Punjabi is a language in the Indo-Aryan family that is primarily spoken in the Punjab, a region that includes parts of Pakistan and India. Around 130 million people speak Punjabi as their native language, with more speaking it as a second or third language.

Also called “Panjabi”, it is written using two different scripts: one based on the Arabic script, Shahmukhi, and one based on the Indian Landa alphabet, Gurmukhi.

Like many Indo-Aryan languages, Punjabi has roots in Sanskrit, specifically the Shauraseni vernacular of Prakit. Due to various Muslim conquests in the region, there is a lot of Persian and Arabic influence seen in the modern Punjabi language, including one of the writing systems. Punjabi is the most common language in Pakistan and the 11th most common language in India

Punjabi is an interesting language, as it is one of the only Indo-Aryan that is tonal. It has three tones: high falling, low rising, and level. The tones are indicated using diacritics or as indicated by the letters, depending on the writing system used. Punjabi can be found spoken in many countries outside of India and Pakistan, such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.