Punjabi

FACT FILE:

Official language in: None

Co-language in: India, Pakistan

Spoken by: 113 million people (native)

Language family: Northwestern Indo-Aryan – Indo-Aryan – Indo-Iranian – Indo-European

Writing system: Shahmukhi script (perso-Arabic), Gurmukhi script, or Devanagari script

Fun Fact: Pujabi is one of the only languages which can be written in different scripts. Usually, it is written in one of two scripts. The Shahmukhi script is primarily used by Punjabi Muslims and in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Sikhs and Hindus favor the Gurmukhi script. The Gurumukhī script is also used in Indian offices, schools, and in the media. Occasionally, Punjabi is written in the Devanagari script (commonly used for languages like Hindi) or the Roman alphabet. Sounds confusing!