Punjabi language
Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native speakers.
Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 88.9 million native speakers according to the 2023 Pakistani census, and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, according to the 2011 census. It is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and the Gulf states.
In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet, based on the Perso-Arabic script; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet, based on the Indic scripts. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone.
History
Etymology
The word Punjabi has been derived from the word Panj-āb, Persian for 'Five Waters', referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. The name of the region was introduced by the Turko-Persian conquerors of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name, Panchanada, which means 'Land of the Five Rivers'.Panj is cognate with other Indo-European languages' words for five, like Sanskrit , Greek pénte and Lithuanian penki, but also English five; āb is cognate with Sanskrit áp and with the of. The historical Punjab region, now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries. One of the five, the Beas River, is a tributary of another, the Sutlej.
Origin
Punjabi developed from Prakrit languages and later From 600 BC, Sanskrit developed as the standard literary and administrative language and Prakrit languages evolved into many regional languages in different parts of India. All these languages are called Prakrit languages collectively. Paishachi Prakrit was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Paishachi Prakrit gave rise to Paishachi Apabhraṃśa, a descendant of Prakrit. Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a form of Prakrit, in the 7th century AD and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to the Nath Yogi-era from 9th to 14th century. The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa, though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore. Writing in 1317–1318, Amir Khusrau referred to the language spoken by locals around the area of Lahore as Lahauri. The precursor stage of Punjabi between the 10th and 16th centuries is termed 'Old Punjabi', whilst the stage between the 16th and 19th centuries is termed as 'Medieval Punjabi'.Arabic and Persian influences
The Arabic and Modern Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent. Since then, many Persian words have been incorporated into Punjabi and are used with a liberal approach. Through Persian, Punjabi also absorbed many Arabic-derived words like dukān, ġazal and more, as well as Turkic words like qēncī, sōġāt, etc. After the fall of the Sikh empire, Urdu was made the official language of Punjab under the British and influenced the language as well.In the second millennium, Punjabi was lexically influenced by Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Chinese and English, though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. In fact, the sounds //, //, //, //, // and // are all borrowed from Persian, but in some instances the latter three arise natively. Later, the letters ਜ਼ /, ਸ਼ / and ਫ਼ / began being used in English borrowings, with ਸ਼ / also used in Sanskrit borrowings.
Punjabi has also had minor influence from and on neighbouring languages such as Sindhi, Haryanvi, Pashto and Hindustani.
| English | Gurmukhi-based | Shahmukhi-based |
| President | ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰਪਤੀ | |
| Article | ਲੇਖ | |
| Prime Minister | ਪਰਧਾਨ ਮੰਤਰੀ * | |
| Family | ਪਰਵਾਰ * ਟੱਬਰ | |
| Philosophy | ਫ਼ਲਸਫ਼ਾ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ | |
| Capital city | ਰਾਜਧਾਨੀ | |
| Viewer | ਦਰਸ਼ਕ | |
| Listener | ਸਰੋਤਾ |
Note: In more formal contexts, hypercorrect Sanskritized versions of these words may be used.
Modern times
Modern Punjabi emerged in the 19th century from the Medieval Punjabi stage. Modern Punjabi has two main varieties, Western Punjabi and Eastern Punjabi, which have many dialects and forms, altogether spoken by over 150 million people. The Majhi dialect, which is transitional between the two main varieties, has been adopted as standard Punjabi in India and Pakistan for education and mass media. The Majhi dialect originated in the Majha region of the Punjab.In India, Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhī script in offices, schools, and media. Gurmukhi is the official standard script for Punjabi, though it is often unofficially written in the Latin scripts due to influence from English, one of India's two primary official languages at the Union-level.
In Pakistan, Punjabi is generally written using the Shahmukhī script, which in literary standards, is identical to the Urdu alphabet, however various attempts have been made to create certain, distinct characters from a modification of the Persian Nastaʿlīq characters to represent Punjabi phonology, not already found in the Urdu alphabet. In Pakistan, Punjabi loans technical words from Persian and Arabic, just like Urdu does.
Geographic distribution
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the eleventh-most widely spoken in India, and also present in the Punjabi diaspora in various countries.Pakistan
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, being the native language of 88.9 million people, or approximately 37% of the country's population.| 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 |
| 2017 | 207,685,000 | 38.78% | 80,540,000 |
| 2023 | 240,458,089 | 36.98% | 88,915,544 |
Beginning with the 1981 and 2017 censuses respectively, speakers of the Western Punjabi's Saraiki and Hindko varieties were no longer included in the total numbers for Punjabi, which explains the apparent decrease. Pothwari speakers however are included in the total numbers for Punjabi.
India
Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab, and has the status of an additional official language in Haryana and Delhi. Some of its major urban centres in northern India are Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ambala, Patiala, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur and Delhi.In the 2011 census of India, million reported their language as Punjabi. The census publications group this with speakers of related "mother tongues" like Bagri and Bhateali to arrive at the figure of million.
| 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 | 33,124,726 | 2.74% |
Punjabi diaspora
Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada.There were 670,000 native Punjabi speakers in Canada in 2021, 300,000 in the United Kingdom in 2011, 280,000 in the United States and smaller numbers in other countries.
Punjabi speakers by country
Major dialects
Standard Punjabi
Standard Punjabi is the standard form of Punjabi used commonly in education and news broadcasting, and is based on the Majhi dialect. Such as the variety used on Google Translate, Standard Punjabi is also often used in official online services that employ Punjabi. It is widely used in the TV and entertainment industry of Pakistan, which is mainly produced in Lahore.The Standard Punjabi used in India and Pakistan has slight differences. In India, it excludes many of the dialect-specific features of Majhi. In Pakistan, the standard is closer to the Majhi spoken in the urban parts of Lahore.
Eastern Punjabi
"Eastern Punjabi" refers to the varieties of Punjabi spoken in Pakistani Punjab, most of Indian Punjab, the far-north of Rajasthan and on the northwestern border of Haryana. It includes the dialects of Majhi, Malwai, Doabi, Puadhi and the extinct Lubanki.Sometimes, Dogri and Kangri are grouped into this category.
Western Punjabi
"Western Punjabi" or "Lahnda" is the name given to the diverse group of Punjabi varieties spoken in the majority of Pakistani Punjab, the Hazara region, most of Azad Kashmir and small parts of Indian Punjab such as Fazilka. These include groups of dialects like Saraiki, Pahari-Pothwari, Hindko and the extinct Inku; common dialects like Jhangvi, Shahpuri, Dhanni and Thali which are usually grouped under the term Jatki Punjabi; and the mixed variety of Punjabi and Sindhi called Khetrani.Depending on context, the terms Eastern and Western Punjabi can simply refer to all the Punjabi varieties spoken in India and Pakistan respectively, whether or not they are linguistically Eastern/Western.