Bihari languages: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages}}
{{Distinguish|text = the [[languages of Bihar]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox language family
{{Infobox language family
|name=Bihari
|name=Bihari
|region=[[Bihar]]
|region=[[India]] and [[Nepal]]
|familycolor=Indo-European
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan language|Indo-Aryan]]
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
|fam4=[[List of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern Zone]]
|fam4=[[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern Zone]]
|child1 = [[Angika language|Angika]]
|child1 = [[Angika]]
|child2 = [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]]
|child2 = [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]]
|child3 = [[Fiji Hindi]]
|child3 = [[Kurmali language|Kurmali]]
|child4 = [[Kudmali language|Kudmali]]
|child4 = [[Magahi language|Magahi]]
|child5 = [[Magahi language|Magahi]]
|child5 = [[Maithili language|Maithili]]
|child6 = [[Maithili language|Maithili]]
|child6 = [[Majhi language|Majhi]]
|child8 = [[Majhi language|Majhi]]
|child7 = [[Musasa language|Musasa]]
|child9 = [[Musasa language|Musasa]]
|child8 = [[Panchpargania language|Panchpargania]]
|child10 = [[Panchpargania language|Panchpargania]]
|child9 = [[Sadri language|Sadri (Nagpuri)]]
|child11 = [[Sadri language|Sadri]]
|child10 = [[Tharu languages]]
|child12 = [[Sadri language|Oraon Sadri]]
|child13 = [[Sarnami|Sarnami Hindustani]]
|child14 = [[Surajpuri language|Surajpuri]]
|glotto  = biha1245
|glotto  = biha1245
|iso1=bh
|glottorefname=Bihari
|iso1=bh (deprecated)
|iso2=bih
|iso2=bih
}}
}}
'''Bihari''' is a group of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic languages]] spoken in parts of [[Bangladesh]] and [[Bihar]].
'''Bihari''' is a subgroup of the [[Indo-Aryan languages]] that is usually included in the [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern branch]] of Indo-Aryan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |year=1991 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=12, 26, 446–462}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/bihari Bihari] at ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (23rd ed., 2020).</ref> The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the [[Indian states]] of [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]] and [[Uttar Pradesh]] and also in [[Nepal]].<ref>Yadava, Y. P. (2013). Linguistic context and language endangerment in Nepal. Nepalese Linguistics 28: 262–274.</ref><ref name="auto1">Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North India''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari subgroup are [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]].


Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only [[Maithili language|Maithili]] has been constitutionally recognised in India, which gained constitutional status via the [[Ninety-second Amendment of the Constitution of India|92nd amendment to the Constitution of India]], of 2003 (gaining assent in 2004).<ref>{{cite web |title= The Constitution (Ninety-Second Amendment) Act, 2003 |url= http://india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/amendments/constitution-india-ninety-second-amendment-act-2003 |date= 7 January 2004 |website = National Portal of India |access-date= 11 April 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150412014818/http://india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/amendments/constitution-india-ninety-second-amendment-act-2003 |archive-date = 12 April 2015}}</ref> Both Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/nepal/article24876497.ece |title = Nepal|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 6 September 2018|last1 = Kumayaa|first1 = Harshitha}}</ref>


{{Asia-stub}}
In Bihar, [[Hindi]] is the language used for educational and official matters.<ref name=Damani2015>{{cite web |last = Damani |first= Guarang |title= History of Indian Languages |url = http://www.diehardindian.com/history-of-indian-languages |date = 2015 |website = Die-hard Indian |access-date = 11 April 2015 |url-status= live |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413223200/http://www.diehardindian.com/history-of-indian-languages
|archive-date = 13 April 2015}}</ref> These languages were legally absorbed under the overarching label Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments.<ref>{{cite conference
|last = Verma  | first = Mahandra K.| title = Language Endangerment and Indian languages : An exploration and a critique| year = 2001| book-title = Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia| isbn = 9788120817654| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tcfJY7kANo8C&q=awadhi+and+magahi+languages&pg=PA5
  }}</ref> After independence Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brass |first=Paul R. |title=The Politics of India Since Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&pg=PA183 |edition=Second |date=8 September 1994 |page=183 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521459709 |access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref> Hindi was displaced as the sole official language of Bihar in 1981, when [[Urdu]] was accorded the status of the second official language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benedikter |first1=Thomas |title=Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India |year=2009 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-10231-7 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89 |language=en}}</ref>


[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
== Speakers ==
[[Category:Languages of Bangladesh]]
{{See also|Languages in Bihar| Maithili language|Bhojpuri|Angika|Magahi|Magadhi Prakrit|Hindi in Bihar}}
 
The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name [[Hindi]] as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The educated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.<ref name=Cardona2003 >{{cite book |editor1-last=Cardona |editor1-first=George |editor1-link=George Cardona |editor2-last=Jain |editor2-first=Dhanesh |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=11 September 2003 |page=500 |publisher=Routledge |series=Routledge Language Family Series |isbn=978-0415772945 |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 Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of lack of awareness. The uneducated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.}}</ref>
 
== Some major languages and dialects ==
{{-}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Language<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/browse/families|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104043633/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=287-16|url-status=dead|title=Browse by Language Family|archive-date=4 January 2012|website=Ethnologue|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>
! [[ISO 639-3]]
! Scripts
! data-sort-type="number" |No. of speakers<ref name=Cardona2003/>
! Geographical distribution
|-
| '''[[Angika]]''' || anp || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]]; [[Anga Lipi]] || 743,600<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/anp |title=Angika |access-date=17 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324184439/http://www.ethnologue.com/language/anp |archive-date=24 March 2016 }}</ref>  ||Eastern [[Bihar]], North-eastern [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]] and Eastern [[Madhesh]]
|-
| '''[[Bajjika language|Bajjika]]''' || –  || Devanagari; previously [[Tirhuta]]; [[Kaithi]] || 8,738,000{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} || North-Central [[Bihar]] and Eastern [[Madhesh]]
|-
| '''[[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]]''' || bho || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]] || 52,245,300<ref>{{cite web |title=Bhojpuri |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bho |website=Ethnologue |access-date=21 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> || '''Official language''' in  [[Fiji]] (as the [[Fiji Hindi]] language) and [[Jharkhand]] (additional)
'''In [[India]]''' : Western [[Bihar]], Eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]], Northwestern [[Jharkhand]], Northern [[Chhattisgarh]], Northeastern [[Madhya Pradesh]] and Central [[Madhesh]]
|-
| '''[[Khortha language|Khortha]]''' || –  ||  [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta script|Tirhuta]] || 8.04&nbsp;million<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=7 July 2018}}</ref>|| South [[Bihar]],  North-eastern and North central [[Jharkhand]]
|-
| '''[[Kudmali language|Kudmali]]''' || kyw || [[Devanagari]]; sometimes [[Bengali alphabet|Bengali]] || 556,809<ref name="auto"/>|| South-Eastern [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]], northern [[Odisha]]
|-
| '''[[Magahi language|Magahi]]''' || mah || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]]; [[Kaithi]], [[Siddham script]] || 14,035,600<ref name="eth2016">{{cite web|title=India|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/19/country/IN/languages/|website=Ethnologue|date=2016|archive-url=https://archive.is/20171002104725/http://www.ethnologue.com/19/country/IN/languages/|archive-date=2 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> || South [[Bihar]], North [[Jharkhand]]
|-
| '''[[Maithili language|Maithili]]''' || mai || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]], [[Kaithi]] ||33,890,000<ref name="eth2016"/> || Northern and eastern [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]]<ref>{{cite news |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 |last=Praveen |access-date=30 December 2020 |work=Hindustan |date=6 March 2018 |language=hindi}}</ref> and Eastern [[Madhesh]]
|-
| '''[[Panchpargania language|Panchpargania]]''' || tdb || [[Devanagari]], sometimes [[Bengali alphabet|Bengali]]; [[Kaithi]]|| 274,000{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}|| [[West Bengal]], [[Jharkhand]] and [[Assam]]
|-
| '''[[Sadri language|Sadri (Nagpuri)]]''' || sck || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]] || 5.1&nbsp;million<ref name="auto"/>|| West-central [[Jharkhand]], North-eastern [[Chhattisgarh]], Northwestern [[Odisha]]
|-
| '''[[Tharu languages|Tharu]]''' || thl, tkt, thr, the, thq, tkb, soi || [[Devanagari]] || 1.9&nbsp;million<ref name="auto"/>|| [[Terai]] regions of [[Nepal]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bihar]]
|-
| '''[[Kumhali language|Kumhali]]''' || kra || [[Devanagari]] || 12,000<ref name="auto"/>|| [[Nepal]]
|}
 
== References and footnotes ==
{{reflist|30em}}
 
== External links ==
{{interwiki|code=bh|Bhojpuri}}
{{interwiki|code=hif}}
{{interwiki|code=mai}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=NNMvAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false ''A Comparative dictionary of the Bihārī language, Volume 1'' By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Sir George Abraham Grierson (1885)]
* [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=bih Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: bih], on www.sil.org
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703182855/http://www.nalandaopenuniversity.com/courses.html Nalanda Open University offers courses on Bihari languages (Magahi, Bhojpuri, Maithili)]
* [[incubator:Wp/anp/Main Page|Angika Language Wikipedia]] (incubator)
 
{{Bihari languages}}
{{Bihar topics}}
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bihari languages}}
[[Category:Bihari languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Hindi languages]]
[[Category:Culture of Bihar]]
[[Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages]]

Latest revision as of 13:51, 27 June 2021

Not to be confused with the languages of Bihar.
Bihari
Geographic
distribution		India and Nepal
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Subdivisions
ISO 639-1bh (deprecated)
ISO 639-2 / 5bih
Glottologbiha1245

Bihari is a subgroup of the Indo-Aryan languages that is usually included in the Eastern branch of Indo-Aryan.[1][2] The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal.[3][4] The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari subgroup are Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili.

Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only Maithili has been constitutionally recognised in India, which gained constitutional status via the 92nd amendment to the Constitution of India, of 2003 (gaining assent in 2004).[5] Both Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal.[6]

In Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters.[7] These languages were legally absorbed under the overarching label Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments.[8] After independence Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950.[9] Hindi was displaced as the sole official language of Bihar in 1981, when Urdu was accorded the status of the second official language.[10]

Speakers[edit | edit source]

See also: Languages in Bihar, Maithili language, Bhojpuri, Angika, Magahi, Magadhi Prakrit, and Hindi in Bihar

The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The educated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.[11]

Some major languages and dialects[edit | edit source]

Language[12] ISO 639-3 Scripts No. of speakers[11] Geographical distribution
Angika anp Devanagari; previously Kaithi; Anga Lipi 743,600[13] Eastern Bihar, North-eastern Jharkhand, West Bengal and Eastern Madhesh
Bajjika – Devanagari; previously Tirhuta; Kaithi 8,738,000[citation needed] North-Central Bihar and Eastern Madhesh
Bhojpuri bho Devanagari; previously Kaithi 52,245,300[14] Official language in Fiji (as the Fiji Hindi language) and Jharkhand (additional)

In India : Western Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Northwestern Jharkhand, Northern Chhattisgarh, Northeastern Madhya Pradesh and Central Madhesh

Khortha – Devanagari; previously Tirhuta 8.04 million[15] South Bihar, North-eastern and North central Jharkhand
Kudmali kyw Devanagari; sometimes Bengali 556,809[15] South-Eastern Jharkhand, West Bengal, northern Odisha
Magahi mah Devanagari; previously Tirhuta; Kaithi, Siddham script 14,035,600[16] South Bihar, North Jharkhand
Maithili mai Devanagari; previously Tirhuta, Kaithi 33,890,000[16] Northern and eastern Bihar, Jharkhand[17] and Eastern Madhesh
Panchpargania tdb Devanagari, sometimes Bengali; Kaithi 274,000[citation needed] West Bengal, Jharkhand and Assam
Sadri (Nagpuri) sck Devanagari; previously Kaithi 5.1 million[15] West-central Jharkhand, North-eastern Chhattisgarh, Northwestern Odisha
Tharu thl, tkt, thr, the, thq, tkb, soi Devanagari 1.9 million[15] Terai regions of Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Kumhali kra Devanagari 12,000[15] Nepal

References and footnotes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 12, 26, 446–462.
  2. ↑ Bihari at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020).
  3. ↑ Yadava, Y. P. (2013). Linguistic context and language endangerment in Nepal. Nepalese Linguistics 28: 262–274.
  4. ↑ Brass, Paul R. (1974). Language, Religion and Politics in North India. Cambridge University Press.
  5. ↑ "The Constitution (Ninety-Second Amendment) Act, 2003". National Portal of India. 7 January 2004. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Kumayaa, Harshitha (6 September 2018). "Nepal". The Hindu.
  7. ↑ Damani, Guarang (2015). "History of Indian Languages". Die-hard Indian. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Verma, Mahandra K. (2001). "Language Endangerment and Indian languages : An exploration and a critique". Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia. ISBN 9788120817654.
  9. ↑ Brass, Paul R. (8 September 1994). The Politics of India Since Independence (Second ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 183. ISBN 9780521459709. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Benedikter, Thomas (2009). Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 89. ISBN 978-3-643-10231-7.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh, eds. (11 September 2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. Routledge. p. 500. ISBN 978-0415772945. ...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 Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of lack of awareness. The uneducated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.
  12. ↑ "Browse by Language Family". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Angika". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Bhojpuri". Ethnologue. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "India". Ethnologue. 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ↑ Praveen (6 March 2018). "मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा". Hindustan (in hindi). Retrieved 30 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

External links[edit | edit source]

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