| Languages of Pakistan | |
|---|---|
 Dominant mother tongue in the districts of Pakistan as of the Census of Pakistan 2017 | |
| Official |
|
| National | Urdu[lower-alpha 3] |
| Regional | Over 70 regional languages |
| Signed | Pakistani Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | |
Pakistan is a linguistically diverse country where over 70 languages serve as mother tongues.[2][3] Most of these languages fall under the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.[4][5] While Urdu holds the status of national language, it shares official recognition with English and functions as the primary medium for communication across different ethnic communities. Several regional languages also serve as first languages for Pakistan’s various ethnolinguistic groups. The 2023 census records languages with over a million speakers each as Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Urdu, Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, and the Kohistani languages. The census, however, does not include data from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmi (Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, which may affect the reported figures for Shina and Balti). Approximately 60 local languages have fewer than 10 lakh speakers.[6][7]
List of languages
Ethnologue's 2022 edition documents 80 established languages in Pakistan, comprising 68 indigenous and 12 non-indigenous varieties. Language vitality assessments classify four as 'institutional', twenty-four as 'developing', thirty as 'vigorous', fifteen as 'in trouble', and four as 'dying'.[6]
| Language | Province[lower-alpha 4] | Language group |
|---|---|---|
| Aer | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Badeshi | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Bagri | Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Balochi, Makrani | Balochistan | Iranian |
| Balochi, Rakhshani | Balochistan | Iranian |
| Balochi, Sulaimani | Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh | Iranian |
| Balti | Gilgit-Baltistan | Sino-Tibetan |
| Bateri | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Bhaya | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Brahui | Balochistan, Sindh | Dravidian |
| Burushaski | Gilgit-Baltistan | Isolate |
| Chilisso | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Dameli | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Dari | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Dehwari | Balochistan | Iranian |
| Dhatki | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Domaaki | Gilgit-Baltistan | Indo-Aryan |
| English | Federal co-official | Germanic |
| Gawar-Bati | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Gawri | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Ghera | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Goaria | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Gowro | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Gujarati | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Gujari | Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab |
Indo-Aryan |
| Gurgula | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Haryanvi aka Rangri | Sindh, Punjab | Indo-Aryan |
| Hazaragi | Balochistan | Iranian |
| Hindko, Northern | Azad Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Hindko, Southern | Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab | Indo-Aryan |
| Jadgali | Balochistan, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Jandavra | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Jogi | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Kabutra | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Kacchi | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Kalasha | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Kalkoti | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Kamviri | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Kashmiri | Azad Kashmir | Indo-Aryan |
| Kati | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Khetrani | Balochistan | Indo-Aryan |
| Khowar | Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Kyrgyz | Chitral, Hunza | Turkic |
| Kohistani, Indus | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Koli, Kachi | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Koli, Parkari | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Koli, Wadiyari | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Kutchi | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Kundal Shahi | Azad Kashmir | Indo-Aryan |
| Lasi | Balochistan | Indo-Aryan |
| Loarki | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Mankiyali | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Marwari | Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Mewati | Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Memoni | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Oadki | Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Ormuri | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Pahari-Pothwari | Azad Kashmir, Punjab | Indo-Aryan |
| Pakistan Sign Language | Throughout | Indo-Pakistani Sign Language |
| Palula | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Pashto, Central | Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab | Iranian |
| Pashto, Northern | Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab | Iranian |
| Pashto, Southern | Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab | Iranian |
| Punjabi | Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Saraiki | Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab, Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Sarikoli | Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Gilgit-Baltistan | Iranian |
| Savi | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Shina | Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Shina, Kohistani | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Sindhi | Sindh, Balochistan | Indo-Aryan |
| Sindhi Bhil | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Torwali | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Urdu | Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir , Islamabad | Indo-Aryan |
| Ushojo | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Indo-Aryan |
| Vaghri | Sindh | Indo-Aryan |
| Wakhi | Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Waneci | Balochistan | Iranian |
| Waziri | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
| Yadgha | Khyber Pakhtunkwa | Iranian |
References
- ↑ "Article: 251 National language". Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ↑ Ashraf, Hina (22 March 2022). "The ambivalent role of Urdu and English in multilingual Pakistan: a Bourdieusian study". Language Policy. 22 (1): 25–48. doi:10.1007/s10993-022-09623-6. ISSN 1573-1863. PMC 8939399. PMID 35340722.
- ↑ Ashraf, Muhammad Azeem; Turner, David A.; Laar, Rizwan Ahmed (January 2021). "Multilingual Language Practices in Education in Pakistan: The Conflict Between Policy and Practice". SAGE Open. 11 (1): 215824402110041. doi:10.1177/21582440211004140. ISSN 2158-2440. S2CID 232484396.
- ↑ Rengel, Marian (15 December 2003). Pakistan: A Primary Source Cultural Guide. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-8239-4001-1.
- ↑ Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Sridhar, S. N. (27 March 2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-139-46550-2.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Eberhard, Simons & Fennig 2022.
- ↑ "Endangered Languages Project - Torwali - Challenges to the linguistic diversity of North Pakistan". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
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