh faith...
, MansaMansa is a Mandinka word meaning "king of kings". It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifthteenth century...
, MuktsarSri Muktsar Sahib is a city and a municipal council in Sri Muktsar Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Sri Muktsar Sahib's historical name was Khidrane dee dhab .-Demographics: India census, Sri Muktsar Sahib has a population of 3,96,030...
, AmbalaAmbala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other...
, Bathinda, GanganagarSri Ganganagar , also called Ganganagar , is the northernmost city of Rajasthan in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ganganagar District.-History:...
, MalerkotlaMalerkotla is a city and a municipal council in Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was the seat of the eponymous princely state during the British Raj...
, Ropar, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. It also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
, viz. AmbalaAmbala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other...
, HissarHisar city, previously spelled Hissar, is the administrative headquarters of Hisar district, in the state of Haryana, in northwestern India. Hisar was founded in 1354 CE, as Hissar-e-Firoza by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. on the demolished ruins...
, SirsaSirsa district is one of the districts of Haryana state, India. Sirsa is the district headquarters, and is located on National Highway 10 and 250 km away from Delhi.-Origin of name:The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa...
, KurukshetraKurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...
etc. Not to be confused with the Malvi languageMalvi is the language of the Malva region of India, with sixteen million speakers. Nimadi, spoken in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan, is its closest relative...
, which shares its name.
DoabiDoabi is one of the Punjabi dialects spoken in Doab . The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej...
- Doabi
Doabi is one of the Punjabi dialects spoken in Doab . The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej...
spoken in Indian Punjab. The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of BeasThe Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
and SutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
. It includes JalandharJalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, NawanshahrNawanshahr is a city and it became district in 1995. now it is a municipal council in Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is the headquarters of Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar District....
, KapurthalaKapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...
and HoshiarpurHoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....
districts.
PwadhiPwadhi is one of the Punjabi dialects spoken in Powadh , a region of Punjab and also in parts of Haryana between the Satluj and Ghaggar rivers. Powadh extends from Rupnagar near Satluj up to the Ghaggar river in the east, which separates the states of Punjab and Haryana, and into Fatehgarh Sahib...
- Powadh
Powadh is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Satluj and Ghaggar rivers. The part lying south, south-east and east of Rupnagar adjacent to Ambala District is Powadhi...
or Puadh or Powadha is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Satluj and Ghaggar rivers. The part lying south, south-east and east of Rupnagar adjacent to Ambala District (Haryana) is Powadhi. The Powadh extends from that part of the Rupnagar District which lies near Satluj up to the Ghaggar river in the east, which separates the states of Punjab and Haryana. Parts of Fatehgarh Sahib district, and parts of Patiala districts like Rajpura are also part of Powadh. The language is spoken over a large area in present Punjab as well as Haryana. In Punjab, Kharar, Kurali, Ropar, Nurpurbedi, Morinda, Pail, Rajpura, and Samrala are the areas where the Puadhi language is spoken and the area itself is claimed as including from Pinjore, Kalka to Bangar area in Hisar district which includes even Nabha and Patiala in it.
Dogri
- Although Dogri is generally considered a separate language having its own vocabulary, some sources consider it a dialect of Punjabi. It is spoken by about 3.5 million peoples in the Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
region of India.
SaraikiSaraiki may refer to:* Saraiki people, an ethnic group of central Pakistan* Saraiki language, the language spoken by that ethnic group* Saraiki culture, the culture of that ethnic group* Saraiki literature, literature in the Saraiki language...
- Saraiki
Saraiki may refer to:* Saraiki people, an ethnic group of central Pakistan* Saraiki language, the language spoken by that ethnic group* Saraiki culture, the culture of that ethnic group* Saraiki literature, literature in the Saraiki language...
or Multani is spoken in Pakistani Punjab.It perhaps differ more than any other dialect of Punjabi. It becomes more and more different as you move down south, as the influence of Sindhi increases. Saraiki itself is Sindhi word and means northern.It is now considered as separate language, instead of merely a dialect of Punjabi.Multani,Riasati,Thalochri and Derawali are sub-dialects of Saraiki.It is mostly spoken in southern and western districts of Punjab,which comprises Multan, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, southern and western parts of Khanewal,southern parts of Bahawalnagar and western parts of Khushab districts. It is also spoken by majority of population of Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (خیبر پښتونخوا) province, kachi plain of Balochistan, northern parts of Sindh, and cities of Hyderabad and Karachi.
Punjabi University classification
Punjabi UniversityPunjabi University, located at Patiala, is one of the premier institutions of higher education in Punjab, India. Panjabi University teaches and researches in science, engineering and technology, humanities, social sciences, performing arts and sports....
,
Patiala, State of Punjab, India takes a very liberal definition of Punjabi, the University has issued the following list of dialects of Punjabi:
{| valign=top
|
- Awankari
- Baar di Boli
Baar Di Boli literally means language from outside. In this context it refers to the manner in which Punjabi is spoken outside of India and Pakistan...
- Banwali
- Bhattiani
- Bherochi
- Chacchi
- Chakwali
- Chambiali
- Chenavri
- Dhani
- Doabi
Doabi is one of the Punjabi dialects spoken in Doab . The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej...
- Dogri
- Ghebi
- Gojri
Gojri, also known as Gujari is a variety of Rajasthani spoken by the Gujjars of Northern-Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.Rajasthani, Marwari and Gujarati are evolved from Gujari. The language was known as Gujjar bhakha or Gurjar Apabhramsha lately. It was used as literary language as early as 12th...
- Hindko
- Jatki
- Jhangochi
Jhangochi is the oldest and most conservative dialect of the Punjabi language. Jaangli,Jhangvi,Chenavri,Changvi and Rachnavi are alternate names of this dialect. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting from Khanewal and Jhang at both ends of Ravi River and Chenab River to Gujranwala...
- Kangri
Kangri is a dialect spoken in northern India, predominantly in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, by the people of the Kangra Valley. It is an Indo-Aryan dialect, related to Dogri and classified as one of the Western Pahari group of languages, with deep vocabulary impact from Punjabi, which...
- Kachi
Kachi, also spelt Kachhi, is a village of Haripur District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is part of Beer Union Council and is located at 34°8'0N 72°57'0E with an altitude of 558 metres ....
- Lubanki
Lubanki, also known as Labanki, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Labanas tribal grouping in Punjab. It is classified as a form or dialect of Punjabi. Lubanki has been spoken in Rajasthan and Gujrat areas and some areas of Pakistan. The Punjabi word tanda is allegedly of Lubanki origin and...
- Malwai
- Majhi
Majhi dialect is referred to as the standard dialect of Punjabi language originating from the Majha region of the Punjab...
- Pahari
- Pothohari/Pindiwali
- Powadhi
- Punchi
- Peshori/Peshawari
- Rathi
Rathi, Rathee or Rath is a gotra of mainly Gujjars, Jats, Yaduvanshi Ahirs and Rajputs found in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh, India and in Pakistan, Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujarat, Kasur, Shakr Garh, Narowal. In earlier times Rathis...
- Swaen
- saraiki/multani
The "Lahnda" construct
The name "Punjab" means "5 waters" in Persian (
panj ab) and refers to five major eastern tributaries of the
Indus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
. The historical
Punjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, now divided between Pakistan and India, is defined physiographically by the
Indus RiverThe Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
and these five tributaries. The bulk of the Panjab is located in Pakistan. One of the five, the
Beas RiverThe Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
, is a tributary of another, the
SutlejThe Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
River, and lies entirely in present day India, well within the eastern half of historical Punjab.
The British linguist
George Abraham GriersonSir George Abraham Grierson OM KCIE was born to a prominent Dublin family in 1851. His father and grandfather, both also named George, were well-known printers and publishers.-Biography:Educated at St...
classified Punjabi into two major groups of dialects,on the basis of similarities of some features between dialects in both groups.These groups are "western Punjabi" or Lahnda spoken north and west of the Punjab heartland, in the Indus valley itself and on the lower reaches of the other four tributaries (excluding the Beas River)and "eastern punjabi" spoken in central,and north eastarn parts of Pakistani Punjab and whole indian Punjab. He christened these group of dialects in a volume of the Language Survey of India (LSI) published in 1919. He grouped as "southern Lahnda" the dialects that are now recognized as Multani or Saraiki. The northern Lahnda sub-Group has evolved into Pahari-Potohari and modern Hindko. Grierson tentatively identified the boundary between Punjabi and "Lahnda" as a north-south line running from the Gujranwala District (during British rule, Gujranwala district was very large with respect to area,stretched across the entire plateau, from the Chenab to the Ravi ) to the former
Montgomery DistrictMontgomery District was an administrative district of the former Punjab Province of British India, in what is now Pakistan. Named after Sir Robert Montgomery, it lay in the Bari Doab, or the tract between the Sutlej and the Ravi rivers, extending also across the Ravi into the Rechna Doab, which...
(near the town on
SahiwalSahiwal is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is approximately 180 km from the major city Lahore and is the city between Lahore and Multan...
).
In the aftermath of the independence of Pakistan and subsequent
PartitionThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
of 1947, some investigators supposed that the Punjabi speakers in new Pakistan might give up their native dialects and adopt one or another "Lahnda" dialect; but this did not occur.
Classification by Ethnologue
Because of the stature of
EthnologueEthnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
as a widely accepted authority on the identification and classification of dialects and languages, their divergent views of the geographical distribution and dialectal naming of the Punjabi language merit mention. They designate what tradition calls "Punjabi" as "Eastern Punjabi" and they have implicitly adopted the belief (contradicted by other specialists) that the language border between "Western Punjabi" and "Eastern Punjabi" has shifted since 1947 to coincide with the international border.
Examples
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! English
! Majhi, Standard Punjabi
! Potohari
! Dogri
! Pahari
! Multani
! Doabi
|-
| What are you doing? (masculine)
! Ki karda ain?/ki karan deya ain?/ki karda pya ain?
| Ke (kay) peya kare-nanh?
| Ke karde o?
| Ka karne oo?
| Ke karende vade o?
| Ki karda aa?
|-
| What are you doing? (masculine to address female)
! Ki kardi ain?/ki karan dayi ain?/ki kardi payi ain?
| Ke (kay) pai (payi) kare-neenh?
| Ke karni ae?
| Ka karani ay?
| Ke (kay) karendi vadi ein?
| Ki kardi aa tu?
|-
| How are you?
! Ki haal ae?
| Keh aal e?
| ke aal a?
| Kay haal e (eh)?
| Keevein haal tuhaade?
| Ki haal chal aa?
|-
| Do you speak Punjabi?
! Tusi/Tussan Punjabi Bol lainde o?
| Punjabii bolne uo?
| Punjabi bolde o?
| Tus Punjabi bolne o?
| Tussan punjabi bol lainde ve?
| Tu punjabi bol laena?
|-
| Where are you from?
! Tusi/Tussan kithon de o?/Tusi/Tussan kidron aaye o?
| Tusa kudhr nay aiyo?
| Tus kudhr to o?
| Kuthey ne o?
| Tussan kidohn de o?
| Kithon aa tu?
|-
| Pleased to meet you.
! Tenu/tuanu mil ke bahut khushi hoyi.
| Tusan milay tay boo khushi oye.
| Tusan nu miliye bahut khusi oyi.
| Tussan e/ki mili tay khushi hoi.
| Teku/tuaku mil ke baun khushi thi e.
| Tuhanu mil k bahut khushi hoyi.
|-
| What's your name?
! Tuada na naa ki ae?
| Tusan naa ke waa?
| Tusan da naa kay ai?
| Tharra kay naanh ay?
| Tuhada naa ke ae?
| Tera naa ki aa?
|-
| My name is ....
! Mera naa ain....
| Maara naa ... e.
| Mera naa ... e.
| Mahara naanh ... eh.
| Mainda/Maida naa ... e.
| Mera naam ... aa.
|-
| What is your village's name?
! Tuade pind/graan da naa ki ae?/ Tuada pind/graan kehda ae?
| Tusane graan naa na kay aa?
| Tusan da graan kay aa?
| Tusane gerayenh na kay naanh aa?
| Tuhade pind/graan da kay naa ae?
| Tere pind da ki naam aa?
|-
| Yes
! Haanji
| Aaho
| Aah
| Ahan
| Haanji
| Hanji
|-
| No
! Nay
| Naa
| Nahin
| Naa
| Naa
| Nai
|-
| Would you like (to eat) some sweets?
! Mithaee lawoge? / Mithaee Khawoge?
| Mithaee khaso?
| Kish mithaee khaani e?
| Mithaee khaso?
| Tussan mithaee ghinso?
| Mitha khaunge tusi?
|-
| I love you.
! Main tenu pyaar karda (masculine)/kardi (feminine) haan./ Main tere nal pyaar karda (masculine)/kardi (feminine) haan.
| Mai tuki pyar karna (masculine)/karni (feminine).
| Mai tugi pyar karna/karni.
| Main tuki pyar karna yan(musculine)/karni yan (feminine).
| main teku pyaar karda/kardi haan.
| Mai tuhanu pyar karda/kardi haan.
|-
| We went to the Cinema.
! Assin/Assan Cinema gaye saan.
| Assa cinema gaye saa.
| As cinema gaye he.
| Aas cinema gaye asayan.
| Aasan cinema gaye hum.
| Asin cinema gye si.
|-
| Where should I go?
! Mainu kitthe jana chahida ae?
| Mai kudhar jaa?
| Migi kuthe jaavnaah?
| May kur ghachan / jullan ?
| Maiku kitthe vanjna chaida ae?
| Mai kithe jawan?
|}
Phonology
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+
VowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s
! ||
FrontA front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...
||
Near-frontA near-front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth. The near-front vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:*...
||
CentralA central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...
||
Near-backA near-back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth...
||
BackA back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
|-
!
CloseA close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...
|iː|| || || ||uː
|-
!
Close-midA close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from a close vowel to a mid vowel...
|eː|| ɪ || || ʊ ||oː
|-
!
MidA mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...
| || || ə||
|-
!
Open-midAn open-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from an open vowel to a mid vowel...
|ɛː|| || || || ɔː
|-
!
OpenAn open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...
||| || aː || ||
|}
The long vowels (the vowels with [ː]) also have nasalized versions.
{|class="wikitable" border="2"
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ConsonantIn articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s
! colspan="2"|
!
BilabialIn phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
! Labio-
dental
!
Dental/
AlveolarAlveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
! Retroflex
!
PalatalPalatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...
!
VelarVelars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
!
GlottalGlottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
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NasalA nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
|m
|
|n
|ɳ
|ɲ
|ŋ
|
|- align=center
! rowspan="3"| Plosive and
AffricateAffricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...
! voiceless
| p
|
| t̪
| ʈ
| t͡ʃ
| k
|
|- align=center
! voiceless aspirated
| pʰ
|
| t̪ʰ
| ʈʰ
| t͡ʃʰ
| kʰ
|
|- align=center
! voiced
| b
|
| d̪
| ɖ
| d͡ʒ
| ɡ
|
|- align=center
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FricativeFricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...
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|(f)
|s (z)
|
| (ʃ)
|
| ɦ
|- align=center
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FlapIn phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
|
|
| ɾ
| ɽ
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ApproximantApproximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no...
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|ʋ
| l
| ɭ
| j
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|
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Tone
Punjabi has three phonemically distinct
toneTone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
s that developed from the lost
murmuredBreathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
(or "voiced aspirate") series of consonants. Phonetically the tones are rising or rising-falling contours and they can span over one syllable or two, but phonemically they can be distinguished as high, mid, and low.
A historical murmured consonant (voiced aspirate consonant) in word initial position became
tenuisIn linguistics, a tenuis consonant is a stop or affricate which is unvoiced, unaspirated, and unglottalized. That is, it has a "plain" phonation like , with a voice onset time close to zero, as in Spanish p, t, ch, k, or as in English p, t, k after s .In transcription, tenuis consonants are not...
and left a low tone on the two syllables following it:
[kòːɽɑ̀ː] "horse". A stem final murmured consonant became voiced and left a high tone on the two syllables preceding it:
[mɑ́ːɡ] "October". A stem medial murmured consonant which appeared after a short vowel and before a long vowel became voiced and left a low tone on the two syllables following it:
[məɡɑ̀ːʊ̀ɳɑ̀ː] "to have something lit". Other syllables and words have mid tone.
Grammar
The grammar of the Punjabi language is the study of the word order, case marking, verb conjugation, and other morphological and syntactic structures of the Punjabi language, an Indo-Aryan language native to the region of Punjab and spoken by the Punjabi people. This page discusses the grammar of Modern Standard Punjabi as defined by the relevant sources below (see #Bibliography).
Writing system
There are several different scripts used for writing the Punjabi language, depending on the region and the dialect spoken, as well as the religion of the speaker. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the script used is
ShahmukhiShahmukhi is a local variant of the Urdu alphabet, which itself is a Perso-Arabic derivation that has used to write and record the Urdu language in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Nastaʿlīq is a portmanteau word of naskh of Arabic and ta'aliq,...
and differs from the standard Nastaʿlīq script as it has four additional letters. The
eastern partEast Punjab was the part of the Punjab region that went to India following the Partition of the Punjab Province of British India between India and Pakistan in 1947...
of the
Punjab regionThe Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, located in
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, is divided into three states. In the state of
PunjabPunjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, the Gurmukhī script is generally used for writing Punjabi. Punjabi
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s, who are mainly concentrated in the neighbouring Indian states such as
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and
Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, as well as the national capital territory of
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, sometimes use the
DevanāgarīDevanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
script to write Punjabi.
While a Punjabi GCSE is available to students in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
; its written exam is in Gurmukhi only.
Punjabi in modern culture
Punjabi is becoming more acceptable among Punjabis in modern media and communications. Punjabi has always been an integral part of Indian
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
cinema. In recent years a trend of Bollywood songs written totally in Punjabi can be observed. Punjabi pop and folk songs are very popular both in India and Pakistan at the national level. A number of television dramas based on Punjabi characters are telecast by different channels. The number of students opting for Punjabi literature has increased in Pakistani Punjab. Punjabi cinema in India has also seen a revival and more and more Punjabi movies are being produced. Punjabi music is very popular in modern times.
Example 1
This sample text was taken from the Punjabi Wikipedia article on Amritsar; translated to English
[translation needed] and transliterated to Latin.
Gurmukhi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ, ਮਤਲਬ "ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਦਾ ਸਰੋਵਰ", ਪੰਜਾਬ, ਭਾਰਤ ਦਾ ਸਰਹੱਦੀ ਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਹੈ। ਇਹ ਸਥਾਨ ਸਿੱਖ ਧਰਮ ਦ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਅਤੇ ਸਭਿਆਚਾਰਕ ਕੇਂਦਰ ਹੈ| ਇਹ ਦੀ ਆਬਾਦੀ ਕਰੀਬ ੨੦੦੦੦੦੦ ਸ਼ਹਿਰੀ ਅਤੇ ੩੦੦੦੦੦੦ ਦੇ ਕਰੀਬ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ ਜ਼ਿਲੇ ਵਿੱਚ ੨੦੦੧ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਜਨ-ਸੰਖਿਆ ਗਣਨਾ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਦਾ ਪਰਸ਼ਾਸਕੀ ਮੁੱਖ ਦਫ਼ਤਰ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ ਜ਼ਿਲਾ ਹੈ। ਇਹ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਪਰਦੇਸ਼ ਵਿੱਚ ਉੱਤਰੀ ਭਾਗ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਕਿ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਤੋਂ 67 ਕਿਲੋਮੀਟਰ ਦੂਰ ਹੈ।
Shahmukhi: امرتسر، مطلب "امرت دا سروور"، پنجاب، بھارت دا سرحدی شہر ہے۔ ایہہ ستھان سکھی د دھارمک اتے سبھیاچارک کیندر ہے| اس دی آبادی قریب 2000000 شہری اتے 3،000،000 دے قریب امرتسر ضلع وچّ 2001 بھارتی جن-سنکھیا گننا انوسار ہے۔ اس دا پرشاسکی مکھ دفتر امرتسر ضلع ہے۔ ایہہ بھارت دی پنجاب پردیش وچّ اتری بھاگ ہے، جو کہ لاہور توں 67 کلومیٹر دور ہے۔
TransliterationTransliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
: ammritsar, matlab "amrit dā sarōvar", panjāb, pā̀rat dā sarhaddī shahir he. ih sathān sikkh tàram da tā̀rmik atē sàbiācārak kēndar he. ih dī ābādī karīb 2,000,000 shahirī atē 3,000,000 dē karīb ammritsar zilē vicc 2001 pā̀ratī jan-sankhiā gaṇanā anusār he. is dā parshāskī mukkh daftar ammritsar zilā he. ih pā̀rat dī panjāb pardēsh vicc uttarī pā̀g he, jō ki lāhor tō᷈ 67 kilōmīṭar dūr he.
Example 2
This sample text was taken from the Punjabi Wikipedia article on Lahore; translated to English and transliterated to Latin.
Gurmukhi: ਲਹੌਰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦਾ ਦਾਰੁਲ ਹਕੂਮਤ ਐ। ਲੋਕ ਗਿਣਤੀ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਕਰਾਚੀ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਲਹੌਰ ਦੂਜਾ ਸਬ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਐ। ਲਹੌਰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦਾ ਸਿਆਸੀ, ਰਹਤਲੀ ਤੇ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਈ ਦਾ ਗੜ੍ਹ ਐ ਤੇ ਇਸੇ ਲਈ ਇਹਨੂੰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦਾ ਦਿਲ ਵੀ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਏ। ਲਹੌਰ ਦਰਿਆਏ ਰਾਵੀ ਦੇ ਕੰਡੇ ਤੇ ਵਸਦਾ ਏ ਉਹਦੀ ਲੋਕ ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇੱਕ ਕਰੋੜ ਦੇ ਨੇੜੇ ਐ ।
Shahmukhi:
TransliterationTransliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
: lahor pākistān panjāb dā dārul hakūmat e. lōk giṇtī dē nāḷ karācī tō᷈ bāad lahor dūjā sab tō᷈ vaḍḍā shahir e. lahor pākistān dā siāsī, rahtalī tē paṛā̀ī dā gā́ṛ e tē isē laī ihnū᷈ pākistān dā dil vī kihā jāndā ē. lahor dariāē rāvī dē kanḍē tē vasdā ē uhdī lōk giṇtī ikk karōṛ dē nēṛē e.
Dictionaries
- Kalra, Surjit S. & Nagi, J.S., English–Panjabi Topic Dictionary. DTF Publishers and Distributors, 117 Soho Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B21 9ST. 2009. (Useful for U.K. diaspora).
- Singh, Maya. The Panjabi dictionary. Lahore: Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons, 1895.
- http://www.ijunoon.com Online dictonary for all languages spoken in Pakistan, including English to Punjabi, or vice-versa.
- Shabdkosh.com: Punjabi to English Dictionary English to Punjabi Dictionary
- Online translator English to Punjabi, or vice-versa
- Punjabi Kashmiri Dictionary by Omkar N Koul and Rattan Lal Talashi. Patiala: Language Department. 1998.
Potohari-Pahari (Northern Lahnda) dictionary by Sharif Shad
See also
- List of Punjabi-language newspapers
- Languages of Pakistan
Languages of Pakistan include two official languages: Urdu, which is also Pakistan's national language and lingua franca, and English. Additionally, Pakistan has four major provincial languages: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Farsi and Balochi, as well as three major regional languages: Saraiki, Hindko...
- Languages of India
The languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages...
- Western Punjabi
- List of Indian languages by total speakers
- Hindi to Punjabi Machine Translation System
Hindi to Punjabi machine translation system, developed at Punjabi University, Patiala by Gurpreet Singh Lehal and Dr. Vishal Goyal, is aimed to translate Hindi text into Punjabi text. It is based on the direct approach...
- English to Punjabi Machine Translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
- Punjabi Computing Resources
Punjabi is an important language of the world. Here is a list of Punjabi computing sources:-Punjabi Typing Tools:* by Punjabi University* * * * * * * by Punjabi University-Punjabi Word-Processing:* * * * * -Punjabi Spell-checkers:* *...
Further reading
- Punjabi Phrasebook on Wikitravel
- Bhatia, Tej. 1993 and 2010. Punjabi : a cognitive-descriptive grammar. London: Routledge. Series: Descriptive grammars.
- Gill H.S. [Harjit Singh] and Gleason, H.A. 1969. A reference grammar of Punjabi. Revised edition. Patiala, Punjab, India: Languages Deparmtent, Punjab University.
- Shackle, C. 1972. Punjabi. London: English Universities Press.
- Chopra, R. M., Perso-Arabic Words in Panjabi, in: Indo-Iranica Vol.53 (1–4).
- Chopra, R. M.., The Legacy of The Punjab, 1997, Punjabee Bradree, Calcutta.
External links