Punjabi language
Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Punjabi,[lower-alpha 7] sometimes spelled Panjabi,[lower-alpha 8] is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world with approximately 113 million native speakers.[16]
Punjabi | |
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Pronunciation | [pəɲˈdʒab̆.bi] ⓘ |
Native to | India Pakistan |
Region | Punjab |
Ethnicity | Punjabis |
Native speakers | 145 million (2011–2017)[lower-alpha 1] |
Early forms | Prakrit (debated)[lower-alpha 2]
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Standard forms | |
Dialects |
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Historical | |
Official status | |
Official language in |
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Regulated by | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | pa |
ISO 639-2 | pan |
ISO 639-3 | pan |
Glottolog | lahn1241 |
Linguasphere | 59-AAF-e |
Geographic distribution of Punjabi language in Pakistan and India. | |
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Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers according to the 2017 census, and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, according to the 2011 census. It is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and the Gulf states.
In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet, based on the Perso-Arabic script; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet, based on the Indic scripts. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone.