Languages of Pakistan

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Languages of Pakistan
Pakistani Sign Language
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Pakistan is a multilingual country with over 70 languages spoken as first languages.[3][4] The majority of Pakistan's languages belong to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family.[5][6]

Urdu is the national language and the lingua franca of Pakistan, and while sharing official status with English, it is the preferred and dominant language used for inter-communication between different ethnic groups.[3][4] Numerous regional languages are spoken as first languages by Pakistan's various ethnolinguistic groups. Languages with more than a million speakers each include Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki (Punjabi variety[e]), Urdu, Balochi, Hindko (Punjabi variety[f]) and Brahui.[7] There are approximately 60 local languages with fewer than a million speakers.[8][9]

List of languages

The 2022 edition of Ethnologue lists 77 established languages, with some varieties of languages included as well, in Pakistan. Of these, 68 are indigenous and 9 are non-indigenous. In terms of their vitality, 4 are classified as 'institutional', 24 are 'developing', 30 are 'vigorous', 15 are 'in trouble', and 4 are 'dying'.[8]

If the varieties of languages are excluded and only languages, as whole, are counted then the number of languages comes down to 55.

Established languages[8]
Language or Variety[g] Province[h] Language group
Aer (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Badeshi Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Bagri Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Balochi, Eastern
 Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh Iranian
Balochi, Southern
 Balochistan, Sindh Iranian
Balochi, Western
 Balochistan, Sindh Iranian
Balti Gilgit Baltistan Sino-Tibetan
Bateri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Bhaya Sindh Indo-Aryan
Brahui Balochistan, Sindh Dravidian
Burushaski Gilgit Baltistan Isolate
Chilisso Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Dameli Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Dari (Persian) Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Dehwari (Persian) Balochistan Iranian
Dhatki Sindh Indo-Aryan
Domaaki
 Gilgit Baltistan Indo-Aryan
English Federal co-official Germanic
Gawar-Bati Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Gawri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Ghera Sindh Indo-Aryan
Goaria (Marwari) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Gowro Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Gujarati Sindh Indo-Aryan
Gujari Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan,
Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab		 Indo-Aryan
Gurgula Sindh Indo-Aryan
Hazaragi (Persian
)		 Balochistan Iranian
Hindko, Northern (Punjabi
)		 Azad Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Hindko, Southern (Punjabi
)		 Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Indo-Aryan
Jadgali Balochistan, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Jandavra (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Jogi (Marwari) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kabutra (Sansi) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kacchi
 Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kalasha
 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kalkoti Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kamviri (Kamkata-vari
)		 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Kashmiri Azad Kashmir Indo-Aryan
Kati (Kamkata-vari) Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Khetrani Balochistan Indo-Aryan
Khowar
 Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kohistani, Indus Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Koli, Kachi (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Koli, Parkari (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Koli, Wadiyari (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kundal Shahi Azad Kashmir Indo-Aryan
Lasi (Sindhi
)		 Balochistan Indo-Aryan
Loarki Sindh Indo-Aryan
Mankiyali Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Marwari Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Mewati Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Memoni Sindh Indo-Aryan
Oadki
 Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Ormuri
 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Pahari-Pothwari (Punjabi) Azad Kashmir, Punjab Indo-Aryan
Pakistan Sign Language
 Throughout Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
Palula Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Pashto, Central Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Pashto, Northern Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Pashto, Southern Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Punjabi, Eastern
 Punjab Indo-Aryan
Punjabi, Western
 Punjab Indo-Aryan
Saraiki (Punjabi) Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Sarikoli Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Savi
 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Shina Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Shina, Kohistani Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Sindhi Balochistan, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Sindhi Bhil
 Sindh Indo-Aryan
Tamil Sindh Dravidian
Torwali Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Urdu Throughout Indo-Aryan
Ushojo
 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Vaghri (Gujarati) Sindh Indo-Aryan
Wakhi Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Waneci (Pashto
)		 Balochistan Iranian
Yadgha
 Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian

Statistics

Languages of Pakistan[10]
language percent
Punjabi
 
 50.97%
Pashto
 
 18.24%
Sindhi
 
 14.57%
Urdu
 
 7.08%
Balochi
 
 3.02%
Hindko
 
 2.44%
Brahui
 
 1.24%
Kashmiri
 
 0.17%
Others
 
 2.26%
Language Families of Pakistan[11]
language percent
Indo Aryan
 
 75.06%
Iranic
 
 21.26%
Dravidian
 
 1.24%
Dardic
 
 0.17%
Other
 
 2.26%
Census history of major languages
Rank Language 2017 census 1998 census 1981 census 1961 census 1951 census
1 Punjabi* 38.78% 44.15% 48.17% 56.39% 57.08%
2
Pashto
 18.24% 15.42% 13.35% 8.47% 8.16%
3 Sindhi 14.57% 14.1% 12.7% 12.59% 12.85%
4 Saraiki* 12.19% 10.53% 9.54%
5
Urdu
 7.08% 7.57% 7.60% 7.57% 7.05%
6 Balochi 3.02% 3.57% 3.02% 2.49% 3.04%
7 Others 6.12% 4.66% 5.62% 12.49% 11.82%

* Saraiki was included with Punjabi in the 1951 and 1961 censuses.

Official languages

Urdu (official language)

2017 Pakistan Census

Urdu (اردو) is the national language (قومی زبان) and lingua franca of Pakistan.[12] Although only about 7% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is widely spoken and understood as a second language by the vast majority of Pakistanis.[13][14]

Urdu was chosen as a symbol of unity for the new state of Pakistan in 1947, because it had already served as a lingua franca among Muslims in north and northwest

provinces/territories of Pakistan, and together with English as the main languages of instruction,[16] although the people from differing provinces may have different native languages.[17]

Urdu is taught as a compulsory subject up to higher secondary school in both English and Urdu medium school systems, which has produced millions of second-language Urdu speakers among people whose native language is one of the other languages of Pakistan – which in turn has led to the absorption of vocabulary from various regional Pakistani languages,[18] while some Urdu vocabularies has also been assimilated by Pakistan's regional languages.[19][20]

English (co-official language)

See also: Pakistani English

English is a co-official language of Pakistan and is widely used in the executive, legislative and judicial branches as well as to some extent in the officer ranks of Pakistan's armed forces. Pakistan's Constitution and laws were written in English and are now being re-written in the local languages. It is also widely used in schools, colleges and universities as a medium of instruction. English is seen as the language of upward mobility, and its use is becoming more prevalent in upper social circles, where it is often spoken alongside native Pakistani languages. In 2015, it was announced that there were plans to promote Urdu in official business, but Pakistan's Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal stated, "Urdu will be a second medium of language and all official business will be bilingual." He also went on to say that English would be taught alongside Urdu in schools.[21]

Major regional languages

Punjabi

See also: Punjabi dialects and languages
2017 Pakistan Census

Shahmukhi script. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. It is spoken as a first language by 38.78% of Pakistanis.[22] The language is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone.[23]

Pashto

2017 Pakistan Census

Pashtun communities in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and most notably Karachi,[24][25][26][27] which may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in the world.[28] There are three major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are the Pakhto variety of Northern (Peshawar) variety, the southern Pashto spoken in the vicinity of Quetta, and the Wanetsi
or Tareeno variety of northern Balochistan.

Sindhi

2017 Pakistan Census

Sindh province of Pakistan. The name "Sindhi" is derived from Sindhu, the original name of the Indus River.[29]

Like other languages of this family, Sindhi has passed through Old Indo-Aryan (

Apabhramsha) stages of growth. 20th century Western scholars such as George Abraham Grierson believed that Sindhi descended specifically from the Vrācaḍa dialect of Apabhramsha (described by Markandeya as being spoken in Sindhu-deśa) but later work has shown this to be unlikely.[30] It entered the New Indo-Aryan stage around the 10th century CE.[31][32]

The six major known dialects of the Sindhi language are Siroli, Vicholi, Lari, Thari,

Lasi and Kutchi.[33]

Saraiki (Punjabi variety)

2017 Pakistan Census

morphology. At the same time in its phonology it is radically different[35] (particularly in the lack of tones, the preservation of the voiced aspirates and the development of implosive consonants), and has important grammatical features in common with the Sindhi language spoken to the south.[36]

Saraiki is spoken about 26 million people in Pakistan, ranging across southern Punjab, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and border regions of northern Sindh and eastern Balochistan.[37]

Balochi

2017 Pakistan Census

Iranian language spoken as a first language by about 3% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Balochistan
province. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi is a sub-dialect of Rakshani. Other sub-dialects are Kalati (Qalati), Chagai-Kharani and Panjguri. Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi is very different from the rest.

Hindko (Punjabi variety)

2017 Pakistan Census

dialects of the Punjabi language spoken in several discontinuous areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab
. Hindko is mutually intelligible with
Punjabi varieties are more pronounced in the morphology and phonology than in the syntax.[40]
The word Hindko, commonly used to refer to a number of Indo-Aryan dialects spoken in the neighbourhood of Pashto, likely originally meant "the Indian language" (in contrast to Pashto).[41] An alternative local name for this language group is Hindki.[42][i]

Brahui

2017 Pakistan Census

Balochistan province. Brahui is spoken in the central part of Pakistani Balochistan, mainly in Kalat, Khuzdar and Mastung districts, but also in smaller numbers in neighboring districts, as well as in Afghanistan which borders Pakistani Balochistan; however, many members of the ethnic group no longer speak Brahui.[43]

Endangered languages

Map showing some of the minor languages in Pakistan as of 1998.

Other languages spoken by linguistic minorities include the languages listed below, with speakers ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. A few are highly

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines five levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":[45]

The list below includes the findings from the third edition of Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages), as well as the online edition of the aforementioned publication, both published by UNESCO.[46]

Language Status Comments ISO 639-3
Balti Vulnerable[45] Also spoken in: India bft
Bashkarik
 Definitely endangered[45]   gwc, xka
Badeshi Critically endangered[45]   bdz
Bateri Definitely endangered[45]   btv
Bhadravahi
 Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: India bhd
Brahui Vulnerable[45] Also spoken in: Afghanistan brh
Burushaski
 Vulnerable[45]   bsk
Chilisso Severely endangered[45]   clh
Dameli Severely endangered[45]   dml
Domaaki
 Severely endangered[45]   dmk
Gawar-Bati Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: Afghanistan gwt
Gowro Severely endangered[45]   gwf
Jadgali jdg
Kalasha language
 Severely endangered[45]  Not to be confused with
Kalasha-ala
 kls
Kalkoti Severely endangered[45]    
Kati (
Kamkata-viri,
Kata-vari, Kamviri
) 		Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: Afghanistan bsh, xvi
Khowar
 Vulnerable[45]   khw
Kundal Shahi Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: India  
Maiya
 Vulnerable[45]   mvy
Ormuri
 Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: Afghanistan oru
Phalura
 Definitely endangered[45]   phl
Purik
 Vulnerable[45] Also spoken in: India prx
Savi
 Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: Afghanistan sdg
Spiti
 Vulnerable[45] Also spoken in: India spt
Torwali Definitely endangered[45]   trw
Ushojo
 Definitely endangered[45]   ush
Wakhi Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan wbl
Yidgha Definitely endangered[45]   ydg
Zangskari Definitely endangered[45] Also spoken in: India zau

Other languages

Arabic

Arabic is used as a religious language by Muslims. The

madrassahs. A majority of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of Arabic as part of their religious education. However, Pakistanis are not Arabs and do not speak Arabic.[47]

Arabic is mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan. It declares in article 31 No. 2 that "The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ..."[48]

The National Education Policy 2017 declares in article 3.7.4 that: "Arabic as compulsory part will be integrated in Islamiyat from Middle to Higher Secondary level to enable the students to understand the Holy Quran." Furthermore, it specifies in article 3.7.6: "Arabic as elective subject shall be offered properly at Secondary and Higher Secondary level with Arabic literature and grammar in its course to enable the learners to have command in the language." This law is also valid for private schools as it defines in article 3.7.12: "The curriculum in Islamiyat, Arabic and Moral Education of public sector will be adopted by the private institutions to make uniformity in the society."[49]

Persian

Main article:
Persian language in South Asia
See also: Persian and Urdu

Punjab
in 1849.

Today the eastern

Madaklashti dialect of Tajik Persian is spoken by the descendants of ironmongers from Badakhshan
who settled there in the eighteenth century.

Foreign languages

As of 2017[update] some Pakistanis are learning Mandarin to do business with companies from the People's Republic of China.[52]

Classification

Indo-Iranian

Most of the languages of Pakistan belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.[53][54] The common ancestor of all of the languages in this family is called Proto-Indo-Iranian—also known as Common Aryan—which was spoken in approximately the late 3rd millennium BC. The three branches of the modern Indo-Iranian languages are Indo-Aryan, Iranian, and Nuristani. A fourth independent branch, Dardic, was previously posited, but recent scholarship in general places Dardic languages as archaic members of the Indo-Aryan branch.[55]

Indo-Aryan

Majority of the languages spoken in eastern regions of Pakistan belong to the Indo-Aryan group.

Modern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Old Indo-Aryan languages such as early Vedic Sanskrit, through Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Prakrits).[56][57][58][59]

Some of the important languages in this family are

Hindko (with almost five million speakers in north-western Punjab and neighbouring regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially Hazara), Pahari/Pothwari (3.5 million speakers in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Azad Kashmir and parts of Indian Jammu and Kashmir), Khetrani (20,000 speakers in Balochistan), and Inku (a possibly extinct language of Afghanistan).[8][61][62]

Iranian

Majority of the languages spoken in western regions of Pakistan belong to the Iranic group. There are several dialects continuums in this family as well:

Pashto.[64]

Other

The following three languages of Pakistan are not part of the Indo-European language family:

Writing systems

Main articles: Nastaliq and Urdu alphabet
An English-Urdu bilingual sign at the archaeological site of Sirkap, near Taxila. The Urdu says: (right to left) دو سروں والے عقاب کی شبيہ والا مندر, dō sarōñ wālé u'qāb kī shabīh wāla mandir. "The temple with the image of the eagle with two heads."

Most languages of Pakistan are written in the

Nastaʿlīq
style of the Perso-Arabic script came into widespread use in South Asia, and the influence remains to this day. In Pakistan, almost everything in Urdu is written in the script, concentrating the greater part of Nastaʿlīq usage in the world.

Nastaʿlīq script[66]
Lashkari Zabān title in Naskh script

The

Nasta'liq script
.

Sindhi adopted a variant of the Persian alphabet as well, in the 19th century. The script is used in Pakistan today, albeit unlike most other native languages of Pakistan, the Naskh style is more common for Sindhi writing than the Nasta'liq style. It has a total of 52 letters, augmenting the Urdu with digraphs and eighteen new letters (ڄ ٺ ٽ ٿ ڀ ٻ ڙ ڍ ڊ ڏ ڌ ڇ ڃ ڦ ڻ ڱ ڳ ڪ) for sounds particular to Sindhi and other Indo-Aryan languages. Some letters that are distinguished in Arabic or Persian are homophones in Sindhi.

Shahmukhī script, a variant of the Urdu alphabet, is used to write the Punjabi language
in Pakistan.

Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into Roman letters,

National Language Authority of Pakistan
has developed a number of systems with specific notations to signify non-English sounds, but these can only be properly read by someone already familiar with Urdu.

Maps

This is a series of maps which shows the distribution of different languages in Pakistan as of the

2017 Pakistan Census
. These all refer to the mother tongues of individuals only.

2017 Pakistan Census

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also known as Lashkari (لشکری)[2]
  2. ^ Various dialects grouped together
  3. Hazaragi
    )
  4. dialect-varieties (i.e. Hindko and Saraiki
    , which are separately enumerated in Pakistani censuses)
  5. ^ Saraiki is a variety of the Punjabi language but is separately enumerated in Pakistani censuses
  6. ^ Hindko is a variety of the Punjabi language but is separately enumerated in Pakistani censuses
  7. ^ If a variety is mentioned, the language that the variety belongs to will be mentioned within parentheses
  8. ^ Excluding large urban centres
  9. ^ The term Hindki normally refers to a Hindko speaker and Shackle (1980, p. 482) reports that in Pashto the term has slightly pejorative connotations, which are avoided with the recently introduced term Hindkūn.

References

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  63. ^ ISO 639 code sets. Sil.org. Retrieved on 2011-01-14.
  64. ^ ISO 639 code sets. Sil.org. Retrieved on 2011-01-14.
  65. ^ WALS – Sino-Tibetan. Wals.info. Retrieved on 2011-01-14
  66. ISBN 978-969-8380-19-9

Bibliography

External links
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