Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan
language spoken by about 130 million people mainly in West Punjab in Pakistan
and in East Punjab in India.
There are also significant numbers of Punjabi speakers in the UK, USA, UAE,
Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.
Punjabi nation is the 9th biggest nation of the world.
Punjabi nation is the 3rd biggest nation of the South Asia.
Punjabi Muslims are the 3rd largest ethnic Muslim community in the World.
Punjabis are the 60% population of Pakistan.
Punjabi language is spoken by the 80% population of Pakistan.
Punjabi language is groomed by the Sufi saints Baba Farid, Baba Nanak, Shah
Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Khwaja Ghulam Farid, Mian
Muhammad Bakhsh.
Punjabi language descended from the Shauraseni language of medieval northern
India and became a distinct language during the 11th century.
In India, Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhi script, while in Pakistan it is
written with a version of the Persian alphabet known as Shahmukhi script.
The written standard for Punjabi in both India and Pakistan is known as Majhi,
which is named after the Majha region of Punjab.
The Gurmukhi script developed from the Landa alphabet and was standardized
during the 16th century by Guru Angad Dev Ji, the second Sikh guru.
Gurmukhi script is the Sikh language of prayer in which the Guru Granth Sahib is
written.
The second Sikh guru, Guru Angad transcribed the compositions of his
predecessor, Guru Nanak, into Gurmukhi script. He developed a phonetic script,
derived from a 16th-century script, which could be easily learned by the common
person.
The words of the ancient Gurmukhi are similar to those of modern Punjabi but
differ grammatically in that it is a poetic rather spoken language.
The Punjabi alphabet also has additional modern day characters which are not
included in Gurmukhi script and which do not appear in the scriptural verses of
the Guru Granth Sahib.