Punjabi language

Punjabi (/pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/ pun-JAH-bee;[18] Shahmukhi: پنجابی; Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, Punjabi: [pəɲˈdʒab̆.bi] ^ⓘ[19]), sometimes spelled Panjabi,[lower-alpha 4] 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.[20]

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Punjabi
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پَن٘جابی
'Punjabi' written in Shahmukhi script used in Punjab, Pakistan (top) and Gurmukhi script used in Punjab, India (bottom)
Pronunciation	Punjabi: [pəɲˈdʒɑb̆.bi] English: /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/
Native to	Pakistan and India
Region	Punjab
Ethnicity	Punjabis
Native speakers	113 million (2011–2017)[lower-alpha 1][1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabi
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Aryan debated Vedic Sanskrit[2] debated Classical Sanskrit[3] Prakrit[lower-alpha 2][4] debated Apabhraṃśa Old Punjabi[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Dialects	See Punjabi dialects
Writing system	Shāhmukhī (in Pakistan) Gurmukhī (in India) Devanāgarī (in India) Punjabi Braille Laṇḍā (historical) Takri (historical) Mahajani (historical)
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan  Punjab (provincial)[lower-alpha 3][11]  India Punjab (official)[12][13] Haryana (additional)[14] Delhi (additional)[15] West Bengal (additional, in blocks and divisions with more than 10% of the population)[16]
Regulated by	Punjab Institute of Language, Art & Culture, Punjab, Pakistan Department of Languages, Punjab, India[17]
Language codes
ISO 639-1	pa
ISO 639-2	pan
ISO 639-3	Either: pan – Panjabi pnb – Western Panjabi
Glottolog	panj1256  Eastern Panjabi west2386  Western Panjabi
Linguasphere	59-AAF-e
Geographic distribution of Punjabi language in Pakistan and India.
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Constitutionally recognised languages of India
Category
22 Official Languages of the Indian Republic
Assamese Bengali Bodo Dogri Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Marathi Meitei (Manipuri) Nepali Odia Punjabi Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu Urdu
Related
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India Official Languages Commission Classical Languages of India List of languages by number of native speakers in India
Asia portal  India portal  Language portal  Politics portal

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. The language 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.