3. DEFINITION:
Language is the human ability to acquire and use
complex systems of communication, and a
language is any specific example of such a
system. The scientific study of language is called
linguistics.
Synonyms:
Tongue, speech, mother tongue, native tongue,
dialect, vernacular, bhasha, informal lingo.
4. WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
Language is the most important aspect in the life of all
beings. We use language to express inner thoughts and
emotions, make sense of complex and abstract thought,
to learn to communicate with others, to fulfill our wants
and needs, as well as to establish rules and maintain our
culture.
5. NATIONAL LANGUAGE:
URDU:
Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims
of the region of Hindustan. It is the national
language and lingua franca of Pakistan, and an
official language of six Indian states and one of
the 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution
of India.
The name of Urdu is short form of “Zuban-e-
Urdu-e-Mualla”
6. PROVISIONAL LANGUAGES:
PUNJAB SINDH BALACHISTAN KHYBER
PAKHTUNKWA
70% people of
Pakistan speaks
Punjabi
The language
spoken in
province Sindh is
sindhi
Balochi, Urdu,
Pashto, and
Brahui are the
provincial
language of
Baluchistan.
The provincial
language of
Khyber-
Pukhtunkhwa is
Pashto
87% of Lahore
population
speaks Punjabi
Sindhi is 2nd most
common
language in
Pakistan
It is the main
language spoken
in Baluchistan
This language is
also spoken
widely in
adjacent regions
of Afghanistan
68% of
Islamabad
population
speaks Punjabi
Other language
of Sindh such as
lasi, Kutchi, Thari
and Sindhi
Saraiki.
apart from
Brahui, Hazaragi,
and the Balochi
dialects of
Pashto.
Other languages
of the province
include Chitrali,
Kohistani, and
Hindko.
7. REGIONAL LANGUAGES:
KASHMIRI BRAHUI HINDKO SHINA SARAIKI
Kashmiri is an
ancient Dardic
language
spoken in Azad
Kashmir,
Gilgit–Baltistan
and Punjab
provinces of
Pakistan.
Brahui is a
Dravidian
language of
central and
east-central
Baluchistan.
Hindko name is
derived from
Hindu Kush
mountains.
It is very similar
to northern
dialects of
Punjabi.
Shina is a
Dardic
language
spoken by a
plurality of
people in
Gilgit–Baltistan
of Pakistan.
Saraiki is
spoken in
southern
Punjab.
Multan,
Lodhran,
Bahawalpur,
Bhakkar,
Rahim Yar
Khan,
Muzaffargarh
etc.
There are over
100,000
Kashmiri
speakers in
Pakistan.
1–1.5% of the
Pakistani
population has
Brahui as their
first language.
Spoken in
Haripur,
Abbottabad,
Mansehra,
Peshawar,
Kohat,
Nowshera,
Swabi.
Chilas, Dareil,
Tangeer, Gilgit,
Ghizer,
Kohistan.
There were
321,000
speakers of
Gilgiti Shina.
More than 18
million Saraiki
live in Pakistan
and nearly 100
thousand
Saraiki live in
other countries.
8. OTHER LANGUAGES:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
English is one of the official languages of Pakistan (the other being
Urdu) 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 are written in English.
ARABIC:
Arabic is the religious language of Muslims. The Quran, Sunnah, Hadith
and Muslim theology is taught in Arabic with Urdu translation. A majority
of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal
education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic
language as part of their religious education.
PERSIAN:
Persian was the language of Muslims in South Asia before the advent of
the British and was the official and cultural language of the Mughal
Empire. It is still spoken and understood by a few in Pakistan as a literary
language. Many Dari (Persian) speaking refugees from Afghanistan have
settled in Pakistan permanently.
9. TURKIC LANGUAGES:
Turkic languages were used by the ruling Turco-Mongols (or
Mughals) and earlier Sultans of India many of whom have
settled in Pakistan. There are pockets of Turkic speakers
found throughout the country, notably in the valleys in the
countries northern regions which lie adjacent to Central Asia,
western Pakistani region of Waziristan principally around
Kanigoram where the Burki tribe dwells and in Pakistan's
urban centers of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
The word Urdu is of Turkic origin, as Urdu was originally
called Zuban-e-Ordu-e- Mualla or The language of the exalted
city, Urdu meaning army' in Turkish but the term is used for
'the King's city' or the capital of the ruler in India.
10. MINOR LANGUAGES:
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 endangered languages that may soon
have no speakers at all.
1. Haryanvi 9. BROKSKAT
2. Aer language 10. Mandeal
3. Badeshi 11. Burushaski
4. Bagri 12. Chitrali
5. Balti 13. Chiliso
6. Bateri 14. Burig
7. BHADRAWAHI 15. Dari
8. MALVI 16. Dameli
13. CLASSIFICATION:
INDO-EUROPEAN:
Most of the languages of Pakistan belong to the Indo-
Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. They
are divided between two major groups: Indo-Aryan (the
majority, including Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Hindko, and Saraiki,
among others), and Iranian (including Pashto, Dari, Balochi,
and Khowar, among others).
Some of the important languages in the Indo-Aryan group are dialect
continuums. One of these is Lahnda, and includes Western Panjabi (but
not the Panjabi of India and Pakistan), Northern Hindko, Southern Hindko,
Khetrani, Saraiki, and Pahari-Potwari, plus two more languages outside of
Pakistan. The other is Marwari, and includes Marwari of Pakistan and
several languages of India (Dhundari, Merwari, Marwari, Mewari, and
Shekhawati). A third is Rajhastani, and consists of Bagri, Gujari in
Pakistan and several others in India: Gade Lohar, Harauti (Hadothi), Malvi,
and Wagdi.
14. OTHER:
The following three languages of Pakistan are not part of the
Indo-European language family:
Brahui (spoken in central Baluchistan province) is a
Dravidian language. Its vocabulary has been significantly
influenced by Balochi.
The Balti dialect of Ladakhi (spoken in an area of southern
Gilgit–Baltistan) is a Tibetan language of the Tibeto-Burman
language family
Burushaski (spoken in Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and Ishkoman
valleys in Gilgit–Baltistan) is a language isolate with no
written script
15. WRITING SYSTEM:
All languages of Pakistan are written in Nasta’liq, a modified
Perso-Arabic script. The Mughal Empire used Persian as the
court language during their rule over South Asia. During this
time, Nasta’liq came into widespread use in South Asia. The
influence remains to this day. In Pakistan, almost everything
in Urdu is written in the script, concentrating the greater part
of Nasta’liq usage in the world.
Balochi and Pashto are written in Perso-Arabic script.
The Shahmukhī script is a local variant of the Urdu alphabet,
a modified Persian alphabet, which has been used by the
Punjabi Muslims of Punjab to write Punjabi language.
