Lahnda

Lahnda
Lahnda
Region	Western Punjab region
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Northwestern Punjabic Lahnda; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Perso-Arabic; (Shahmukhi alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	lah
ISO 639-3	lah

Lahnda (/ˈlɑːndə/;^[1] لہندا), also known as Lahndi or Western Punjabi,^[2] is a group of north-western Indo-Aryan language varieties spoken in parts of Pakistan and India. It is defined in the ISO 639 standard as a "macrolanguage"^[3] or as a "series of dialects" by other authors.^[4]^[a] Its validity as a genetic grouping is not certain.^[5] The terms "Lahnda" and "Western Punjabi" are exonyms employed by linguists, and are not used by the speakers themselves.^[4]

Lahnda includes the following languages: Saraiki (spoken mostly in southern Pakistani Punjab by about 26 million people), Jatki dialects, the diverse varieties of 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).^{[citation needed]} Ethnologue also subsumes under Lahnda a group of varieties that it labels as "Western Punjabi" (ISO 639-3 code: pnb) – the Majhi dialects transitional between Lahnda and Eastern Punjabi; these are spoken by about 66 million people.^[3]^[6]

^ "Lahnda". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Zograph, G. A. (2023). "Chapter 3". Languages of South Asia: A Guide (Reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 9781000831597. LAHNDA – Lahnda (Lahndi) or Western Panjabi is the name given to a group of dialects spread over the northern half of Pakistan. In the north, they come into contact with the Dardic languages with which they share some common features, In the east, they turn gradually into Panjabi, and in the south into Sindhi. In the south-east there is a clearly defined boundary between Lahnda and Rajasthani, and in the west a similarly well-marked boundary between it and the Iranian languages Baluchi and Pushtu. The number of people speaking Lahnda can only be guessed at: it is probably in excess of 20 million.
^ ^a ^b Lahnda at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ ^a ^b Masica 1991, pp. 17–18.
^ Masica 1991, p. 18.
^ Shackle 1979, p. 198.

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[1] "Lahnda". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

[2] Zograph, G. A. (2023). "Chapter 3". Languages of South Asia: A Guide (Reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 9781000831597. LAHNDA – Lahnda (Lahndi) or Western Panjabi is the name given to a group of dialects spread over the northern half of Pakistan. In the north, they come into contact with the Dardic languages with which they share some common features, In the east, they turn gradually into Panjabi, and in the south into Sindhi. In the south-east there is a clearly defined boundary between Lahnda and Rajasthani, and in the west a similarly well-marked boundary between it and the Iranian languages Baluchi and Pushtu. The number of people speaking Lahnda can only be guessed at: it is probably in excess of 20 million.

[e26-3] Lahnda at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

[FOOTNOTEMasica199117–18-4] Masica 1991, pp. 17–18.

[FOOTNOTEMasica199118-6] Masica 1991, p. 18.

[FOOTNOTEShackle1979198-7] Shackle 1979, p. 198.

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