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{{Short description|Languages spoken in Bihar (India)}}
{{Culture of Bihar}}
Most of the languages of [[Bihar]], the [[List of states and union territories of India by population|third most populous]] state of India, belong to the [[Bihari languages|Bihari subgroup]] of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], spoken in the west of the state, [[Maithili language|Maithili]] in the north, [[Magahi language|Magahi]] in center around capital Patna and [[Angika]] in the South-Eastern region. Of these, only Maithili has official recognition under the [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India|Eighth Schedule]] to the Constitution of India.<ref name="mha.nic.in">{{Cite web|title=Archived copy|url=http://mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/Eighth_Schedule.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010536/http://mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/Eighth_Schedule.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016|access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref> The official language of Bihar is [[Hindi]],<ref name="CSDOffLang19502">{{cite web|date=1950|title=The Bihar Official Language Act, 1950|url=http://csd.bih.nic.in/Act&rule/Act1english.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413072041/http://csd.bih.nic.in/Act%26rule/Act1english.pdf|archive-date=13 April 2015|access-date=9 April 2015|website=Cabinet Secretariat Department, Government of Bihar}}</ref> with [[Urdu]] serving as a second official language in 15 districts.<ref name="Benedikter20093">{{cite book|last=Benedikter|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89|title=Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India|date=2009|publisher=[[LIT Verlag]]|isbn=978-3-643-10231-7|location=Münster|page=89|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019053006/https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89|archive-date=19 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Exact speaker numbers for the main Bihari languages are not known because the more educated prefer to speak in Hindi (in formal situations) and so return this answer on the census, while many in rural areas and the urban poor, especially the illiterate, list their language as "Hindi" on the census as they regard that as the term for their language.<ref name="Danesh2">{{cite book|last1=Jain|first1=Danesh|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|last2=Cardona|first2=George|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|page=500|quote=The number of speakers of Bihari languages are difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region, most educated speakers of the language name either Hindi or Urdu as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The uneducated and the rural population of the region regards Hindi or Urdu as the generic name for their language.}}</ref>

Other languages include the Indo-Aryan languages like [[Angika]], [[Sadri language|Sadri]], [[Surjapuri language|Surjapuri]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Kochila Tharu]]; the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] languages [[Kurukh language|Kurukh]] (84,000 speakers in 2011), Kulehiya/[[Malto language|Malto]] (76,000) and [[Mal Paharia language|Mal Paharia]], as well as the [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] languages [[Santali language|Santali]] (almost half a million speakers in 2011) and [[Munda language|Munda]].<ref>List of languages based on:
*{{cite web |title=C-16 Population By Mother Tongue – Bihar |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-1000.XLSX |format=XLSX |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221112716/https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-1000.XLSX |archive-date=2020-02-21 |work=Census of India 2011 |publisher=Office of the Registrar General |access-date=14 March 2020}}
*{{cite web| title = India| publisher = [[Ethnologue]]| year = 2023| url = https://www.ethnologue.com/country/IN/}} Ethnologue also lists the following languages as spoken in the state: Awadhi, Braj, Ho, Kanjari, Koch, Koda, Korwa, Kurmukar, Mahali, Munda, Nepali, Newar, Sindhi, Sora.
</ref>

==History==
Despite the large number of speakers of [[Bihari languages]], they have not been constitutionally recognised in [[India]], except [[Maithili language|Maithili]], which is recognised under the [[Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India]]. Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters in Bihar. These languages were legally absorbed under the subordinate label of Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerment. The first success of spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced Urdu as the sole official standard of the province. In this [[Hindi–Urdu controversy|struggle between Hindi and Urdu standards]] of the [[Hindustani language]], the potential claims of the three large mother tongues in the region – [[Bhojpuri]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]] and [[Magahi]] were ignored. After independence, Hindi was again given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950. Urdu became the second official language in the undivided State of Bihar on 16 August 1989.

==Official languages==
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[[Hindi]] is the official languages of the State.<ref name=CSDOffLang1950>{{cite web |title=The Bihar Official Language Act, 1950 |url=http://csd.bih.nic.in/Act&rule/Act1english.pdf |date=1950 |website=Cabinet Secretariat Department, Government of Bihar|access-date=9 April 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413072041/http://csd.bih.nic.in/Act%26rule/Act1english.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2015}}</ref> [[Urdu]] is the second official language of the state.

===Hindi===
{{Main|Bihari Hindi|Hindi in Bihar}}

{{See also|Hindi}}

==Recognised languages==

===Maithili===
{{Main|Maithili language}}
[[Maithili language|Maithili]] ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|aɪ|t|ᵻ|l|i}};<ref>{{OED|Maithili}}</ref> ''Maithilī'') is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]] native to India and Nepal. In India, it is widely spoken in the [[Bihar]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=मैथिली लिपि को बढ़ावा देने के लिए विशेषज्ञों की जल्द ही बैठक बुला सकते हैं प्रकाश जावड़ेकर|url=https://ndtv.in/india-news/prakash-javadekar-likely-to-call-meeting-of-experts-to-promote-maithili-script-1826774|website=NDTVIndia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा|url=https://www.livehindustan.com/jharkhand/story-maithili-will-get-second-state-language-status-in-jharkhand-1835624.html|website=Hindustan}}</ref> Native speakers are also found in other states and union territories of India, most notably in [[Jharkhand]] and the [[National Capital Territory of Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=BJP trying to influence Maithil voters in delhi | मैथिल मतदाताओं को मोहने की कोशिश में है बीजेपी, दिल्ली में हैं कुल 40 लाख वोटर्स| Hindi News, बिहार एवं झारखंड|url=https://zeenews.india.com/hindi/india/bihar-jharkhand/bjp-trying-to-influence-maithil-voters-in-delhi/635693/amp?espv=1|website=zeenews.india.com}}</ref> According to [[Ethnologue]], there are about 12 million Maithili speakers in India as per 2011 Census.<ref name="ethnologue.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mai/17 |title=Maithili |access-date=1 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730151525/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mai/17 |archive-date=30 July 2017 }}</ref>
However, in the [[2011 census of India]], It was reported by only 1,35,83,464 people as their mother tongue comprising about 1.12% of the total population of India,<ref>[https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/language-census-2011-surge-in-hindi-speakers-south-indian-language-and-urdu-speakers-decline-1530869001-1, Rise in Hindi language speakers, ''Statement-4'' Retrieved on 22 February 2020]</ref> as many Maithili speakers view it as a dialect of Hindi and report their mother tongue as Hindi.
In [[Nepal]], it is spoken in the eastern [[Terai]], and is the second most prevalent language of Nepal.<ref name="Sah2013">{{cite journal|author=Sah, K. K.|year=2013|title=Some perspectives on Maithili|journal=Nepalese Linguistics|issue=28|pages=179–188}}</ref> [[Tirhuta script|Tirhuta]] was formerly the primary script for written Maithili. Less commonly, it was also written in the local variant of [[Kaithi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Brass, P. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SylBHS8IJAUC&pg=PP1|title=Language, Religion and Politics in North India|publisher=iUniverse|year=2005|isbn=0-595-34394-5|location=Lincoln|access-date=1 April 2017}}</ref> Today it is written in the [[Devanagari]] script.<ref name="Yadava2013">Yadava, Y. P. (2013). Linguistic context and language endangerment in Nepal. [http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepling/pdf/Nep_Ling_28.pdf Nepalese Linguistics 28]: 262–274.</ref>

In 2003, Maithili was included in the [[8th Schedule|Eighth Schedule]] of the [[Indian Constitution]] as a recognised regional language of India, which allows it to be used in education, government, and other official contexts.<ref name="Singh2011">Singh, P., & Singh, A. N. (2011). Finding Mithila between India's Centre and Periphery. ''Journal of Indian Law & Society'' 2: 147–181.</ref>

==Other languages and dialects of Bihar==

===Angika===
{{Main|Angika}}
Angika is mainly spoken in Anga area which includes [[Munger district|Munger]], [[Bhagalpur district|Bhagalpur]] and [[Banka district]]s of Bihar and the [[Santhal Pargana division]] of [[Jharkhand]].{{sfn|Colin P. Masica|1993|p=12}} Its speakers are estimated to be around 15 million.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sevanti Ninan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHRNs4Pt2YAC&pg=PA61|title=Headlines From the Heartland: Reinventing the Hindi Public Sphere|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7619-3580-3|page=61|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511100606/https://books.google.com/books?id=QHRNs4Pt2YAC&pg=PA61|archive-date=11 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to the Anga area, it is also spoken in some parts of [[Purnia district]] of Bihar. <ref name="uchicago.edu">{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=5-2&pages=466#page/110/mode/1up|title=The Record News|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903110135/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=5-2&pages=466#page/110/mode/1up|archive-date=3 September 2014}}</ref>

===Bajjika===
{{Main|Bajjika}}
Bajjika or Western Maithili is spoken in eastern India and Nepal. It is considered to be a dialect of the [[Maithili language]].<ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mai/17 Ethnologue: Maithili]</ref> Bajjika is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar which mostly spans the modern day [[Tirhut division|Tirhut Division]] and thus is also referred to as Tirhutiya. In Bihar, it is mainly spoken in the [[Samastipur district|Samastipur]], [[Sitamarhi district|Sitamarhi]], [[Muzaffarpur district|Muzaffarpur]], [[Vaishali district|Vaishali]], [[Sheohar district|Sheohar]] districts. It is also spoken in a part of the [[Darbhanga district]] adjoining [[Muzaffarpur district|Muzaffarpur]] and [[Muzaffarpur district|Samastipur]] districts.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=1}}

Researcher Abhishek Kashyap (2013), based on the 2001 census data, estimated that there were 20 million Bajjika speakers in Bihar (including around 11.46 illiterate adults).{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|pp=1–2}}

===Bhojpuri===
{{Main|Bhojpuri language}}
Bhojpuri has several dialects: Southern Bhojpuri, Northern Bhojpuri, Western Bhojpuri, and [[Sadri language|Nagpuria]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Trammell, Robert Lee |title=The phonology of the Northern standard dialect of Bhojpuri |date=1968 |oclc=64035989}}</ref>

Southern Standard Bhojpuri is prevalent in the old [[Shahabad district]] ([[Buxar]], [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]], [[Rohtas district|Rohtas]], and [[Kaimur district|Kaimur]] districts) and the [[Saran division|Saran]] region ([[Saran district|Saran]], [[Siwan District|Siwan]] and [[Gopalganj district, India|Gopalganj]],east and west Champaran districts) in Bihar, and the eastern [[Azamgarh division|Azamgarh]] ([[Ballia]] and [[Mau, Uttar Pradesh|Mau]] districts) and [[Varanasi division|Varanasi]] (eastern part of [[Ghazipur]] district) regions in Uttar Pradesh. The dialect is also known as ''Kharwari''. It can be further divided into Shahabadi, Chhaprahiya and Pachhimahi.<ref>[http://multitree.org/codes/bho-sou Map of Southern Standard Bhojpuri] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140301233412/http://multitree.org/codes/bho-sou |date=1 March 2014 }} Digital Library of Language Relationships (2012)</ref>

Northern Bhojpuri is common in the western [[Tirhut division]] (east and west [[Champaran]] districts) in Bihar, and [[Gorakhpur division]] ([[Deoria district|Deoria]], [[Kushinagar]], [[Gorakhpur]], and [[Maharajganj district|Maharajganj]] districts) and [[Basti division]] ([[Basti district|Basti]], [[Siddharthnagar district|Sidharthanagar]], and [[Sant Kabir Nagar]] districts) in Uttar Pradesh. It is also spoken in Nepal.<ref name=ss1981>Shaligram Shukla (1981), Bhojpuri Grammar, Georgetown University School of Language, {{ISBN|978-0878401895}}</ref>

Western Bhojpuri is prevalent in the areas of [[Varanasi division|Varanasi]] ([[Varanasi district|Varanasi]], [[Chandauli district|Chandauli]], [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]], and the western part of Ghazipur district), [[Azamgarh division|Azamgarh]] ([[Azamgarh district]]), and [[Mirzapur division|Mirzapur]], [[Sonbhadra district|Sonbhadra]], [[Sant Ravidas Nagar]], and [[Bhadohi district|Bhadohi]] districts) in Uttar Pradesh. Banarasi is a local name for Bhojpuri, named after [[Banaras]].{{clarify|date=January 2020|reason-What is Baranas?}} Other names for Western Bhojpuri include ''Purbi'' and ''Benarsi''.<ref>[http://multitree.org/codes/bho-wes Western Standard Bhojpuri] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140301233419/http://multitree.org/codes/bho-wes |date=1 March 2014 }} Digital Library of Language Relationships (2012)</ref>

Nagpuria Bhojpuri is the southernmost popular dialect, found in the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] of [[Jharkhand]], particularly parts of Palamau and [[Ranchi]]. It has been influenced more by the [[Magahi language]] than by other dialects.<ref name="dsal2">[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/lsi/6588AK Parable of the prodigal son in Nagpuria Bhojpuri] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210005/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/lsi/6588AK|date=4 March 2016}}, A Recording in 1920 by Shiva Sahay Lal, Linguistic Survey of India, Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago, USA</ref><ref name=ss1981/> It is sometimes referred to as [[Sadri language|Sadri]].<ref>[[Monika Boehm-Tettelbach|Monika Horstmann]] (1969), Sadari, Indologia Berolinensis, Otto Harrassowitz – Wiesbaden, Germany, pp 176–180</ref>

Tharu Bhojpuri is spoken by many ethnic Tharu, living in West Champaran district, adjoining Chitwan district of Nepal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pāṇḍeya |first=Rāsabihārī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUtIAAAAMAAJ&q=champaran+Tharu+variant+Bhojpuri |title=Bhojapurī bhāshā kā itihāsa |date=1986 |publisher=Loka-Sāhitya-Saṅgama |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shukla |first=Shaligram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4mBAAAAIAAJ&q=Tharu+Bhojpuri |title=Bhojpuri Grammar |date=1981 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-0-87840-189-5 |language=en}}</ref>

A more specific classification recognises the dialects of Bhojpuri as Bhojpuri Tharu, Domra, Madhesi, Musahari, Northern Standard Bhojpuri (Basti, Gorakhpuri, Sarawaria), Southern Standard Bhojpuri (Kharwari), and Western Standard Bhojpuri (Benarsi, Purbi).<ref name=eth2009>[[:ethnologue:bho|Bhojpuri Ethnologue]] World Languages (2009){{Circular reference|date=March 2019}}</ref>

===Magahi===
{{Main|Magahi language}}Magahi is spoken in the [[Magadh division|Magadh region]] in southern Bihar. Its heartland is Patna, Jehanabad, Nalanda, Gaya, Nawada and Sheikhpura districts, with the centres of Magahi culture being Patna, earlier called Pataliputra, and Gaya. In the west, in western Patna district, Arwal and Aurangabad districts, Magahi blends into Bhojpuri spoken across the Son river. Across the Ganga Magahi borders various dialects closely related to Maithili. In the east, in Lakhisarai and Jamui districts, Magahi blends into Angika.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prasad |first1=Balaram |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Subasis |title=Magadhi/Magahi |url=http://lsi.gov.in/MTSI_app/DraftReport/Bihar/11.%20MAGADHI%20MAGAHI.pdf |journal=Languages of Bihar |publisher=Linguistic Survey of India}}</ref>

=== Khortha ===
{{Main|Khortha language}}Khortha language is spoken in far-southern Bihar adjoining Jharkhand, on the Chota Nagpur plateau. Districts where Khortha is spoken include Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shekhar Dash |first=Niladri |title=Language Attitude of Khortha Speakers in Giridih: A Survey Report |journal=Linguistic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata}}</ref>

===Santali===
{{Main|Santali language}}Santhali is a Munda language spoken by the Santhal Adivasis in its heartland in [[Santhal Pargana division|Santhal Parganas]] in northeastern Jharkhand. As an extension of this population, Santhali is spoken by many people in Jamui, Banka, Munger and Bhagalpur districts. Many Santhali people were also brought to eastern Bihar (Purnia division) as agricultural workers, so large numbers are also found in Araria, Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj districts.

===Surjapuri===
{{Main|Surjapuri language}}Surjapuri is a language variety spoken in Purnia division (Araria, Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj districts), and adjoining areas of West Bengal, although it has been clubbed under Hindi in the census. In fact, it is more closely related to [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and Bengali than Hindi, being the western extension of the [[KRNB lects|Kamatpuri]] group of dialects like [[Rajbanshi language (Nepal)|Rajbanshi]] in neighbouring Nepal and [[Rangpuri language|Rangpuri]] in nearby Bangladesh. In the west it blends with eastern dialects of Maithili.

==Classical languages of Bihar==
===Pali===
{{Main|Pali}}

===Sanskrit===
{{Main|Sanskrit}}

==Writing systems==
{{Main|Indic script|Devanagari|Tirhuta|Kaithi}}

==See also==

*[[Hindi in Bihar]]
*[[Bihari languages]]
*[[Languages of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Languages of Bihar}}
{{Languages of India}}
{{Languages of South Asia}}
{{Asia topic|Languages of}}
{{Portalbar|India|Languages}}

[[Category:Languages of Bihar| ]]

Languages of Bihar - Revision history

Tijusacademy: revised

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article