Eternal India Encyclopedia

EXPRESSIONS OF INDIA

Eternal India

encyclopedia

PUNJABI

: Indo-Aryan family derived from Vedic Prakrit, modi-

fied into Vedic Apabhrahmsha. Actual beginnings of Punjabi

(Gurmukhi) started with Guru Nanak, founder of Sikh religion,

thus combining Sanskrit, Persian and local regional dialects.

Written in the Gurmukhi, Devanagari and Persian scripts. Punjabi

stretches across the Indo-Pakistan border to the west of Lahore.

States Speakers

Punjab

84.9%

Arunachal Pradesh

0.3%

Chandigarh

41.2%

Maharashtra

0.3%

Delhi

13.2%

Sikkim

Haryana

9.2%

Nagaland

Himachal Pradesh

5.8%

Bihar

0.1%

J&K

2.7%

West Bengal

Rajasthan

2.1%

Gujarat

Andaman & Ni. Is

1.0%

WORLD RANK: 14

Uttar Pradesh.

0.4%

NO.OF SPEAKERS :89 m

Madhya Pradesh

0.4%

Meghalaya

0.3%

INDIA RANK : 11

SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 2.8%

SANSKRIT

The name of the classical language of the

Brahmanas,

Samskrita

which

means ‘purified’, ‘perfected’,

‘sacred’. “It is called

‘Hanscrit’,

that is a pure language; and

because they believe this to be the tongue in which God, by means

Brahma

, gave them the four

Vedas,

which they esteem sacred

books. They call it a Holy and Divine language ” Bernier, E.T. 107.

Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-Aryan family. Uses Devanagari

script. World's oldest known literature, the Rig, Yajur, Sama and

Atharva vedas composed in Sanskrit* also epics Mahabharata and

Ramayana. Mother of modern North Indian languages; also greatly

influenced Kannada and Telugu. Sanskrit grammar was standar-

dised by Panini in the 5th Century B.C. in "

Ashtadhyaya

", which

contains 4,000 sutras (rules). European discovery of this work in

the 18th century led to the formulation of the science of philology.

Today, although Sanskrit is sometimes used as a literary language,

it has virtually ceased to be spoken by common people. An excep-

tion: a Sanskrit-speaking village still exists in Mallur, 12 km from

Shimoga in Karnataka. Sanskrit vocabulary has influenced the lan-

guages in Indonesia, Thailand and several European languages, in-

cluding English. Spoken by about 2,946 (1981) people in India,

mostly in Bihar 1,174, Karnataka 509, Maharashtra 281, Tamil

Nadu 244, Haryana 148, Uttar Pradesh 107 and scattered in various

parts of the country. Important works of philosophy, astronomy,

astrology, algebra, law and medicine are also in Sanskrit.

SINDHI

: Indo-Aryan family. Divided into six dialects: Siraki,

Vicoli, Thareli, Lasi, Lari and Kacchi. Some scholars believe that the

roots of Sindhi are in the ancient languages of the Indus Valley, pre-

dating Sanskrit; others dispute this claim. Its ambiguous heritage has

made Sindhi a multicultural language. For example, early Sindhi

poetry combined both Hindu and Muslim beliefs. Today, Sindhi is

spoken in India by Sindhis, who use the Devanagari script, and in

post-partition Sind, Pakistan, where the Perso-Arabic script is used.

States

Speakers

Gujarat

Rajasthan

Maharashtra

Delhi

Madhya Pradesh

WORLD RANK: 41

NO.OF SPEAKERS : 17 m

INDIA RANK: *

SPEAKERS IN INDIA : *

TAMIL

: Oldest of the Dravidian languages, and one of the earliest

spoken languages in the world (500 B.C.), Tamil has an ongoing

literary tradition. The "Tolkappiyam", meaning "Old Composi-

tion", is a work from the Sangam period (1-4 A.D.) codifying Tamil

grammar, including phonetics, syntax and morphology. A classical

language, Tamil is less influenced by Sanskrit than other Dravid-

ian languages. It is widely spoken in Sri Lanka, Fiji, Myanmar and

Vietnam, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore.

States

Speakers

Pondicherry

89.2%

Tamil Nadu

85.4%

A & N Is.

14.8%

Karnataka

3.8%

Kerala

2.4%

Andhra Pradesh

Delhi

0.9%

Chandigarh

States

Maharashtra

Lakshadweep

Manipur

Speakers

0.5%

WORLD RANK: 17

NO.OF SPEAKERS: 67 m

INDIA RANK: 5

SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 6.8%

TELUGU

Dravidian family. Telugu boasts the largest numbers

of speakers of all Dravidian languages. Telugu, which evolved around

the 7th century, also shows the greatest Sanskrit influence among the

Dravidian languages.lt became a literary language around the 11th

century. A style was developed to bridge the rift between its literary

form and its colloquial dialects. Concentrated in Andhra Pradesh,

Telugu is also spoken along the bordering districts with

Karnataka the Chanda district of Maharashtra, and by immigrants

in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.

States Speakers

Chandigarh

0.2%

Andhra Pradesh

85.1% West Bengal

0.2%

A & N Is.

9.9% Tripura

0.1%

Tamil Nadu

8.3% Arunachal Pradesh

0.1%

Karnataka

8.1% Dadra & Nagar Haveli

0.1%

Pondicherry

4.0%

Madhya Pradesh

0.3% WORLD RANK: 16

Delhi

0.2% NO.OF SPEAKERS : 71 m

Orissa

2.3% INDIA RANK: 2

Maharashtra

1.5% SPEAKERS IN INDIA-

8.2%

URDU

: Evolved around 1000A.D. by fusion of speech (Turkish, Af-

ghan, Iranian) brought to India by Muslim conquerors. Indian dialects

used in Eastern Punjab & Delhi. Main root was 'Khari Boli'. The name

'Urdu'-derived from "Zaban-e-Urdh-Muala" (language of the exalted

court). Developed as a lingua franca in North India, under the Mughal

rulers. Spread to the south as it was the communication medium for trade

& administration. Written in the Perso-Arabic script.

States

Bihar

Uttar Pradesh

Karnataka

Arunachal Pr.

Maharashtra

Delhi

Goa

West Bengal

Madhya

Pradesh

Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu

Gujarat

Haryana

Speakers

10.0%

9.7%

9.5%

7.8%

6.9%

5.9%

2.7%

1.8

Orissa

1.4%

A & N Is.

1.0%

Pondicherry

0.7%

Chandigarh

0.7%

Sikkim

0,4%

Himachal Pradesh

0.3%

Punjab

0.2%

Meghalaya

0.2%

D & N Haveli

0.1%

Jammu & Kashmir

0.1 %

WORLD RANK: 13

NO.OF SPEAKERS : 96 m

INDIA RANK: 6

SPEAKERS IN INDIA : 5.3%

Note

: * denotes not available.