Punjabi Translation Services

Where Punjabi is spoken and where your translation is accepted

Punjabi is the language of the Punjab, the region of rivers that the border of 1947 divided between India and Pakistan. In India it is the official language of the state of Punjab and is written in the Gurmukhi script; in Pakistan it is the first language of most people in the province of Punjab and is written in Shahmukhi, the Perso-Arabic script. More than 100 million people speak it, and large communities live in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and the Gulf countries. The destination decides the type of translation.

Punjabi translation services for India and Pakistan

Punjabi is one language on both sides of the border, but it is written in two scripts, and documents from each country follow their own formats. In India, many records are printed in English with fields in Gurmukhi, or in both scripts side by side; in Pakistan, civil records usually come in Urdu and English. A good translation keeps every name, date and note of the original and reads naturally to whoever receives it.

• Two scripts: Gurmukhi is written from left to right, with letters such as ਪ, ਜ and ਸ and digits of its own (੧, ੨, ੩); Shahmukhi is written from right to left, with letters such as ڑ and ݨ. We work in both, and the translation marks any handwritten part that is illegible.
• Names: Sikh men often carry Singh and Sikh women Kaur, sometimes in place of a family name, and the same name can be spelled Gurpreet or Gurprit, Harjeet or Harjit in English. Indian and Pakistani records also show the father’s or husband’s name, as son of (s/o), daughter of (d/o) or wife of (w/o). Tell us the spelling used in your passport when you order.
• Dates and numbers: dates are written day, month and year, so 03/10/2026 is October 3, 2026, and religious documents can also carry the date of the Bikrami calendar. Large amounts are grouped in lakhs and crores, so 1,50,000 is one hundred fifty thousand, and the translation writes them in the format of the destination.
• Documents from India: birth and death certificates come from the municipality or the village council (gram panchayat), Sikh marriages celebrated in the Anand Karaj are registered with a marriage certificate, and land records such as the jamabandi list the village, the tehsil and the district. The translation reproduces every stamp, seal and note.
• Documents from Pakistan: the national identity card (CNIC) and the marriage contract (Nikah Nama) are issued in Urdu and English, while Shahmukhi Punjabi appears in letters, personal statements and family documents. We translate both, and the receiving authority defines whether the translation needs a certification, a notarization or the apostille on the original.