Punjabi language

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[16] of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name for the region, Panchanada, which means 'Land of the Five Rivers'.[17][18]

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.

Tilla Jogian, district Jehlum, 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, 'corruption' or 'corrupted speech')[19] From 600 BC, Sanskrit was advocated as official language and Prakrit gave birth to many regional languages in different parts of India. All these languages are called Prakrit (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 Aparbhsha, a descendant of Prakrit.[20] Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A.D. and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to Nath Yogi era from 9th to 14th century A.D.[21]The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa, though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore.[22]

The Arabic and modern-Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent.[23] Many Persian and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi.[24][25] So Punjabi relies heavily on Persian and Arabic words which are used with a liberal approach to language. Most important words in Punjabi, like ਅਰਦਾਸ and ਰਹਿਰਾਸ, and common words, like ਨਹਿਰ, ਜ਼ਮੀਨ, ਗਜ਼ਲ, etc., have all come out of Persian.

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.[26]

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.

Punjabi is spoken in many dialects in an area from Delhi to Islamabad. The Majhi dialect has been adopted as standard Punjabi in India and Pakistan for education, media etc. The Majhi dialect originated in the Majha region of the Punjab. The Majha region consists of several eastern districts of Pakistani Punjab and in India around Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts. The two most important cities in this area are Lahore and Amritsar.

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, India's two primary official languages at the Union-level.

In Pakistan, Punjabi is generally written using the Shahmukhī script, created from a modification of the Persian Nastaʿlīq script. In Pakistan, Punjabi loans technical words from Persian and Arabic languages, just like Urdu does.

Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, being the native language of 44% of its population. It is the provincial language in the Punjab Province.

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.

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

Punjabi is spoken as a native language by about 33 million people in India. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab. It is additional official in Haryana and Delhi. Some of its major urban centres in northern India are Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ambala, Patiala, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur and Delhi.

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, where it is the fourth-most-commonly used language.[29] There were 76 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2008,[30] 33 million in India in 2011,[31] 0.7 million in Canada in 2016,[32] 0.3 million in the United States[33] and smaller numbers in other countries.

The Majhi dialect spoken around Amritsar and Lahore is Punjabi's prestige dialect. Majhi is spoken in the heart of Punjab in the region of Majha, which spans Lahore, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Kasur, Tarn Taran, Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib, Pathankot, Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Narowal, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts. Punjabi official language based on the Majhi.

Majhi retains the nasal consonants /ŋ/ and /ɲ/, which have been superseded elsewhere by non-nasals /ɡ/ and /d͡ʒ/ respectively.[34]

Shahpuri dialect (also known as Sargodha dialect) is mostly spoken in Pakistani Punjab. Its name is derived from former Shahpur District (now Shahpur Tehsil, being part of Sargodha District). It is spoken throughout a widespread area, spoken in Sargodha and Khushab Districts and also spoken in neighbouring Mianwali and Bhakkar Districts. It is mainly spoken on western end of Indus River to Chenab river crossing Jhelum river.[35]

Malwai is spoken in the southern part of Indian Punjab and also in Bahawalnagar and Vehari districts of Pakistan. Main areas include Faridkot, Barnala, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ambala, Bathinda, Mansa, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Moonak, and Moga. The term derives from Malwa, the name for the southern and central part of present-day Indian Punjab, and the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, such as Ambala, Panchkula, and Kurukshetra. It should not be confused with the Malvi language, which shares its name.

Doabi is spoken in both the Indian Punjab as well as parts of Pakistan Punjab owing to post-1947 migration of Muslim populace from East Punjab. The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between two rivers" and this dialect was historically spoken between the rivers of the Beas and the Sutlej in the region called Doaba. Regions it is presently spoken in include the Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts in Indian Punjab, specifically in the areas known as the Dona and Manjki, as well as the Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad districts in Pakistan Punjab where the dialect is known as Faisalabadi Punjabi.

Puadh is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Satluj and Ghaggar rivers. The part lying south, south-east and east of Rupnagar adjacent to Ambala District (Haryana) is Puadhi. The Puadh extends from that part of the Rupnagar District which lies near Satluj to beyond the Ghaggar river in the east up to Kala Amb, which is at the border of the states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Parts of Fatehgarh Sahib district, and parts of Patiala districts like Rajpura are also part of Puadh. The Puadhi dialect is spoken over a large area in present Punjab as well as Haryana including Ambala, Shahabad, Naraingarh. In Punjab, Kharar, Kurali, Ropar, Nurpurbedi, Morinda, Pail, Rajpura and Samrala are areas where Puadhi is spoken and the dialect area also includes Pinjore, Kalka, Ismailabad, Pehowa to Bangar area in Fatehabad district.

Jatki or Jangli is a dialect of native tribes of areas whose names are often suffixed with Bar derived from Jungle Bar before irrigation system arrived in the start of the 20th century, for example, Sandal Bar, Kirana Bar, Neeli Bar, Ganji Bar. Native people called their dialect as Jatki instead of Jangli.

Jatki dialect is mostly spoken by Indigenous peoples of Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Nankana Sahib, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, and Khanewal districts of Pakistani Punjab. It is also spoken in few areas of Sheikhupura, Muzaffargarh, Lodhran' Bahawalpur, and Fazilka districts of Indian Punjab.

Jhangochi, spoken in Khanewal and Jhang districts, is a subdialect of Jatki/Jangli. The word Jhangochi has limitations as it doesn't represent whole bar region of Punjab.

West of Chenab River in Jhang District of Pakistani Punjab, the dialect of Jhangochi merges with Thalochi and resultant dialect is Chenavari, which derives its name from the river.

Punjabi is a tonal language and in many words there is a choice of up to three tones, high-falling, low-rising, and level (neutral):[43][44][45]

Level tone is found in about 75% of words and is described by some as absence of tone.[43] 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.)[43] 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.[46]

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

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.)[45]

The presence of an [h] (although the [h] is now silent or very weakly pronounced except word-initially) word-finally (and sometimes medially) also often causes a rising tone before it, for example cá(h) "tea".[47]

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.[45]

Some other languages in Pakistan have also been found to have tonal distinctions, including Burushaski, Gujari, Hindko, Kalami, Shina, and Torwali.[48]

• The earliest Punjabi literature is found in the fragments of writings of the 11th century Nath yogis Gorakshanath and Charpatnah which is primarily spiritual and mystical in tone.
• Fariduddin Ganjshakar (1179-1266) is generally recognised as the first major poet of the Punjabi language.[63] 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.[64] 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 the 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).
• 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).[65]

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.

When Pakistan was created in 1947, although Punjabi was the majority language in West Pakistan and Bengali the majority in East Pakistan and Pakistan as whole, English and Urdu were chosen as the national 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. 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.[66] 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).[67] 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.[68][69]

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.[70][71]

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[72][73][74] 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.[75][76] 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.[77][78] 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.[79][80][81]

At the federal level, Punjabi has official status via the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution,[82] earned after the Punjabi Suba movement of the 1950s.[83] 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.[84] 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.[6]

Both federal 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.[85] Punjabi is also a compulsory language in Haryana,[86] and other states with a significant Punjabi speaking minority are required to offer Punjabi medium education.

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.[87] 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.[82]^:37 There are also claims of state apathy towards the language in non-Punjabi majority areas like Haryana and Delhi.[88][89][90]

The Punjabi Sahit academy, Ludhiana, established in 1954[96][97] is supported by the Punjab state government and works exclusively for promotion of the Punjabi language, as does the Punjabi academy in Delhi.[98] The Jammu and Kashmir academy of art, culture and literature[99] in Jammu and Kashmir UT, India works for Punjabi and other regional languages like Urdu, Dogri, Gojri etc. Institutions in neighbouring states[100] as well as in Lahore, Pakistan[101] also advocate for the language.

• 
  Punjabi Sahit academy, Ludhiana,1954
• 
  Punjabi academy, Delhi,1981-1982
• 
  Jammu and Kashmir academy of art, culture and literature
• 
  Pilac(Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture, Lahore,2004

• Software are available for Punjabi language for almost all platforms. These software are mainly in 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 new versions of Windows and both Windows Vista, Mircrsoft Office 2007, 2010 and 2013, are available in Punjabi through the Language Interface Pack[102] support. Most Linux Desktop distributions allow the easy installation of Punjabi support and translations as well.[103] Apple implemented the Punjabi language keyboard across Mobile devices.[104] Google also provides many applications in Punjabi, like Google Search,[105] Google Translate[106] and Google Punjabi Input Tools.[107]