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Indian languages
There are many different languages and cultures in India. The only geographical place with more different languages and cultures is the African continent. There are two main language families in India, the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages. About 69% of Indians speak an Indo-Arayan language, about 26% speak a Dravidian language. Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic group. Around 5% of the people speak a Tibeto-Burman language.
Hindi is the official language in India with the largest number of speakers.[1] It is the official language of the union.[2] Native speakers of Hindi represent about 41% of the Indian population (2001 Indian census). English is also used, mostly for business and in the administration. It has the status of a 'subsidiary official language'.[3] The constitution also recognises 21 other languages. Either many people speak those languages, or they have been recognised to be very important for Indian culture. The number of dialects in India is as high as 1,652.
In the south of India, many people speak Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. In the north, many people speak Chhattisgarhi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Marathi, Odia and Bihari. In North East, people speak Assamese, Manipuri (Meitei) and others.[4][5]
India has 27 official languages. Its constitution lists the name of the country in each of the languages.[6] Hindi and English (listed in boldface) are the "official languages of the union" (Union meaning the Federal Government in Delhi);[7] Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia are officially the "classical languages of India."
| Language | Long form | English Pronunciation | Short form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assamese | Bhārôt Gôṇôrājÿô | ভাৰত Bharot | |
| Bengali | Bʰārôt Gôṇôrājÿô | ভারত Bharot | |
| Bhojpuri | Bʰārôt Gôṇôrājÿô | ভারত Bharot | |
| Bodo | |||
| Dogri | |||
| English[8] | Republic of India | India | |
| Gujarati | Bhartiya Prajasattak | ભારત. | |
| Hindi | Bhārat Gaṇarājya | भारत Bhārat | |
| Kannada | Bhārata Gaṇarājya | ಭಾರತ Bhārata | |
| Kashmiri | Hindustān | ||
| Konkani | भारोत गोणराज | भारोत | |
| Ladakhi | Hindustān | ||
| Lepcha | Hindustān | ||
| Limbu | Hindustān | ||
| Magahi | Hindustān | ||
| Maithili | |||
| Malayalam | Bhāratam | ഭാരതം Bhāratam | |
| Manipuri (also Meitei or Meithei) | ꯚꯥꯔꯠ ꯂꯩꯄꯥꯛ (ভারত লৈপাক্) | Bhārat | ꯚꯥꯔꯠ (ভারত) Bhārat |
| Marathi | Bhartiya Prajasattak | भारत Bhārat | |
| Nepali | Bʰārat Gaṇarādzya | भारत Bʰārat | |
| Odia | Bharata | Bharata | |
| Punjabi |
IAST (IAST: IAST) || ਭਾਰਤIAST (IAST: IAST) | ||
| Sanskrit |
IAST (IAST: IAST) || भारतIAST (IAST: IAST) | ||
| Santhali | ᱥᱤᱧᱚᱛ ᱨᱮᱱᱟᱜ ᱟᱹᱯᱱᱟᱹᱛ | ᱥᱤᱧᱚᱛ | |
| Sindhi | ڀارت، هندستانڀارت، | ڀارت، | |
| Tamil | Indiyak-Kudiyarasu | இந்தியா India/Bharadham | |
| Telugu | Bʰārata Gaṇa Rājyamu | భారత్ Bhārath | |
| Urdu | Jumhūrīyat-e Bhārat | بھارت Bhārat |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Languages by number of speakers according to 1991 census". Central Institute of Indian Languages. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
- ↑ Mallikarjun, B. (Nov., 2004), Fifty Years of Language Planning for Modern Hindi–The Official Language of India, Language in India, Volume 4, Number 11. ISSN 1930-2940.
- ↑ "Notification No. 2/8/60-O.L. (Ministry of Home Affairs), dated 27 April, 1960". Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- ↑ Prabodh Bechardas Pandit, "Language in a Plural Society", Dev Raj Chanana Memorial Committee, 1977.
- ↑ Robert McHenry, "The New Encyclopaedia Britannica", Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993.
- ↑ "Eighth Schedule". National Informatics Centre (NIC). 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ↑ "The Union: Official Language". National Informatics Centre (NIC). 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
- ↑ "CIA Factbook: India". CIA. Retrieved 2007-03-10.