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| Punjabi | |
|---|---|
| |
 'Punjabi' written in Shahmukhi script (top) and Gurmukhi script used in (bottom) | |
| Pronunciation | [pəɲˈdʒab̆.bi] |
| Native to | India Pakistan |
| Region | Punjab |
| Ethnicity | Punjabis |
Native speakers | 145 million (2011–2017)[a] |
Early forms | |
Standard forms | |
| Dialects |
|
Historical | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | |
| Regulated by | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | pa |
| ISO 639-2 | pan |
| ISO 639-3 | pan |
| Glottolog | lahn1241 |
| Linguasphere | 59-AAF-e |
 Geographic distribution of Punjabi language in Pakistan and India. | |
| Part of a series on |
| Punjabis |
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 Punjab portal |
Punjabi,[g] sometimes spelled Panjabi,[h] 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 113 million native speakers.[16]
Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers according to the 2017 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 (sometimes spelled Panjabi) 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[17] of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name, Panchanada, which means 'Land of the Five Rivers'.[18][19]
Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca (पञ्च), Greek pénte (πέντε), and Lithuanian Penki, all of which meaning 'five'; āb is cognate with Sanskrit áp (अप्) and with the Av- of Avon. 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 Apabhraṃśa (Sanskrit: अपभ्रंश, 'deviated' or 'non-grammatical speech')[20] 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 (Sanskrit: प्राकृत, prākṛta) 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.[1][21] Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated 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.[22] The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa, though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore.[22] 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'.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
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.[23] Many Persian and Arabic words have been incorporated into Punjabi.[24][25] So Punjabi relies heavily on Persian and Arabic words which are used with a liberal approach to language. Many important words like ਅਰਦਾਸ, ਰਹਿਰਾਸ, ਨਹਿਰ, ਜ਼ਮੀਨ, ਗਜ਼ਲ, etc. are derived from Persian and Arabic. After the fall of the Sikh empire, Urdu was made the official language of Punjab (in Pakistani Punjab, it is still the primary official language), and influenced the language as well.[26]
In fact, the sounds of ਜ਼, ਖ਼, ਸ਼, and ਫ਼ have been borrowed from Persian. Later, it was lexically influenced by Portuguese (words like ਅਲਮਾਰੀ/الماری), Greek (words like ਦਾਮ/دام), Chagatai (words like ਕ਼ੈੰਚੀ, ਸੁਗ਼ਾਤ/قینچی،سوغات), Japanese (words like ਰਿਕਸ਼ਾ/رکشا), Chinese (words like ਚਾਹ, ਲੀਚੀ, ਲੁਕਾਠ/چاہ، لیچی، لکاٹھ) and English (words like ਜੱਜ, ਅਪੀਲ, ਮਾਸਟਰ/جج، اپیل، ماسٹر), though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic.[27]
| English | Gurmukhi-based (Punjab, India) | Shahmukhi-based (Punjab, Pakistan) |
|---|---|---|
| President | ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰਪਤੀ (rāshtarpatī) | صدرمملکت (sadar-e mumlikat) |
| Article | ਲੇਖ (lēkh) | مضمون (mazmūn) |
| Prime Minister | ਪਰਧਾਨ ਮੰਤਰੀ (pardhān mantarī)* | وزیراعظم (vazīr-e aʿzam) |
| Family | ਪਰਿਵਾਰ (parivār)* ਟੱਬਰ (ṭabbar) ਲਾਣਾ (lāṇā) |
خاندان (kḥāndān) ٹبّر (ṭabbar) |
| Philosophy | ਫ਼ਲਸਫ਼ਾ (falsafā) ਦਰਸ਼ਨ (darshan) |
فلسفہ (falsafah) |
| Capital city | ਰਾਜਧਾਨੀ (rājdhānī) | دارالحکومت (dār-al ḥakūmat) |
| Viewer | ਦਰਸ਼ਕ (darshak) | ناظرین (nāzarīn) |
| Listener | ਸਰੋਤਾ (sarotā) | سامع (sāmaʿ) |
Note: In more formal contexts, hypercorrect Sanskritized versions of these words (ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ pradhān for ਪਰਧਾਨ pardhān and ਪਰਿਵਾਰ parivār for ਪਰਵਾਰ parvār) may be used.
Modern times
Modern Punjabi emerged in the 19th century from the Medieval Punjabi stage.[3] Modern Punjabi has two main varieties, Western (Lahnda Punjab) and Eastern Punjabi (Charda Punjab), 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 80.5 million people, or approximately 39% 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 |
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.[30]
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, 31.14 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 33.12 million.[31]
| 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.[30]
There were 670,000 native Punjabi speakers in Canada in 2021,[33] 300,000 in the United Kingdom in 2011,[34] 280,000 in the United States[35] and smaller numbers in other countries.
