Punjabi Language: Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India

It is native to Punjab region of Indian Subcontinent, which includes Pakistani province of Punjab and Indian state of Punjab. It is the first language of about 113 million people in the world and is the 9th most spoken language in the world. It is also spoken in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh states of India and in capital Delhi. It is spoken by the largest ethnic group in Pakistan at 36%.

Panjabi
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی‎
'Punjabi' written in Shahmukhi (top) and Gurmukhi (bottom) scripts
Pronunciation	/pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/
Native to	Panjab
Ethnicity	Panjabis
Native speakers	113 million (2017)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Panjabi
Standard forms	Majhi dialect
Dialects	See Punjabi dialects
Writing system	Gurmukhi Perso-Arabic (Shahmukhi) Punjabi Braille Laṇḍā (historical)
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan (provincial language of Punjab)  India (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh) (official)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	pa
ISO 639-2	pan
ISO 639-3	Either: pan – Chardi Punjabi pnb – Lehndi Punjabi
Glottolog	panj1256  Punjabi
Linguasphere	59-AAF-e
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Punjabi edition of Wiki, the free encyclopedia

Punjabi developed from the ancient language of Prakrit developed simultaneously with Sanskrit.

Punjabi is written in two different scripts, called Gurmukhī and Shahmukhī. Punjabi is the main language spoken by the Sikhs. Most parts of the Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi language written in Gurmukhī, though Punjabi is not the only language used in Sikh scriptures. The Janamsakhis, stories on the life and legend of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), are early examples of Punjabi literature.

 

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

Majhi is Punjabi's standard dialect because it forms the standard for writing in Panjabi. It is spoken in the centre of Panjab, including the districts of Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Okara, Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Pakpattan, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin. In India it is spoken in Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib and Gurdaspur districts.

Other dialects of Panjabi include Rachnavi, Chenavari, Chhachi, Jandali. The relation of several dialects to languages other than Punjabi creates problems in assigning them to one or another "language".

Over 95% of people who speak Punjabi as their first language live in Pakistan and India. It is the most widely spoken native language in Pakistan. It is spoken as a first language by over 65% of Pakistanis. There were 145 million Panjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2023. In India, Punjabi is spoken as a native language by 4% of the population. This was about 70 million in 2023. It is the official language of the Indian states of Panjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and additional official in Uttarakhand, Kashmir and Rajasthan.

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

 

There are three ways to write Punjabi: Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi, and Takri. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the script that is most used is Shahmukhī. The Majhi dialect is the written standard for Punjabi in both parts of Punjab.

Doabi dialect is the purest dialect of Panjabi.