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Punjabi (sometimes spelled Panjabi) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. It is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Iranian subfamily. Also, as an adjective, the word Punjabi qualifies anything
or anyone that is related to either Punjab or the Punjabi language, such as the speakers of Punjabi, inhabitants of Punjab or the
Punjabi cuisine of the region.
Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab, and is also spoken in neighbouring areas such as Haryana and Delhi. In Pakistan, however, it is not an
official language and has no official status in education. In
formal contexts, such as government, newspapers, and education, as well as in most writing, Pakistani Punjabi speakers tend to
use Urdu and English, which are the nation's official tongues. This has led to resentment from many Punjabi speakers,
who form the largest single linguistic group in Pakistan.
Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries, including Afghanistan, as well as many nations where Punjabis have
emigrated in large numbers, such as Britain, Canada, and the United States. Punjabi is the sacred
language of the Sikhs, in which the religious literature is written (See Adi Granth). It is the usual language of Bhangra music, which has recently gained wide popularity both in South Asia and abroad.
Punjabi culture, much like its Bengali counterpart, suffered a split between India
and Pakistan during the Partition of 1947. As such, Punjabi language and culture tend to be uniting factors in spite of national and religious
affiliations.
Modern Punjabi is a has borrowed extensively from other languages, including Hindi,
Urdu, Persian and English. Like other North Indian
languages, is derived from Sanskrit and is therefore Indo-European. In addition, like Hindi and Urdu, it has a
substantial number of loanwords from Arabic, Persian, and even a few from Turkish. Many sources subdivide the Punjabi language
into Western Punjabi
(Lahnda) and Eastern Punjabi.
There are several different scripts used for writing the Punjabi language, depending on the region and the dialect spoken, as
well as the religion of the speaker. Sikhs and others in the Indian state of Punjab tend to use the Gurumukhi or Gurmukhi (from the mouth of the Gurus)
script. Hindus, and those living in neighbouring states such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh often use the
Devanagari script. Finally, Muslims, and in general Pakistani Punjabis, use a modified Arabic script called Shahmukhi.
Much like English, Punjabi has moved around the world and developed local forms by integrating local vocabulary. While most
loanwords come from English, Hindi and Urdu (and indirectly, from Persian and Arabic), Punjabi emmigrants around the world have
integrated terms from such languages as Spanish and Dutch. A distinctive "Diaspora Punjabi" is thus emerging. As there is no formal
consensus over vocabulary and spelling in Punjabi, it is likely that Diaspora Punjabi will increasingly deviate from the forms
found on the Indian Subcontinent in the future.
Notable Authors
- Bulleh Shah
- Hashim
- Sultan Bahu
- Shiv Kumar Batalvi
- Amrita Pritam
- Kartar Duggal
- Prof. Mohan
Singh
- Pash
- Gurbaksh
Singh Preetlari
- Nanak Singh
- Ilyas Ghumman
- Saadat Hasan Manto
- Much more needs to be added here
See also
External links
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