There appears to be a lot of confusion regarding Gurmukhi and Punjabi.
The assumption a lot of people seem to make is that there is a language called Punjabi (what we use everyday) and there is the language called Gurmukhi - the language used to write the Guru Granth Sahib.
So is there two languages ??
Did the Guru's use different language called Gurmukhi??
The answer is No.
Before going further ,apply some logic yourself, would you (if trying to convey a message to a lot people) write the message in new language , which everybody would have to learn before deciphering the message , OR would you write in the most commonly used language ??
Remember this - Punjabi is a language ( what we speak). Gurmukhi is a script (how we write Punjabi )
There are 2 main scripts used , Punjabi speaking Muslims may write Punjabi in the Perso-Arabic script (as used to write Urdu, writing from right to left), this sometimes is referred to as Shahmukhi.
Punjabi is also written using Urdu and Hindi scripts.
Punjabi speaking Sikhs write Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script , which was developed by Guru Angad dev ji.
However we must also remember that Punjabi itself has evolved along with time, as any language does. There will be differences between 16th and 17th century and now.
Also did you also know that there are different dialects of Punjabi ?
Here is a brief outline of them.
Majhi
Spoken in the heart of Punjab i.e., Lahore , Sialkot, Gujaranwala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar. Most of the population of Punjab lives in this area and linguists also say that Majhi dialect is the "Tixali boli" i.e., it has been influenced by all other dialects
Malwi
Spoken in the east Punjab area of Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Maleerkotla Fazilka, Ferozepur. This area (Malwa) is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, kurukhetra etc. (northern parts of Haryana mainly).
Doabi
Land between the rivers of Beas and Satluj is called Doaba. Do Aaba lierally means "the land between two waters" in persian. It includes Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur.
Pothohari
The area where Pothohari is spoken extends in the north from Kashmir to as far south as Jehlum and Gujar Khan and includes the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. This dialect is similar to some extent to the Hindko dialect of Punjabi which is spoken in Peshawar, Nowshehra, Mansehra all these areas lie in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan where majority language is Pashto, but Hindko speakers area also found in sizable numbers.
Jhangvi
The region where Jhangvi is spoken stretches from Khanewal to Jhang and includes the cities of Faisalabad, Chiniot. Jhangvi dialect is also called the ``Jangli'' dialect of Punjabi.
Multani
The dialect spoken in Multan, Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Daira Ghazi Khan, Muzafar Garh i.e., southern deserts of Punjab is called Multani (also Lehndi by some) and perhaps differs from Punjabi more than any other dialect. Those who closely know the dialect say that it is a very "mithi boli." This is the land of Muslim Sufis, perhaps "Shah Shams Sabazwari" who came to Multan in 1165 AD was the first in a long series of Sufis to base themselves in Multan. Multani becomes more and more different as you move down south, as the influence of Sindhi increases, it is also known as Siraiki there. Siraiki itself is Sindhi word and means northern.
The next argument usually seems to be , why is the Guru Granth Sahib so difficult to comprehend , so it cannot be the same language ?
Well the language used in it is not uniform , it contains Hindi, Braj Bhasha, Sanskrit, Marathi, Pharsee, Arabic and also the many dialects of Punjabi. Sometimes the words are pronounced the same as an existing Punjabi word yet the meaning maybe different due to the origin of the word.
Furthermore as mentioned above any language is always in a state of flux, constantly evolving.
The assumption a lot of people seem to make is that there is a language called Punjabi (what we use everyday) and there is the language called Gurmukhi - the language used to write the Guru Granth Sahib.
So is there two languages ??
Did the Guru's use different language called Gurmukhi??
The answer is No.
Before going further ,apply some logic yourself, would you (if trying to convey a message to a lot people) write the message in new language , which everybody would have to learn before deciphering the message , OR would you write in the most commonly used language ??
Remember this - Punjabi is a language ( what we speak). Gurmukhi is a script (how we write Punjabi )
There are 2 main scripts used , Punjabi speaking Muslims may write Punjabi in the Perso-Arabic script (as used to write Urdu, writing from right to left), this sometimes is referred to as Shahmukhi.
Punjabi is also written using Urdu and Hindi scripts.
Punjabi speaking Sikhs write Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script , which was developed by Guru Angad dev ji.
However we must also remember that Punjabi itself has evolved along with time, as any language does. There will be differences between 16th and 17th century and now.
Also did you also know that there are different dialects of Punjabi ?
Here is a brief outline of them.
Majhi
Spoken in the heart of Punjab i.e., Lahore , Sialkot, Gujaranwala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar. Most of the population of Punjab lives in this area and linguists also say that Majhi dialect is the "Tixali boli" i.e., it has been influenced by all other dialects
Malwi
Spoken in the east Punjab area of Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Maleerkotla Fazilka, Ferozepur. This area (Malwa) is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, kurukhetra etc. (northern parts of Haryana mainly).
Doabi
Land between the rivers of Beas and Satluj is called Doaba. Do Aaba lierally means "the land between two waters" in persian. It includes Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur.
Pothohari
The area where Pothohari is spoken extends in the north from Kashmir to as far south as Jehlum and Gujar Khan and includes the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. This dialect is similar to some extent to the Hindko dialect of Punjabi which is spoken in Peshawar, Nowshehra, Mansehra all these areas lie in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan where majority language is Pashto, but Hindko speakers area also found in sizable numbers.
Jhangvi
The region where Jhangvi is spoken stretches from Khanewal to Jhang and includes the cities of Faisalabad, Chiniot. Jhangvi dialect is also called the ``Jangli'' dialect of Punjabi.
Multani
The dialect spoken in Multan, Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Daira Ghazi Khan, Muzafar Garh i.e., southern deserts of Punjab is called Multani (also Lehndi by some) and perhaps differs from Punjabi more than any other dialect. Those who closely know the dialect say that it is a very "mithi boli." This is the land of Muslim Sufis, perhaps "Shah Shams Sabazwari" who came to Multan in 1165 AD was the first in a long series of Sufis to base themselves in Multan. Multani becomes more and more different as you move down south, as the influence of Sindhi increases, it is also known as Siraiki there. Siraiki itself is Sindhi word and means northern.
The next argument usually seems to be , why is the Guru Granth Sahib so difficult to comprehend , so it cannot be the same language ?
Well the language used in it is not uniform , it contains Hindi, Braj Bhasha, Sanskrit, Marathi, Pharsee, Arabic and also the many dialects of Punjabi. Sometimes the words are pronounced the same as an existing Punjabi word yet the meaning maybe different due to the origin of the word.
Furthermore as mentioned above any language is always in a state of flux, constantly evolving.
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