Panjabi

Panjabi, a neo-Sanskritic language current throughout the province of Panjiib, North-west India, where it is spoken by about 16,000,000, chiefly Sikhs (q.v.); two main branches - Dogri, of the lower hills between the Upper Chenab and Jhelum river, south of Cashmere, and Multani, with Sindhi affinities, about the lower course of the Indus. Panjiibi is closely allied to Hindi, but is largely charged with Persian and Arabic elements, and is written with the Gurumukhi alphabet, a modernised form of Devanagari, with 35 letters.