Punjabi dictionaries are compilations of words and phrases used in the Punjabi-language and its dialects. Punjabi dictionaries were first published in the 19th century by printing presses operated by Christian missionaries. Punjabi dictionaries exist in romanized Punjabi, Gurmukhi, and Shahmukhi, or combinations of the three. Both monolinguial and bilingual dictionaries exist, including Punjabi and another language (such as English, Hindi, Russian, etc.). Also existing are dialectal and technical dictionaries. The dictionaries have impacted the field of Punjabi lexicography. A large number of such dictionaries have been published, especially by the Languages Department in Patiala, various universities, textbook boards, and individual scholars. Due to interactions with contact languages, Punjabi contains loanwords from languages like Arabic, English, Hindi-Urdu, Persian, Sanskrit, Turkish, and others, with most of these words having been adapted while English loanwords (usually relating to science and technology) have yet to be adapted to Punjabi fully.Hussain, Qandeel, Michael Proctor, Mark Harvey, and Katherine Demuth. 2020. “Punjabi (Lyallpuri Variety).” Journal of the International Phonetic Association 50(2): 282–97. doi: 10.1017/S0025100319000021. Retrieved on 4 September 2026 from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/punjabi-lyallpuri-variety/060E3FF5B0BF9E3226545BBA7C59D7EC
Terminology and structure In the Punjabi language, the word nirukat refers to an etymology, pariyay/priya/prayais refers to a glossary, and kosh refers to a dictionary.
Many Punjabi dictionaries do not merely classify words as tatsamas, tadbhavas, or ardhatatsamas, but go beyond and use additional categorizations:
Sanskritic tatsamas Ardhatatsamas Prakrit tadbhavas Braj tadbhavas Punjabic tadbhavas Borrowed – (a) from Perso-Arabic, (b) others, including English, French, Portuguese, as well as words of unknown origin
Prakrit tadbhavas and Braj tadbhavas mostly occur in Sikh scriptures. Punjabi has adopted a high amount of Perso-Arabic borrowings. Perso-Arabic borrowings (nouns and adjectives in-particular) being used as proper names for both Sikhs and Hindus is a unique trait that Punjabi has amongst Indo-Aryan languages. There often exists a Sanskritic tatsama, Perso-Arabic borrowing, and Punjabic tadbhava for synonymous words.
Dictionaries translating between Punjabi and English
Background
Punjabi lexicography can be traced back to the efforts by Christian missionaries. According to Jeffrey M. Diamond, the Christian missionaries had a better understanding of Punjabi linguistics than the colonial administrators. Punjabi, in Gurmukhi-script, was first printed by printing presses run by Christian missionaries, such as the Serampore Mission Press in Bengal and the Ludhiana Mission Press in Punjab. They established these printing presses to spread Christianity amongst the natives of the Indian subcontinent. In May 1806, the Serampore Mission Press began to experiment with printing in Punjabi, employing Gurmukhi script. In early reports by the Serampore Mission, they referred to the Punjabi-language and Gurmukhi-script as "Seek" (a reference to Sikhs, a term used interchangeably by the printing press for the Punjabi-language in Gurmukhi script and for Sikhs). By 1808, a type of Gurmukhi had already been developed by the press. The first Punjabi work printed in Gurmukhi characters with movable type began as early as 1809. The European missionaries were likely assisted by native pundits (for translating, punchcutting, and printing) and craftsmen in the creation of design or production of these types and the creation of letterforms. The first known Gurmukhi metal types were cut by Monohur (of the Karmakāra caste) or by unknown Indian assistants under the supervision of William Ward of the Serampore Mission Press. A Sikh man, named Ajnaram, assisted William Carey by translating the first ninety-two hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib. Ajnaram was paid a sum of five gold mohurs for his translation work. Ajnaram likely assisted the missionaries by translating texts into Punjabi and the development of printing types.
Regarding the Punjabi-language, the Serampore Mission Press stated the following in one of its memoirs:
The New Testament was translated into Gurmukhi Punjabi by the Serampore Mission in 1811. The first non-religious book printed in Punjabi (Gurmukhi) was a grammar book (containing vocabulary), titled A Grammar of the Punjabee Language, by the Serampore Mission Press, published in early 1813 (although the published print bears the year 1812). Whilst Carey had begun printing the grammar book in 1811, a fire broke out at the Serampore Mission Press in 1812 that destroyed most of the work that had already been completed up til that point, so he again had to work alongside pundits, whom re-translated the work so a new edition could be brought-out. The Serampore Mission established various schools, such as the Serampore School (est. 1818), for the original purpose of spreading Christianity in India but later for theological studies and education of native Indians. These educational pursuits led the Serampore Mission to start publishing dictionaries, grammars, and scholastic textbooks, relating to local Indian languages.
In 1838, another grammar book on Punjabi, also titled A Grammar of the Punjabee Language, by Lieutenant John Leech of the Bombay Engineers, was published. Leech's Punjabi grammar book utilizes romanized Punjabi, with some Devanagari and Perso-Arabic usage as well. Leech must have published his grammar book without knowledge of the previous Punjabi grammar book of the same name that had earlier been published by William Carey. This publication was followed in 1849 by yet another grammar book on Punjabi by Captain Samuel Cross Starkey, whom was a British Colonial Officer in India. Starkey's grammar book only employs romanized Punjabi with no usage of native scripts. These early works showcase that not only were there merely religious motivations for improving communication between Europeans and Indians and producing literature on Indian languages, but there were also military reasons for doing-so.
Later, the Ludhiana Mission was established in the Punjab due to the "almost total lack of a Christian presence". The missionaries associated with the Ludhiana Mission brought with them Persian, Gurmukhi, Devanagari, and Latin fonts to the Punjab from Calcutta, which allowed them to print literature in the various lects found in the Punjab. The Ludhiana Mission used the same kind of Gurmukhi font that had been previously cast and used by the earlier Serampore Mission. In 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Ludhiana Mission Press published a work titled Idiomatic Sentences in English and Panjabi, which mostly covered military concerns, judicial situation, and medical information. However, the printing press faced difficulties in compiling this 1846 publication as there was still no established translating scheme between the English and Punjabi languages in use by the missionaries at Ludhiana.
The Ludhiana Mission Press, under the supervision of Reverend James Porter, published a grammar book on Punjabi by John Newton, titled A Grammar of the Panjabi Language; With Appendices in 1851. The motivation for publishing this grammar book was due to the aftermath of the annexation of much of Punjab in 1849 after the downfall of the Sikh Empire resulting from the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Many British colonial officials, only familiar with Urdu, began coming into Punjab after the 1849 annexation, so this work attempts to instruct them in the local Punjabi-language. Newton's Punjabi grammar book does make explicit mention of the previous grammar book that was written by William Carey, however whilst being sympathetic, Newton does note inaccuracies in Carey's earlier work. Newton's grammar book focuses mostly on how Punjabi grammar differs from Urdu grammar, rather than being solely dedicated to the comprehensive study of Punjabi's grammar itself. Newton's grammar book is divided into two main partitions: orthography and orthoepy (including syntax), with these main sections being divided into smaller parts based on adjectives, nouns, adverbs, pronouns, interjections, conjunctions, verbs, etc. Newton's Punjabi grammar book would later be republished in 1866, owing to its acclaim and popularity.
A push for compiling the Punjabi dictionary may have come from the East India Company's language policies, as they were long eager to replace the Persian-language as the language of administration with local vernacular languages instead, requesting assistance from mission presses to publish grammar books and dictionaries to assist with this effort to move toward local vernaculars from Persian.
First Punjabi dictionaries The first Punjabi dictionary was A Dictionary, English and Punjabee, Outlines of Grammar, Also Dialogues, English and Punjabee, With Grammar and Explanatory Notes published in Calcutta in 1849. This dictionary authored by Captain Samuel Cross Starkey, whom was assisted in its compilation by jemadar Bussawa Singh. This dictionary was 256-pages and gave the Punjabi translation for 11,000 English words, all in the Latin script. The grammar book of the Ludhiana Press was followed in 1854 by the publication of a Punjabi dictionary, titled A Dictionary of the Panjabi Language, also published by the Ludhiana Mission Press in 1854. This Punjabi dictionary published by the Ludhiana Mission Press had been a work a long time in the making, with it first being worked on by John Newton James Porter and Levi Janiver also assisted with the compilation of the dictionary. In 1841, the annual meeting of the mission gave Newton approval to begin compiling a Punjabi dictionary to assist those wanting to learn the Punjabi language, however Newton had already been collecting material to assist with compiling such a dictionary before this. However, John Newton was preoccupied with other duties of running the printing press and it was tedious work compiling the dictionary, leading to the dictionary being pushed-back by twelve years. Progress of the dictionary was also effected by the departure of prominent missionaries at the press, such as the loss of Reese Morris, and a fire that occurred at the printing press, shortage of funds, and difficulties acquiring printing paper. When the press finally recuperated its losses and restored itself, Newton resumed work on compiling a Punjabi dictionary. In the Twelfth annual report of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, the missionaries of the press happily reported that almost 20,000 Punjabi words had been collected and arranged, with there being 8,000 fully complete translations into English of these collected words, with 6,000 partial translations yet to be completed, with the rest of the word remaining to have any translation work conducted on them.
However, in 1850 work on the dictionary yet again was stalled due to the opening of the Lahore Mission, with many missionaries that were posted at the Ludhiana Mission being transferred there, including Newton himself. The dictionary was finally published in 1854 under the supervision of Levi Janiver, with a note in its preface written by John Newton noting four noteworthy remarks about the dictionary:
The dictionary does not contain all the words used in the Punjabi language (the entirety of the Punjabi lexis is not fully represented). Some words found in the dictionary might not be in common circulation anymore. He describes the romanization style as being "Shakespearean modified to suit the peculiarities of the Panjábí language", which is similar to the precursor grammar book.