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The Punjabi dialects and languages or Punjabic are a series of dialects and languages spoken in the
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
region of Pakistan and India with varying degrees of official recognition. They have sometimes been referred to as ''Greater Punjabi''. The literary languages that have developed on the basis of dialects of this area are Standard Punjabi in eastern and central Punjab, Saraiki in the southwest, and
Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun ...
and
Pahari-Pothwari The Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab, as well as in most of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and in western areas of India's Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, i ...
in the north and north-west. A distinction is usually made between Punjabi in the east and the diverse group of "
Lahnda Lahnda () () also known as Lahndi or Western Punjabi, is a group of north-western Indo-Aryan language varieties spoken in parts of Pakistan and India. Its validity as a genetic grouping is not certain. Terms like ''Lahnda'' or ''Western Punja ...
" in the west. "Lahnda" typically subsumes the Saraiki and Hindko varieties, with Jhangvi and
Shahpuri Shahpuri is a Punjabi dialect spoken in the Sargodha Division of Punjab Province in Pakistan. Grierson considered it to be representative of Lahnda (Western Punjabi), but later opinions have tended to see it as a dialect of Punjabi that is ...
intermediate between the two groups. Commonly recognised Eastern Punjabi dialects include Majhi (the standard),
Doabi Doabi is a dialect of the Punjabi language. The dialect is named for the region in which it was historically spoken, Doaba (also known as Bist Doab); the word doab means "the land between two rivers" and this dialect was historically spoken in ...
, Malwai, and Puadhi. The "Lahnda" variety of Khetrani in the far west may be intermediate between Saraiki and Sindhi. The varieties of "Greater Punjabi" have a number of characteristics in common, for example the preservation of the
Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...
double consonants in stressed syllables. Nevertheless, there is disagreement on whether they form part of a single
language group A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...
, with some proposed classifications placing them all within the Northwestern zone of Indo-Aryan, while others reserving this only for the western varieties, and assigning the eastern ones to the Central zone alongside
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
.


Standard Punjabi

''Standard Punjabi,'' sometimes referred to as Majhi in India or simply as “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 Shah Hussain ( pa, ; ; 1538–1599), also known as Madhoo Lal Hussain, was a 16th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. He lived during the ruling periods of Mughal emperors Akbar ...
,
Bulleh Shah Syed Abdullah Shah Qadri ( pa, ; ; 1680–1757), known popularly as Bulleh Shah ( pa, ; ) and Bulleya, was a Punjabi philosopher and Sufi poet during 17th-century Punjab. His ancestors had migrated from Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) ...
among others began to use the Lahore/Amritsar spoken dialect with infused Persian vocabulary in their works in the
Shahmukhi script Shahmukhi (, ) is a Perso-Arabic alphabet script used historically by Punjabi Muslims (primarily in present-day Pakistani Punjab) to write the Punjabi language. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic hand, which is also used fo ...
. Later the
Gurmukhi script Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly re ...
was standardized based on Majhi using pre-existing
Laṇḍā scripts The Laṇḍā scripts, from the term ''laṇḍā'' meaning "without a tail", is a Punjabi word used to refer to writing systems used in Punjab and nearby parts of North India. In Sindhi, it was known as 'Waniko' or 'Baniyañ'. It is distinc ...
by the Sikh Gurus. Standard Punjabi is spoken by the majority of the people in
Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...
,
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
,
Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...
,
Sheikhupura Sheikhupura ( pa, ; ur, ) also known as Qila Sheikhupura, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. Founded by the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Jehangir in 1607, Sheikhupura is the List of most populous citie ...
,
Kasur Kasur (Urdu and pa, ; also Romanization of Urdu, romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The city serves as th ...
,
Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
,
Narowal Narowal ( ur, ) is a city located on the western bank of river Ravi in the northeast of the province Punjab, Pakistan. The city is the capital of district Narowal, and a part of the Gujranwala division. It is the 94th largest city of Pakistan. ...
, Gujrat, Okara,
Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...
,
Sahiwal Sahiwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both ...
,
Hafizabad Hafizabad (Urdu and pa, ) is a city and capital of Hafizabad District located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 31st largest city of Pakistan. It is also a Tehsil. Ancient history Hafizabad is an old city in Punjab, Pakistan. In 327 BC, duri ...
,
Nankana Sahib Nankana Sahib () is a city and capital of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Nankana Sahib is the most ...
and
Mandi Bahauddin Mandi Bahauddin (Urdu and pa, ) is a city in northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is also the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District. It is the 41st largest city of Pakistan by population according to the 2017 census. It has exellent agricultural land ...
districts of Pakistan's Punjab Province. It also has a large presence in every district in the rest of Pakistani Punjab, and in all large cities in Pakistan's other provinces. In India it is spoken in
Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...
, Tarn Taran,
Pathankot Pathankot is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal cor ...
, and the
Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, between the rivers Beas River, Beas and Ravi River, Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the distr ...
districts of the State of Punjab. In
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, the Standard Punjabi dialect is not referred to as the '
Majhi dialect Majhi (Shahmukhi: Gurmukhi: ) is the standard Panjabi dialects, dialect of Punjabi and is spoken in the Majha region of the Punjab region, Punjab. The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar. Notable features - Use o ...
', 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 Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
.


Eastern Punjabi

Eastern Punjab, known as ''Chardha or Chardhi'', is home to a variety of Punjabic vernaculars and lects. The main ones are listed below.


Malwai

Spoken in the
Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
region of Punjab.


Doabi

Spoken in the Bist Doaba region of Punjab and lowland
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
.


Powadhi

Spoken in the Powadh region of Punjab and Haryana.


Bagri

Spoken in the
Bagar tract Bagar, also Bagad (बागड़) and even Bar, a term meaning the "dry country",Nonica Datta The Tribune, 3 July 1999. refers to the sandy tract of north-western India and eastern parts of current Pakistan bordering India. For example, area ...
region of southwestern
Punjab (India) Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...
, northern
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, and neighbouring areas of
Punjab (Pakistan) Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...
. This is a transitional dialect between the Rajasthani-languages further south,
Haryanvi Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Kharibo ...
to the east, and Punjabic proper to the north.


Western Punjabi

Western Punjabi, also known as ''
Lahnda Lahnda () () also known as Lahndi or Western Punjabi, is a group of north-western Indo-Aryan language varieties spoken in parts of Pakistan and India. Its validity as a genetic grouping is not certain. Terms like ''Lahnda'' or ''Western Punja ...
'', has a great deal of diverse and divergent Punjabic vernaculars and dialects. Many scholars claim they may constitute a separate genetic grouping from Punjabi proper, but this has yet to be established and its validity has been questioned by some but all have been given separate Language status in the 2023 Census of Pakistan. The three include
Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun ...
,
Pahari-Pothwari The Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab, as well as in most of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and in western areas of India's Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, i ...
and Saraiki.


References


Sources

* *Burling, Robbins. 1970. ''Man's many voices''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. *Ethnologue
Indo-Aryan
Classification of 219 languages that have been assigned to the Indo-Aryan grouping of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. *Ethnologue
Languages of India
*Ethnologue
Languages of Pakistan

Online database
* * *Rahman, Tariq. 2006. The role of English in Pakistan with special reference to tolerance and militancy. In Amy Tsui et al., ''Language, policy, culture and identity in Asian contexts''. Routledge. 219-240. * *Shackle, C. 1970. Punjabi in Lahore. ''Modern Asian Studies'', 4(3):239–267
Available online
at
JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
. * * * (requires registration)


External links


Map of Punjabi dialects
from Grierson's early 20th-century
Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist w ...
{{Language varieties Languages of Punjab, Pakistan Languages of India Punjabi language