The Pothohari language otherwise known as Mirpuri or Potwari is an Indo-European language spoken from the Potwar district around Rawalpindi, Pakistan to the Indian-Kashmiri border in the Mirpur district in Azad Jammu Kashmir. It is closely related to Panjabi and Romani (Gypsy), but is distinct from these languages. Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... Potohar (or Potwar or Pothohar) Plateau is a plateau in Pakistan. ... Rawalpindi is a city near Islamabad, Pakistan. ... Jammu and Kashmir is a historic state in Asia which is currently disputed between India, Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, China. ... The line of control (LOC) is a line which demarcates the boundary between the territories controlled by two militaries or political entities, e. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Azad Kashmir (formally the Islamic Republic of Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is part of what India calls Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, the Pakistani-occupied part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas. ... Punjabi (sometimes spelled Panjabi) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Romany (or Romani) is the language of the Roma and Sinti, travelling peoples often referred to in English as gypsies and in the East and Central Europe known as tsigane. ... A Gypsy may be: any member of any nomadic people (the term is allegedly considered derogatory), especially: the Rroma and Sinti, found worldwide but mainly in Europe; and Travellers found mainly in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States. ...

There is some dialect continuum with Hindko and the Jhelumi dialect of Panjabi. Pothohari speakers may understand Panjabis both from India and Pakistan, but these groups may not understand Pothohari. In linguistics, a diasystem is a term used in structural dialectology, to refer to a single genetic language which has two or more standard forms. ... Hindko is an ancient language spoken in the Indian subcontinent. ...

Pothohari displays some characteristics which indicate that it is in fact older than Panjabi, disputing the idea that it is a dialect of Panjabi. The Romani language first developed prior to Panjabi, and this shares many characteristics unique only to Pothohari and Romani, and not shared with Panjabi. For example, the possessive indicator that links two words together (i.e. to me or to you, to him etc...) is ke in both Pothohari and Romani, but is noo in Panjabi. Also, "to me" is miki and "to you" is tuki.