Pakistani languages (Punjabi)

Punjabi or Panjabi (پنجابی in Shahmukhi script, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ in Gurmukhi script,Pañjābī in transliteration) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region (in Pakistan and India) and their diasporas. Speakers include adherents of the religions of Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.

According to the Ethnologue 2005 estimate, there are 88 million native speakers of the Punjabi language, which makes it approximately the 11th most widely spoken language in the world. According to the 2002 Census of Pakistan, there are approximately 63 million native speakers of Punjabi in Pakistan, and according to the Census of India, there are over 29 million Punjabi speakers in India.

Along with Lahnda and Western Pahari languages, Punjabi is unusual among modern Indo-European languages in being a tonal language.

In his Linguistic Survey of India, the linguist George Abraham Grierson used the word "Punjabi" to refer to several languages spoken in the Punjab region: the term "Western Punjabi" (ISO 639-3 pnb) covered Saraiki, while the term "Eastern Punjabi" referred to the language based on Majhi dialect (ISO 639-3 pan). The term "Punjabi language" today generally refers to "Eastern Punjabi" i.e. the language based on the Majhi dialect of the historical region of Majha, which spans the Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Narowal Districts of the Pakistani Province of Punjab and Amritsar District and Gurdaspur Districtof the Indian State of Punjab.

Punjabi is a significant language for the Sikhs, and Punjabi's population of speakers is one of the greatest of the Indian subcontinent and indeed the world. The majority of Punjabi speakers live in Pakistan, where they form about half of the country's population but the language has no official status in Pakistan and it is not much used as a written language there in comparison to Urdu

History

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language like many other modern languages of South Asia. The Punjabi language is a descendant of Sauraseni Prakrit, which was the chief language of medieval northern India.

Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 11th century from the Sauraseni Apabhramsa.^[15] The literary tradition in Punjabi started withFariduddin Ganjshakar (Baba Farid)(1173-1266), many ancient Sufi mystics and later Guru Nanak Dev ji, the first Guru of the Sikhism. The early Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The poetry written by Sufi saints has been the folklore of the Punjab and is still sung with great love in any part of Punjab.

Between 1600 and 1850, Muslim Sufi, Sikh and Hindu writers composed many works in Punjabi. The most famous Punjabi Sufi poet was Baba Bulleh Shah (1680 – 1757), (who born in Och (Bahawalpur) and Setteled in Kasoor) wrote in theKafi style. He put Saraiki language Culture into the Punjabi Language. Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets likeShah Hussain (1538 – 1599), Sultan Bahu (1629 – 1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640 – 1724). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah(1722 – 1798), of Heer Ranjha fame. Waris Shah's rendition of the tragic love story of Heer Ranjha is among the most popular medieval Punjabi works. Other popular tragic love stories are Sohni Mahiwal, Mirza Sahiba and Sassi Punnun.Shah Mohammad's Jangnama is another fine piece of poetry that gives an eyewitness account of the First Anglo-Sikh War that took place after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Modern Punjabi

In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 languages with official status in India. It is the first official language of Punjab (India) and Union Territory State Chandigarh and the 2nd official language of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab (Pakistan) the largest province ofPakistan.