>Austronesier Reverted good faith edits by 2409:4041:2D0F:F15E:0:0:BB8B:2F05 (talk): Sindhi has <2M speakers in India. By this standard, we could add lot of other languages at well. |
imported>GokulNC m Mention major families |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
[[File:South Asian Language Families.png|thumb|right|400px|Language families of South Asia]] | [[File:South Asian Language Families.png|thumb|right|400px|Language families of South Asia]] | ||
[[File:States of South Asia.png|thumb|right|400px|The names of each state in the script of the dominant language of that state of India, part of Pakistan and the whole of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.]] | [[File:States of South Asia.png|thumb|right|400px|The names of each state in the script of the dominant language of that state of India, part of Pakistan and the whole of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.]] | ||
[[South Asia]] is home to several hundred languages. | [[South Asia]] is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of [[Bangladesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It is home to the third most spoken language in the world, [[Hindi-Urdu]] and the sixth most spoken language, [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. The [[Indo sub-continent]] majorly comprises of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Aryan]] and [[Dravidian languages]], and other minor families like [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] and [[Tibeto-Burman languages]]. | ||
==India== | == India == | ||
Most languages spoken in | {{Main|Languages of India}} | ||
Most languages spoken in India belong either to the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] ({{circa|74%}}), the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] (c. 24%), the [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] ([[Munda languages|Munda]]) (c. 1.2%), or the [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] (c. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the [[Himalayas]] still unclassified. | |||
The [[SIL International|SIL]] Ethnologue lists 461 living languages for India. | The [[SIL International|SIL]] Ethnologue lists 461 living languages for India. | ||
| Line 15: | Line 17: | ||
Scheduled languages spoken by less than 1% of Indians are [[Santali language|Santali]] (0.64%), [[Meitei language|Manipuri]] (0.14%), [[Bodo language|Bodo]] (0.13%), [[Dogri language|Dogri]] (0.01%, spoken in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]). The largest language that is not "scheduled" is [[Bhili language|Bhili]] (0.95%), followed by [[Gondi language|Gondi]] (0.27%), [[Tulu language|Tulu]] (0.17%) and [[Kurukh language|Kurukh]] (0.099%) | Scheduled languages spoken by less than 1% of Indians are [[Santali language|Santali]] (0.64%), [[Meitei language|Manipuri]] (0.14%), [[Bodo language|Bodo]] (0.13%), [[Dogri language|Dogri]] (0.01%, spoken in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]). The largest language that is not "scheduled" is [[Bhili language|Bhili]] (0.95%), followed by [[Gondi language|Gondi]] (0.27%), [[Tulu language|Tulu]] (0.17%) and [[Kurukh language|Kurukh]] (0.099%) | ||
== Nepal == | |||
{{Main|Languages of Nepal}} | |||
Most of the languages of [[Nepal]] either fall under [[Indo-Aryan languages]] or [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]. The official language of the country is [[Nepali language|Nepali]], earlier known as Gorkhali. | |||
== Pakistan == | |||
{{Main|Languages of Pakistan}} | |||
The major languages of Pakistan broadly fall under the category [[Indo-Iranian languages]], with Western regions of Pakistan (close to [[Iran]]) speaking [[Iranian languages]] and Eastern regions (close to India) speaking [[Indo-Aryan languages]] (with the [[Indus River]] approximately dividing the families). The national uniting medium of Pakistan is [[Urdu]], a standardized register of [[Hindustani language]]. The major native languages of Pakistan are Baluchi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Pashto, while other languages like Saraiki, Balti, etc. are also widely spoken. | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
| Line 24: | Line 36: | ||
** [[List of languages by number of native speakers in India]] | ** [[List of languages by number of native speakers in India]] | ||
* [[Languages of Maldives]] | * [[Languages of Maldives]] | ||
* [[Languages of Sri Lanka]] | * [[Languages of Sri Lanka]] | ||
Revision as of 16:51, 17 August 2021
South Asia is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is home to the third most spoken language in the world, Hindi-Urdu and the sixth most spoken language, Bengali. The Indo sub-continent majorly comprises of Aryan and Dravidian languages, and other minor families like Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages.
India
Most languages spoken in India belong either to the Indo-Aryan (c. 74%), the Dravidian (c. 24%), the Austroasiatic (Munda) (c. 1.2%), or the Tibeto-Burman (c. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the Himalayas still unclassified. The SIL Ethnologue lists 461 living languages for India.
Hindustani is the most widespread language of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of "Hindi" as the broad variety of the Hindi languages. The native speakers of Hindi so defined account for 39% of Indians. Bengali is the second most spoken language of South Asia, found in both Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. The International Mother Language Day was created by UNESCO to commemorate the Bengali language.[1] Other notable languages include Odia, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Pashto, Malayalam and Konkani.
Indian English is recorded as the native language of 226,449 Indians in the 2001 census. English is the second "language of the Union" besides Hindi.
Thirteen languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95%; all of them are "scheduled languages of the constitution."
Scheduled languages spoken by less than 1% of Indians are Santali (0.64%), Manipuri (0.14%), Bodo (0.13%), Dogri (0.01%, spoken in Jammu and Kashmir). The largest language that is not "scheduled" is Bhili (0.95%), followed by Gondi (0.27%), Tulu (0.17%) and Kurukh (0.099%)
Nepal
Most of the languages of Nepal either fall under Indo-Aryan languages or Sino-Tibetan languages. The official language of the country is Nepali, earlier known as Gorkhali.
Pakistan
The major languages of Pakistan broadly fall under the category Indo-Iranian languages, with Western regions of Pakistan (close to Iran) speaking Iranian languages and Eastern regions (close to India) speaking Indo-Aryan languages (with the Indus River approximately dividing the families). The national uniting medium of Pakistan is Urdu, a standardized register of Hindustani language. The major native languages of Pakistan are Baluchi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Pashto, while other languages like Saraiki, Balti, etc. are also widely spoken.
See also
- Languages of Afghanistan
- Languages of Bangladesh
- Languages of Bhutan
- Languages of India
- Languages of Maldives
- Languages of Sri Lanka
References
- ↑ "The General Conference proclaim"International Mother Language Day" to be observed on 21 February". unesdoc.unesco.org. 1999-11-16. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
- Data table of Census of India, 2001
- "Indian Language Family". Central Institute of Indian Languages. Archived from the original on 15 June 2002.
- SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH – 2001
- COMPARATIVE RANKING OF SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH-1971, 1981, 1991 AND 2001
- Census data on Languages