• Categorized under Language | Differences Between Punjabi and Hindi

Punjabi vs Hindi

The Republic of India has as many as 22 different official languages. Out of these 22 languages, 2 languages are Punjabi and Hindi. The Punjabi language is spoken by the inhabitants of the Punjab region in India. Hindi is the language spoken by 41 percent of the population of India. The two languages have their own similarities and dissimilarities.

Punjabi

Punjabi is the language spoken by the natives of the Punjab region. Presently, the Punjab region comprises the northwest region of the Republic of India and the eastern parts of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Punjabi comprises about 104 million speakers according to the 2008 census. Out of this, the largest population of Punjabi-speaking people reside in Pakistan which amounts to about 76 million, and the second largest population amounting to 28 million speakers resides in India. The rest of the population is scattered over the countries like the United Kingdom, Gulf of Persia, Canada, U.S., Malaysia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, and many more. Punjabi holds the tenth rank in the list of the world’s widest spoken languages.

The Punjabi language uses several scripts to write the language in. It depends on the region and religion how it is written. In Pakistan, the script uses the Shahmukhi script. The Punjab region of India uses the Gurmukhi script for writing Punjabi. In other places of India, the Devnagri script is used to write this language.

Punjabi has has three pitch contours; high, low, and level.

Hindi

Hindi is the primary formal terminology of Indians. It is used by about 41 percent of the inhabitants. Hindi’s verbal usage is mainly in the north areas of the nation namely; Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh. Hindi is also verbal and recognized in places in nations such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Fiji.

Hindi follows the “Devanagari” script. The “Devanagari” script generally known as “Nagari” is published from left to right. In Hindi, the letters are topped by a line in each word. This is very similar to Punjabi. The present form of Hindi is called Standard Hindi. This language has around 140 million speakers around the world. The language has an elaborate literature divided into “Gadhya” or the prose and “Padya” or the poetry.

Summary:

