Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the first language of about 250 million people, and is the 9th most spoken language in the world. Most of the people who speak this language live in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is also spoken in Haryana, India Himachal Pradesh, India and Delhi, India . It is  spoken by the majority of the population of Pakistan (60%) and of unrecognized country Khalistan (93%).

Punjabi developed from the ancient language of Prakrit developed simultaneously with Sanskrit.

Punjabi is written in two different scripts, called Gurmukhī and Shahmukhī. Punjabi is the main language spoken by the Sikhs. Most parts of the Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi language written in Gurmukhī, though Punjabi is not the only language used in Sikh scriptures. The Janamsakhis, stories on the life and legend of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), are early examples of Punjabi literature.

Dialects

Punjabi has many dialects. The dialects are similar enough to each other that speakers can understand most of the dialects that are related to theirs. Major dialects of Punjabi include Majhi, Puadhi, Malwai, Pothohari, Shahpuri, Jhangvi, Jatki, Doabi, and Pahari, among others.

Majhi is Punjabi's standard dialect because it forms the standard for writing in Punjabi. It is spoken in the centre of Punjab, including the districts of Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Okara, Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Pakpattan, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin. In India it is spoken in Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib and Gurdaspur districts.

Other dialects of Punjabi include Pahari, Rachnavi, Chenavari, Chhachi, Jandali, Ghebi. The Saraiki, spoken in southern Punjab, and Dogri, spoken in Kashmir, are closely related to Punjabi. The relation of several dialects to languages other than Punjabi creates problems in assigning them to one or another "language".

Distribution
Over 95% of people who speak Punjabi as their first language live in Pakistan and India. It is the most widely spoken native language in Pakistan. It is spoken as a first language by over 56% of Pakistanis. There were 112 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2023. In India, Punjabi is spoken as a native language by 4% of the population. This was about 40 million in 2011. It is the official language of the Indian states of Punjab ,Haryana , Delhi and Himachal Pradesh

Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where large numbers of Punjabis have emigrated.In the United Kingdom, it is the second-most-commonly used language. In Canada, it is the fourth-most-spoken language. There were 4 million Panjabi speakers in the US in 2023. and 2.4 million in the UK in 2023.

Phonology

Writing system

There are three ways to write Punjabi: Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi, and Devanagari. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the script that is most used is Shahmukhī. The Majhi dialect is the written standard for Punjabi in both parts of Punjab.

References

More reading

 Bhatia, Tej (1993 and 2010) Punjabi: a cognitive-descriptive grammar. London: Routledge. Series: Descriptive grammars.
 Singh, Maya (1895) The Panjabi dictionary. Lahore: Munshi Gulab Singh & Sons.
 Ethnologue: Languages of India and Pakistan

 
Languages of India