StatusWriting a status in Hindi and Punjabi
A status in your own language is read differently by the people who share it. A Punjabi line makes an aunt in Jalandhar smile in a way no English line can. This page explains how to type Hindi and Punjabi on a phone, when to choose which language, and what to watch for.
Real script or English letters?
Hindi can be written in Devanagari (ज़िंदगी) or spelt in English letters (zindagi). Punjabi can be written in Gurmukhi (ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ) or in English letters too. For a status, the real script is usually better:
- It is easier and faster to read, especially for parents and grandparents.
- There is only one spelling. In English letters the same word is spelt five ways.
- It looks like care was taken.
English letters are fine for a quick, casual line among friends who chat that way. Every Hindi and Punjabi line on this site is in its real script.
How to type Hindi and Punjabi on a phone
You do not need a special app. Android phones and iPhones both let you add Hindi and Punjabi keyboards in the phone's keyboard or language settings. Most offer two styles:
- A keyboard with the letters of the script, where you tap क, ख, ਕ, ਖ directly.
- A "type in English, get the script" keyboard, often called transliteration, where you type "dosti" and choose दोस्ती or ਦੋਸਤੀ from the suggestions. Most people find this the quickest.
Menus differ between phones and change with updates, so look under Settings for "Languages" or "Keyboard" and add the language there. You can also speak the line: voice typing understands both languages on most phones. And of course you can skip typing altogether: tap Copy on any line here and paste it.
Small marks that change the meaning
- In Hindi, the dot under a letter (nukta) matters to careful readers: ज़िंदगी, ख़ुशी, फ़ोन. The chandrabindu and bindu matter too: हँसी and हंस are different words.
- In Punjabi, check the addhak (ੱ), the tippi (ੰ) and the bindi (ਂ): ਪੱਗ, ਪਿੰਡ, ਮਾਂ.
- End a Hindi or Punjabi sentence with the danda (।), which both keyboards have.
Read the line once after the keyboard's suggestion fills it in. Suggestions are often right and sometimes funny.
Which language for which line?
| Line about | Often works best in | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Parents, grandparents, home | Hindi or Punjabi | It is the language of the house, and elders read it easily |
| Village, fields, weddings | Punjabi or Hindi | Words like pind, saath and raunak have no English match |
| Work, study, travel abroad | English | Colleagues from other states can read it |
| Jokes about yourself | Whichever you joke in | Humour does not survive translation |
Do not translate, rewrite
A line translated word for word from English sounds stiff. "I am my own long-term project" has no natural Hindi form, while "ख़ुद पर काम चल रहा है" says the same thing the way people speak. If you want a line in another language, say the thought aloud in that language first, then write down what you said. That is how the Hindi and Punjabi lines on this site were written.
Where to find the lines
All Hindi lines are on the हिन्दी स्टेटस page and all Punjabi lines on the ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਟੇਟਸ page. Every topic page also has language buttons above its list.