13 Facts About Punjabi language

In Pakistan, Punjabi language 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 language emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century AD and became stable by the 10th century.

Punjabi language is spoken in many dialects in an area from Delhi to Islamabad.

In India, Punjabi language is written in the Gurmukhi script in offices, schools, and media.

In Pakistan, Punjabi language is generally written using the Shahmukhi script, which in literary standards, is identical to the Urdu alphabet, however various attempts have been made to create certain, distinct characters from a modification of the Persian Nasta?liq characters to represent Punjabi language phonology, not already found in the Urdu alphabet.

Related searches

Punjabi is spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Standard Punjabi language is spoken by the majority of the people in Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Hafizabad, Nankana Sahib and Mandi Bahauddin districts of Pakistan's Punjab Province.

In Pakistan, no regional ethnic language has been granted official status at the national level, and as such Punjabi is not an official language at the national level, even though it is the most spoken language in Pakistan.

When Pakistan was created in 1947, despite Punjabi being the majority language in West Pakistan and Bengali the majority in East Pakistan and Pakistan as whole, English and Urdu were chosen as the national languages.

At the federal level, Punjabi language has official status via the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution, earned after the Punjabi language Suba movement of the 1950s.

At the state level, Punjabi is the sole official language of the state of Punjab, while it has secondary official status in the states of Haryana and Delhi.

The state of Punjab uses the Three Language Formula, and Punjabi is required to be either the medium of instruction, or one of the three languages learnt in all schools in Punjab.

Punjabi is a compulsory language in Haryana, and other states with a significant Punjabi speaking minority are required to offer Punjabi medium education.