Languages of Pakistan

Languages of Pakistan

Following are the major languages spoken in Pakistan. The percentage of Pakistanis who are native speakers of that language is also given. Numbers of speakers of larger languages

Language 2008 estimate

1998 census

Areas of Predominance

1 Punjabi

76,367,36 0

.17!

"#, 33, 3 1

.1"!

Punjab

$ Pashto

$6,6%$,#% 1". 0

$0, 0#,6$ 1". $! 1

Kh ber!Pakhtunkh"a

3 #indhi

$ , 10,%1 1#,661,"7 1 .1$! 1 .10! 0 1

#indh

#araiki

1#,01%,61 13,%36,"% 10. $! 10."3! 0

#outhern Punjab

" $rdu

13,1$0," 0

7."%!

10,01%,"7 7."7! 6

Karachi

6 %alochi 6,$0 ," 0 3."%!

,7$ ,#71 3."7!

%alochistan

&ational language' (r)u (r)u *+,-./ is the national language *0123 4567/, lingua franca an) one of two official languages of Pakistan *the other 8eing 9nglish/. :lthough onl; a8out #! of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken an) un)erstoo) as a secon) language 8; almost all Pakistanis. <ts intro)uction as the lingua franca was encourage) 8; the =ritish upon the capitulation an) anne>ation of ?in)h*1# 3/ an) Punja8 *1# %/ with the su8se@uent 8an on the use of Persian. The )ecision to make the language change was to institute a universal language throughout the then =ritish Aaj in ?outh :sia as well as minimiBe the influence of Persia, Cttoman 9mpire, :fghanistan an) Dentral :sia ha) on this transitional region. (r)u is a relativel; new language in the contemporar; sense 8ut has un)ergone consi)era8le mo)ifications an) )evelopment 8orrowing heavil; on the tra)itions of ol)er languages like Persian,:ra8ic, Turkish an) local ?outh :sian languages all of which can 8e foun) in its voca8ular;. <t 8egan as a stan)ar)iBe) register ofEin)i an) in its spoken form. <t is wi)el; use), 8oth formall; an) informall;, for personal letters as well as pu8lic literature, in the literar; sphere an) in the popular me)ia. <t is a re@uire) su8ject of stu); in all primar; an) secon)ar; schools. <t is the first language of most Fuhajirs *Fuslim refugees that fle) from genoci)e an) pograms from )ifferent parts of<n)ia after in)epen)ence of Pakistan in 1% 7/ that form nearl; #! of PakistanGs population an) is an ac@uire) language. :s PakistanGs national language, (r)u has 8een promote) to promote national unit;. <t is written with a mo)ifie) form of the PersoH:ra8ic alpha8et, usuall; in &astali@ script, an) its 8asic Ein)ustani voca8ular; has 8een enriche) 8; wor)s from Persian, :ra8ic, Turkic languages an) 9nglish. (r)u has )rawn inspiration from Persian literature an) has now an enormous stock of wor)s from that language. <n recent ;ears, the (r)u spoken in Pakistan has gra)uall; 8een influence) 8; man; of the native languages inclu)ing Pashto, Punja8i an) ?in)hi in terms of intonation, as well as incorporating terminolog; from those languages. :s such the language is constantl; )eveloping an) has ac@uire) a particularl; IPakistaniI flavour to it )istinguishing itself from that spoken in ancient times an) in <n)ia. The first poetr; in (r)u was 8; the Persian poet :mir Jhusro *1$"3K13$"/ an) the first (r)u 8ook ILoh FajlisI was written in 17$#M the first time the wor) I(r)uI was use) was 8; ?iraju))in :li Jhan :rBoo in 17 1. N$O The Fughal 9mperor :urangBe8 :lamgir *16"#K1707/ spoke (r)u *or Ein)ustani/ fluentl; as )i) his )escen)ants while his ancestors mostl; spoke Persian an) Turkish.N3O Provincial languages Punjabi

Punja8i *421PQR/ is spoken as a first language 8; more than ! of Pakistanis, mostl; in Punja8. The e>act num8ers of Punja8i speakers in Pakistan is )ifficult to ascertain since there are man; )ialects, such as ?araiki, which some regar) as part of Punja8i an) others regar) as a separate language. Lhen taking into account Ein)ko, Potwari, Pahari, ?araiki, Punja8i )ialects are thus spoken 8; almost 60! of the population in Pakistan. The stan)ar) Punja8i )ialect is fromSahore, ?ialkot, Tujranwala an) ?heikhupura )istricts of the Pakistani Punja8 which was use) 8; Laris ?hah *17$$K17%#/ in his famous 8ook Eeer Aanjha an) is also nowa)a;s the language of Punja8i literature an) music. Punja8i is )escen)e) from Prakrit in the Ue)ic perio) *1700 =.D./, Pali, Cl) Persian an):pa8hramsha in the :shoka perio) *$73 =.D. H $3$ =.D./ an) Ein)vi, Sahori an) Fultani in the Fuslim perio) *711 :.V. H 1#"7 :.V./. Punja8i literature was principall; spiritual in nature an) has ha) a ver; rich oral tra)ition. &ajor Punjabi dialects &ajhi or #tandard Punjabi ?poken mainl; in central Punja8, the Fajhi )ialect is the )ialect of the historical region of Fajha,N O which spans the Sahore, ?heikhupura, Jasur, Ckara, Tujranwala, LaBira8a),?ialkot, &arowal, Tujrat an) to some e>tant in Whelum Vistrict of Pakistani Punja8 an):mritsar, Tarn Taran ?ahi8, an) Tur)aspur Vistricts of the <n)ian ?tate of Punja8. Potho"ari ?poken mainl; in northern Punja8 in the Potohar Plateau. :lternative names inclu)e' Potwari, Pothohari, Potohari, Dhi8hali, Vhun)iHJairali. Vialects' Pahari *Vhun)iHJairali/, Pothwari *Potwari/, Dhi8hali, Punchhi *Poonchi/, Whelumi, Firpuri. Pahari means Ghill languageG referring to a string of )ivergent )ialects, some of which ma; 8e separate languages. : )ialect chain with Panja8i an) Ein)ko. Dloseness to western Pahari is unknown. Se>ical similarit; 76! to #3! among varieties calle) GPahariG, GPotwariG, an) some calle) GEin)koG inFansehra, FuBaffara8a), an) Wammun. Dlassification' <n)oH9uropean, <n)oH<ranian, <n)oH:r;an, &orthern Bone, Lestern Pahari. 'indko ?oken mainl; in northwestern Punja8 an) southeastern &orthHLest Frontier Province in the )istricts of :ttock, &owshehra, Fansehra, =alakot, :88otta8a) as well as in Furreean) the lower half of &eelum Vistrict an) FuBafara8a). Dlassifie) un)er Sahn)a languages 8; man; linguistsM perhaps )iffers from Punja8i.

(hani The people of Pothohar speak Pothohari )ialect. Eowever, the people of Dhakwal or the Vhanni area in particular )o not speak Pothohari an) are ethnologicall; not regar)e) as Potoharis. The; speak a )istinctive Dhakwali or Vhanni )ialect of Punja8i, which is closer to ?hahpuri, a )ialect spoken in the ?hahpurH?alt Aange area an) also has a slight element of ?araiki an) Pothohari. Pashto Pashto *6XYR/ Pashto is spoken as a first language 8; 1"."! *$#H30 millions/ of Pakistanis, mostl; in the Jh;8er Pakhtunkhwa an) in =alochistan as well as 8; immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counte) )ue to census irregularities. The Pashto has rich written literar; tra)itions as well as an oral tra)ition. There are two major )ialect patterns within which the various in)ivi)ual )ialects ma; 8e classifie)M these are Pakhto, which is the &orthern *Peshawar/ variet;, an) the softer Pashto spoken in the southern areas. Jhushal Jhan Jhattak *1613K 16#%/ an) Aahman =a8a *1633K170#/ were the most famous poets in the Pashto language. <n the last part of $0th centur;, Pakhto or Pashtohas pro)uce) some great poets like Thani Jhan, Jhatir :fri)i an) :mir EamBa ?hinwari. There are also man; Pakistanis from the a)jacent regions of Punja8, ?in)h an)=alochistan who are conversant in Pashto an) count it as their secon) language. The; are not inclu)e) in the overall percentage. Jarachi is the 8iggest Pashto speaking cit; in the worl) although the Pashto speakers constitute onl; a8out $0! of JarachiGs population.

#indhi

Vialects of ?in)hi ?in)hi *ZQ[/ is spoken as a first language 8; 1"."! of Pakistanis, mostl; in ?in)h. <t has a rich literature an) is use) in schools. <t is an<n)oH:r;an *<n)oH9uropean/ language, )erive) from ?anskrit, an) :ra8ic languages. The :ra8s rule) ?in)h for more than 1"0 ;ears afterFuhamma) 8in \asim con@uere) it in 71$ :V, remaining there for three ;ears to set up :ra8 rule. Donse@uentl;, the social fa8ric of ?in)h contains elements of :ra8ic societ;. ?in)hi is spoken 8; over 36 million people in Pakistan, an) is the official language of ?in)h province. <t is wi)el; spoken in the Sas8ela Vistrict of =alochistan *where the Sasi tri8e speaks a )ialect of ?in)hi/, man; areas of the&aseera8a) an) Wafara8a) )istricts of =alochistan, an) 8; the ?in)hi )iaspora a8roa). ?in)hi language has si> major )ialects' ?ireli, Uicholi, Sari, Thari, Sasi an) Jachhi. <t is written in the :ra8ic script with several a))itional letters to accommo)ate special soun)s. The largest ?in)hiHspeaking cities are Jarachi, E;)era8a), ?ukkur, ?hikarpur, Va)u, Waco8a8a), Sarkana an) &awa8shah. ?in)hi literatureis also spiritual in nature. ?hah :8)ul Satif =hitaGi *16#%K17"$/ is one of its greatest poets, an) wrote ?assi Punnun an) (mar Farvi, folk stories, in his famous 8ook I?hah Wo AisaloI.

&ajor #indhi dialects

#indhi #araiki H a version of ?araiki regar)e) as a )ialect of ?in)hiM spoken mainl; in northern ?in)h )icholi H consi)ere) the general )ialect of ?in)hi an) spoken mostl; in central ?in)h Lari H spoken mostl; in southern ?in)h Lasi H spoken mostl; in western ?in)h *hari or *hareli H spoken mostl; in eastern ?in)h Kachhi H spoken mostl; in the Jutch region in southeastern ?in)h

O%alochi =alochi *4]6^2/ is spoken as a first language 8; a8out ! of Pakistanis, mostl; in =alochistan province. <t is 8elieve) that the language was 8rought to its present location in a series of migrations from the Jur)istan region of northeastern <ra@ an) northwestern <ran. Aakshani is the major )ialect group in terms of num8ers. ?arha))i is a su8H )ialect of Aakshani. Cther su8H)ialects are Jalati *\alati/, DhagaiHJharani an) Panjguri. 9astern Eill =alochi or &orthern =alochi is ver; )ifferent from the rest. =alochi language is ver; close to the Persian itself. The name Balochi or Baluchi is not foun) 8efore the 10th Dentur;. Aakshani is the major )ialect group in terms of num8ers. ?arha))i, is a su8 )ialect of Aakshani. Cther su8 H )ialects are \alati, Dhagai Jharani, an) Fakrani. The 9astern Eill =alochi or &orthern =alochi are )istinct )ialects. The Jethran language in &orth 9ast =alochistan is also a variant of =alochi. <t is one of the % )istinguishe) languages of Pakistan. ?ince =alochi is a ver; poetic an) rich language an) have a certain )egree of affinit; to Persian an) (r)u, =alochi poets ten) to 8e ver; goo) poets in (r)u as well an) :ta ?haa), Tul Jhan &asir an) &oon Feem Vanish are e>cellent e>amples of this.

Aegional languages #araiki ?araiki *4_`a.b[/ or Fultani *also Sehn)i 8; some/ is spoken in Pakistani Punja8.<t perhaps )iffer more than an; other )ialect of Punja8i. <t 8ecomes more an) more )ifferent as ;ou move )own south, as the influence of ?in)hi increases. ?araiki itself is ?in)hi wor) an) means northern.<t is now consi)ere) as a separate language, instea) of merel; a )ialect of Punja8i.<t is mostl; spoken in southern an) western )istricts of Punja8,which comprises Fultan, So)hran, =ahawalpur, Fianwali, =hakkar, Sa;;ah, Vera ThaBi Jhan, FuBaffargarh, Aahim car Jhan, southern an) western parts of Jhanewal,southern parts of =ahawalnagar an) western parts of Jhusha8 )istricts. <t is also spoken 8; majorit; of population of Vera <smail Jhan )istrict in Jh;8er Pakhtunkhwa *.6de6XR bf`g/ province, kachi plain of =alochistan, northern parts of ?in)h, an) cities of E;)era8a) an) Jarachi. ?araiki, 8elongs to the <n)oH:r;an 8ranch of <n)oH9uropean. :ccor)ing to glo8al recor)ings languages these are also ?araiki. Whangvi or Whangochi or Aachnavi, spoken in the central Pakistani Punja8, stretches from )istricts Jhanewal to Whang an) inclu)es Faisala8a),?ahiwal an) Dhiniot. ?hahpuri, spoken in Fianwali, ?argo)ha, Jhusha8 an) Fan)i =ahau))in )istricts. Ein)ko, spoken in )istricts of Peshawar, :ttock, &owshehra, Fansehra, =alakot, :88otta8a) an) Furree an) the lower half of &eelum Vistrict an) FuBafara8a). 'indko Ein)ko language *6hiQ/ is known as the Ilanguage of the mountains.I <t is spoken in man; )ialects in the )istricts of Peshawar, Johat, &owshera, ?wa8i, Earipur, :88otta8a), Fansehra, :ttock, Furree, the lower half of &eelum Vistrict an) FuBafara8a) Vistrict of Jashmir. Ein)ko is an ancient <n)oH:r;an language spoken 8; Ein)kowans in Pakistan. <t is ver; similar to northern )ialects of Punja8i. The language is spoken in the areas of the Jh;8er Pakhtunkhwa*inclu)ing EaBara/, local people of Peshawar Punja8 an) :Ba) Jashmir 8; an estimate) $.$ to million people.Ncitation neededO Vuring the preH=u))hist era in present )a; Pakistan, the language of the masses was refine) 8; the ancient grammarian Pjini, who set the rules of a structurall; rigorous language calle)?anskrit which was use) principall; for scriptures *analogous to Satin in the Lestern worl)/. Feanwhile, the vernacular language of the masses, Prakrit)evelope) into man; tongues an) )ialects which sprea) over the northern

"

parts of ?outh :sia. Ein)ko is 8elieve) to 8e closel; relate) to Prakrit. Vue to the geographic isolation of the regions, it has un)ergone ver; little grammatical corruption, 8ut has 8orrowe) consi)era8le voca8ular; from its neigh8ours, in particular Pashto. <t shows close affinit; to Punja8i an) the Sahn)a su8Hgroup of <n)oH:r;an tongues an) can 8e su8H)ivi)e) into a northern an) southern )ialects. Kashmiri Jashmiri *bk l mn/ is an ancient Var)ic language spoken in :Ba) Jashmir, TilgitK=altistan an) Punja8 provinces of Pakistan. There are over $ million Jashmiri speakers in Pakistan. Fost of the Jashmiris in Punja8 province an) Jarachi are refugees an) their )escen)ents who fle) <n)ian invasion an) occupation ofJashmir in 1% #. <n 1%1% Teorge :8raham Trierson wrote that oJashmiri is the onl; one of the Var)ic languages that has a literaturep. Jashmiri literature )ates 8ack to over 7"0 ;ears, this is, moreHorHless, the age of man; a mo)ern literature inclu)ing mo)ern 9nglish. Jashmiri retains several features of Cl) <n)oH:r;an that have 8een lost in other Fo)ern <n)oH:r;an languages such as (r)u, Punja8i an) ?in)hi.N"O %rahui =rahui *q6.b2/ is of Vravi)ian origin )espite the fact that a reasona8le amount of the language shares le>ical similarities to =alochi as well as ?in)hi an) Pashto )ue to influence of neigh8oring languages. Though, =rahui has 8een influence) 8; these languages, a majorit; of the literature contains pure Vravi)ian wor)s that relate to the languages of ?outh <n)ia. ?poken in southern Pakistan, it ma; have evolve) from the original languages of <n)us valle; civiliBations at Fehrgarh, suggesting that the Vravi)ian languages were more wi)esprea). <t is spoken in central an) east central =alochistan. The Fengals are a famous =rahvi tri8e. :roun) 1H1."! of Pakistani population has =rahui as their first language. <t is one of the nine )istinguishe) languages of Pakistan. The =rahui population of =alochistan has tra)itionall; 8een taken as a relict population, in)icating that Vravi)ian languages were formerl; more wi)esprea) 8ut were supplante) 8; the incoming <n)oH:r;an languages.N6O Eowever, this i)ea has fallen out of favorM accor)ing to W. E. 9lfen8ein, =rahui appears to have migrate) to =alochistan from central <n)ia after 1000 D9, as evi)ence) 8; the a8sence of :vestan loanwor)s. The main <ranian contri8utor to =rahui voca8ular;, =alochi, is a western <ranian language like Jur)ish that move) to the area from the west onl; aroun) 1000 D9.N7O #hina ?hina *1Q`k/ *also known as Tshina/ is a Var)ic language spoken 8; a pluralit; of people in TilgitK =altistan of Pakistan. The valle;s in which it is spoken inclu)e :store, Dhilas,Vareil, Tangeer, Tilgit, ThiBer, an) a few parts of Johistan. <t is also spoken in TureB, Vrass, Jargil, Jarkit =a)gam an) Sa)akh valle;s of Jashmir. There were 3$1,000 speakers of Tilgiti ?hina in 1%#1. Cther languages +nglish ,official language9nglish is one of the official languages of Pakistan *the other 8eing (r)u/ an) is wi)el; use) in the e>ecutive, legislative an) ju)icial 8ranches as well as to some e>tent in the officer ranks of PakistanGs arme) forces. PakistanGs Donstitution an) laws are written in 9nglish. <t is also wi)el; use) in schools, colleges an) universities as a me)ium of instruction. :mongst the more e)ucate) social circles of Pakistan, 9nglish is seen as the language of upwar) mo8ilit; an) its use is 8ecoming more prevalent in upper social circles often spoken alongsi)e native Pakistani languages. Arabic ,religious language:ra8ic *r2bs/ is the religious language of Fuslims. The \uran, ?unnah, Ea)ith an) Fuslim theolog; is taught in :ra8ic with (r)u translation. The Pakistani )iaspora living in theFi))le 9ast has further increase) the num8er of people who can speak :ra8ic in Pakistan. :ra8ic is taught as a religious language in mos@ues, schools, colleges, universities an)ma)rassahs. : majorit; of PakistanGs Fuslim population has ha) some form of formal or informal e)ucation in the rea)ing, writing an) pronunciation of the :ra8ic language as part of their religious e)ucation. Persian

Persian *4[-1t/ was the language of Fuslims in ?outh :sia 8efore the a)vent of the =ritish an) was the official an) cultural language of the Fughal 9mpire. Persian was officiall; a8olishe) from the region with the arrival of the =ritish' in ?in)h in 1# 3 an) in Punja8 in 1# % to minimiBe the influence of the Fughal 9mpire. <t is still spoken an) un)erstoo) 8; a few in Pakistan as a literar; language. Fan; Persian speaking refugees from :fghanistan have settle) in Pakistan permanentl;. *urkic languages ,cultural languageTurkic *ubv/ languages were use) 8; the ruling TurcoHFongols *or Fughals/ an) earlier ?ultans of <n)ia man; of whom have settle) in Pakistan. There are pockets of Turkic speakers foun) throughout the countr;, nota8l; in the valle;s in the countries northern regions which lie a)jacent to Dentral :sia, western Pakistani region of LaBiristan principall; aroun) Janigoram where the =urki tri8e )wells an) in PakistanGs ur8an centres of Jarachi, Sahore an) <slama8a). The auto8iograph; of Fughal emperor =a8ur, TuBk =a8ari was also written in Turkish. :fter returning from e>ile in ?afavi) Persia in 1""", Fughal emperor Euma;un intro)uce) Persian language an) culture in court an) government. TheDhaghatai language, in which =a8ur ha) written his memoirs, )isappeare) almost entirel; from the culture of the courtl; elite, an) Fughal emperor :k8ar coul) not speak it. Sater in life, Euma;un himself is sai) to have spoken in Persian verse more often than not. Fan; Turkic speaking refugees, mostl; (B8eks an) Turkmens, from :fghanistan have settle) in Pakistan permanentl;. The wor) Urdu is of Turkic origin, as (r)u was originall; calle) Zaban-e-Ordu or language of the Army, ordu meaning army' in Turkish.

&inor languages Cther languages spoken 8; linguistic minorities inclu)e the languages liste) 8elow, with speakers ranging from a few hun)re) to tens of thousan)s. : few are highl; en)angere) languages that ma; soon have no speakers at all.N#O

:er =a)eshi =agri =alti =ateri =ha)rawa

Vari Vameli Vogri Vehawri VhatkiwTha hi

Wa)gali Wan)avra Ja8utra JachchiwJutc

ri

hi

=ha;a =rokskat =urigwPuri =urushask

Vomaaki TawarH=ati Thera Toaria Towro Tujarati Tojri

Dham8eali *Tujari/ Dhangthan Turgula Dhilisso Dhitrali

<n)us EaBaragi

Palula ?ansi ji JoliH ?avi Parkari ?wati JoliH ?hinaH La)i;ara Jalami Johistani Sasi JalashaHmun ?in)hi Soarki H=hil Jalkoti Farwa Torwa Jamviri ri li Jati Femon Jhetrani i Jhojki (;ghu C)wC) r Jhowar ki Johistani Crmuri

JoliH

Jachi

(shojow(sho =agriwUagri Lakhi Laneci ci)gha xangskari

Dlassification .ndo!+uropean

Fost of the languages of Pakistan 8elong to the <n)oH<ranian 8ranch of the <n)oH9uropean language famil;. The; are )ivi)e) 8etween two major groups of that 8ranch' <n)oH:r;an*the majorit;, inclu)ing (r)u, Punja8i, ?in)hi, Ein)ko, an) ?araiki, among others/, an) <ranian *inclu)ing Pashto, Persian, =alochi, an) Jhowar, among others/. Non!.ndo!+uropean The following four languages of Pakistan are not part of the <n)oH9uropean language famil;' =rahui *spoken in central =alochistan province/ is a Vravi)ian language. <ts voca8ular; has 8een significantl; influence) 8; =alochi. <t has 8een suggeste), with evi)ence, to 8e linke) to the ancient <n)us valle; civiliBation, 8ut oral histor; an) linguistic evi)ence in)icates that it is a fairl; recent immigrant to the area from southeastern <n)ia The =alti )ialect of Sa)akhi *spoken in an area of southern TilgitK=altistan/ is a Ti8etan language of the Ti8etoH=urman language famil;N1"O =urushaski *spoken in EunBa, &agar, casin, an) <shkoman valle;s in TilgitK=altistan/ is a language isolate with no written script