Punjabi language

Punjabi (/pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/;^[16] Shahmukhi: پنجابی; Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, Punjabi: [pəɲˈdʒab̆.bi] (listen)^[17]), sometimes spelled Panjabi,^[d] is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers.

Punjabi
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پَن٘جابی
'Punjabi' written in Shahmukhi script used in Punjab, Pakistan (top) and Gurmukhi script used in Punjab, India (bottom)
Pronunciation	Punjabi: [pəɲˈdʒɑb̆.bi] English: /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/
Native to	Pakistan and India
Region	Punjab
Ethnicity	Punjabis
Native speakers	113 million (2011–2017)^[a]^[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabi languages Punjabi
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Aryan Vedic Sanskrit Classical Sanskrit debated Prakrit^[b]^[2] debated Apabhraṃśa Old Punjabi^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]
Dialects	See Punjabi dialects
Writing system	Shāhmukhī (in Pakistan) Gurmukhī (in India) Punjabi Braille Laṇḍā (historical) Takri (historical) Mahajani (historical)
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan  Punjab (provincial)^[c]^[9]  India Punjab (official)^[10]^[11] Haryana (additional)^[12] Delhi (additional)^[13] West Bengal (additional, in blocks and divisions with more than 10% of the population)^[14]
Regulated by	Punjab Institute of Language, Art & Culture, Punjab, Pakistan Department of Languages, Punjab, India^[15]
Language codes
ISO 639-1	pa
ISO 639-2	pan
ISO 639-3	Either: pan – Panjabi pnb – Western Panjabi
Glottolog	panj1256  Eastern Panjabi west2386  Western Panjabi
Linguasphere	59-AAF-e
Geographic distribution of Punjabi language in Pakistan and India.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Part of a series on
Constitutionally recognised languages of India
Category
22 Official Languages of the Indian Republic
Assamese  · Bengali  · Bodo  · Dogri  · Gujarati Hindi  · Kannada  · Kashmiri  · Konkani  · Maithili Malayalam  · Marathi  · Meitei (Manipuri)  · Nepali Odia  · Punjabi  · Sanskrit  · Santali  · Sindhi Tamil  · Telugu  · Urdu
Related
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India Official Languages Commission Classical Languages of India List of languages by number of native speakers in India
Asia portal  India portal  Language portal  Politics portal

Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers as per the 2017 census, and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, as per the 2011 census. The language 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^[18] of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name for the region, Panchanada, which means 'Land of the Five Rivers'.^[19][20]

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

 

Tilla Jogian, district Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan a hilltop associated with many Nath jogis (considered among compilers of earlier Punjabi works)

Punjabi developed from Prakrit languages and later Apabhraṃśa (Sanskrit: अपभ्रंश, 'deviated' or 'non-grammatical speech')^[21] 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, Shauraseni and Gandhari were Prakrit languages, which were spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi developed from one of these Prakrits. Later in northern India, these Prakrits gave rise to their own Apabhraṃśa, a descendant of Prakrit.^[22][23] 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 Nath Yogi era from 9th to 14th century.^[24] The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa, though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore.^[24] 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 'Mediaeval Punjabi'.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Arabic and Persian influences

See also: Persian language in the Indian subcontinent

The Arabic and modern Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent.^[25] Many Persian and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi.^[26][27] 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.^[28]

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.^[29]

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 Mediaeval Punjabi stage.^[4] Modern Punjabi is spoken in many dialects. The Majhi dialect 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 languages, 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.

Census history of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan^[30][31]

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 census, speakers of Saraiki and Hindko 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.^[32]

India

See also: States of India by Punjabi speakers

 

"Jallianwala Bagh" written in Hindi, Punjabi, and English in Amritsar, 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.

 

Punjabi in India

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.^[33]

Census history of Punjabi speakers in India^[34]

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

See also: Punjabi diaspora

 

Signs in Punjabi (along with English and Chinese) of New Democratic Party of British Columbia, Canada during 2009 elections

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.^[32]

There were 0.67 million native Punjabi speakers in Canada in 2021,^[35] 0.3 million in the United Kingdom in 2011,^[36] 0.28 million in the United States^[37] and smaller numbers in other countries.

Major dialects

Main article: Punjabi dialects and languages

Standard Punjabi

Standard Punjabi sometimes referred to as Majhi in India or simply Punjabi, is the most widespread and largest dialect of Punjabi. It first developed in the 12th century and gained prominence when Sufi poets such as Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah among others began to use the Lahore/Amritsar spoken dialect with infused Persian vocabulary in their works in the Shahmukhi script.^[38] Later the Gurmukhi script was developed based on Standard Punjabi by the Sikh Gurus.^[39]

In Pakistan, the Standard Punjabi dialect is not referred to as the 'Majhi dialect', which may be considered as 'Indian terminology', rather simply as 'Standard Punjabi'. This dialect is widely used in the TV and entertainment industry, which is mainly produced in Lahore.

Lahnda

A distinction is usually made between Punjabi in the east and the diverse group of "Lahnda" in the west. These include varieties like Pahari-Potohari, Hindko, Shahpuri, Jatki, and Multani (Saraiki).

Phonology

While a vowel length distinction between short and long vowels exists, reflected in modern Gurmukhi orthographical conventions, it is secondary to the vowel quality contrast between centralised vowels /ɪ ə ʊ/ and peripheral vowels /iː eː ɛː aː ɔː oː uː/ in terms of phonetic significance.^[40]

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	iː ਈ اِی				uː ਊ اُو
Near-close		ɪ ਇ اِ		ʊ ਉ اُ
Close-mid	eː ਏ اے				oː ਓ او
Mid			ə ਅ اَ
Open-mid	ɛː ਐ اَے				ɔː ਔ اَو
Open			aː ਆ آ

The peripheral vowels have nasal analogues.^[41] There is a tendency with speakers to insert /ɪ̆/ between adjacent a vowels as a separator. When the latter vowel is low-tone, this usually changes to /ʊ̆/.

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m ਮ م	n ਨ ن^[42]	ɳ ਣ ݨ	(ɲ) ਞ ن	(ŋ) ਙ ن٘
Stop/ Affricate	tenuis	p ਪ پ	t̪ ਤ ت	ʈ ਟ ٹ	t͡ʃ ਚ چ	k ਕ ک	(q ਕ਼ ق)
	aspirated	pʰ ਫ پھ	tʰ ਥ تھ	ʈʰ ਠ ٹھ	t͡ʃʰ ਛ چھ	kʰ ਖ کھ
	voiced	b ਬ ب	d̪ ਦ د	ɖ ਡ ڈ	d͡ʒ ਜ ج	ɡ ਗ گ
	tonal	ਭ بھ	ਧ دھ	ਢ ڈھ	ਝ جھ	ਘ گھ
Fricative	voiceless	(f ਫ਼ ف)	s ਸ س		ʃ ਸ਼ ش	(x ਖ਼ خ)
	voiced		(z ਜ਼ ز)			(ɣ ਗ਼ غ)		ɦ ਹ ہ
Rhotic			ɾ~r ਰ ر	ɽ ੜ ڑ
Approximant		ʋ ਵ و	l ਲ ل	ɭ ਲ਼ ࣇ^[43]	j ਯ ی

Note: for the tonal stops, refer to the next section about Tone.

The three retroflex consonants /ɳ, ɽ, ɭ/ do not occur initially, and the nasals [ŋ, ɲ] occur only as allophones of /n/ in clusters with velars and palatals (there are limited exceptions, but these are archaic). The well-established phoneme /ʃ/ may be realised allophonically as the voiceless retroflex fricative /ʂ/ in learned clusters with retroflexes. The phonemic status of the consonants /f, z, x, ɣ, q/ varies with familiarity with Hindustani norms, more so with the Gurmukhi script, with the pairs /f, pʰ/, /z, d͡ʒ/, /x, kʰ/, /ɣ, g/, and /q, k/ systematically distinguished in educated speech.^[44] The retroflex lateral is most commonly analysed as an approximant as opposed to a flap.^[45][46][47] The voiceless aspirates /t͡ʃʰ, pʰ/ often soften to fricatives /ɕ, f/. This hardly happens with /kʰ, t̪ʰ/ into /x, θ/, and never with /ʈʰ/.^{[citation needed]}

In very rare cases, the archaic isolated /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ phonemes in Shahmukhi may be represented with letters from Sindhi.^{[citation needed]}

Diphthongs

Like Hindustani, the diphthongs /əɪ/ and /əʊ/ have mostly disappeared, but are still retained in some dialects.

Long vowels /aː, iː, uː/ are treated as doubles of their short vowel counterparts /ə, ɪ, ʊ/ rather than separate phonemes, and all instances of ai and au are monophthongised into /ɛː/ and /ɔː/. Hence, diphthongs like aī and āu phonotactically are stretched to aii and aau, whence the newly formed diphthongs ai and au are monophthongized, causing the sequences to be pronounced as /ɛːɪ/ and /əɔː/ rather than /əiː/ and /aːʊ/. This also brings about flexibility in the script whence diphthongs such as aaai can be written as ā-ai, a-ā-i, etc.^{[citation needed]}

The phonemes /j/ and /ʋ/ have become marginalised in Punjabi. /j/ is only pronounced word-initially, where it is otherwise /ɪ/, and /ʋ/ becomes /ʊ/ when between a consonant and a vowel.

Tone

Unusually for an Indo-Aryan language, Punjabi distinguishes lexical tones.^[48] Three tones are distinguished in Punjabi (some sources have described these as tone contours, given in parentheses): low (high-falling), high (low-rising), and level (neutral or middle).^[49][50][51] The transcriptions and tone annotations in the examples below are based on those provided in Punjabi University, Patiala's Punjabi-English Dictionary.^[52]

Examples		Pronunciation			Meaning
Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi	Transliteration	IPA	Tone
ਘਰ	گھر	ghar	/kə̀.rᵊ/^[53]^[e]	low	house
ਕਰ੍ਹਾ	کرھا	karhā	/kə́.ra/^[54]	high	powdered remains of cow-dung cakes
ਕਰ	کر	kar	/kər/^[55]	level	do, doing
ਝੜ	جھڑ	jhaṛ	/t͡ʃə̀.ɽᵊ/^[56]	low	shade caused by clouds
ਚੜ੍ਹ	چڑھ	chaṛh	/t͡ʃə́.ɽᵊ/^[57]	high	rise to fame, ascendancy
ਚੜ	چڑ	caṛ	/t͡ʃəɽ/^[57]	level	hangnail

Level tone is found in about 75% of words and is described by some as absence of tone.^[49] There are also some words which are said to have rising tone in the first syllable and falling in the second. (Some writers describe this as a fourth tone.)^[49] However, a recent acoustic study of six Punjabi speakers in the United States found no evidence of a separate falling tone following a medial consonant.^[58]

• ਮੋਢਾ / موڈھا, móḍà (rising-falling), "shoulder"

Some Punjabi distinct tones for gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh

It is considered that these tones arose when voiced aspirated consonants (gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh) lost their aspiration. At the beginning of a word, they became voiceless unaspirated consonants (k, c, ṭ, t, p) followed by a high-falling tone; medially or finally they became voiced unaspirated consonants (g, j, ḍ, d, b), preceded by a low-rising tone. (The development of a high-falling tone apparently did not take place in every word, but only in those which historically had a long vowel.)^[51]

Tonal H letter

The presence of an [h] (although the [h] is now silent or very weakly pronounced except word-initially) word-finally (and sometimes medially) often causes a rising tone before it, for example cá(h) "tea".^[59]

• Syllable-initially, [h] causes a falling-tone after it, e.g. he > ʰè "is"^[f]
  • In dialects with exemplified tone, ahā becomes ā̀, e.g. pahāṛ > pā̀ṛ
• Syllable-finally, [h] causes a rising-tone before it, e.g. cā(h) > cā́ "tea"
  • The series ih and uh are pronounced as rising-tone /éː/ and /óː/, e.g. ki(h)-ṛā > kḗṛā "which"^[g]
    • There are few exceptions, e.g. tu-(h)āḍ-ḍē > twā̀ḍḍē^[h] "yours"
  • The series ahi / aha and ahu are pronounced as rising-tone /ɛ́ː/ and /ɔ́ː/^[i]
  • Some dialects avoid using these for /éː óː ɛ́ː ɔ́ː/ and opt to either write them as ēh, ōh, eh, oh regardless of position or aspirate the following consonant, e.g. kihṛā > kēhṛā / kēṛhā
    • By default, /éː óː/ before /ɳ ɭ/ are written as ēh, ōh as they cannot be aspirated; the short vowel would imply /ɪ́ ʊ́/

The Gurmukhi script which was developed in the 16th century has separate letters for voiced aspirated sounds, so it is thought that the change in pronunciation of the consonants and development of tones may have taken place since that time.^[51]

Some other languages in Pakistan have also been found to have tonal distinctions, including Burushaski, Gujari, Hindko, Kalami, Shina, and Torwali,^[60] though these seem to be independent of Punjabi.

Gemination

Gemination of a consonant (doubling the letter) is indicated with adhak in Gurmukhi and tashdīd in Shahmukhi.^[61] Its inscription with a unique diacritic is a distinct feature of Gurmukhi compared to Brahmic scripts.

All consonants except six (ṇ, ṛ, h, r, v, y) are regularly geminated. The latter four are only geminated in loan words from other languages.^[j]

There is a tendency to irregularly geminate consonants which follow long vowels, except in the final syllable of a word, e.g.menū̃ > mennū̃.^[k] It also causes the long vowels to shorten but remain peripheral, distinguishing them from the central vowels /ə, ɪ, ʊ/. This gemination is less prominent than the literarily regular gemination represented by the diacritics mentioned above.

Before a non-final prenasalised consonant,^[l] long vowels undergo the same change but no gemination occurs.

The true gemination of a consonant after a long vowel is unheard of but is written in some English loanwords to indicate short /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, e.g. ਡੈੱਡ ڈَیڈّ /ɖɛɖː/ "dead".

Grammar

 

The 35 traditional characters of the Gurmukhi script

Main article: Punjabi grammar

Punjabi has a canonical word order of SOV (subject–object–verb).^[62] Function words are largely postpositions marking grammatical case on a preceding nominal.^[63]

Punjabi distinguishes two genders, two numbers, and six cases of direct, oblique, vocative, ablative, locative, and instrumental. The ablative occurs only in the singular, in free variation with oblique case plus ablative postposition, and the locative and instrumental are usually confined to set adverbial expressions.^[64]

Adjectives, when declinable, are marked for the gender, number, and case of the nouns they qualify.^[65] There is also a T-V distinction. Upon the inflectional case is built a system of particles known as postpositions, which parallel English's prepositions. It is their use with a noun or verb that is what necessitates the noun or verb taking the oblique case, and it is with them that the locus of grammatical function or "case-marking" then lies. The Punjabi verbal system is largely structured around a combination of aspect and tense/mood. Like the nominal system, the Punjabi verb takes a single inflectional suffix, and is often followed by successive layers of elements like auxiliary verbs and postpositions to the right of the lexical base.^[66]

Vocabulary

Being an Indo-Aryan language, the core vocabulary of Punjabi consists of tadbhav words inherited from Sanskrit.^[67][68] It contains many loanwords from Persian and Arabic.^[67]

Writing systems

 

Gurmukhi writing system on a sample logo

The Punjabi language is written in multiple scripts (a phenomenon known as synchronic digraphia). Each of the major scripts currently in use is typically associated with a particular religious group,^[69][70] although the association is not absolute or exclusive.^[71] In India, Punjabi Sikhs use Gurmukhi, a script of the Brahmic family, which has official status in the state of Punjab. In Pakistan, Punjabi Muslims use Shahmukhi, a variant of the Perso-Arabic script and closely related to the Urdu alphabet. Sometimes Punjabi is recorded in the Devanagari script in India, albeit rarely.^[72] The Punjabi Hindus in India had a preference for Devanagari, another Brahmic script also used for Hindi, and in the first decades since independence raised objections to the uniform adoption of Gurmukhi in the state of Punjab,^[73] but most have now switched to Gurmukhi^[74] and so the use of Devanagari is rare.^[75] Often in literature, Pakistani Punjabi (written in Shahmukhi) is referred as Western-Punjabi (or West-Punjabi) and Indian Punjabi (written in Gurmukhi) is referred as Eastern-Punjabi (or East-Punjabi), although the underlying language is the same with a very slight shift in vocabulary towards Islamic and Sikh words respectively.^[76]

The written standard for Shahmukhi also slightly differs from that of Gurmukhi, as it is used for western dialects, whereas Gurumukhi is used to write eastern dialects.

Historically, various local Brahmic scripts including Laṇḍā and its descendants were also in use.^[75][77]

The Punjabi Braille is used by the visually impaired.

Transliteration

There is an altered version of IAST often used for Punjabi in which the diphthongs ai and au are written as e and o, and the long vowels e and o are written as ē and ō.

Sample text

This sample text was adapted from the Punjabi Wikipedia article on Lahore.

Gurmukhi

ਲਹੌਰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਰਾਜਧਾਨੀ ਹੈ। ਲੋਕ ਗਿਣਤੀ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਕਰਾਚੀ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਲਹੌਰ ਦੂਜਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਹੈ। ਲਹੌਰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦਾ ਸਿਆਸੀ, ਕਾਰੋਬਾਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਈ ਦਾ ਗੜ੍ਹ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਇਸੇ ਲਈ ਇਹਨੂੰ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦਾ ਦਿਲ ਵੀ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਲਹੌਰ ਰਾਵੀ ਦਰਿਆ ਦੇ ਕੰਢੇ ’ਤੇ ਵੱਸਦਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸਦੀ ਲੋਕ ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇੱਕ ਕਰੋੜ ਦੇ ਨੇੜੇ ਹੈ।

 

Shahmukhi

لہور پاکستانی پنجاب دی راجدھانی اے۔ لوک گݨتی دے نال کراچی توں بعد لہور دوجا سبھ توں وڈا شہر اے۔ لہور پاکستان دا سیاسی، رہتلی کاروباری اتے پڑھائی دا گڑھ اے اتے، ایسے لئی ایہہ نوں پاکستان دا دل وی کہا جاندا اے۔ لہور راوی دریا دے کنڈھے تے وسدا اے۔ ایسدی لوک گݨتی اک کروڑ دے نیڑے اے۔

 

Transliteration

Lahaur Pākistānī Panjāb dī rājtā̀ni ài. Lok giṇtī de nāḷ Karācī tõ bāad Lahaur dūjā sáb tõ vaḍḍā šáir ài. Lahaur Pākistān dā siāsī, kārobāri ate paṛā̀ī dā gáṛ ài te ise laī ínū̃ Pākistān dā dil vī kihā jāndā ài. Lahaur Rāvī dariā de káṇḍè te vassdā ài. Isdī lok giṇtī ikk karoṛ de neṛe ài.

 

IPA

/ləˈɔ̀ːɾᵊ pakˑɪˈstaːniː pənˈd͡ʒaːbᵊ diː ɾaːd͡ʒᵊˈtàːniː ʱɛ̀ː ‖ loːkᵊ ˈɡɪɳᵊtiː deː naːɭᵊ kəˈɾat͡ʃˑiː tõː baːədᵊ ləˈɔ̀ːɾᵊ dud͡ʒˑaː sə́bᵊ tõː ʋəɖːaː ʃɛ́ːɾ ʱɛ̀ː ‖ ləˈɔ̀ːɾᵊ pakˑɪstaːnᵊ daː sɪaːsiː | kaːɾobˑaːɾiː əteː pəɽàːiː daː ɡə́ɽ ʱɛ̀ː əteː ɪseː ləiː énˑũː pakˑɪstaːnᵊ daː dɪlᵊ ʋiː kéːa d͡ʒaːndaː ʱɛ̀ː ‖ ləˈɔ̀ːɾᵊ ɾaːʋiː ˈdəɾɪaː deː kə́ɳɖèː teː ʋəsːᵊdaː ʱɛ̀ː ‖ ˈɪsᵊdiː loːkᵊ ɡɪɳᵊtiː ɪkːᵊ kəˈɾoːɽᵊ deː neːɽeˑ ʱɛ̀ː ‖/

 

Translation

Lahore is the capital city of Pakistani Punjab. After Karachi, Lahore is the second largest city. Lahore is Pakistan's political, cultural, and educational hub, and so it is also said to be the heart of Pakistan. Lahore lies on the bank of the Ravi River. Its population is close to ten million people.

Literature development

Main article: Punjabi literature

Medieval period

• Fariduddin Ganjshakar (1179–1266) is generally recognised as the first major poet of the Punjabi language.^[78] Roughly from the 12th century to the 19th century, many great Sufi saints and poets preached in the Punjabi language, the most prominent being Bulleh Shah. Punjabi Sufi poetry also developed under Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1630–1691), Shah Sharaf (1640–1724), Ali Haider (1690–1785), Waris Shah (1722–1798), Saleh Muhammad Safoori (1747–1826), Mian Muhammad Baksh (1830–1907) and Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845–1901).
• The Sikh religion originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region and Punjabi is the predominant language spoken by Sikhs.^[79] Most portions of the Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi language written in Gurmukhi, though Punjabi is not the only language used in Sikh scriptures.

 

Varan Gyan Ratnavali by 16th-century historian Bhai Gurdas.

The Janamsakhis, stories on the life and legend of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), are early examples of Punjabi prose literature.

• The Punjabi language is famous for its rich literature of qisse, most of which are about love, passion, betrayal, sacrifice, social values and a common man's revolt against a larger system. The qissa of Heer Ranjha by Waris Shah (1706–1798) is among the most popular of Punjabi qissas. Other popular stories include Sohni Mahiwal by Fazal Shah, Mirza Sahiban by Hafiz Barkhudar (1658–1707), Sassui Punnhun by Hashim Shah (c. 1735–c. 1843), and Qissa Puran Bhagat by Qadaryar (1802–1892).^[80]
• Heroic ballads known as Vaar enjoy a rich oral tradition in Punjabi. Famous Vaars are Chandi di Var (1666–1708), Nadir Shah Di Vaar by Najabat and the Jangnama of Shah Mohammad (1780–1862).^[81]

Modern period

 

Ghadar di Gunj 1913, newspaper in Punjabi of Ghadar Party, US-based Indian revolutionary party.

The Victorian novel, Elizabethan drama, free verse and Modernism entered Punjabi literature through the introduction of British education during the Raj. Nanak Singh (1897–1971), Vir Singh, Ishwar Nanda, Amrita Pritam (1919–2005), Puran Singh (1881–1931), Dhani Ram Chatrik (1876–1957), Diwan Singh (1897–1944) and Ustad Daman (1911–1984), Mohan Singh (1905–78) and Shareef Kunjahi are some legendary Punjabi writers of this period. After independence of Pakistan and India Najm Hossein Syed, Fakhar Zaman and Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, Shafqat Tanvir Mirza, Ahmad Salim, and Najm Hosain Syed, Munir Niazi, Ali Arshad Mir, Pir Hadi Abdul Mannan enriched Punjabi literature in Pakistan, whereas Jaswant Singh Kanwal (1919–2020), Amrita Pritam (1919–2005), Jaswant Singh Rahi (1930–1996), Shiv Kumar Batalvi (1936–1973), Surjit Patar (1944–) and Pash (1950–1988) are some of the more prominent poets and writers from India.

Status

Despite Punjabi's rich literary history, it was not until 1947 that it would be recognised as an official language. Previous governments in the area of the Punjab had favoured Persian, Hindustani, or even earlier standardised versions of local registers as the language of the court or government. After the annexation of the Sikh Empire by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, the British policy of establishing a uniform language for administration was expanded into the Punjab. The British Empire employed Urdu in its administration of North-Central and Northwestern India, while in the North-East of India, Bengali language was used as the language of administration. Despite its lack of official sanction, the Punjabi language continued to flourish as an instrument of cultural production, with rich literary traditions continuing until modern times. The Sikh religion, with its Gurmukhi script, played a special role in standardising and providing education in the language via Gurdwaras, while writers of all religions continued to produce poetry, prose, and literature in the language.

In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. It is the first official language of the Indian State of Punjab. Punjabi also has second language official status in Delhi along with Urdu, and in Haryana.

In Pakistan, no regional ethnic language has been granted official status at the national level, and as such Punjabi is not an official language at the national level, even though it is the most spoken language in Pakistan. It is, however, the official provincial language of Punjab, Pakistan, the second largest and the most populous province of Pakistan as well as in Islamabad Capital Territory. The only two official languages in Pakistan are Urdu and English.^[82]

In Pakistan

 

The proportion of people with Punjabi as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census

 

A demonstration by Punjabis at Lahore, Pakistan, demanding to make Punjabi as official language of instruction in schools in Punjab

When Pakistan was created in 1947, despite Punjabi being the majority language in West Pakistan and Bengali the majority in East Pakistan and Pakistan as whole, English and Urdu were chosen as the official languages. The selection of Urdu was due to its association with South Asian Muslim nationalism and because the leaders of the new nation wanted a unifying national language instead of promoting one ethnic group's language over another, due to this the Punjabi elites started identifying with Urdu more than Punjabi because they saw it as a unifying force on an ethnoreligious perspective.^[83] Broadcasting in Punjabi language by Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation decreased on TV and radio after 1947. Article 251 of the Constitution of Pakistan declares that these two languages would be the only official languages at the national level, while provincial governments would be allowed to make provisions for the use of other languages.^[84] However, in the 1950s the constitution was amended to include the Bengali language. Eventually, Punjabi was granted status as a provincial language in Punjab Province, while the Sindhi language was given official status in 1972 after 1972 Language violence in Sindh.

Despite gaining official recognition at the provincial level, Punjabi is not a language of instruction for primary or secondary school students in Punjab Province (unlike Sindhi and Pashto in other provinces).^[85] Pupils in secondary schools can choose the language as an elective, while Punjabi instruction or study remains rare in higher education. One notable example is the teaching of Punjabi language and literature by the University of the Punjab in Lahore which began in 1970 with the establishment of its Punjabi Department.^[86][87]

In the cultural sphere, there are many books, plays, and songs being written or produced in the Punjabi-language in Pakistan. Until the 1970s, there were a large number of Punjabi-language films being produced by the Lollywood film industry, however since then Urdu has become a much more dominant language in film production. Additionally, television channels in Punjab Province (centred on the Lahore area) are broadcast in Urdu. The preeminence of Urdu in both broadcasting and the Lollywood film industry is seen by critics as being detrimental to the health of the language.^[88][89]

The use of Urdu and English as the near-exclusive languages of broadcasting, the public sector, and formal education have led some to fear that Punjabi in Pakistan is being relegated to a low-status language and that it is being denied an environment where it can flourish. Several prominent educational leaders, researchers, and social commentators have echoed the opinion that the intentional promotion of Urdu and the continued denial of any official sanction or recognition of the Punjabi language amounts to a process of "Urdu-isation" that is detrimental to the health of the Punjabi language^[90][91][92] In August 2015, the Pakistan Academy of Letters, International Writer's Council (IWC) and World Punjabi Congress (WPC) organised the Khawaja Farid Conference and demanded that a Punjabi-language university should be established in Lahore and that Punjabi language should be declared as the medium of instruction at the primary level.^[93][94] In September 2015, a case was filed in Supreme Court of Pakistan against Government of Punjab, Pakistan as it did not take any step to implement the Punjabi language in the province.^[95][96] Additionally, several thousand Punjabis gather in Lahore every year on International Mother Language Day. Thinktanks, political organisations, cultural projects, and individuals also demand authorities at the national and provincial level to promote the use of the language in the public and official spheres.^[97][98][99]

In India

At the federal level, Punjabi has official status via the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution,^[100] earned after the Punjabi Suba movement of the 1950s.^[101] At the state level, Punjabi is the sole official language of the state of Punjab, while it has secondary official status in the states of Haryana and Delhi.^[102] In 2012, it was also made additional official language of West Bengal in areas where the population exceeds 10% of a particular block, sub-division or district.^[14]

Both union and state laws specify the use of Punjabi in the field of education. The state of Punjab uses the Three Language Formula, and Punjabi is required to be either the medium of instruction, or one of the three languages learnt in all schools in Punjab.^[103] Punjabi is also a compulsory language in Haryana,^[104] and other states with a significant Punjabi speaking minority are required to offer Punjabi medium education.^{[dubious ]}

There are vibrant Punjabi language movie and news industries in India, however Punjabi serials have had a much smaller presence within the last few decades in television due to market forces.^[105] Despite Punjabi having far greater official recognition in India, where the Punjabi language is officially admitted in all necessary social functions, while in Pakistan it is used only in a few radio and TV programs, attitudes of the English-educated elite towards the language are ambivalent as they are in neighbouring Pakistan.^[100]: 37 There are also claims of state apathy towards the language in non-Punjabi majority areas like Haryana and Delhi.^{[106][107][108]}

Advocacy

• Punjabi University was established on 30 April 1962, and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Research Centre for Punjabi Language Technology, Punjabi University, Patiala^[109] is working for development of core technologies for Punjabi, Digitisation of basic materials, online Punjabi teaching, developing software for office use in Punjabi, providing common platform to Punjabi cyber community.^[110] Punjabipedia, an online encyclopaedia was also launched by Patiala university in 2014.^[111][112]
• The Dhahan Prize was created to award literary works produced in Punjabi around the world. The Prize encourages new writing by awarding $25,000 CDN annually to one "best book of fiction" published in either of the two Punjabi scripts, Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi. Two second prizes of $5,000 CDN are also awarded, with the provision that both scripts are represented among the three winners. The Dhahan Prize is awarded by Canada India Education Society (CIES).^[113]

Governmental academies and institutes

The Punjabi Sahit academy, Ludhiana, established in 1954^[114][115] is supported by the Punjab state government and works exclusively for promotion of the Punjabi language, as does the Punjabi academy in Delhi.^[116] The Jammu and Kashmir academy of art, culture and literature^[117] in Jammu and Kashmir UT, India works for Punjabi and other regional languages like Urdu, Dogri, Gojri etc. Institutions in neighbouring states^[118] as well as in Lahore, Pakistan^[119] also advocate for the language.

•  

  Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana, 1954

•  

  Punjabi Academy, Delhi, 1981–1982

•  

  Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Literature

•  

  Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture, Lahore, 2004

Software

• Software is available for the Punjabi language on almost all platforms. This software is mainly in the Gurmukhi script. Nowadays, nearly all Punjabi newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals are composed on computers via various Punjabi software programmes, the most widespread of which is InPage Desktop Publishing package. Microsoft has included Punjabi language support in all the new versions of Windows and both Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, 2010 and 2013, are available in Punjabi through the Language Interface Pack^[120] support. Most Linux Desktop distributions allow the easy installation of Punjabi support and translations as well.^[121] Apple implemented the Punjabi language keyboard across Mobile devices.^[122] Google also provides many applications in Punjabi, like Google Search,^[123] Google Translate^[124] and Google Punjabi Input Tools.^[125]

Gallery

•  

  Guru Granth Sahib in Gurmukhi

•  

  Punjabi Gurmukhi script

•  

  Punjabi Shahmukhi script

•  

  Bulleh Shah poetry in Punjabi (Shahmukhi script)

•  

  Munir Niazi poetry in Punjabi (Shahmukhi script)

•  

  Gurmukhi alphabet

•  

  A sign board in Punjabi language along with Hindi at Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, India

See also

•  Punjab portal
•  Languages portal

• Punjabi Language Movement
• Languages of Pakistan
• Languages of India
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• List of Punjabi-language newspapers
• Khalsa bole – coded language of Nihang Sikhs largely based on Punjabi
• Punjabi cinema
• Bhangra (music) – Upbeat type of popular music associated with British Punjabi culture
• Panjab Digital Library

Notes

1. 2011 Indian Census and 2017 Pakistani Census
2. Paishachi, Saurasheni, or Gandhari Prakrits have been proposed as the ancestor Middle Indo-Aryan language to Punjabi.
3. Punjabi language has provincial status in the Pakistani province of Punjab, sanctioned by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab
4. Punjabi is the British English spelling, and Pañjābī is the Romanized spelling from the native script(s).
5. Standard or Eastern dialect. Western dialects usually pronounce it as /käː˨ɾᵊ/.
6. Word-initial [h] is preserved in standard formal Punjabi but pronounced weaker casual speech and in northern areas such as Gujrat.
7. These usually revert to eh / oh word-finally.
8. Here initial [h] causes the following vowel to be falling-tone.
9. For dialects in which the ai or au diphthongs are retained: /əɪ́, əʊ́/
10. /jː/ is found in one other instance, for the name of the Gurmukhi letter ਯ (yayyā ਯੱਯਾ)
11. This never occurs with /ɳ/ and /ɽ/, and is rare before /ʋ, ɾ, ɦ/
12. bindī/ṭippī or nūn ġunna before a consonant often causes it to be pre-nasalised, except where there is a true nasal vowel.

References

Citations

1. 80.5 million in Pakistan (2017), 31.1 in India (2011), 0.5 in Canada (2016), 0.3 in the UK (2011), 0.3 in the US (2017), 0.1 in Australia (2016). See § Geographic distribution below.
2. Singh, Sikander (April 2019). "The Origin Theories of Punjabi Language: A Context of Historiography of Punjabi Language". International Journal of Sikh Studies.
3. Haldar, Gopal (2000). Languages of India. New Delhi: National Book Trust, India. p. 149. ISBN 9788123729367. The age of Old Punjabi: up to 1600 A.D. […] It is said that evidence of Old Punjabi can be found in the Granth Sahib.
4. Bhatia, Tej K. (2013). Punjabi: A Cognitive-Descriptive Grammar (Reprint ed.). London: Routledge. p. XXV. ISBN 9781136894602. As an independent language Punjabi has gone through the following three stages of development: Old Punjabi (10th to 16th century). Medieval Punjabi (16th to 19th century), and Modern Punjabi (19th century to Present).
5. Christopher Shackle; Arvind Mandair (2013). "0.2.1 – Form". Teachings of the Sikh Gurus : selections from the Scriptures (First ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9781136451089. Surpassing them all in the frequent subtlety of his linguistic choices, including the use of dialect forms as well as of frequent loanwords from Sanskrit and Persian, Guru Nanak combined this poetic language of the Sants with his native Old Punjabi. It is this mixture of Old Punjabi and old Hindi which constitutes the core idiom of all the earlier Gurus.
6. Frawley, William (2003). International encyclopedia of linguistics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 423. ISBN 9780195139778.
7. Austin, Peter (2008). One thousand languages : living, endangered, and lost. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 115. ISBN 9780520255609.
8. Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; S. N. Sridhar (2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 411. ISBN 9781139465502.
9. "The Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture Act 2004". punjablaws.gov.pk. from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
10. (PDF). NCLM. 15 November 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
11. "Punjab mandates all signage in Punjabi, in Gurmukhi script". The Hindu. 21 February 2020. from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.0
12. "All milestones, signboards in Haryana to bear info in English, Hindi and Punjabi: Education Minister". The Indian Express. 3 March 2020. from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
13. "Punjabi, Urdu made official languages in Delhi". The Times of India. 25 June 2003. from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
14. . The Telegraph. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
15. India, Tribune (19 August 2020). "Punjabi matric exam on Aug 26". The Tribune. from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
16. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
17. Mangat Rai Bhardwaj (2016). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-138-79385-9. LCCN 2015042069. OCLC 948602857. OL 35828315M. Wikidata Q23831241.
18. Canfield, Robert L. (1991). Persia in Historical Perspective. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 1 ("Origins"). ISBN 978-0-521-52291-5.
19. Sir, Yule, Henry (13 August 2018). . dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
20. Macdonell, Arthur Anthony (13 August 2018). . Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
21. Singha, H. S. (2000). . Hemkunt Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1. Archived from the original on 21 January 2017.
22. Singh, Sikander (April 2019). "The Origin Theories of Punjabi Language: A Context of Historiography of Punjabi Language". International Journal of Sikh Studies.
23. G S Sidhu (2004). Panjab And Panjabi.
24. Hoiberg, Dale (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5. from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
25. Brard, G.S.S. (2007). East of Indus: My Memories of Old Punjab. Hemkunt Publishers. p. 81. ISBN 9788170103608. from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
26. Mir, F. (2010). The Social Space of Language: Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab. University of California Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780520262690. from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
27. Schiffman, H. (2011). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: The Changing Politics of Language Choice. Brill. p. 314. ISBN 9789004201453. from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
28. Schiffman, Harold (9 December 2011). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: The Changing Politics of Language Choice. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-20145-3. from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
29. Menon, A.S.; Kusuman, K.K. (1990). A Panorama of Indian Culture: Professor A. Sreedhara Menon Felicitation Volume. Mittal Publications. p. 87. ISBN 9788170992141. from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
30. . Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
31. "CCI defers approval of census results until elections". Dawn. 21 March 2021. from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021. The figure of 80.54 million is calculated from the reported 38.78% for the speakers of Punjabi and the 207.685 million total population of Pakistan.
32. "Punjabi is 4th most spoken language in Canada". The Times of India. 14 February 2008. from the original on 14 November 2016.
33. "Statement 1 : Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
34. "Growth of Scheduled Languages-1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001". Census of India. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
35. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (9 February 2022). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Canada [Country]". www12.statcan.gc.ca. from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
36. 273,000 in England and Wales, and 23,000 in Scotland:
    • "2011 Census: Quick Statistics for England and Wales, March 2011". from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
    • . Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
37. "US survey puts Punjabi speakers in US at 2.8 lakh". Times of India. 18 December 2017. from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
38. Lal, Mohan (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Academy. p. 4208.
39. Bhatt, Shankarlal (2006). Punjab. Bhargava, Gopal K. Delhi: Kalpaz publ. p. 141. ISBN 81-7835-378-4. OCLC 255107273.
40. Shackle 2003, p. 587.
41. Shackle 2003, p. 588.
42. Karamat, Nayyara, Phonemic inventory of Punjabi, p. 182, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.695.1248
43. ArLaam (similar to ArNoon) has been added to Unicode since Unicode 13.0.0, which can be found in Unicode 28 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine Arabic Extended-A 08C7, PDF Pg 73 under "Arabic Letter for Punjabi" 08C7 : ࣇ ARABIC LETTER LAM WITH SMALL ARABIC LETTER TAH ABOVE
44. Shackle 2003, p. 589.
45. Masica 1991, p. 97.
46. Arora, K. K.; Arora, S.; Singla, S. R.; Agrawal, S. S. (2007). "SAMPA for Hindi and Punjabi based on their Acoustic and Phonetic Characteristics". Proceedings Oriental COCOSDA: 4–6. from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
47. Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 190–191. ISBN 978-0631198154.
48. Bhatia, Tej (1999). "Lexican Anaphors and Pronouns in Punjabi". In Lust, Barbara; Gair, James (eds.). Lexical Anaphors and Pronouns in Selected South Asian Languages. Walter de Gruyter. p. 637. ISBN 978-3-11-014388-1. Other tonal Indo-Aryan languages include Hindko, Dogri, Western Pahari, Sylheti and some Dardic languages.
49. Bailey, T.Grahame (1919), English-Punjabi Dictionary, introduction.
50. Singh, Sukhvindar, "Tone Rules and Tone Sandhi in Punjabi".
51. Bowden, A.L. (2012). "Punjabi Tonemics and the Gurmukhi Script: A Preliminary Study" 17 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
52. Major Gurmukh Singh; Shiv Sharma Joshi; Mukhtiar Singh Gill; Manmandar Singh; Kuljit Kapur; Suman Preet, eds. (2018), Punjabi University Punjabi-English Dictionary (ਛੇਵੀਂ ed.), Patiala: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Wikidata Q113676548
53. Punjabi University (2018). p. 281
54. Punjabi University (2018). p. 194
55. Punjabi University (2018). p. 192
56. Punjabi University (2018). p. 369
57. Punjabi University (2018). p. 300
58. Kanwal, J.; Ritchart, A.V (2015) "An experimental investigation of tonogenesis in Punjabi". 18 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine Proceedings of the 18th International of Phonetic Sciences, 2015
59. Lata, Swaran; Arora, Swati (2013) "Laryngeal Tonal characteristics of Punjabi: An Experimental Study" 18 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
60. Baart, J.L.G. "Tonal features in languages of northern Pakistan" 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
61. Masica 1993, p. 149. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMasica1993 (help)
62. Gill, Harjeet Singh and Gleason Jr, Henry A. (1969). A Reference Grammar of Panjabi. Patiala: Department of Linguistics, Punjabi University
63. "WALS Online – Language Panjabi". wals.info. from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
64. Shackle (2003:599)
65. Shackle (2003:601)
66. Masica (1991:257)
67. Frawley, William (2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-19-513977-8. Hindus and Sikhs generally use the Gurmukhi script; but Hindus have also begun to write Punjabi in the Devanagari script, as employed for Hindi. Muslims tend to write Punjabi in the Perso-Arabic script, which is also employed for Urdu. Muslim speakers borrow a large number of words from Persian and Arabic; however, the basic Punjabi vocabulary is mainly composed of tadbhava words, i.e. those descended from Sanskrit.
68. Bhatia, Tej K. (1993). Punjabi: A Conginitive-descriptive Grammar. Psychology Press. p. xxxii. ISBN 978-0-415-00320-9. Punjabi vocabulary is mainly composed of tadbhav words, i.e., words derived from Sanskrit.
69. Bhatia 2008, p. 128.
70. Bhardwaj 2016, pp. 12–13.
71. Jain 2003, pp. 53, 57–8.
72. Zograph, G. A. (2023). "Chapter 3". Languages of South Asia: A Guide (Reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 9781000831597. Devanagari itself is also used for Panjabi, if more rarely.
73. Nayar 1966, pp. 46 ff.
74. Bhardwaj 2016, p. 12.
75. Shackle 2003, p. 594.
76. "Punjabi Language – Structure, Writing & Alphabet – MustGo". MustGo.com. from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
77. Bhardwaj 2016, p. 15.
78. Shiv Kumar Batalvi 10 April 2003 at the Wayback Machine sikh-heritage.co.uk.
79. Melvin Ember; Carol R. Ember; Ian A. Skoggard, eds. (2005). Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer. p. 1077. ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
80. Mir, Farina. . Columbia University. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
81. The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume One – A to Devo). Volume 1. Amaresh Datta, ed. Sahitya Akademi: 2006, 352.
82. . opr.gov.pk. Government of Pakistan – Office of the Press Registrar. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
83. Ahmed, Ishtiaq (14 July 2020). "Why Punjabis in Pakistan Have Abandoned Punjabi". Fair Observer. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
84. "Chapter 4: "General." of Part XII: "Miscellaneous"". pakistani.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
85. Zaidi, Abbas. "Linguistic cleansing: the sad fate of Punjabi in Pakistan". from the original on 29 October 2016.
86. University of the Punjab (2015), "B.A. Two-Year (Pass Course) Examinations"
    • "University of the Punjab – Examinations". pu.edu.pk. from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
87. University of the Punjab (2015). "Department of Punjabi". from the original on 27 November 2016.
88. Masood, Tariq (21 February 2015). "The colonisation of language". The Express Tribune. from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
89. Warraich, Faizan; Ali, Haider (15 September 2015). . DailyTimes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
90. "Punjabis Without Punjabi". apnaorg.com. from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
91. "Inferiority complex declining Punjabi language: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor". PPI News Agency
    • "Inferiority complex declining Punjabi language: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor | Pakistan Press International". ppinewsagency.com. from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
92. "Urdu-isation of Punjab – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 4 May 2015. from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
93. "Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi". The Nation. 21 February 2011. from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
94. "Sufi poets can guarantee unity". The Nation. 26 August 2015. from the original on 30 October 2015.
95. "Supreme Court's Urdu verdict: No language can be imposed from above". The Nation. 15 September 2015. from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
96. "Two-member SC bench refers Punjabi language case to CJP". Business Recorder. 14 September 2015. from the original on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
97. "Mind your language—The movement for the preservation of Punjabi". The Herald. 2 September 2106.
    • . herald.dawn.com. 4 August 2016. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
98. "Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike". The Times of India. 4 October 2015.
    • "Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike". The Times of India. from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
99. "Rally for Ending the 150-year-old Ban on Education in Punjabi" The Nation. 21 February 2011.
    • "Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi". nation.com.pk. 21 February 2011. from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
100. Khokhlova, Liudmila (January 2014). "Majority Language Death" (PDF). Language Endangerment and Preservation in South Asia. (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017. Punjabi was nonetheless included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India and came to be recognized as one of the fifteen official languages of the country.
101. "Fifty Years of Punjab Politics (1920–70)". Panjab Digital Library. from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
102. Ayres, Alyssa (2008). "Language, the Nation, and Symbolic Capital: The Case of Punjab" (PDF). The Journal of Asian Studies. 67 (3): 917–946. doi:10.1017/S0021911808001204. S2CID 56127067. (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. in India, Punjabi is an official language as well as the first language of the state of Punjab (with secondary status in Delhi and widespread use in Haryana).
103. Kumar, Ashutosh (2004). "Electoral Politics in Punjab: Study of Akali Dal". Economic & Political Weekly. 39 (14/15): 1515–1520. JSTOR 4414869. Punjabi was made the first compulsory language and medium of instruction in all the government schools whereas Hindi and English as second and third language were to be implemented from the class 4 and 6 respectively
104. (PDF) (Report). National Commission on Linguistic Minorities. 2015. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. Languages taught in the State under the Three Language Formula: First Language : Hindi Second Language : Punjabi Third language : English
105. Singh, Jasmine (13 September 2015). "Serial killer". The Tribune. from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
106. "SGPC claims Haryana govt ignoring Punjabi language". Hindustan Times. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
107. Aujla, Harjap Singh (15 June 2015). "Punjabi's of Delhi couldn't get justice for Punjabi language". Punjab News Express. Retrieved 19 September 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
108. Singh, Perneet (9 July 2013). "Sikh bodies oppose DU's 'anti-Punjabi' move". Tribune India. from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
109. . punjabiuniversity.ac.in. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
110. "ACTDPL, Punjabi University, Patiala". learnpunjabi.org. from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
111. . punjabipedia.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
112. "Pbi University launches Punjabipedia | punjab | Hindustan Times". Hindustan Times. 26 February 2014. from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
113. "The Dhahan Prize | The Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature". dhahanprize.com. from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
114. "ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਲੇਖਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਮੱਕਾ : ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਵਨ, ਲੁਧਿਆਣਾ". 3 May 2017. from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
115. "Sirsa again elected Punjabi Sahit Akademi president". Tribuneindia.com. 18 April 2016. from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
116. . www.punjabiacademy.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017.
117. . jkculture.nic.in. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016.
118. "पंजाबी सीखने वाले छात्रों को अगले माह बटेगा एकल प्रोत्साहन राशि". M.livehindustan.com. 24 October 2016. from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
119. . pilac.punjab.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017.
120. "Microsoft Download Center". microsoft.com. from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
121. "Punjabi Linux (punlinux) download | SourceForge.net". sourceforge.net. 21 April 2013. from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
122. "Connecting to the iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
123. "Google". from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
124. "Google ਅਨੁਵਾਦ". from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
125. "Cloud ਇਨਪੁਟ ਔਜ਼ਾਰ ਔਨਲਾਈਨ ਅਜਮਾਓ – Google ਇਨਪੁਟ ਔਜ਼ਾਰ". from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.

Sources

• Bhardwaj, Mangat Rai (2016), Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9781315760803, ISBN 9781138793859.
• Bhatia, Tej K. (2008), "Major regional languages", in Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; S.N. Sridhar (eds.), Language in South Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 121–131, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511619069.008, ISBN 9780511619069.
• Grierson, George A. (1916). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. IX Indo-Aryan family. Central group, Part 1, Specimens of western Hindi and Pañjābī. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
• Jain, Dhanesh (2003), "Sociolinguistics of the Indo-Aryan Languages", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 46–66, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5.
• Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2, from the original on 2 April 2023, retrieved 7 October 2020.
• Nayar, Baldev Raj (1966), Minority Politics in the Punjab, Princeton University Press, ISBN 9781400875948, from the original on 2 April 2023, retrieved 9 November 2019.
• Shackle, Christopher (2003), "Panjabi", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 581–621, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5, from the original on 2 April 2023, retrieved 7 October 2020.

Further reading

• Bhatia, Tej. 1993 and 2010. Punjabi : a cognitive-descriptive grammar. London: Routledge. Series: Descriptive grammars.
• Gill H.S. [Harjit Singh] and Gleason, H.A. 1969. A reference grammar of Punjabi. Revised edition. Patiala, Punjab, India: Languages Department, Punjab University.
• Chopra, R. M., Perso-Arabic Words in Punjabi, in: Indo-Iranica Vol.53 (1–4).
• Chopra, R. M.., The Legacy of The Punjab, 1997, Punjabee Bradree, Calcutta.
• Singh, Chander Shekhar (2004). Punjabi Prosody: The Old Tradition and The New Paradigm. Sri Lanka: Polgasowita: Sikuru Prakasakayo.
• Singh, Chander Shekhar (2014). Punjabi Intonation: An Experimental Study. Muenchen: LINCOM EUROPA.

External links

 

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Punjabi

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Punjabi language.

 

Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Punjabi.

 

Eastern Punjabi edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Western Punjabi edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• English to Punjabi Dictionary 10 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine