Punjabi
or Pan·ja·bi
Origin of Punjabi
Words nearby Punjabi
MORE ABOUT PUNJABI
What does Punjabi mean?
A Punjabi is a person who is from or lives in Punjab, a former UK province.
Punjabi is also the language spoken by the people of Punjab.
Punjab was a province of British India until 1947. In that year, the province was split between the Asian countries of India and Pakistan. The majority of the former Punjab is now located in Pakistan, as the eastern province of Punjab. The rest of the land makes up the northwestern Indian state of Punjab.
According to the 2011 Indian Census, just over 33 million speakers of Punjabi lived in India. It was the 11th most popular language in the country at that time, with 2.7 percent of the country speaking it.
According to the CIA Factbook, Punjabis are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan, making up 44.7 percent of the population, and the Punjabi language is spoken by 48 percent of the country.
Why is Punjabi important?
The first records of the term Punjabi come from around 1780. It combines Punjab and the suffix -ī, which indicates relationship or origin. Punjab comes from the Persian words panj (five) and ab (water). Punjabi is the language or people of Punjab, an area where five rivers flow.
Like most Indic languages, Punjabi traces its origins back to ancient Sanskrit. In India, written Punjabi uses the Gurmukhi script. This script is associated with the Sikhs, the majority religious group in the Indian Punjab. In India, Punjabi is written from left to right.
In Pakistan, written Punjabi uses the Urdu script and is written from right to left, as with Arabic. This is a result of the Pakistan Punjab’s large Muslim majority and history of rule under Muslim dynasties.
These differences in language reflect the differences of the Punjabi peoples. In India, Punjab has a Sikh majority with a large Hindi minority as well as Christian and Muslim groups. In Pakistan, Punjab is largely Muslim.
Did you know … ?
Punjabi’s two scripts of Gurmukhi in India and Urdu in Pakistan make it one of the few languages in the world with more than one written language that are completely different from each other.
What are real-life examples of Punjabi?
As you might have guessed, people of South Asian heritage are more likely to be familiar with the Punjabi language and people.
I feel sad for those who can't understand and enjoy Punjabi songs.
— 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐈𝐍. (@hxarliin) September 29, 2020
Best of Spider Man Punjabi dubbing. a thread: pic.twitter.com/FXbOrugAUT
— Saad (@SlimeDuniya) August 26, 2021
Punjabi is literally the funniest language in the world, I feel sorry for the people who can't understand it.
— Mahir Ahmad (@MahirKang) October 1, 2020
Quiz yourself!
True or False?
Punjabi is a language spoken mainly in the countries of India and Pakistan.