22 Amazing Facts About Punjabi Language

Facts About Punjabi: The Punjabi language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the inhabitants of the historic Punjab region (now divided between India and Pakistan). This includes those who believe in Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism. The language is spoken by about 150 million people, making it almost the 10th most spoken language in the world. About 1.5 million people in Britain speak Punjabi, and Punjabi is the sixth most spoken language in Canada according to the 2001 census.

The standard of Punjabi language writing has been based on the Maazi dialect for almost 1000 years, which is the dialect of the historical Maza area. The period is spread over Lahore, Shaikhpura, Kasur, Gujranwala, Sialkot, West Kotli Loharan and Narowal districts of Punjab province of Pakistan and Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab state of India.

22+ Interesting Facts About Punjabi Language

• This language has various dialects like, Majhi, Malwi, Doabi and Pwadhi.
• There are various scripts used for writing Punjabi, such as Perso-Arabic script, Devanagari script and a script based on Gurmukhi alphabet.
• It is the 4th most spoken language in England, 3rd most spoken native language in Canada and has a significant presence in Pakistan, UAE, USA and Australia.
• It is a descendant of Sauraseni Prakrit, the chief language of northern India during the mediaeval period. It is also believed that it developed from Shauraseni Apabhramsha language around 11th century.
• The Punjabi language is spoken in India and Pakistan. It is the 'mother tongue' of about two and a half million citizens in India. It is also used as a medium language in schools, colleges, and universities in the Indian state of Punjab.
• Punjabi is the 10th most spoken language in the world. The language has a huge audience. The speakers of Punjabi can be found in every corner of the world. The cultural identity of language travels to the world with people throughout history.
• As a result of these movements overlaid with a traditional religious tone, Muslims adopted Urdu, Hindi among Hindus, and Sikhs in Punjabi, though this had little impact on the dialect, the written, standard language wordplay has been influenced by the specific Sikh culture.
• The most prominent feature of modern Punjabi is its three types of vowel system, which has high, medium, and low vowels. From phonetics, they can be described as high-fluctuations, mid-fluctuations, and very low-outline modalities, which are experienced on two continuous letters.
• The second greatest feature is the large number of words in it, especially the names of ancient places and the nouns and adjectives originating from them, and the vowel (the sound pronounced from the top of the tongue folded to the palate). Most of such words are found in Western Pura-Aryan civilizations.
• The Punjabi language has around 125 million native speakers. This number makes the language worth translating. This is the main reason for the high demand for Punjabi translation. No company wants to leave such a big audience untouched. The native speakers work in different industries making it necessary to make things available in their language.
• Most of you must have guessed Punjab, right? Well, you would be surprised to know that Punjabi is the most spoken language in Pakistan, and not Punjab. Given the fact that it is being spoken the most in Pakistan, it is indeed strange that it is not recognized very well there. It is not given an official status nor is it being taught to children in school.

Suprising Facts About Punjabi Language

• The Punjabi language has different writing styles. Unlike other languages, it has two different scripts which are used to write the punjabi language – Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi. While translating one must be aware of the script they want to target for better results. The Gurmukhi script is used widely in India whereas the Shahmukhi is used in the Pakistan region.
• Combo words or echo words are simply formed by making slight changes in the actual word and using the actual and altered word together to get a rhyming effect. Some common echo words in Punjabi are: roti – shoti, padhai – vadhai, khaana – vaana. The second part of the word usually doesn’t mean anything by itself, but the combination creates a new broader meaning.
• Guru Nanak (1469–1539) is the father of Punjabi language, literature, and culture. In each region, he transformed old, verbiage structures into metaphorical psyche images. He explained the linguistic text step by step in exemplary metaphors. On the strength of the colloquial Punjabi language, Guru Nanak composed a highly cultured spiritual sermon of Indian culture.
• The oldest compositions in Punjabi are of the Nath Yogi period. Which dates from the ninth to fourteenth centuries, when Punjab was the main centre of social, religious movements. In terms of texture, the language of these compositions is near Sauraseni Apabhramsa, although the colloquial language and the lingua franca have a profound influence on vocabulary and rhythm.
• As Punjabi is the official language of Punjab, it gets the name from the state itself meaning ‘The Land of Five Rivers’. Punjabi is the fourth most spoken language in the United Kingdom and third-most spoken native language after English and French in Canada. The language also has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, United States, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
• From the classical point of view, the Punjab language has moved away from religious teachings in the secular and aesthetic way of life. Many social and religious political movements were influenced by the 20th century Punjab, in which fragmentation was caused by the historical development process. The Punjabi language, literature, and culture were the heritage of all Punjabis till now.
• Punjabi is one of the few languages to have a lexical tone. It is the speciality of the punjabi language that it can help you understand the meaning even with the tone and pitch of the words. It is one of the few tonal languages. In most languages, one cannot understand the difference between words easily but in Punjabi, you can understand the slight meaning of words with the tone of the words.
• Punjabi typesetting requires special expertise. There’s more to translating Punjabi documents than simply translating text from one language to another. Because Punjabi uses a non-Roman script, it’s more complicated than substituting one text for another. For example, both the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi scripts require more vertical space than Latin text. So, you may need to change the layout to keep the resulting documents attractive and easy to read.
• Punjabi developed from Sanskrit through Prakrit language and later Apabhraṃśa. Sanskrit has given birth to many regional languages in different parts of India, one of them being Hindi. All of these languages fall into the category of Prakrit language collectively. Shauraseni Prakrit was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi and western dialects of Hindi developed from this Prakrit. Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakritand and became stable by the 10th century.
• Punjabi has gained exceptional recognition in the past few years as it is spoken in several countries around the world, and it is not even a national language. Punjabi has also made its way through national and International Media, for instance, Hockey Night in Canada is now available in Punjabi as well. Also, Punjabi literature and poetry translated into other global languages. Punjabi music and of course its traditional dance form, Bhangra is considered to be one of the most energetic dance forms. Bhangra flash mobs are a common sight in downtown Vancouver and other parts of Canada.
• Sufi saints led the most important linguistic and cultural movement between the 11th and 14th centuries. He was like a yogi in emphasizing the existential ideology against mainstream orthodoxy. Was a yogi in classical Brahminism and Sufi in orthodox Islam. The change in language was more widespread. Yogis were employed only within the Indian religious tradition, so their language continued to be enriched by unfriendly form and constitution. Sufis had to start everything in a new way, aside from the spiritual tones of Persian vocabulary, Sufis established their linguistic teachings at the most popular folk level. In many ways, he was the first poet of the Punjabi language, who continued in the Yogi tradition of literature and entered every dimension of the mental, spiritual, and social life of Punjab.

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