There is an map of âHistorical†Punjabi Dialects, which I have posted on a separate post(link at bottom), but this time we will look at the âpresent day†definition of Punjabi.Today, States which are Officially Called Punjab occupy these regions of India and Pakistan,If we go little further and zoom in, Pictures from âPanjabi: A comprehensive Grammar†from Routledge, link at bottom.Here, because Punjabi was never a unified Identity and Language per se, Lahandi(spelt as Lhande in Punjabi) Languages always had a separate âWestern Punjabi†existence.But before I move to âEastern Punjabi†lets see what i found,Releasing in July 2024. by De Gruyter,From the website(link at bottom):OverviewAims and ScopeHindko, Panjabi, and Saraiki are three closely related, geographically contiguous languages of Pakistan. Together, they are the native language of some 125 million people. Panjabi alone ranks among the 15 most widely spoken languages in the world. The Grammar of Hindko, Panjabi, and Saraiki provides a comparative description of these three language varieties, focusing, where possible, on the variety of Hindko spoken in Abbottabad, the Panjabi spoken in Lahore, and the Saraiki spoken in Multan. Based on both fieldwork and corpus research, the grammar provides coverage of the phonology, orthography, morphology, and syntax of the language, with extensive exemplification presented in the native Perso-Arabic script along with standard Roman representations and morphological analysis. Written in an accessible style from a basic linguistic theory perspective, this work will be of use to linguistic researchers, language scholars, and students of the languages of Pakistan and South Asia.On a Personal level, I can understand a lot of Saraiki and Hindko. Infact I am learning to read Shahmukhi Punjabi by reading Hindko!, go figure that, I will make a separate post on it.Now, moving towards Eastern or lets say Standard Punjabi.In the above picture, the area which is light grey(under the red square), is where Punjabi is Official Language today(Eastern Punjab/India), thus the region were âStandard Punjabiâis taking form.Finally, I want to make an observation.Majhi was the Prestigious Dialect, but today Doabi and Malwai are also very strong.Majhi has historically been considered the prestigious dialect of Punjabi, because it was shared by both Lahore and Amritsar. And it has always been, In 1881, only Amritsar and Lahore had populations over 100,000. The commercial and industrial city of Amritsar (152,000) was slightly larger than the cultural capital of Lahore (149,000).But and a big but, first you divide Majhi area into 2, in 1947, ie Lahore and Amritsar, then coupled with the fact that Lahore is today the literary hub of Urdu rather than Punjabi, means that Majhi was dealt a major blow.Jalandhari Doabi, which I am speaker of, today leads in Mass Media and Entertainment, because it has always been center for media production plus the NRI element is the biggest here, many of whom go into current Punjabi Entertainment. DD Punjabi is also in Jalandhar.Malwai today is the most spoken âEastern Punjabi†dialect as it covers 14 out of the 23 districts of Indian Punjab.Major Malwai speaking centers are Ferozepur, Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Mansa districts and Jagraon, Raikot and Ludhiana (West) tehsils of Ludhiana district.This region is also major player in Indian Punjab politics.As you can see from the names of these towns, these are all small cities and usually rural areas.Finally, and this has been my personal experience because i spent 4 years in Bhatinda/Malwa area.In an very ironic way, as the landscape of this region becomes dusty, barren and deserted in nature, something which is âparadoxical†from the description of Land of 5 rivers, as Punjab merges into Rajasthan or Haryana, for the first time one feels the Language per se is free from Nation State pressure(ie Urdu,Hindi,English) and Punjabi twang finally flows freely.All pictures are from this book:Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar, 1st Edition (Paperback) - RoutledgeA Descriptive Grammar of Hindko, Panjabi, and SaraikiKanwalpal Singh Flora's answer to What dialects does your language have?About Punjab | View Punjab