Punjabi dialects and languages

The varieties of "Greater Punjabi" have a number of characteristics in common, for example the preservation of the Prakrit double consonants in stressed syllables.

[11] The literary languages that have developed on the basis of dialects of this area are Standard Punjabi in eastern and central Punjab, Saraiki in the southwest, and Pahari-Pothwari in the northwest.

"Lahnda" typically subsumes the Saraiki and Hindko varieties, with Jhangvi and Shahpuri intermediate between the two groups.

In areas such as Gujar Khan and Rawalpindi where Pothwari is a spoken language,[16] speakers significantly selected 'Punjabi" instead of "Other" in all previous census enumeration.

The language variety is listed under Lahnda as it, together with Bahwalpuri and Multani satisfies the "criterion of 10,000 or more speakers at the all India level".

Similar to Dogri, the Kangri language spoken in Himachal Pradesh was regarded as a Punjabi dialect but since 1971, it has been reclassified under Hindi.

Despite the independent status of Dogri and reclassification of Kangri, both languages are claimed to fall within Punjabi by some writers.