Punjabi or Panjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ in Gurmukhi Gurmukhī is the most common script used for writing the Punjabi language. An abugida derived from the Laṇḍā script and ultimately descended from Brahmi, Gurmukhi was standardized by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad Dev, in the 16th century. The whole of the Guru Granth Sahib's 1430 pages are written in this script. The name Gurmukhi is script, پنجابی in Shahmukhi Shahmukhi is a local variant of the Arabic script, that is used to write and record the Punjabi language in Pakistan & some parts of India . It is based on the Nasta'liq style of the Persian script and has traditionally been used by the Punjabi Muslims of Pakistan and India. However, since the middle of the 20th century it has mainly been used script, पंजाबी in Devanagari Devanagari , also called Nagari (Nāgarī, the name of its parent writing system), is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, does not have distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together. Devanāgarī is the main script script, Pañjābī in transliteration Transliteration is the practice of converting a text from one writing system into another in a systematic way. An example of transliteration is typing an e-mail using a qwerty keyboard and sending it in a non-qwerty script) is an Indo-Aryan language Geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region The Punjab (pronounced /ˈpʌndʒɑːb/ or /ˈpʌndʒæb/; Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, پنجاب, Urdu: پنجاب, Hindi: पंजाब), also spelled Panjab (Persian: پنجاب, panj-āb, "five waters"), is a cultural region straddling the border between Punjab (Pakistan) and Punjab (India). The so-called "five waters" are (in Pakistan Pakistan (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪsˈtaːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکِستان), is a country in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the and north western India India, 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 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the).

According to the Ethnologue Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language 2005 estimate^[1], there are 88 million native speakers of the Punjabi language, which makes it approximately the 13th most widely spoken language in the world This list gives the most spoken languages in the world according to the Ethnologue, a widely cited reference for languages around the world. The Ethnologue is sometimes criticised for using out-of-date data, but there is no available fully authoritative source for numbers of first language speakers which uses the same criteria for counting in each. According to the 2008 Census of Pakistan^[4], there are 76,335,300 native speakers of (Various Dialects) Punjabi in Pakistan and according to the Census of India The demographics of India are remarkably diverse. India is the second-largest populated country in the world with over 1.18 billion people and consists of more than one-sixth of the world's population. It contributes 17.31% of the world's population and projected that India will be the largest populated country by 2025 surpassing China, and by 2050, there are 29,102,477 (Eastern Dialects) Punjabi speakers in India^[5].

Punjabi language has many different dialects, spoken in the different sub-regions of greater 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. Generally, there is positive prestige associated with the language or. This dialect is considered as textbook punjabi and is spoken in the historical region of Majha,^[6] centralizing in Amritsar but spanning East-central districts of Pakistani Punjab and the Indian India, 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 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the State of Punjab Punjab (pronounced /pənˈdʒɑːb/) is a state in northwest India. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Chandigarh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square.

Along with Lahnda and Western Pahari languages, Punjabi is unusual among modern Indo-European languages in being a tonal language Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called intonation, but not all languages use tones to distinguish.^{[7][8][9][10]}

History

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan Geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages language like many other modern languages of South Asia South 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 on the west and the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as the Indian subcontinent south of the. It is a descendant of Sauraseni Prakrit, which was the chief language of medieval northern India^[11][12][13].

Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 11th century from the Sauraseni Apabhramsa.^[14] The literary tradition in Punjabi started with Fariduddin Ganjshakar (Baba Farid) (1173–1266), many ancient Sufi mystics and later Guru Nanak Dev Guru Nanak Dev (15 November 1469 – 22 September 1539) is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. Sikhs believe that all subsequent Gurus possessed Guru Nanak’s divinity and religious authority ji, the first Guru of Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded in fifteenth century Punjab on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. 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), wrote in the Kafi style. Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1629–1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640–1724). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722–1798), of Heer Ranjha fame. Waris Shah's rendition of the tragic love story of Heer Ranjha is among the most popular medieval Punjabi works. Other popular tragic love stories are Sohni Mahiwal, Mirza Sahiba and Sassi Punnun. Shah Mohammad's Jangnama is another fine piece of poetry that gives an eyewitness account of the First Anglo-Sikh War The 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 that took place after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Maharaja Ranjit Singh (born 13 November 1780) ruled 1799-20 June 1839; Capital city Lahore; was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.

The linguist George Abraham Grierson in his multivolume Linguistic Survey of India (1904–1928) used the word "Punjabi" to refer to several languages spoken in the Punjab region The Punjab (pronounced /ˈpʌndʒɑːb/ or /ˈpʌndʒæb/; Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, پنجاب, Urdu: پنجاب, Hindi: पंजाब), also spelled Panjab (Persian: پنجاب, panj-āb, "five waters"), is a cultural region straddling the border between Punjab (Pakistan) and Punjab (India). The so-called "five waters" are: the term "Western Punjabi" (ISO 639-3 ISO 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 alpha-3 codes with an aim to cover all known pnb) covered dialects (now designated separate languages) spoken to the west of Montgomery and Gujranwala districts, while "Eastern Punjabi" referred to what is now simply called Punjabi (ISO 639-3 ISO 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 alpha-3 codes with an aim to cover all known pan)^[15] After Saraiki Sarāikī , sometimes spelled Siraiki and Seraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages. Sarāikī is based on a group of vernacular, historically unwritten dialects spoken by over 34 million people across the southern more than half of Punjab Province, the adjacent border region of Sindh, Pothohari and Hindko Hindko , also Hindku, or Hinko, is part of the Lahnda subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by Hindkowans in Pakistan and northern India,<. as well as by the Hindki people of Afghanistan. The literal meaning of the word "Hindko" is "Mountains of India"---a name the Persians gave to the entire Himalaya Mountains. The word & (earlier categorized as "Western Punjabi") got the status of separate languages, the percentage of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan decreased from 59% to 44%.

Association with the Sikhs

Punjabi is not the predominant language of the Sikh scriptures (which though in Gurmukhi script are written in several languages).^[16] A few portions of Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi dialects, but the book is interspersed with several other languages including Brajbhasha, Khariboli Khariboli (also Khadiboli, Khadi-Boli, or Khari dialect, also known as Kauravi ; identified as Hindi by SIL Ethnologue), (/ kʰəɽiː boːliː /; Hindi: खड़ी बोली, Urdu: کھڑی بولی, khaṛī bolī; lit. 'standing dialect'), native to western Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi region in India, is the prestige dialect of the Hindi-), Sanskrit Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism[note 1]. Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand. Sanskrit has been declared a classical language by the Government of India and Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq, Bahrain, and Oman. New Persian, which usually is called also by the names of Farsi, Parsi, Dari or Parsi-ye-Dari (Dari Persian), can be classified linguistically.^[17] Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (22 December 1666 – 19th October 1708) was the tenth Guru of Sikhism. He was born in Patna, Bihar in India and became a Guru on 11 November 1675, at the age of nine years, succeeding his father Guru Tegh Bahadur. He was the leader of the Sikh faith, a warrior, a poet, and a philosopher, the last Guru of the Sikhs composed Chandi di Var 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.^[16] The Punjabi identity was affected by the communal sentiments in the 20th century. Bhai Vir Singh Vir 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.^[18] After the partition of India The Partition of India (Hindi: भारत का विभाजन , Urdu: ہندوستان کی تقسیم Hindustān kī Taqsīm) was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation, on 14 August 1947 and 15 August 1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan (later, the Punjab region The Punjab (pronounced /ˈpʌndʒɑːb/ or /ˈpʌndʒæb/; Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, پنجاب, Urdu: پنجاب, Hindi: पंजाब), also spelled Panjab (Persian: پنجاب, panj-āb, "five waters"), is a cultural region straddling the border between Punjab (Pakistan) and Punjab (India). The so-called "five waters" are 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 Haryana Haryana is a state in India. Historically it is a part of Kuru region of North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar (VS 1189-1230). It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its eastern border and Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश pronounced [hɪmaːtʃəl prəd̪eːʃ] ) is a state in north India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²), 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-, became Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: हिन्दी or हिंदी, IAST: Hindī, IPA: [ˈɦɪndiː] ) is the name given to various Indo-Aryan languages, dialects, and language registers spoken in northern and central India, Pakistan, Fiji, Mauritius, and Suriname. Standard Hindi is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, the official language of the-majority.

In the 1960s, the Shiromani Akali Dal proposed "Punjabi Suba", 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 Singh 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.^[16] The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states: Punjab (India) Punjab (pronounced /pənˈdʒɑːb/) is a state in northwest India. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Chandigarh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square, Haryana Haryana is a state in India. Historically it is a part of Kuru region of North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar (VS 1189-1230). It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its eastern border and Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश pronounced [hɪmaːtʃəl prəd̪eːʃ] ) is a state in north India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²), 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-.

Modern Punjabi

In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 languages with official status in India. It is the first official language of Punjab (India) and Union Territory State Chandigarh Chandigarh pronunciation (Punjabi: ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ), (Hindi: चंडीगढ़), is a union territory of India, that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana (Since 1966). The name translates to English as "The Fort of Chandi". The name was coined from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the and the 2nd official language of Haryana Haryana is a state in India. Historically it is a part of Kuru region of North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar (VS 1189-1230). It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its eastern border, Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश pronounced [hɪmaːtʃəl prəd̪eːʃ] ) is a state in north India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²), 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- and Delhi Delhi, known locally as Dilli , and by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with more than 12.25 million inhabitants in the territory and with nearly 22.2 million. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab (Pakistan) The Punjab (Gurumukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, Shahmukhi: پنجاب: Punjab.ogg ) is a province of Pakistan. It is the country's most populous region with about 56% of Pakistan's total population. The Punjab is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. Neighbouring areas are Sindh to the south, Balochistan and the North-West Frontier Province to the second largest and the most populous province of Pakistan Pakistan (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪsˈtaːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکِستان), is a country in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the.

The famous Punjabi writers from Pakistan include:

• Shareef Kunjahi
• Mir Tanha Yousafi
• Sanawar Chadhar
• Alam Lohar Muhammad Alam Lohar was a prominent Punjabi folk music singer of Pakistan.He was born in 1928 and died on July 3, 1979 in an accident. He is also the inventor of term and song Jugni
• Abid Tamimi
• Anwar Masood Anwar Masood 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
• Aatish
• Shaista Nuzhat
• Raja Muhammed Ahmed

The famous Indian Punjabi poets in modern times are:

• Prof. Mohan Singh
• Amrita Pritam
• Balwant Gargi
• Shiv Kumar Batalvi
• Surjit Paatar

Geographic distribution

Pakistan

Punjabi is the most spoken language of Pakistan. 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 Punjabis found in Pakistan are composed of various social groups, castes and economic groups. Muslim Rajputs, Jat, Tarkhans, Dogars, Gujjars, Gakhars, Khatri or Punjabi Shaikhs, Kambohs, and Arains, comprise the main tribes in the north, while Awans, Gilanis, Gardezis, Syeds and Quraishis are found in the south. There are Pashtun tribes like the Niazis and the lodhis, 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 Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, Arabia and Central Asia.^[19]

Source: ^[20] In the National Census of Pakistan (1981) Saraiki, Pothohari and Hindko (Before categorized as "Western Punjabi") got the status of separate languages thats why number of Punjabi speakers got decreased.

India

Punjabi is spoken as a native language by over 2.85% of Indians. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab and the shared state capital Chandigarh. It is one of the official languages of the state of Delhi and the second language of Haryana.

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 Ahirs, Arora, Bania, Bhatia, Brahmin, Chamar,Gujjar, Kalals/Ahluwalias, Kambojs, Khatris, Lobanas, Jats, Rajputs, Saini, Sood and Tarkhan. 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 Malerkotla, 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, Nabha, Jind, Faridkot, Kapurthala and Kalsia.

The Punjabi Diaspora

Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabis have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom (where it is the second most commonly used language^[21]) and Canada, where in recent times Punjabi has grown fast and has now become the fourth most spoken language.^[22].

List in order of native speakers

Dialects: linguistic classification

In Indo-Aryan dialectology generally, the presence of transitional dialects creates problems in assigning some dialects to one or another "language".^[23][24] 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, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and Patiala. In Pakistan, the Punjabi speaking territory spans the east-central districts of Punjab Province. Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faislabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Sialkot, Jhelum and Gujrat. Lahore the historic capital of Punjab is the largest Punjabi speaking city in the world. Lahore has 86% native Punjabis of total population of the city. and Islamabad the Capital of Pakistan has 71% Native Punjabis of total population.

Major Punjabi dialects

Majhi

The Majhi dialect is Punjabi's prestige dialect and spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The Majhi dialect, the dialect of the historical region of Majha,^[6] which spans the Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Okara, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat and to some extant in Jhelum District of Pakistani Punjab and Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib, and Gurdaspur Districts of the Indian State of Punjab.

Pothowari

This dialect is spoken in north Pakistani Punjab. mainly The area where Pothowari is spoken extends in the north from Muzaffarabad to as far south as Jhelum, Gujar Khanand Rawalpindi. [phr] 49,440 (2000 WCD). Murree Hills north of Rawalpindi, and east to Bhimber. Poonchi is east of Rawalakot. Potwari is in the plains around Rawalpindi. Alternate names: Potwari, Pothohari, Potohari, Chibhali, Dhundi-Kairali. Dialects: Pahari (Dhundi-Kairali), Pothwari (Potwari), Chibhali, Punchhi (Poonchi), Jhelumi, Mirpuri. Pahari means 'hill language' referring to a string of divergent dialects, some of which may be separate languages. A dialect chain with Panjabi and Hindko. Closeness to western Pahari is unknown. Lexical similarity 76% to 83% among varieties called 'Pahari', 'Potwari', and some called 'Hindko' in Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, and Jammun. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northern zone, Western Pahari.

Jhangochi or Rachnavi

Jhangochi (جھنگوچی) dialect is spoken in Pakistani Punjab. Jhangochi or Rachnavi is the oldest and most idiosyncratic dialect of the Punjabi. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting from Khanewal and Jhang at both ends of Ravi and Chenab to Gujranwala district. It then runs down to Bahawalnagar and Chishtian areas, on the banks of river 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 Ranjha and Mirza Sahiba. It is spoken in the Bar areas of Punjab, i.e., areas whose names are often suffixed with 'Bar', for example Sandal Bar, Kirana Bar, Neeli Bar, Ganji Bar and also from Khanewal to Jhang includes Faisalabad and Chiniot.

Shahpuri

This dialect is spoken in Pakistani Punjab. The Shahpuri language has been spoken by the people of the town Shahpur. This language 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.

Hindko

Classified under Lahnda languages by many linguists; perhaps differs from Punjabi. Hindko dialect is spoken in north west Pakistani Punjab and North-West Frontier Province mainly this dialect is spoken in districts of Peshawar, Attock, Nowshehra, Mansehra, Balakot, Abbottabad and Murree and the lower half of Neelum District and Muzafarabad.

Malwi

Malwi spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main areas are Patiala Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. It also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra etc. Not to be confused with the Malvi language, which shares its name.

Doabi

Doabi spoken in Indian Punjab. The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej. It includes Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts.

Pwadhi

Powadh 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 region of India.

Saraiki

Saraiki or Siraiki is a dialect continuum of jhangochi dialect of Punjabi and Sindhi.It is now considered to be a separate language, instead of merely a dialect of Punjabi.It is mostly spoken in southern and western districts of Punjab,which comprises Multan, Lodhran,Bahawalpur, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari, some parts of Khanewal,Bahawalnagar and Khushab districts. It is also spoken by majority of population of Dera Ismail Khan district in NWFP province, kachi plain of Balochistan, northern part Sindh, and cities of Hyderabad and Karachi.

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 and Pothohari.

Punjabi University classification

Punjabi University, Patiala, State of Punjab, India takes a very liberal definition of Punjabi in that it classifies Saraiki, Dogri, and Pothohari/Pothwari as Punjabi. Accordingly, the University has issued the following list of dialects of Punjabi:^[25]

Categories: Languages of Pakistan | Languages of India | Languages of Punjab (Pakistan) | Punjabi culture | Punjabi language | Tonal languages | Indo-Aryan languages

See Also:

• English Language: Encyclopedia
• Games: Roleplaying: World Building: Invented Languages: Directory
• Science: Social Sciences: Linguistics: Languages: Constructed: Directory
• Science: Social Sciences: Linguistics: Languages: Constructed: Play: Directory
• Science: Social Sciences: Linguistics: Languages: Constructed: Script: Directory

What Links Here:

Recently Viewed Pages:

• Home
• Esperanto: Blogs
• Geber: News
• List of Latinised Names: Blogs
• Speech Communication: Blogs
• Double Dutch: Blogs
• List of Latinised Names: Encyclopedia
• Speech Communication: Encyclopedia
• Gibberish: Encyclopedia
• Science: Social Sciences: Linguistics: Languages: Constructed: Reformed and Modified English: Directory

Most Popular Pages:

• Geber: News
• Double Dutch: Blogs
• Double Dutch: Images
• Issue Life Cycle: Blogs
• Esperanto: Blogs
• Native Speakers: Blogs
• List of Latinised Names: Blogs
• Jabber
• Lojban: Blogs
• Gobbledegook: Blogs

Related 'Punjabi Language' Searches: