Panjabi: Prem vs Piaar

[Pvitr]

Prem and piaar both mean love but is one of them more romantic love and the other platonic?

Or can they be used interchangeably?

 

[Qureshpor]

I would say that both are identical in meaning although one could say that "pyaar" is the every day word for "love" whereas "prem" is perhaps more frequent in the higher register language like "muHabbat" and "3ishq".

 

[Pvitr]

Thank you Qureshpor. I would associate "muHabbat" and "3ishq" with romantic love (or as my son says 'soppy' love!) - would you say the same for 'prem'?

 

[Qureshpor]

No, I would n't. One can say that people would normally associate prem, muHabbat and 3ishq with "true lovers" and "pyaar" with the rest of mortals! But the words themselves mean one and the same thing.

In romantic poetry, you will read/hear all these words implying love.

 

[bakshink]

Prem for Pyar is not very commonly used in spoken Punjabi