Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

EXPRESSIONS OF INDIA

DATA BANK

HINDI : Origin 1000 A.D. name derived from Sindu (Sanskrit meaning collection of water). During early period Hindi influ- enced by Apabhrahmshas, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit; during Mughal period Hindi adopted Arabic and Persian words. Later under Eu- ropean influence, French, English words were inducted. Spoken by almost 40% of Indians; Global rank is 3rd. Official language of the Government of India developed from the Khari Boli dialect. Uses Devanagari script. Hindi is spoken primarily in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Internationally, it is found in Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, Surinam, Fiji and parts of Africa. States Speakers States Speakers

ASSAMESE : Indo-Aryan language family. Developed by original Austric inhabitants who ruled Assam (ancient Kamrup) from 1230-1800 A.D. Sino-Tibetan influences. Earliest reference to Assamese found in 7th century journals of Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese pilgrim. Present form has considerable Sanskrit influence and allied to Bengali in script, grammar & pronunciation. Interlinked with Apabhrahmsha (Magadhi) and Prachya (Magadhi) particularly in Bengal/Assam bordering districts. Early Christian Missionaries adopted this language for their literary works and encouraged its spread.

States Assam

Speakers

WORLD RANK: 36

60.0%

NO. OF SPEAKERS: 23 m

Rajasthan

89.9% Orissa

2.3% 2 . 2 % 2 . 1 % 2 . 0 % 1 . 8 % 1.7% 1.3% 0 . 8 % 0.7% 0.5%

Arunachal Pradesh

4.2% 1 . 8 % 1.7%

Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pr.

89.7% Meghalaya 89.0% Gujarat

Meghalaya Nagaland

INDIA RANK: *

SPEAKERS IN INDIA : *

Haryana

Goa

88 . 8 %

Madhya Pradesh 84.4% Karnataka

BENGALI : Indo- Aryan family, some Dravidian influence. Emerged between the 10th and 12th centuries from Magadhi Prakrit. Patronised by Muslim rulers who introduced Persian words & literary forms. Heavily influenced by Sanskrit in vocabulary & grammar. Script derived from eastern variety of Brahmi script called "Kutila". Bengali developed both as a literary language and had a colloquial form - a situation termed as "Diglossia". Christian and Western impact noticeable from 19th century. Emerence of literary giants Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Bankim Chan- dra, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, lifted the language to great heights. States Speakers Manipur 1.3% W.Bengal 86.3% Delhi 1 . 0 % Tripura 69.6% Sikkim 0 . 6 % A & N Is. 24.7% Madhya Pr. 0.4% Assam 19.5% Chandigarh 0.3% Meghalaya 9.0% Maharashtra 0 . 1 % Mizoram 8 . 0 % Pondicherry 0 . 1 % Arunachal Pr. 7.2% WORLD RANK:7 Nagaland 3.6% NO. OF SPEAKERS 189 m Bihar 3.0% INDIA RANK: 3 Orissa 1.5% SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 7.8% GUJARATI : Indo -Aryan family emerged in 12th century. Origin Apabhrahmsha (dialect of Saurashtri) a mixture of the speech of the Gujar tribe. Persian, Arabic, Turkish & Portuguese influence due to Gujarat's contact by sea with foreign countries. Gujarati is also spoken in Kenya and Uganda, due to the influx of mostly Gujarati Indians during the British rule. States Speakers States Speakers Daman & Diu 94.3% Karnataka 0.1% Gujarat 90.7% Pondicherry 0.1% D. & N. Haveli 23.4% ‘ Chandigarh 0.1% Maharashtra 2.7% Rajasthan 0.1% WORLD RANK: 28 Tamil Nadu 0.5% NO.OF SPEAKERS : 39 m Madhya Pradesh 0.4% INDIA RANK : 7 Delhi 0.3% SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 5.0%

Bihar Delhi

80.2% D.&N. Haveli

76.3% Tripura

Chandigarh

55.1% Daman & Diu 18.1% Manipur 16.9% Mizoram 14.6% Tamil Nadu

A & N Islands Jammu & Kas.

Punjab

0 . 2 %

Maharashtra West Bengal

6.7%

5.9% Pondicherry

0 . 2 %

Sikkim

4.7% WORLD RANK:3

Arunachal Pr.

3.8% NO. OF SPEAKERS: 383 m

Nagaland

3.2% INDIA RANK: 1

Andhra Pradesh

SPEAKERS IN INDIA - 39.9%

2.6%

KANNADA : Dravidian family. Oldest sample of Kannada available is dated to the Halmidi inscription of 450 A.D. Kannada also found in Satara district of Maharashtra, district of Ananta- pur, Andhra Pradesh, and Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu.

States

Speakers

Delhi 0.1%

65.1%

Karnataka

Pondicherry 0.1%

Goa

3.3% A & N Is. 0.1

Tamil Nadu Maharashtra

2.4% WORLD RANK: 27

1.5% NO.OF SPEAKERS : 43 m

Andhra Pradesh 0.9% INDIA RANK: 8 Kerala

0.3% SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 4.1 %

KASHMIRI : Kashmiri is in the Indo-Aryan family. Essentially a Sanskritic language, it also has Perso-Arabic influences, nota- bly in its script. There exists both a "Sanskritized" and a "Per- sianized" dialect which are not Hindu nor Muslim per se but more related to sub-culture. States Speakers WORLD RANK: 53 J & K 52.4% NO.OF SPEAKERS : 4 m Himachal Pradesh 0.7% INDIA RANK : * Chandigarh 0.1% SPEAKERS IN INDIA : *