Punjabi | |
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پنجابی • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ | |
![]() The word "Punjabi" written in Shahmukhi (Nast'aliq style), Gurmukhi
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Native to | Punjab region |
Native speakers
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100 million, including Lahnda variants (2010)[1] |
Standard forms
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Shahmukhi (Extended Perso-Arabic) Gurmukhi (Brahmic)[3] Punjabi Braille (India) Devanagari (Brahmic, unofficial)[4] |
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Official status | |
Official language in
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | pa |
ISO 639-2 | pan |
ISO 639-3 | pan – inclusive codeIndividual codes: bhd – Bhadrawahi [a] bht – Bhattiyali kfs – Bilaspuri cdh – Chambeali cdj – Churahi doi – Dogri dgo – Dogri (proper) gbk – Gaddi (Bharmauri) kjo – Harijan Kinnauri hii – Hinduri jat – Jakati jns – Jaunsari hno – Northern Hindko xnr – Kangri xhe – Khetrani kfx – Kullu Pahari doi – Lahnda bfz – Mahasu Pahari mjl – Mandeali pnb – Pahari-Potwari pgg – Pangwali skr – Saraiki srx – Sirmauri hnd – Southern Hindko pnb – Western Punjabi |
Glottolog | panj1256 (Punjabi)[5] |
Linguasphere | 59-AAF-e |
![]() Areas (red) where Punjabi is the native language, compared to all Indo-Aryan languages (dark grey)
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![]() Areas where Punjabi is the official language or has a large number of speakers
Primary province/state or territory level language. (Punjab, India)
A significant amount of speakers without official recognition. (Himachal Pradesh, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & Punjab, Pakistan)
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Punjabi /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/[6] (Shahmukhi: پنجابی paṉjābī; Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ pañjābī)[7] is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 102 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language (2015)[8][9] in the world. It is the native language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is the only living language among the Indo-European languages which is a fully tonal language.[10][11][12][13]
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan,[14] the eleventh-most widely spoken in India,[15] and the third-most spoken native language in the Indian Subcontinent. Punjabi is the fourth-most spoken language in the United Kingdom[16] and third-most spoken native language (after English and French) in Canada.[17][18] The language also has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. Punjabi's cultural language link in the Indian Subcontinent is vast due to Bollywood with many song partially or fully sung in Punjabi. At any point in time, Punjabi songs in Bollywood movies now account for more than 50% of the top of the charts listings.[19][20][21]
Contents
The major dialects of Punjabi include Majhi, Doabi, Malwai, Powadhi, Pothohari, and Multani. The dialects in the Lahnda dialect continuum, including Saraiki and Hindko, are considered as dialects of Punjabi by many linguists but as distinct languages by others.[22]
In Indo-Aryan dialectology generally, the presence of transitional dialects creates problems in assigning some dialects to one or another "language".[23][24] However, over the last century there has usually been little disagreement when it comes to defining the core region of the Punjabi language. The British linguist George Abraham Grierson came to the conclusion that a group of dialects known collectively as "western Punjabi" spoken north and west of the Punjab heartland, in the Indus valley itself and on the lower reaches of the other four tributaries (excluding the Beas River), in fact constituted a language distinct from Punjabi. He named this group of dialects "Lahnda" in a volume of the Language Survey of India (LSI) published in 1919.[25] He grouped as "southern Lahnda" the dialects that are now recognized as Saraiki. In the National Census of Pakistan (1981) Saraiki and Hindko (previously categorized as "Western Punjabi"), got the status of separate languages,[26] which explains the decrease in the percentage of Punjabi speakers.
Standard dialect
The Majhi dialect spoken around Amritsar and Lahore is Punjabi's prestige dialect because it is the standard of written Punjabi. 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, Chiniot, Gujranwala and Gujrat districts. Majhi retains the nasal consonants /ŋ/ and /ɲ/, which have been superseded elsewhere by non-nasals /g/ and /d͡ʒ/ respectively. The Majhi (and Lahnda) spoken in Pakistan is more Persianized in vocabulary, and the usage of the sounds /z/, /x/ and /ɣ/ is more profound.
English | Gurmukhi based (Indian) | Shahmukhi based (Pakistan) |
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Article | Lekh | Mazmūn |
Family | Parvār/Khāndān/Tabbar | Khāndān/Tabbar |
Philosophy | Darśan | Falsafā |
Capital | Rājdhānī | Dārul haqūmat/Rājghar |
God | Rabb/Khudāwand/Khudā | Khudāwand/Khudā |
Viewer | Darshak/Sarotte | Nāzrīn |
Etymology
The word Punjabi is derived from the word Panj-āb, Persian for "Five Waters", referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca and Greek pente "five", and "āb" is cognate 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.
In India, Punjabi is written in Gurmukhī, a standardized script. The word Gurmukhi translates into 'from the Guru's mouth'.[27] In Pakistan, the Shahmukhī script, meaning "from the King's mouth", based on the Persian abjad is used.[28]
History
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language, descended from Shauraseni, which was the chief language of mediaeval northern India.[29][30][31] Fariduddin Ganjshakar is generally recognised as the first major poet of the Punjabi language.[32]
The Sikh religion originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region and Punjabi is the predominant language spoken by Sikhs.[33] 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. The Janamsakhis, stories on the life and legend of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), are early examples of Punjabi prose literature. Guru Nanak himself composed Punjabi verse incorporating vocabulary from Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and other Indic languages as characteristic of the Gurbani tradition. Punjabi Sufi poetry developed under Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1628–1691), Shah Sharaf (1640–1724), Ali Haider (1690–1785), Saleh Muhammad Safoori (son of Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya, whom Ali Haider had given great tribute) and Bulleh Shah (1680–1757).
Punjabi language was first spoken by Hindu Jogi Guru Gorakhnath in the 7th century. Most Punjabi hindus spoke Punjabi,later on Sikhs also used the Punjabi language.[34] Punjabi Sufi poetry also influenced other Punjabi literary traditions particularly the Punjabi Qissa, a genre of romantic tragedy which also derived inspiration from Indic, Persian and Quranic sources. 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 (1735?–1843?), and Qissa Puran Bhagat by Qadaryar (1802–1892).
Heroic ballads known as vaar enjoy a rich oral tradition in Punjabi.
Modern Punjabi
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20160412012301im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Punjabi_Alphabet.jpg/220px-Punjabi_Alphabet.jpg)
Majhi-Standard Punjabi is the written standard for Punjabi in both parts of Punjab. In Pakistan, Punjabi is generally written using the Shahmukhī script, created from a modification of the Persian Nastaʿlīq script. In India, Punjabi is most often rendered in the Gurumukhī, though it is often written in the Devanagari or Latin scripts due to influence from Hindi and English, India's two primary official languages at the Union-level.
In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. It is the first official language of the Indian State of Punjab. In Pakistan, no regional ethnic language has been granted official status at the national level, as such Punjabi is not an official language at the national level 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 national languages in Pakistan are Urdu and English, which are considered the lingua francas of Pakistan.
Punjabi in modern culture
Punjabi is becoming more acceptable among Punjabis in modern media and communications. Punjabi has always been an integral part of Indian cinema. A large number of Hindi movies now incorporate Punjabi vocabulary in music and dialogue. At any point in time, Punjabi songs in Hindi movies now account for more than 50% of the top of the charts listings.[19][20][21] Punjabi pop and folk songs are very popular both in India and Pakistan at the national level. The number of students opting for Punjabi literature has increased in Pakistani Punjab. Punjabi cinema in India has also seen a revival and more and more Punjabi movies are being produced. In India, the number of students opting for Punjabi Literature as optional subject in IAS examinations has increased along with the success rate of the students. Punjabi music is very popular today throughout the world.[35]
Geographic distribution
Pakistan
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the provincial language in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken as a native language by over 44.15% of Pakistanis. About 70.0% of the people of Pakistan speak Punjabi as either their first or second language, and for some as their third language. Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, is the largest Punjabi-speaking city in the world. 86% of the total population of Lahore is native Punjabi and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is 71% native Punjabis at 3rd after Faisalabad where 76% are native. The are also large number of Punjabi speakers in Karachi.
Year | Population of Pakistan | Percentage | Punjabi speakers |
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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 |
Rank | Division | Punjabi speakers | Percentage |
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– | Pakistan | 106,335,300 | 60% (inc Saraiki and Hindko dialects) |
1 | Punjab | 70,671,704 | 75.23% |
2 | Sindh | 4,592,261 | 10% |
3 | Islamabad Capital Territory | 1,343,625 | 71.66% |
4 | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 7,396,085 | 21% |
5 | Balochistan | 318,745 | 2.52% |
In the 1981 National Census of Pakistan the Saraiki, Pothohari and Hindko dialects of the Western Punjabi were accorded the status of separate languages, which explains the decrease of the percentage of Punjabi speakers.
India
Punjabi is spoken as a native language, second language, or third language by about 30 million people in India. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Some of its major urban centres in northern India are Ambala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and Delhi.
Year | Population of India | Punjabi speakers in India | Percentage |
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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% |
Punjabi diaspora
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, where it is the fourth-most-commonly used language,[38] and Canada, where it is the third-most-spoken language.[39]
There were 76 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2008,[40] 33 million in India in 2011,[41] 1.3 million in the UK in 2000,[42] 368,000 in Canada in 2006,[43] and smaller numbers in other countries.
Phonology
Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
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Close | i(ː) ਈ | ɪ ਇ | ʊ ਉ | u(ː) ਊ | |
Close-mid | e(ː) ਏ | o(ː) ਓ | |||
Mid | ə ਅ | ||||
Open-mid | ɛ(ː) ਐ | ɔ(ː) ਔ | |||
Open | a(ː) ਆ |
The long vowels (the vowels with [ː]) also have nasal analogues.
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
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Nasal | m ਮ | n ਨ | ɳ ਣ | ɲ ਞ | ŋ ਙ | ||
Stop/ Affricate |
tenuis | p ਪ | t̪ ਤ | ʈ ਟ | t͡ʃ ਚ | k ਕ | |
aspirated | pʰ ਫ | t̪ʰ ਥ | ʈʰ ਠ | t͡ʃʰ ਛ | kʰ ਖ | ||
voiced | b ਬ | d̪ ਦ | ɖ ਡ | d͡ʒ ਜ | ɡ ਗ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f ਫ਼ | s ਸ | ʃ ਸ਼ | (x ਖ਼) | ||
voiced | z ਜ਼ | (ɣ ਗ਼) | |||||
Flap | ɾ ਰ | ɽ ੜ | |||||
Approximant | ʋ ਵ | l ਲ | ɻ ਲ਼[44] | j ਯ | ɦ ਹ |
Tone
Punjabi has three phonemically distinct tones that developed from the lost murmured (or "voiced aspirate") series of consonants. Phonetically the tones are rising or rising-falling contours and they can span over one syllable or two, but phonemically they can be distinguished as high, mid, and low.
A historical murmured consonant (voiced aspirate consonant) in word initial position became tenuis and left a low tone on the two syllables following it: ghoṛā [kòːɽɑ̀ː] "horse". A stem-final murmured consonant became modally voiced and left a high tone on the two syllables preceding it: māgh [mɑ́ːɡ] "October". A stem-medial murmured consonant which appeared after a short vowel and before a long vowel became modally voiced and left a low tone on the two syllables following it: maghāuṇā [məɡɑ̀ːʊ̀ɳɑ̀ː] "to have something lit". Other syllables have mid tone.[45]
Grammar
The grammar of the Punjabi language concerns the word order, case marking, verb conjugation, and other morphological and syntactic structures of the Punjabi language. The main article discusses the grammar of Modern Standard Punjabi as defined by the sources cited therein.
Writing systems
Shahmukhi alphabet |
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ا ب پ ت ٹ ث ج چ ح خ د ڈ ذ ر ڑ ز ژ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن و ه ھ ء ی ے |
Extended Perso-Arabic script |
There are two ways to write Punjabi: Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi. The word Gurmukhi translates into "Guru's mouth",[27] and Shahmukhi means "from the King's mouth".[28]
In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the script used is Shahmukhi and differs from the Urdu alphabet in having four additional letters.[46] East Punjab, located in India, is divided into three states. In the state of Punjab, the Gurmukhī script is generally used for writing Punjabi.[46]
Sample text
This sample text was taken from the Punjabi Wikipedia article on Lahore and transliterated into the Latin script.
Transliteration: lahor pākistānī panjāb dī rājdā̀ni ài. lok giṇtī de nāḷ karācī tõ bāad lahor dūjā sáb tõ vaḍḍā sháir ài. lahor pākistān dā siāsī, rátalī te paṛā̀ī dā gáṛ ài te is laī ínū̃ pākistān dā dil vī kihā jāndā ài. lahor dariāe rāvī de kaṇḍè te vasdā ài. isdī lok giṇtī ikk karoṛ de neṛe ài.
Gallery
See also
- Punjabi Wikipedia
- Languages of Pakistan
- Languages of India
- List of Indian languages by total speakers
- List of Punjabi-language newspapers
- Hindi-to-Punjabi Machine Translation System
Notes
- ^ The status of these various languages below as Punjabi varieties or separate languages is subject to discussion.
- ^ "Världens 100 största språk 2010" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2010), in Nationalencyklopedin
- ^ "Punjabi". languagesgulper.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ http://www.censusindia.gov.in/%28S%282scoev45b4mhlg45mz5jq345%29%29/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx
- ^ "Census of India: Abstract of speakers’ strength of languages and mother tongues –2001". Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
- ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Panjabi". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
- ^ Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Sridhar, S. N. (27 March 2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 128. ISBN 9781139465502. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
Sikhs often write Punjabi in Gurmukhi, Hindus in Devanagari, and Muslims in Perso-Arabic.
- ^ "Världens 100 största språk 2010" [The world's 100 largest languages in 2010]. Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ^ "What Are The Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World?". Retrieved 2012-2013. Check date values in:
|access-date=
(help) - ^ Barbara Lust, James Gair. Lexical Anaphors and Pronouns in Selected South Asian Languages. Page 637. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. ISBN 978-3-11-014388-1.
- ^ "Punjabi language and the Gurmukhi and Shahmuhi scripts and pronunciation". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ^ Phonemic Inventory of Punjabi Archived 16 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Geeti Sen. Crossing Boundaries. Orient Blackswan, 1997. ISBN 978-81-250-1341-9. Page 132. Quote: "Possibly, Punjabi is the only major South Asian language that has this kind of tonal character. There does seem to have been some speculation among scholars about the possible origin of Punjabi's tone-language character but without any final and convincing answer..."
- ^ "Pakistan Census". Census.gov.pk. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ Census of India, 2001: population of Punjab by religion. Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved on 2012-01-18.
- ^ "2011 Census: Main language (detailed), local authorities in England and Wales" (XLS). ONS. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ [1], Census Profile - Province/Territory
- ^ [2], 2006 Census of Canada: Topic-based tabulations|Detailed Mother Tongue (103), Knowledge of Official Languages
- ^ a b ‘Punjabification’ of Bollywood music - Fiji Times Online. Fijitimes.com (2013-01-08). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
- ^ a b Punjabi culture a part of Bollywood, says Suniel Shetty - Times Of India. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2012-07-20). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
- ^ a b Punjab gatecrashes Bollywood | Culture. Times Crest (2012-05-05). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
- ^ Farina Mir (2010). The Social Space of Language: Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab. University of California Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-520-26269-0.
- ^ Masica 1991:25
- ^ Burling 1970:chapter on India
- ^ Shackle 1970:240
- ^ Michael Edward Brown; Sumit Ganguly (2003). Fighting Words: Language Policy and Ethnic Relations in Asia. MIT Press. pp. 68–. ISBN 978-0-262-52333-2.
- ^ a b Khalsa, Sukhmandir. "Introduction to Gurmukhi". About.com. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ a b Saini, Tejinder, Lehal Gurpreet, and Kalra Virinder (2008). Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi Transliteration System. p. 177.
- ^ India's culture through the ages by Mohan Lal Vidyarthi. Published by Tapeshwari Sahitya Mandir, 1952. Page 148: "From the apabhramsha of Sauraseni are derived Punjabi, Western Hindi, Rajasthani and Gujerati [sic]..."
- ^ National Communication and Language Policy in India By Baldev Raj Nayar. Published by F. A. Praeger, 1969. Page 35. "...Sauraseni Aprabhramsa from which have emerged the modern Western Hindi and Punjabi."
- ^ The Sauraseni Prākrit Language. "This Middle Indic language originated in Mathura, and was the main language used in drama in Northern India in the mediaeval era. Two of its descendants are Hindi and Punjabi."
- ^ Shiv Kumar Batalvi sikh-heritage.co.uk.
- ^ Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, Ian A. Skoggard, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer. p. 1077. ISBN 978-0-306-48321-9.
- ^ R. P. Malhotra, Kuldeep Arora, ed. (2003). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Punjabi Literature. Global vision publishing house. p. 104. ISBN 8187746521.
- ^ "Balle balle! Punjabi music is flavour of Bollywood". 9 March 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/index.html
- ^ "Growth of Scheduled Languages-1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001". Census of India. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ name=2011 Census
- ^ "Punjabi is 4th most spoken language in Canada". The Times of India. 14 February 2008.
- ^ Pakistan 1998 census – Population by mother tongue
- ^ "Indian Census". Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ McDonnell, John (7 March 2000). "Punjabi Community". Parliamentary Business: Commons Debates. UK Parliament. p. Column 142WH. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Population by mother tongue in Canada". 0.statcan.gc.ca. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ Masica (1991:97)
- ^ Harjeet Singh Gill, "The Gurmukhi Script", p. 397. In Daniels and Bright, The World's Writing Systems. 1996.
- ^ a b "Punjabi". University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
References
- Grierson, George A. 1904–1928. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India. Calcutta.
- Masica, Colin. 1991. The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge Univ. Press.
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.
- Shackle, C. 1972. Punjabi. London: English Universities Press.
- Chopra, R. M., Perso-Arabic Words in Panjabi, 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
- Let's Learn Punjabi Animation Punjabi Film on YouTube
- English to Punjabi Dictionary
- Learn how to read Gurmukhi, Muharni and count in Gurmukhi/Punjabi
- Listen to some basic Punjabi words on WikiBabel
- Online Punjabi keyboard for typing in Punjabi
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