How the survey label was explained

Lahnda is a historical classification term whose meaning depends on the source using it. In a 1930 discussion, George A. Grierson explained his adoption of the name for western Punjab speech in the Linguistic Survey of India. His opening grouped several locally named varieties under it and acknowledged that speakers had not used one general name for that whole collection. The umbrella was therefore part of a scholarly classification exercise.[1]

Grierson connected the label with a western direction and discussed an earlier scholar’s use of it. He also acknowledged his own reservations about the name, explaining that he retained an already established convention. This is revealing evidence about how a survey category was made. It is not proof that every community described by the survey understood itself as belonging to a single language or accepted that category as its preferred identity.[1]

A contemporary family tree uses different levels

Glottolog’s Greater Panjabic family record lists Lahnda as an alternative name and places the family within the northwestern Indo-Aryan classification. Its downloadable tree distinguishes Eastern Panjabic, Hindko–Siraiki, Paharic and Western Panjabi branches. That hierarchy makes a crucial distinction: Western Panjabi is one part of the larger grouping in this scheme, rather than a label automatically interchangeable with every language beneath the family.[2]

Within that tree, Northern and Southern Hindko have separate language identifiers, Saraiki has its own identifier, and Pahari Potwari appears within Paharic. Eastern Panjabi occupies another branch, alongside the tree’s more detailed regional entries. These relationships describe Glottolog’s classification at the time consulted. They are useful for tracing bibliographies and comparing analyses, but do not convert a linguistic family into a nationality, a fixed territory or a single community’s self-description.[2]

Older library categories

The Library of Congress MARC language list assigns Lahnda the code lah and gives Western Panjabi, Lahndi and Jatki as references associated with it. The entry is also a collective code for several named languages, including Hindko, Pothwari and Siraiki. Elsewhere in the same list, Panjabi uses pan. These are the particular conventions of a library coding system, whose purpose is to organise records.[3]

For a catalogue search, the practical consequence is to try the specific language name as well as the catalogue’s broader term, then inspect the actual title, region and description. A work filed under lah may concern one language within the collective heading. Its code alone does not establish the language of every page, a speaker’s own label or the present scholarly status of a variety. Record the catalogue convention when reporting what the search found.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. George A. Grierson / Bulletin of SOAS. Lahndā and Lahndī ↗historical scholarly terminology discussion, extract inspected · Source date: 1930 · Locator: Public Extract and p. 883 notes; vol. 5(4), February 1930, pp. 883–887. Accessed 2026-10-31.Inspected the public opening and bibliographic information. The 2009 online posting is distinguished from the original 1930 publication; the full article was not accessed.Return to How the survey label was explained, paragraph 1 ↑Return to How the survey label was explained, paragraph 2 ↑
  2. Harald Hammarström, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath and Sebastian Bank, editors. Greater Panjabic (lahn1241), Glottolog 5.3 ↗linguistic classification database · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Family record and Alternative names; linked JSON representation, newick tree and classification fields. Accessed 2026-10-31.Inspected the public record and its machine-readable .json representation. Family-tree statements are attributed to this scheme, not presented as community identity decisions.Return to A contemporary family tree uses different levels, paragraph 1 ↑Return to A contemporary family tree uses different levels, paragraph 2 ↑
  3. Library of Congress. MARC Code List for Languages: Name Sequence ↗library cataloguing standard · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Lahndā [lah], its collective-code list, Hindkō, Pōṭhwārī, Siraiki and Panjabi [pan] entries. Accessed 2026-10-31.Inspected the named entries and cross-references. MARC collective coding is kept distinct from modern linguistic and identity claims.Return to Older library categories, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Older library categories, paragraph 2 ↑
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Record PH-LAN-0019 · English edition · human review not performed