Punjabi language

**Punjabi** (Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, پَنْجَاْبِیْ) is an Indo-Aryan language. It is native to Punjab region of Indian Subcontinent, which includes Pakistani province of Punjab and Indian state of Punjab. It is the first language of about 230 million people in the world. It is also spoken in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh states of India and in capital Delhi. It is spoken by the largest ethnic group in Pakistan at 58%.

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 language has many dialects. The dialects are similar to each other that speakers can understand most of the dialects that are related to theirs. Some major dialects of Punjabi include Majhi, Puadhi, Malwai, Pothwari, Shahpuri, Jhangvi, Jatki, Bilaspuri, Jangli, Jhagvi, Ghebi, Doabi among others.

Majhi is Punjabi's standard dialect because it forms the standard for writing in Panjabi. It is spoken in the centre of Panjab, 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 Panjabi include Rachnavi, Chenavari, Chhachi, Jandali. 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 65% of Pakistanis. There were 145 million Panjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2023. In India, Punjabi is spoken as a native language by 4% of the population. This was about 70 million in 2023. It is the official language of the Indian states of Panjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and additional official in Uttarakhand,   Kashmir and Rajasthan.

|**Year**||**Population of Pakistan**||**Percentage**||**Punjabi speakers**|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|{| class="wikitable"|||||||
|1948|26,657,876|98.7|24,765,865||||
|1954|33,740,167|96.3%|27,632,905||||
|1961|42,880,378|88.7%|34,468,282||||
|1974|65,309,340|85.2%|45,176,004||||
|1998|84,253,644|75.8%|62,584,980||||
|2023|241,352,279|65.3%|145,433,431|}|{| class="wikitable"||
|1948|353,878,767|17,452,875|5.6%||||
|1985|548,159,652|23,108,443|3.8%||||
|1997|665,287,849|34, ,611,199|3%||||
|2005|838,583,988|47,378,744|3.4%||||
|2015|1,028,610,328|59,102,477|3.5%||||
|2023|1,610,193,422|70,038,280|4.8%|}|||

In the United Kingdom, it is the second-most-commonly used language. In Canada, it is the third-most-spoken language. There were 6 million Panjabi speakers in the US in 2023. and 3 million in the UK in 2023.

## Phonology

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## Writing system

There are three ways to write Punjabi: Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi, and Takri. 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.

Doabi dialect is the purest dialect of Panjabi.

## 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

## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Punjabi
- **states**: Punjab region, Panjab
- **ethnicity**: Punjabis, Panjabis
- **speakers**: 230 million (2025)
- **ref**: [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/#people-and-society|a]
- **familycolor**: Indo-European
- **fam2**: Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian
- **fam3**: Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan
- **fam4**: Northwestern
- **dia1**: See Punjabi dialects
- **stand1**: Multani/Saraiki
- **script**: Gurmukhi
Perso-Arabic script, Perso-Arabic <small>(Shahmukhi)</small>
Punjabi Braille
Laṇḍā scripts, Laṇḍā (historical)
- **nation**: (provincial language of Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab)
  (Punjab, India, Punjab)
- **iso1**: pa
- **iso2**: pan
- **lc1**: pan
- **ld1**: Chardi Punjabi
- **lc2**: pnb
- **ld2**: Lehndi Punjabi
- **lingua**: 59-AAF-e
- **image**: File:Punjabi gurmukhi shahmukhi.png
- **imagesize**: 150px
- **imagecaption**: 'Punjabi' written in Shahmukhi (top) and Gurmukhi (bottom) scripts
- **notice**: IPA
- **glotto**: panj1256
- **glottoname**: Punjabi
- **glottorefname**: Punjabi
- **dia2**: Hindko
- **dia3**: Jatki
- **dia4**: Pothwari-Pahari
- **dia5**: Majhi