Indian Languages, the more than 150 indigenous languages spoken on the Indian subcontinent, the vast majority

of which belong either to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family or to the non-IndoEuropean ravidian family! " much smaller representation of languages belongs to the "ustro-"siatic and #ino$ibetan language families! Official Languages %o one common language is spoken on the Indian subcontinent! &indi and English are the co-official national languages of India, and both tongues are used in the various linguistic regions! In addition, the Indian constitution recogni'es 15 state languages, which are used in schools and in official transactions! $hese are "ssamese, (engali, )ujarati, *ashmiri, +arathi, ,riya, -unjabi, #indhi, &indi, .rdu, #anskrit, $amil, $elugu, *annada /*anarese0, and +alayalam! In -akistan, the official language is .rdu1 the official language of (angladesh is (engali! Indo-Iranian Languages "t about the beginning of the second millennium (2 the Indo-Iranians migrated eastwards, away from the other Indo-European peoples, and settled in Iran! (y about 1000 (2, the two language branches, Indic /also called Indo"ryan0 and Iranian, had probably separated, with Iranian being spoken around Iran and "fghanistan and Indic developing in north-western India / see Indo-Iranian 3anguages0! $he Indic speakers must have encountered ravidian speakers in northern India1 the original ravidians were either overrun or forced to move southwards on the peninsula, where they are found today! $he history of the Indic language branch is often divided into three main stages4 /10 ,ld Indic, comprising 5edic and classical #anskrit1 /60 +iddle Indic /from c! 7rd century (20, which embraces the vernacular dialects of #anskrit called -rakrits, including -ali1 and /70 %ew, or +odern, Indic /from c! 10th century " 0, which comprises the modern languages of the northern and central portions of the Indian subcontinent! 5edic #anskrit, the language used in the 5edas, the sacred &indu scriptures, is the earliest form of #anskrit, dating from about 1500 (2 to about 600 (2! " later variety of the language, classical #anskrit /from c! 500 (20, was a language of literary and technical works! Even today, it is still widely studied in India and functions as a sacred and learned language! $he +iddle Indic -rakrits e8isted in many regional varieties, which eventually developed literatures of their own! -ali, the language of the (uddhist canonical writings, is the oldest literary -rakrit! It remains in liturgical use in #ri 3anka, (urma, and $hailand! $he -rakrits continued in everyday use until about the 16th century " , but even by about the 10th century, the +odern Indic vernaculars had begun to develop! 2ollectively, these languages are spoken today by more than 900 million people! $he number of languages is difficult to specify! :oughly 75 are of some significance, particularly &indi, .rdu, (engali, )ujarati, -unjabi, +arathi, (ihari, ,riya, and :ajasthani, each of which has more than 10 million speakers! espite their separate names, &indi and .rdu are actually slightly different dialects of the same language! $he main differences lie in their vocabulary sources, scripts, and religious traditions! &indi vocabulary derives mainly from #anskrit, while .rdu contains many words of -ersian and "rabic origin1 &indi is written in the evanagari script and .rdu in a -ersian "rabic script! &indi is spoken mainly by &indus1 .rdu is used predominantly by +uslims; in India as well as throughout -akistan! $wo major varieties of &indi are spoken1 together they have about 1<0 million speakers! =estern &indi, which originated in the area around elhi, includes literary &indi and .rdu! Eastern &indi is spoken mainly in central .ttar -radesh and eastern +adhya -radesh1 its most important literary works are in the "wadhi dialect! /&industani is an older term, used less and less fre>uently since partition in 1?9@! It referred to the mi8ed =estern &indi-.rdu language that developed in the camps and marketplaces around elhi, was spread throughout India from the 1Ath to 1<th century, and functioned as a lingua franca among the different language groups!0 (engali, spoken in =est

(engal and by almost the entire population of (angladesh, ranks si8th worldwide in numbers of speakers /about 160 million0! 3ike &indi, it is descended from #anskrit! It is the language of the poet :abindranath $agore, winner of the %obel -ri'e for 3iterature /1?170, and has the most e8tensive literature of any modern Indian language! -unjabi /-anjabi0, spoken in the -unjab, a region covering parts of north-eastern India and western -akistan, was the language of the gurus, the founders of the #ikh religion! $he sacred teachings of #ikhism are recorded in -unjabi in the )urmukhi script, which was devised by a #ikh guru! In India, -unjabi is close to the &indi language1 to the west, in -akistan, -unjabi dialects differ markedly! (ihari is actually the name of a group of three related languages;(hojpuri, +aithili, and +agahi;spoken mainly in north-eastern India in (ihar! espite its appro8imately 90 million speakers, (ihari is not a constitutionally recogni'ed language of India! Even in (ihar, &indi is the language used for educational and official matters! ,ther significant Indic languages include #inhalese, the official language of #ri 3anka1 and :omany, the language of the )ypsies, which originated in India and was spread throughout the world! $he #anskrit origin of :omany is apparent in its sounds and grammar! $he origin of most scripts for the Indic languages can ultimately be traced to (rahmi, which is of %orth #emitic derivation! evanagari, a development of (rahmi, is used for %epali, +arathi, and *ashmiri /by &indus0, as well as for &indi, #anskrit, and the -rakrits! )ujarati, (engali, "ssamese, and ,riya all have individual writing systems derived from evanagari! " -ersian "rabic script is used for .rdu, #indhi /also written in evanagari0, and -unjabi! Dravidian Languages "bout 67 ravidian languages are spoken by about 150 million people, mainly in southern India! $he four major ravidian tongues are recogni'ed as official state languages;$amil in $amil %adu, $elugu in "ndhra -radesh, *annada /*anarese0 in +ysore, and +alayalam in *erala! $hey have long literary histories and are written in their own scripts! $elugu is spoken by the largest number of people1 $amil has the richest literature, which was once thought to be e8tremely ancient but is now believed to date from about the 1st to the 5th century " , and it is spoken over the widest area, including north-western #ri 3anka! ,ther ravidian languages have fewer speakers and are, for the most part, not written! $he ravidian languages have ac>uired many loanwords from the Indic languages, especially from #anskrit! 2onversely, the Indic languages have borrowed ravidian sounds and grammatical structures! Other Language Groups $he 16 or so +unda languages are spoken by about 5 or A million people in scattered pockets of north-eastern and central India! ,f these, #antali is the most important, having the largest number of speakers and being the only +unda tongue that is written! 3ike the ravidian languages, the +unda languages are known to have e8isted in India prior to the invasion of the Indo-Europeans! 3inguists consider the +unda languages to be related to the +on-*hmer languages of #outh East "sia in a larger grouping called the "ustro-"siatic language family! ,ne +on-*hmer language, *hasi, is spoken within India, in "ssam -rovince! " few #ino-$ibetan languages are also spoken along IndiaBs borders, from $ibet to (urma! 1

1"Indian Languages," Microsoft Encarta 99 Encyclopedia. 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reser ed.