Languages of Pakistan

Language families in Pakistan are mainly Indo-Aryan and Iranic with a minor language belonging to Dravidian (Brahui) and one language isolate (Burushaski)

English is official language of Pakistan while Urdu is national language despite not being a native language or bring the mother tongue of any native group in the country. Many other languages are spoken within the country including Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi and Brahui. Most of the languages of Pakistan are part of Indo-European languages & span Indo-Iranian range of that family with the Indo-Aryan languages predominant in east & Iranian languages most significant in west as well as Dardic languages in north & northwest.

History

Urdu was chosen as a national language of Pakistan to act as a lingua franca amongst the various ethnic/cultural groups & has historical significance as language developed during the Islamic conquests in the Subcontinent during the Mughal Empire and was chosen as neutral language to unite various groups of Pakistan. However the official language and that used most often by the government is English. Many educational institutes and universities use English only. Many other languages are spoken in Pakistan regional tongues from largest to smallest are as follows: Punjabi, Pashtu, Sindhi,Balochi, Saraiki, Hindko, Brahui, Burushaski, Balti, Shina, Khowar, Farsi etc.. Pakistan has 1 million native speakers of the Persian and was once a region which contained the largest number of Persian speakers in the world until its abolishment by British colonial rule. Arabic is popular due to religious significance. Persian continues to be an important literary language in Pakistan.

Demographics

• Punjabi 45%
• Pashto 18%
• Sindhi 10%
• Urdu 9%
• Saraiki 8%
• Other 6%
• Balochi 4%

Urdu (National language)

Urdu is Pakistan's national language and has been promoted as token of national unity. More than 95% of Pakistanis can speak or understand Urdu as their second or third language in many cases, though about than 9% of the population of Pakistan has Urdu as its mother tongue. It is written in modified form of Arabic alphabet. First poetry in Urdu was by Persian poet Amir Khusro (1253–1325), first Urdu book Wo Maglis was written in 1728 & first time word "Urdu" was used by Sirajuddin Arzoo in 1751.

English (Official language)

English is Pakistan's official language widely used in government but Pakistan's Constitution and laws are written in Urdu. 50 percent of people in Pakistan have basic understanding of English.

Major languages

Punjabi (provincial language)

Punjabi is spoken as first language by 45% of Pakistanis. It is an important language since Punjabi is spoken by about half of Pakistanis. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. About 70% of Pakistanis know how to speak Punjabi. Punjabis lineage can be traced through Lahori and Multani during Muslim period (700 to 1860).

Punjabi dialects:

• Majhi

This dialect is "the standard Punjabi language" and spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The main districts are Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and some parts of Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab and Gurdaspur and Amritsar in Indian Punjab.

• Jhangvi or Jhangochi

This dialect is spoken in the central Pakistani Punjab, stretches from districts Khanewal to Jhang and includes Faisalabad and Chiniot.

• Shahpuri

This dialect is spoken in Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab and Mandi Bahauddin districts.

• Pothowari (regional language)

The area where Pothowari is spoken extends in the north from Muzaffarabad to as far south as Jhelum, Gujar Khan, Chakwal and Rawalpindi. [phr] 49,440 (2000 WCD). Murree Hills north of Rawalpindi, and east to Bhimber. Poonchi is east of Rawalakot. Potwari is in the plains around Rawalpindi. Alternate names: Potwari, Pothohari, Potohari, Chibhali, Dhundi-Kairali. Dialects: Pahari (Dhundi-Kairali), Pothwari (Potwari), Chibhali, Punchhi (Poonchi), Mirpuri. Pahari means 'hill language' referring to a string of divergent dialects, some of which may be separate languages. A dialect chain with Panjabi and Hindko. Closeness to western Pahari is unknown. Lexical similarity 76% to 83% among varieties called 'Pahari', 'Potwari', and some called 'Hindko' in Mansehra,Muzaffarabad, and Jammun. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northern zone, Western Pahari.

• Hindko

This dialect is spoken in districts of Peshawar, Attock, Nowshehra, Mansehra, Balakot, Abbotabad and Murree and the lower half of Neelum District and Muzafarabad..

• Malwi

Spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main districts are Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra etc.

• Doabi (regional language)

The word "Do Aabi" means "the land between to rivers" and this dialects is spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej. It includes Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts.

• Saraiki /Multani (regional language)

Saraiki or Multani (also Lahndi by some) and perhaps differs from Punjabi more than any other dialect. Multani becomes more and more different as you move down south, as the influence of Sindhi increases, it is also known as Saraiki there. Saraiki itself is Sindhi word and means northern. See the map of Saraiki language: Saraiki Area's City of Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar, Dera Ismail Khan, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Layyah and Mianwali.

Pashto (provincial language)

Pashto (پشتو) is spoken as a first language by 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. Additionally, Afghan refugees are often outside the census count, but appear to be largely Pashto speakers from Afghanistan. Pashto speakers are almost 15.42% of Pakistan's population and more than 50% in Afghanistan. Pashto has no written literary traditions although it has a rich oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in southern areas around Quetta. Khushal Khan Khatak (1613–1689) and Rehman Baba (1633–1708) were two important poets in the Pashto language.

Sindhi (provincial language)

Sindhi (شندحی) is spoken as a first language by 14% of Pakistanis, in Sindh and parts of Balochistan. Sindhi has very rich literature and is used in schools. Sindhi language contains Arabic words and is affected by Arabic language to a great extent. The reason being Arab ruled Sindh for more than 150 years. Muhammad bin Qasim entered Sindh and conquered it in 712 AD. He remained here for three years and set up Arabic rule in the area. According to historians, the social fabric of Sindh comprises elements of Arabic society. Sindhi is spoken in Pakistan and is also one of the constitutional languages of India. It is spoken by about 20 million people in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, and by about 2½ million more across the border in India. In Pakistan it is written in the Arabic script with several additional letters to accommodate special sounds. The largest Sindhi-speaking city is Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689–1752) was one of its legendary poets who wrote Sassi Punnun, Umar Marvi in his famous book "Shah Jo Risalo".

Saraiki (regional language)

Saraiki is related to Punjabi and Sindhi (See Classification, below) Spoken as a first language by 11% of Pakistanis, mostly in southern districts of Punjab (see Saraikis). All most 10% of the population of Pakistan speak Saraiki language. Dialects tend to blend into each other, into Punjabi to the east, and Sindhi to the south. Until recently it was considered to be a dialect of Punajbi. 85% lexical similarity with Sindhi; 68% with Odki and Sansi. Dialects are Derawali, Khatki, Jangli or Jatki and Riasti or Bahawalpuri.

Balochi (provincial language)

Balochi (بلوچی) is spoken as a first language by 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan, Sindh and southern Punjab. Baluchi language is spoken by almost 3% of the Pakistani population and is very close to the Persian language itself. The name Baluchi or Balochi is not found before the 10th century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from Northern Iran, near the Caspian Shores. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub-dialect of Rakshani. Other sub-dialects are qalati, Chagai-kharani, Panjguri. Eastern Hill Baluchi or Northern Baluchi is very different from the rest.

Other languages

Numerous other languages are spoken by relatively small numbers of people, especially in some of the more remote and isolated places in, for example, the Northern Areas of Pakistan [1]. These include:

1. Burushaski - spoken in Hunza
2. Shina - spoken in Gilgit District
3. Khowar - spoken in Chitral
4. Gawri - spoken in Swat and Upper Dir
5. Kalash - spoken in the Kalash valleys

Minor(Disapearing) Languages

Gujarati (regional language)

Gujarati is spoken by a small refugee population of about 100,000 who fled from Gujarat in India due to persecution at the time of independence and now reside in Sindh. All Parsi (5,000-10,000), many Ismaili Muslims, and many Hindus (10,000 to 20,000) speak Gujarati. Many Parsi and Ismailis are literate in Gujarati.

Memoni/Kutchi

Memoni/Kutchi is spoken by over 500,000 Pakistani citizens who originated from Kathiawad and Kutch regions of Gujarat ‎in neighbooring India who fled to Pakistan due to persecution at the time of independence. Most reside in Karachi area, an important business community consist of merchants and traders, ‎industrialist professional and managers and generally holds white collar jobs. They share a common tongue, which is a ‎mixture of Sindhi, Kutchi,Urdu and Gujarati languages.‎

Classification

Indo-Aryan

About 75% of the languages of Pakistan are classified as Indo-Aryan languages. 20% are Indo-Iranian languages and about 4% are classified as Dardic languages most notably Shina and Khowar. About 1% belong to the dravidian language family most notably Brahui.

Lahnda dialects

Punjabi, Pahari, Mirpuri, Hindko and Saraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of Lahnda[2], also spelled as Lehnda. These are also, to a lesser extent, mutually intelligible with Urdu. Added together, speakers of these mutually-intelligible languages make up nearly two-thirds of Pakistan's population. Saraiki also is similar to the Sindhi language.

Iranian family of languages

Pashto and Balochi are classified as members of the Iranian family of languages. [3] If combined, Iranian peoples who speak Pashto, Balochi, Dari (Afghan refugees speak both Pashto and the Afghan-Persian dialect of Dari), Persian, and Wakhi comprise over 20% of the population of Pakistan. Persian was the official language of South Asian Muslim states particularly in the Pakistan region for centuries before the British colonial rule. It is taught and understood in many schools in Pakistan.

Dravidian

Brahui belongs to the Dravidian language family. Brahui is a minor language of the Eastern province of Balochistan inhabitied by the Brahui. Brahui is heavily influenced by Baluchi and Sindhi, languages in which many Brahui speakers are necessarily bilingual. Brahui now has rather fewer inherited Dravidian words in its lexicon and is gradually incorporating more Urdu, Balochi and even Pashto.

See also

• The Uddin and Begum Urdu-Hindustani Romanization
• Hindustani
• List of official languages
• Sindhi language
• Pashto
• Baloch language
• Kashmiri language
• Statistics Division of the Government of Pakistan
• Urdu
• Urdu keyboard

External links

• Urdu Site Urdu Site
• Urdu Dictionary
• Pakistan Facts & Figures
• CIA - the worldfact book, Pakistan Section
• Statistics from Pakistan Government Statistics
• List of Pakistani Languages
• Frontier Language Institute