Skills on AI

Locale Pa 001

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Use when working with the Punjabi locale (`pa-001`) — its endonym ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, Gurmukhi script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.

Reference data for the Punjabi locale — endonym ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, written in the Gurmukhi script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

  • BCP 47 tag: pa-001
  • ISO 639-1: pa
  • ISO 639-3: pan
  • Script: Guru (Gurmukhi)
  • Region: 001 (World)
  • Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

  • L1 (native): 113,000,000
  • L2 (additional): 37,000,000
  • L1+L2 (total): 150,000,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Punjabi. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

  • one — n = 0..1 (e.g. 0, 1)
  • other — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ / پنجابی) is written in two scripts: Gurmukhi in India (and in Sikh religious use) and Shahmukhi (an Arabic-script form) in Pakistan. It is tonal. Choose the script and the country before translating. See Locale Pa in. The Gurmukhi form is the base of this guidance.

Translate ideas, not words.

  • Punjabi is subject-object-verb with postpositions. Reorder English sentences.
  • Do not translate from Hindi; they differ in vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
  • Religious and cultural terms (ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ, ਸਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ) should be rendered with the community's own forms.

Grammar and register.

  • Two genders (masculine, feminine) agree with adjectives and verbs. Ergative construction in the past tense with "ਨੇ".
  • "ਤੁਸੀਂ" is the polite or plural "you" for UI and public text; "ਤੂੰ" is informal; use "ਤੁਸੀਂ" with plural verb agreement.
  • UI commands use the polite imperative ("ਸੰਭਾਲੋ") or the infinitive.

Orthography and typography.

  • Gurmukhi uses its own punctuation (a danda ।) and numerals (੦-੯); Arabic digits are used in UI. Currency ₹; Indian grouping.
  • Shahmukhi is written right to left in Nastaliq style; do not transliterate Gurmukhi to Shahmukhi mechanically, because the scripts represent tones and vowels differently.
  • Follow the Punjabi University, Patiala's spelling standards for Gurmukhi.

Common pitfalls

  • Using the wrong script for the audience.
  • Using Hindi grammar or Urdu-origin vocabulary without checking.
  • Mixing ਤੂੰ and ਤੁਸੀਂ.

Learn more

  • Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
  • Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
  • Microsoft Localization Style Guides for Indian languages (https://learn.microsoft.com/globalization/reference/microsoft-style-guides)
  • Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjabi dictionary and orthography

View locale-pa-001/SKILL.md on GitHub