Shahpuri is a Punjabi dialect spoken in the

Sargodha Division Sargodha Division is an administrative division of Punjab province, Pakistan. Sargodha city is the capital of the division. According to the 2017 Census of Pakistan, the total population of the division was 8.18 million. Divisions are the thir ...

of Punjab Province in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. 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 transitional to Saraiki. Its name is derived from former

Shahpur District Shahpur District was a district in current day Pakistan from 1893, during the British Raj, till 1960. From 1893 to 1914 Shahpur was the district headquarters. In 1914 the district headquarters were moved from Shahpur to Sargodha, although the dis ...

(now Shahpur Tehsil, part of

Sargodha District Sargodha District (Punjabi and ur, ), is a district of Punjab, Pakistan. The capital of the district is Sargodha. It is an agricultural district, wheat, rice, and sugarcane along with Kinno being its main crops. The Sargodha district and reg ...

Geographic distribution and classification

It is mostly spoken in

and Khushab District. It is also spoken in the neighbouring districts of

Mianwali Mianwali (Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities. History Mianwali District was an agricult ...

Jhang Jhang (Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 18th largest city of Pakistan by population. The historic ...

Chiniot Chiniot (Urdu and pa, ) is a city and the administrative headquarter of Chiniot District in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the river Chenab, it is the 28th largest city of Pakistan. It is also known for its intric ...

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 ...

, and

Bhakkar Bhakkar ( ur, ), is the principal city of Bhakkar District located in Punjab, Pakistan. It lies on the left bank of the Indus River. It is the 86th largest city in Pakistan. Administration Bhakkar city is also the administrative centre of Bh ...

. It is mainly spoken on western end of

Sindh River The Sindh River, a tributary of the Yamuna River, flows through the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Course The Sindh originates on the Malwa Plateau in Vidisha district, and flows north-northeast through the districts of ...

Chenab River The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

, traversing the

Jhelum River The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...

. This entire area has almost the same traditions, customs and culture. The Shahpuri dialect of Punjabi has several aspects that set it apart from other Punjabi and Lahnda variants as it is an intermediary variety between Lahnda and Punjabi

Jatki language Jatki, Jadgali, and other related terms have sometimes been used to refer to one or another of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Balochistan and neighbouring parts of Sindh and Punjab. These terms have their origin in the association (real or pe ...

is a common name for the

Jhangvi dialect Jhangli (), Jangli () or Rachnavi () is an Indo-Aryan dialect spoken in Punjab. It is intermediate between Standard Punjabi and Saraiki. Its name is derived from the Pakistani city of Jhang. It is spoken throughout a widespread area, starting f ...

, Shahpuri dialect and

Dhani dialect Dhani, or Dhanni, is a group of Western Punjabi dialects spoken in parts of Rawalpindi Division (Pothohar) of Pakistani Punjab. They are spoken throughout a widespread area, including Chakwal and Jhelum Districts, as well as in neighbouring Attoc ...

. The glotlog codes for these are: * shah1266 * jatk1238 * jang1253 Languages_and_Dialects_of_Lahnda

Grammar

In its phonology Shahpuri has the same tonal pattern as Standard Punjabi. In common with

Thali Thali (meaning "plate"), Bhojanam (meaning "full meal") or Chakluk is a round platter used to serve food in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Thali is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various d ...

and Hindko, there is a class of two-syllable nouns that mark case distinctions by vowel alternation. The case suffixes of the older language have dropped, leaving the assimilated root vowels as the only indicator of the case: /jʌŋɡʊl/ ~ /jʌŋɡəl/ /jʌŋɡɪl/. Grierson explains this by substratal Dardic influence, whereas Shackle finds it more plausible that it is the result of Shahpuri's central position between areas favouring one or another vowel in these contexts.

References

Bibliography

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Geographic distribution and classification

Grammar

References

Bibliography

Further reading