Bajjika: Difference between revisions

Bajjika
Bajjika
बज्जिका
	The word "Bajjika" written in Devanagari script
Native to	India and Nepal
Region	Bihar of India and Terai (Madhesh Province) of Nepal
Native speakers	c. 20 million (2013 estimate)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bihari Bajjika; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Kaithi; Tirhuta;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	vjk
Glottolog	bajj1234

VisualWikitext

Latest revision as of 11:38, 27 March 2026

Bajjika is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in parts of Bihar, India and in Nepal.^[1]

Territory and speakers[edit | edit source]

Bajjika language is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, in a region popularly known as Tirhut.^[2] It is mainly spoken in the Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and Vaishali districts of Bihar.^[3] A 2013 estimate based on 2001 census data suggests that there were 20 million Bajjika speakers in Bihar.^[4]

Bajjika is also spoken by a major population in Nepal, where it has 1,133,764 speakers according to the country's 2021 census. It is the most spoken language in Rautahat, Sarlahi and Mahottari district of Madhesh Province.^[5]^[6]

Academy[edit | edit source]

In a move aimed at protecting indigenous language and culture, the Bihar government has decided to set up two new academies to promote local dialects; Surjapuri and Bajjika, spoken in politically influential Seemanchal and Bajjikanchal regions of the state.^[7]

Swadesh list[edit | edit source]

The Swadesh list for Bajjika, an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, India, and parts of Nepal, is a standardized vocabulary set used for linguistic comparison. Bajjika, often considered a dialect of Maithili, lacks extensive public documentation, so its Swadesh list is typically constructed by approximation, drawing from related languages like Maithili and Hindi, with adjustments for Bajjika's unique phonological and lexical features.


S.No	English	Bajjika	IPA
1	I	हम	/ɦəm/
2	You	तू	/t̪uː/
3	we	हमनी	/ɦəməniː/
4	This	ई	/iː/
6	Who	के	/keː/
7	What	का	/kɑː/
8	No	न	/nə/
9	All	सब	/səb/
10	Many	बहुत	/bəɦʊt̪/
11	One	एक	/eːk/
12	Two	दुइ	/d̪ui/
13	Big	बड़ा	/bəɽɑː/
14	Long	लम्मा	/ləmmɑː/
15	Small	छोट	/tʃʰoʈ/
16	Women	औरत	/ɔːrət̪/
17	Man	मर्द	/mərd̪/

Films in Bajjika[edit | edit source]

Lakshmi Elthin Hammar Angna (2009) was the first formal feature film in Bajjika. Sajan Aiha Doli le ke subsequently followed.^[8]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (2017-09-25). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-026128-8.
↑ Singh, Pradhuman (2021-01-19). Bihar General Knowledge Digest: Bestseller Book by Pradhuman Singh: Bihar General Knowledge Digest. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-5266-769-7.
↑ Abhishek Kashyap 2014, p. 1.
↑ Abhishek Kashyap 2014, pp. 1-2.
↑ "2021 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
↑ Abhishek Kashyap 2014, p. 2.
↑ "Bihar to get two new academies to promote Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects". Outlook. Archived from the original on 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
↑ "Bhojpuri artist to make first Bajjika film". The Times of India. 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013.

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

Abhishek Kashyap (2014). "On the linguistic resources of Bajjika". In Vibha Chauhan (ed.). The People's Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. 6: The Languages of Bihar. Orient Blackswan.
Abhishek Kumar Kashyap (2016). "The representation of gender in Bajjika grammar and discourse". In Julie Abbou; Fabienne H. Baider (eds.). Gender, Language and the Periphery: Grammatical and social gender from the margins. John Benjamins. ISBN 978-90-272-6683-5.
Kathleen Kuiper, ed. (2010). The Culture of India. Rosen. ISBN 978-1-61530-149-2.
Manish Kumar Thakur (2002). "The politics of minority languages: Some reflections on the Maithili language movement" (PDF). Journal of Social and Economic Development. 4 (2): 199–212. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-24. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
Mithilesh Kumar Jha (2017). Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India: Making of the Maithili Movement. Oxford University Press India. ISBN 978-0-19-909172-0.

External links[edit | edit source]

http://www.bajjika.in Archived 2020-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Official Website of Bajjika Vikash Manch

Template:Maithili language

Template:Bihari languages

[1] Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (2017-09-25). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-026128-8.

[2] Singh, Pradhuman (2021-01-19). Bihar General Knowledge Digest: Bestseller Book by Pradhuman Singh: Bihar General Knowledge Digest. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-5266-769-7.

[FOOTNOTEAbhishek_Kashyap20141-3] Abhishek Kashyap 2014, p. 1.

[FOOTNOTEAbhishek_Kashyap20141-2-4] Abhishek Kashyap 2014, pp. 1-2.

[5] "2021 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[FOOTNOTEAbhishek_Kashyap20142-6] Abhishek Kashyap 2014, p. 2.

[7] "Bihar to get two new academies to promote Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects". Outlook. Archived from the original on 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2025-08-31.

[8] "Bhojpuri artist to make first Bajjika film". The Times of India. 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Bihari language of India and Nepal}}
 {{infobox language
 | name             = Bajjika
-| nativename       = बज्जिका
+| altname          = बज्जिका
-| region           = [[Bihar]] of [[India]] and [[Terai]] of [[Nepal]]
+| region           = [[Bihar]] of [[India]] and [[Terai]] ([[Madhesh Province]]) of [[Nepal]]
-| speakers         = {{sigfig|11.5|2}} million
+| speakers         = c. 20 million
-| ref              = {{citation needed|date=February 2013}}, Total 793,416 speakers in Nepal (2011)
+| date             = 2013 estimate
+| ref              =
 | familycolor      = Indo-European
 | fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
@@ Line 10: / Line 12: @@
 | fam4             = [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern]]
 | fam5             = [[Bihari languages|Bihari]]
-| script           = [[Tirhuta]], [[Kaithi]], [[Devanagari]]
+| script           = *[[Kaithi]]
+*[[Tirhuta]]
 | nation           =
+| iso3             = vjk
 | isoexception     = dialect
-| linglist         = mai-baj
+| linglist         =
-| glotto           = none
+| glotto           = bajj1234
+| glottoname       =
+| image            = Bajjika.svg
+| imagecaption     = The word "Bajjika" written in Devanagari script
+| imagescale       =
+| states           = [[India]] and  [[Nepal]]
 }}
-'''Bajjika''' is a language spoken in eastern India and Nepal, considered by some, including the [[Ethnologue]], to be a [[dialect]] of the [[Maithili language]].<ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mai/17 Ethnologue: Maithili]</ref>  It is spoken in the north-western districts of the [[Bihar]] state of India, and the adjacent areas in [[Nepal]].
+'''Bajjika''' is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] language variety spoken in parts of Bihar, India and in Nepal.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Jared |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQA2DwAAQBAJ&dq=bajjika&pg=PA431 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |last2=Joseph |first2=Brian |last3=Fritz |first3=Matthias |date=2017-09-25 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-026128-8 |language=en}}</ref>
 == Territory and speakers ==
+Bajjika language is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, in a region popularly known as [[Tirhut division|Tirhut]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pradhuman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=399UDwAAQBAJ&dq=bajjika&pg=PT506 |title=Bihar General Knowledge Digest: Bestseller Book by Pradhuman Singh: Bihar General Knowledge Digest |date=2021-01-19 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=978-93-5266-769-7 |language=en}}</ref> It is mainly spoken in the [[Sheohar district|Sheohar]], [[Muzaffarpur district|Muzaffarpur]], [[Sitamarhi district|Sitamarhi]], [[Samastipur  district|Samastipur]] and [[Vaishali district|Vaishali]] districts of [[Bihar]].{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=1}} A 2013 estimate based on 2001 census data suggests that there were 20 million Bajjika speakers in Bihar.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|pp=1-2}}
-Bajjika is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, in a region popularly known as Bajjikanchal. In Bihar, it is mainly spoken in the [[Samastipur district|Samastipur]], [[Sitamarhi district|Sitamarhi]], [[Muzaffarpur district|Muzaffarpur]], [[Vaishali district|Vaishali]], some eastern parts of [[East Champaran district|East Champaran]] and [[Saran district|Saran]] district, [[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}} Bajjika is spoken in the area between east bank of Narayani river to west bank of [[Bagmati River|Bagmati river]].{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} The Bajjika speaking areas roughly coincide with [[Tirhut division]].
+Bajjika is also spoken by a major population in [[Nepal]], where it has 1,133,764 speakers according to the country's 2021 census. It is the most spoken language in [[Rautahat District|Rautahat]], [[Sarlahi District|Sarlahi]] and [[Mahottari District|Mahottari]] district of [[Madhesh Province]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables |url=https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314170005/https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |archive-date=14 March 2023 |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=2}}
-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}}
+==Academy==
+In a move aimed at protecting indigenous language and culture, the Bihar government has decided to set up two new academies to promote local dialects; Surjapuri and Bajjika, spoken in politically influential Seemanchal and Bajjikanchal regions of the state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bihar to get two new academies to promote Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/bihar-to-get-two-new-academies-to-promote-surjapuri-bajjika-dialects-news-225746/amp |website=Outlook |access-date=2025-08-31 |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222220845/https://www.outlookindia.com/national/bihar-to-get-two-new-academies-to-promote-surjapuri-bajjika-dialects-news-225746/amp |url-status=live }}</ref>
-Bajjika is also spoken by a major population in [[Nepal]], where it had 237,947 speakers according to the country's 2001 census, and 793,416 speakers in 2011.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=2}} Main districts where Bajjika is spoken as mothertongue are Sarlahi & Rautahat.
+== Swadesh list ==
+The [[Swadesh list]] for Bajjika, an [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern Indo-Aryan language]] spoken in Bihar, India, and parts of Nepal, is a standardized vocabulary set used for linguistic comparison. Bajjika, often considered a dialect of Maithili, lacks extensive public documentation, so its [[Swadesh list]] is typically constructed by approximation, drawing from related languages like Maithili and Hindi, with adjustments for Bajjika's unique phonological and lexical features.
-== Relationship to Maithili ==
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+
-Bajjika has been classified as a dialect of [[Maithili language|Maithili]],<ref>[http://multitree.org/codes/mai-baj MultiTree]</ref><ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mai/17 Ethnologue]</ref> but its speakers now assert its status as a distinct language. Whether Bajjika is classified as a dialect of Maithili depends on whether 'Maithili' is understood as the term for the specific standard Maithili dialect spoken in northern Bihar, or as the name for the whole language as the group of all related dialects together. When the proponents of the Maithili language in Bihar demanded use of Maithili-[[medium of instruction|medium]] primary education in the early 20th century, the [[Angika]] and Bajjika-speaking people did not support them, and instead favoured [[Hindi]]-medium education.{{sfn|Mithilesh Kumar Jha|2017|p=163}} The discussions around Bajjika's status as a [[minority language]] emerged in the 1950s.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=1}} In the 1960s and the 1970s, when the Maithili speakers demanded a separate [[Mithila, India|Mithila]] state, the Angika and Bajjika speakers made counter-demands for recognition of their languages.{{sfn|Kathleen Kuiper|2010|p=57}} In the following years, the Bajjika community saw a growth in linguistic awareness, and local movements demanding an autonomous status for Bajjika arose.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=2}}
+!S.No
+!English
-Maithili proponents believe that the [[Government of Bihar]] and the pro-Hindi Bihar Rashtrabhasha Parishad promoted Angika and Bajjika as distinct languages to weaken the Maithili language movement; many of them still consider Bajjika to be a dialect of Maithili.{{sfn|Mithilesh Kumar Jha|2017|p=163}} People from mainly [[Maithil Brahmin]]s and [[Karan Kayastha]]s castes have supported the Maithili movement, while people from various other castes in the [[Mithila, India|Mithila]] region have projected Angika and Bajjika as their mother tongues, attempting to break away from the Maithili-based regional identity.{{sfn|Manish Kumar Thakur|2002|p=208}} The exponents of Bajjika have unsuccessfully demanded an official language status for Bajjika from the federal and the state governments.{{sfn|Abhishek Kumar Kashyap|2016|p=169}}
+!Bajjika
+!IPA
+|-
+|1
+|I
+|हम
+|/ɦəm/
+|-
+|2
+|You
+|तू
+|/t̪uː/
+|-
+|3
+|we
+|हमनी
+|/ɦəməniː/
+|-
+|4
+|This
+|ई
+|/iː/
+|-
+|6
+|Who
+|के
+|/keː/
+|-
+|7
+|What
+|का
+|/kɑː/
+|-
+|8
+|No
+|न
+|/nə/
+|-
+|9
+|All
+|सब
+|/səb/
+|-
+|10
+|Many
+|बहुत
+|/bəɦʊt̪/
+|-
+|11
+|One
+|एक
+|/eːk/
+|-
+|12
+|Two
+|दुइ
+|/d̪ui/
+|-
+|13
+|Big
+|बड़ा
+|/bəɽɑː/
+|-
+|14
+|Long
+|लम्मा
+|/ləmmɑː/
+|-
+|15
+|Small
+|छोट
+|/tʃʰoʈ/
+|-
+|16
+|Women
+|औरत
+|/ɔːrət̪/
+|-
+|17
+|Man
+|मर्द
+|/mərd̪/
+|}
 == Films in Bajjika ==
+''Lakshmi Elthin Hammar Angna'' (2009) was the first formal feature film in Bajjika. ''Sajan Aiha Doli le ke'' subsequently followed.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Bhojpuri-artist-to-make-first-Bajjika-film-/articleshow/4899362.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512144105/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-17/patna/28156704_1_bhojpuri-film-industry-soumya-songs | url-status=live | archive-date=12 May 2013 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Bhojpuri artist to make first Bajjika film | date=17 August 2009}}</ref>
-''Lakshmi Elthin Hammar Angna'' (2009) was the first formal feature film in Bajjika. ''Sajan Aiha Doli le ke'' came after that.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-17/patna/28156704_1_bhojpuri-film-industry-soumya-songs | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512144105/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-17/patna/28156704_1_bhojpuri-film-industry-soumya-songs | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 May 2013 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Bhojpuri artist to make first Bajjika film | date=17 August 2009}}</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 45: / Line 137: @@
 === Bibliography ===
-{{ref begin}}
+{{refbegin}}
 * {{cite book |author=Abhishek Kashyap |chapter=On the linguistic resources of Bajjika |editor=Vibha Chauhan |title=The People's Linguistic Survey of India |volume=6: The Languages of Bihar |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2014 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259569719 }}
 * {{cite book |author=Abhishek Kumar Kashyap |chapter=The representation of gender in Bajjika grammar and discourse |editor1=Julie Abbou |editor2=Fabienne H. Baider |title=Gender, Language and the Periphery: Grammatical and social gender from the margins |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JOcDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 |year=2016 |publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=978-90-272-6683-5 }}
 * {{cite book |editor=Kathleen Kuiper |title=The Culture of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8PJFLeURhsC&pg=PA57 |year=2010 |publisher=Rosen |isbn=978-1-61530-149-2 }}
-* {{cite journal |author=Manish Kumar Thakur |title=The politics of minority languages: Some reflections on the Maithili language movement |journal=Journal of Social and Economic Development |volume=4 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=199–212 |url=http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/1461/J_Social_Econ_Develop_4_199.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y }}
+* {{cite journal |author=Manish Kumar Thakur |title=The politics of minority languages: Some reflections on the Maithili language movement |journal=Journal of Social and Economic Development |volume=4 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=199–212 |url=http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/1461/J_Social_Econ_Develop_4_199.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2018-03-24 |access-date=2018-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324103531/http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/1461/J_Social_Econ_Develop_4_199.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=dead }}
 * {{cite book |author=Mithilesh Kumar Jha |title=Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India: Making of the Maithili Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0-pIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT158 |year=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press India |isbn=978-0-19-909172-0 }}
-{{ref end}}
+{{refend}}
 == Further reading ==
-*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2014. The Bajjika language and speech community. [[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]] 227: 209-224.
+*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2014. The Bajjika language and speech community. [[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]] 227: 209–224.
-*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2012. The pragmatic principles of agreement in Bajjika verb. [[Journal of Pragmatics]] 44: 1668-1687.
+*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2012. The pragmatic principles of agreement in Bajjika verb. [[Journal of Pragmatics]] 44: 1668–1687.
 == External links ==
@@ Line 67: / Line 159: @@
 {{authority control}}
-[[Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages]]
+[[Category:Bihari languages]]
 [[Category:Languages of Bihar]]
 [[Category:Languages of Nepal]]
+[[Category:Languages of Madhesh Province]]
+[[Category:Maithili dialects]]

Bajjika: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:38, 27 March 2026

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