Talk:Saraiki language

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Dialects Of Punjabi.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 14:08, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

Removal of Punjabi-dialect framing

I would like to propose removal of the framing that presents Saraiki as a dialect of Punjabi, as this position is not supported by contemporary reliable sources and relies primarily on historical and colonial-era classifications that do not reflect current linguistic scholarship. Modern linguistic authorities consistently classify Saraiki as a distinct Indo-Aryan language, not as a variety of Punjabi. Saraiki has a separate ISO 639-3 code (skr) and is classified independently by major reference works such as Ethnologue and Glottolog, both of which are commonly relied upon on Wikipedia for language classification. "Saraiki". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. "Saraiki". Glottolog. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Peer-reviewed academic literature likewise treats Saraiki as a language in its own right. For example, a detailed phonological description published in the Journal of the International Phonetic Association analyzes Saraiki as an Indo-Aryan language with its own phonemic system, without framing it as a Punjabi variety. Atta, Firdos (2020). "Saraiki". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/S0025100320000328. Given this, the continued inclusion of material suggesting that Saraiki is or should be treated as a Punjabi dialect appears to conflict with WP:RS and WP:NPOV, as it elevates outdated viewpoints without comparable support from modern linguistic sources. It also risks WP:OR, where historical material is presented in a way that implies a present-day linguistic consensus that is not supported by current scholarship. While historical classifications may be relevant in a clearly defined historical context, their use in the present article misrepresents the current linguistic status of Saraiki. In the absence of strong, modern, reliable sources explicitly supporting a dialect classification today, I believe this material should be removed rather than retained, in line with Wikipedia’s preference for up-to-date, high-quality sources. In addition to international linguistic sources, Pakistan itself recognizes Saraiki as a distinct mother tongue. In the 2023 Population and Housing Census, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics listed Saraiki separately among other reported mother tongues such as Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, and Pashto in the official TABLE 11: Population by Mother Tongue. This shows that Saraiki is not subsumed under Punjabi in official state data. "TABLE 11: Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban, Census-2023" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Government of Pakistan. Similar summaries of these results showing Saraiki as the fourth most spoken mother tongue can be found in secondary reporting. "Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Releases Report on Native Languages". Karachi Matters. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (summarized). — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-19748-7 (talk) 21:23, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

Lead and infobox classification of Saraiki under Lahnda needs clarification

The infobox and lead puts Saraiki under the Lahnda group, but even the Lahnda article and its sources say Lahnda is a disputed and uncertain classification, and not a term used by native speakers. Since Saraiki is also treated as a separate language in several reliable sources (like ISO and other linguistic references), this makes the infobox look like Lahnda is a settled parent category when it actually isn’t. It would be more accurate to either remove Lahnda from the infobox or clearly label it as a disputed/attributed classification rather than a definite one. G000p10 (talk) 10:59, 14 June 2026 (UTC)