Punjabi language

Lore & Background

Punjabi belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, deriving from Old Indic. It developed from Prakrit languages and later Apabhraṃśa, with Paishachi Prakrit spoken in north and north-western India giving rise to Punjabi. The language emerged as an Apabhramsha in the 7th century AD and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to the Nath Yogi-era from the 9th to 14th century. The precursor stage between the 10th and 16th centuries is termed 'Old Punjabi', while the stage between the 16th and 19th centuries is 'Medieval Punjabi'. Modern Punjabi emerged in the 19th century. The Majhi dialect, transitional between Western and Eastern Punjabi, has been adopted as standard in India and Pakistan for education and mass media. 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. The language has absorbed many Persian, Arabic, and Turkic words, as well as minor influences from Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, and English.

Reader's Guide

Its unusual use of lexical tone among Indo-Aryan and Indo-European languages marks it as linguistically distinctive. In recent decades, Punjabi has been in decline in Pakistan, but a language revitalization movement started in earnest in the 1990s. The language's diaspora has led to increased access to Punjabi content in places like Surrey, Canada, and the creation of diasporic Punjabi poetry, film, and theatre.

Did You Know?

• Punjabi is unusual among Indo-Aryan and Indo-European languages for its use of lexical tone.
• The word 'Punjabi' derives from Persian 'Panj-āb', meaning 'Five Waters', referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River.
• In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet.
• A language revitalization movement for Punjabi started in earnest in the 1990s in Pakistan.