Is Punjabi a mere dialect of Hindi?

[scionoftheindus]

Yes.

Do you have Punjab in schools?

 

[Kabira]

Do you have Punjab in schools?

We have schools in Punjab.

 

[scionoftheindus]

We have schools in Punjab.

Hahaha..OK..leave it...I as an observer find Punjabi is just a dialect of Hindi/Urdu.OK leave it..what man didn't go to taraabi?

 

[agamdilawari]

Thing which can be read, written & spoken...how can that be a mere dialect ? dumbo !!

 

[Kabira]

Hahaha..OK..leave it...I as an observer find Punjabi is just a dialect of Hindi/Urdu.OK leave it..what man didn't go to taraabi?

tarabi? Dude are you ok?

 

[scionoftheindus]

Thing which can be read, written & spoken...how can that be a mere dialect ? dumbo !!

OK Punjabi is a language

 

[scionoftheindus]

tarabi? Dude are you ok?

Sorry man it is taraweeh..

 

[Indus Pakistan]

OK Punjabi is a language

Norweigian, Swedish are rather similar but nevertheless differant languages. Polish, Slovakian and even Russian are similar ( I once had a occasion to talk to a interpreter who was helping me to communicate with Slovak Gypsies and I found out she was Polish -rather surprised I asked how she also could speak Slovak. Her reply was Slovak/Polish are Slav languages that are so close that both can be understood although there are of course differances. On that scale Serbian, Russian, Ukranian are also similar although the divergence increases further east you go. Most languages will have similarties. At what point you decide to call then unique is purely subjective and mostly informed by politics so your not going to get a objective answer.

Where there is external political push to create uniformity then Punjabi can be press ganged into the "Hindi" umbrella. Using the European benchmark Punjabi is a separate language. As regards to whether it is taught officially in Pakistan I believe it is not despite being the language of 65% of the population. however non of the native languages of the provinces that make Pakistan, Pashto, Punjabi, Baloch or Sindhi are taught at schools.

I believe this was a terrible mistake as Urdu was alien to most of the population. However because in Pakistan's formative years the Urdu community was dominant group Urdu was foisted on everybody and local languages were ignored unlike in India where everybody got equal chance with each stare kkepings it's language. Pakistan made a mistake but that is another story.

 

[Shan-e-ibrahim]

In India the script is gurumukhi and in Pakistan its shahmukhi

and Punjabi sounds closer to hindi and urdu hence quite similar


mein(urdu) = I = mam (sanskrit) = mein (hindi) = mein (punjabi)

 

[syedali73]

Norweigian, Swedish are rather similar but nevertheless differant languages. Polish, Slovakian and even Russian are similar ( I once had a occasion to talk to a interpreter who was helping me to communicate with Slovak Gypsies and I found out she was Polish -rather surprised I asked how she also could speak Slovak. Her reply was Slovak/Polish are Slav languages that are so close that both can be understood although there are of course differances. On that scale Serbian, Russian, Ukranian are also similar although the divergence increases further east you go. Most languages will have similarties. At what point you decide to call then unique is purely subjective and mostly informed by politics so your not going to get a objective answer.

Where there is external political push to create uniformity then Punjabi can be press ganged into the "Hindi" umbrella. Using the European benchmark Punjabi is a separate language. As regards to whether it is taught officially in Pakistan I believe it is not despite being the language of 65% of the population. however non of the native languages of the provinces that make Pakistan, Pashto, Punjabi, Baloch or Sindhi are taught at schools.

I believe this was a terrible mistake as Urdu was alien to most of the population. However because in Pakistan's formative years the Urdu community was dominant group Urdu was foisted on everybody and local languages were ignored unlike in India where everybody got equal chance with each stare kkepings it's language. Pakistan made a mistake but that is another story.

Urdu was not alien for it was being used as a common language of communication between several dozens of Indian ethnicities for at least 250 years. I do however agree with you that various local languages should be taught at least as elective subject. In Sindh, Sindhi is a compulsory subject though.

That said, it is not that simple an undertaking. In Punjab alone, besides Punjabi we have Saraiki, potohari, hindko; in KPK, Hindko, Pushto; in Balochistan, Balochi, Brahwi, Pushto. The Balochi of Panjgur area has lots of persian language influence compared to Balochi spoken in Makran division. The Balochi of Marri tribe is very distinct than the rest. So what you are suggesting is commendable but logistically not easy and perhaps that is the reason that it was never put into place despite occasional calls.

 

[Shamain]

Actually all the languages spoken in the world today are mere dialect of Sanskrit. The genus Homo have migrated out of Ganges planes and every human is originally Hindu.

میں ہنستے ہنستے
سیمی مر گئی (semi)​

 

[Shan-e-ibrahim]

Actually all the languages spoken in the world today are mere dialect of Sanskrit. The genus Homo have migrated out of Ganges planes and every human is originally Hindu.

vedas mention Ganga quite often

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Urdu was not alien for it was being used as a common language of communication between several dozens of Indian ethnicities for at least 250 years. I do however agree with you that various local languages should be taught at least as elective subject. In Sindh, Sindhi is a compulsory subject though.

That said, it is not that simple an undertaking. In Punjab alone, besides Punjabi we have Saraiki, potohari, hindko; in KPK, Hindko, Pushto; in Balochistan, Balochi, Brahwi, Pushto. The Balochi of Panjgur area has lots of persian language influence compared to Balochi spoken in Makran division. The Balochi of Marri tribe is very distinct than the rest. So what you are suggesting is commendable but logistically not easy and perhaps that is the reason that it was never put into place despite occasional calls.

The word alien is to harsh. However for sure it was extremely limited within a very narrow band of people in what is now Pakistan. Asides from the local languages before 1850s Persian was the language of the educated ( Sikh Empire ) and Urdu made inroads into what is now Pakistan only after the British took over in 1849. So your figure of 250 is incorrect. It may apply in the wider Ganges plain however Urdu only entered this region with the British.

After 1849 British take over with education and interaction with the officialdom ( The British made Urdu/hindi standardised ) did urdu make headway however as education was very limited even upto 1947 urdu had not taken any traction. Since it was declared the official language it of course has now spread.

As regards your comments about the problems of hotch potch of local dialects/languages I am aware of. However that is nothing significant and is found all over the world. Next door in India they have even more complicated situation as the number of languages dialects goes into 100s however that has not stopped them from have each state have a official language. This should have been done soon after 1947 as now it is very difficult.

Also frankly i know it is too late now but i don't think Pakistan should have gone for Urdu. I know the history and the forces at work before 1947 and after. However just as "alternative hypothesis" I feel Pashto or even Persian should have been Pakistan's language. I will open a thread on that just to speculate what could have been and look to see your input.

 

[Shan-e-ibrahim]

writing in english and talking about Punjabi and Hindi and getting proud amazing.

 

[syedali73]

The word alien is to harsh. However for sure it was extremely limited within a very narrow band of people in what is now Pakistan. Asides from the local languages before 1850s Persian was the language of the educated ( Sikh Empire ) and Urdu made inroads into what is now Pakistan only after the British took over in 1849. So your figure of 250 is incorrect. It may apply in the wider Ganges plain however Urdu only entered this region with the British.

After 1849 British take over with education and interaction with the officialdom ( The British made Urdu/hindi standardised ) did urdu make headway however as education was very limited even upto 1947 urdu had not taken any traction. Since it was declared the official language it of course has now spread.

As regards your comments about the problems of hotch potch of local dialects/languages I am aware of. However that is nothing significant and is found all over the world. Next door in India they have even more complicated situation as the number of languages dialects goes into 100s however that has not stopped them from have each state have a official language. This should have been done soon after 1947 as now it is very difficult.

Also frankly i know it is too late now but i don't think Pakistan should have gone for Urdu. I know the history and the forces at work before 1947 and after. However just as "alternative hypothesis" I feel Pashto or even Persian should have been Pakistan's language. I will open a thread on that just to speculate what could have been and look to see your input.

Dont fix if aint broken. With so many problems at hand with reference to education system, you are proposing Pushto or Persian as Pakistan's national language. In my view all languages should be sacked for good and English be adapted as a single language for the purposes of education and office work. People can adhere to their mother tongues but these languages have no place in a society where English has become lingua franca.