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Officiallanguages

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:LanguageswithofficialstatusinIndia

Nationallevel

[ edit ]

PriortoIndependence,inBritishIndia,Englishwasthesolelanguageused
foradministrativepurposesaswellasforhighereducationpurposes.[14]
In1946,theissueofnationallanguagewasabitterlycontestedsubjectin
theproceedingsoftheConstituentAssemblyofIndia,specificallywhat
shouldbethelanguageinwhichtheConstitutionofIndiaiswrittenandthe
languagespokenduringtheproceedingsofParliamentandthusdeserving
oftheepithet"national".MembersbelongingtothenorthernpartsofIndia
insistedthattheConstitutionbedraftedinHindiwiththeunofficial
translationinEnglish.ThiswasnotagreedtobythedraftingCommitteeon
thegroundsthatEnglishwasmuchbettertocraftthenuancedproseon
constitutionalsubjects.TheeffortstomakeHindithepreeminent
languagewerebitterlyresistedbythemembersfromthosepartsofIndia
whereHindiwasnotspokennatively.Eventually,acompromisewas
reachedwithHindiinDevanagariscripttobetheofficiallanguageofthe
unionbutfor"fifteenyearsfromthecommencementoftheConstitution,

TheHindilanguages,including
Hindirelatedlanguagessuchas
RajasthaniandBhojpuri(indarkgrey
colour,alsoadditionallylabelledwith
Hindi).

theEnglishLanguageshallcontinuetobeusedforalltheofficialpurposes
oftheUnionforwhichitwasbeingusedimmediatelybeforesuchcommencement".[14]
Article343(1)oftheConstitutionofIndiastates"TheOfficialLanguageoftheUniongovernmentshallbeHindiin
Devanagariscript."[47]:212[48]UnlessParliamentdecidedotherwise,theuseofEnglishforofficialpurposeswasto
cease15yearsaftertheconstitutioncameintoeffect,i.e.on26January1965.[47]:212[48]
Mainarticle:Hindilanguage
Mainarticle:AntiHindiagitationsofTamilNadu
Asthedateforchangeoverapproached,however,therewasmuchalarminthenonHindispeakingareasofIndia,
especiallyinMaharashtra,TamilNadu,Punjab,WestBengal,Karnataka,PuducherryandAndhraPradesh.
Accordingly,JawaharlalNehruensuredtheenactmentoftheOfficialLanguagesAct,1963,[49][50]whichprovided
thatEnglish"may"stillbeusedwithHindiforofficialpurposes,evenafter1965.[14]Thewordingofthetextproved
unfortunateinthatwhileNehruunderstoodthat"may"meantshall,politicianschampioningthecauseofHindi
thoughtitimpliedexactlytheopposite.[14]
Intheevent,as1965approached,India'snewPrimeMinisterLalBahadurShastripreparedtomakeHindi
paramountwitheffectfrom28January1965.WhenaskedbyC.N.Annaduraitopostponetheimposition,Shastri
refused.Thisledtowidespreadagitation,riots,selfimmolationsandsuicidesinTamilNadu.ThesplitofCongress
politiciansfromtheSouthfromtheirpartystance,theresignationoftwoUnionministersfromtheSouthandthe
increasingthreattothecountry'sunityforcedShastritoconcede.[14][15]
Asaresult,theproposalwasdropped,[51][52]andtheActitselfwasamendedin1967toprovidethattheuseof
Englishwouldnotbeendeduntilaresolutiontothateffectwaspassedbythelegislatureofeverystatethathad
notadoptedHindiasitsofficiallanguage,andbyeachhouseoftheIndianParliament.[49]
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TheConstitutionofIndiadoesnotgiveanylanguagethestatusofNationalLanguage.[4][5]
Hindi [ edit ]
Hindi,writteninDevanagariscript,isthemostprominentlanguagespoken
inthecountry.Inthe2001census,422million(422,048,642)peoplein
IndiareportedHinditobetheirnativelanguage.[53]Thisfigurenotonly
includedHinduspeakersofHindustani,butalsopeoplewhoidentify
asnativespeakersofrelatedlanguageswhoconsidertheirspeechtobea
dialectofHindi,theHindibelt.Hindi(orHindustani)isthenativelanguage
ofmostpeoplelivinginDelhi,Uttar
Pradesh,Uttarakhand,Chhattisgarh,Himachal
Pradesh,Chandigarh,Bihar,Jharkhand,MadhyaPradesh,Haryana,
andRajasthan.[54]
"ModernStandardHindi",astandardisedlanguageistheofficial
languageoftheUnionofIndia.Inaddition,itisoneofonlytwolanguages
usedforbusinessinParliament.[citationneeded]
Hindustani,evolvedfromkhariboli,aprominenttongueofMughaltimes,

TheHindibelt,includingHindi
relatedlanguagessuchasRajasthani
andBhojpuri.

whichitselfevolvedfromApabhraa,anintermediarytransitionstage
fromPrakrit,fromwhichthemajorNorthIndianIndoAryanlanguageshaveevolved.[citationneeded]
VarietiesofHindispokeninIndiaincludeBraj
Bhasha,Haryanvi,Bundeli,Kannauji,Hindustani,Awadhi,BagheliandChhattisgarhi.Byvirtueofitsbeingalingua
franca,HindihasalsodevelopedregionaldialectssuchasBambaiyaHindiinMumbai,Dakhini(also
calledHyderabadiUrdu)inpartsofTelanganaandBangaloriUrduinBangalore,Karnataka.Inaddition,atrade
language,AndamanCreoleHindihasalsodevelopedintheAndamanIslands.[citationneeded]
Inaddition,byuseinpopularculturesuchassongsandfilms,Hindialsoservesasalinguafrancaacrossboth
NorthandCentralIndia[citationneeded]
Hindiiswidelytaughtbothasaprimarylanguageandlanguageofinstruction,and,asasecondtongue.
English [ edit ]
Mainarticles:EnglishlanguageandIndianEnglish
BritishcoloniallegacyhasresultedinEnglishbeingalanguageforgovernment,businessandeducation.English,
alongwithHindi,isoneofthetwolanguagespermittedintheConstitutionofIndiaforbusinessinParliament.
DespitethefactthatHindihasofficialGovernmentpatronageandservesasalinguafrancaoverlargepartsof
India,therewasconsiderableoppositiontotheuseofHindiinthesouthernstatesofIndia,andEnglishhas
emergedasadefactolinguafrancaovermuchofIndia.[14][15]

Scheduledlanguages

[ edit ]

UntiltheTwentyfirstAmendmentoftheConstitutionofIndiain1967,thecountryrecognised14officialregional
languages.TheEighthScheduleandtheSeventyFirstAmendmentprovidedfortheinclusion
ofSindhi,Konkani,MeiteilonandNepali,therebyincreasingthenumberofofficialregionallanguagesofIndiato
18.TheEighthScheduleoftheConstitutionofIndia,asof1December2007,lists22languages,[47]:330whichare
giveninthetablebelowtogetherwiththespeakingpopulationandtheregionswheretheyareused.[53]
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MainlanguagesofIndiaandtheir
relativesizeaccordingtohowmany
speakerseachhas.[55]

Language
Assamese(Asamiya)
Bengali(Bangla)
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati

Family
IndoAryan,
Eastern
IndoAryan,
Eastern
SinoTibetan
IndoAryan,
Northwestern
IndoAryan,
Western

Speakers

State(s)

(inmillions,2001)

13

Assam,ArunachalPradesh

83

WestBengal,Tripura

1.4

Assam,WestBengal,Meghalaya

2.3

JammuandKashmir

60

DadraandNagarHaveli,Damanand
Diu,Gujarat

>260(Native
Hindi,Bhojpuri,
Haryanvi,Pahari,
Hindi

IndoAryan,
Central

Kumaoni,
Garhwali,Angika,
Awadhi,Marwari,
Mewari,

AndamanandNicobar
Islands,Bihar,Chhattisgarh,Delhi,Himachal
Pradesh,Jharkhand,MadhyaPradesh,Uttar
Pradesh,Haryana,Rajasthan,Uttarakhand

Shekhawati,
Malwi,Bagrietc.)
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili

Dravidian
IndoAryan,
Dardic
IndoAryan,
Southern
IndoAryan,
Eastern

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55

Karnataka,Goa,Maharashtra,Tamil
Nadu,Kerala,AndhraPradesh

5.5

JammuandKashmir

2.5

Goa,Karnataka,Maharashtra

12.2

Bihar

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Dravidian

Manipuri(includesMeitei) SinoTibetan
Marathi

Nepali
Odia
Punjabi
Sanskrit

IndoAryan,
Southern
IndoAryan,
Northern
IndoAryan,
Eastern
IndoAryan,
Northwestern
IndoAryan

33

Kerala,Lakshadweep,TamilNadu

Manipur
Maharashtra,Goa,Karnataka,DadraandNagar

68

Haveli,Gujrat,DamanandDiu,Madhya
Pradesh,Telangana

2.9

Sikkim,WestBengal,Assam

32

Odisha,Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh

29
0.001

Chandigarh,Delhi,Haryana,Himachal
Pradesh,Jammu,Punjab,Rajasthan,Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
SanthaltribalsoftheChotaNagpur

Santali

Munda

6.5

Plateau(comprisingthestates
ofChhattisgarh,Jharkhand,Odisha)

Sindhi
Tamil

IndoAryan,
Northwestern
Dravidian

2.5
72

Sindh(now
inPakistan,Rajasthan,Kutch,Gujarat)
TamilNadu,Puducherry,AndamanandNicobar
Islands,Kerala,Karnataka,AndhraPradesh
Andhra

Telugu

Dravidian

74

Pradesh,Telangana,yanam(Puducherry),Tamil
Nadu,Karnataka,Odisha

Urdu

IndoAryan,
Central

Jammuand
52

Kashmir,Telangana,Delhi,Bihar,Uttar
Pradesh,WestBengal,Jharkhand

Theindividualstates,thebordersofmostofwhichareorweredrawnonsociolinguisticlines,canlegislatetheir
ownofficiallanguages,dependingontheirlinguisticdemographics.Theofficiallanguageschosenreflectthe
predominantaswellaspoliticallysignificantlanguagesspokeninthatstate.Certainstateshavingalinguistically
definedterritorymayhaveonlythepredominantlanguageinthatstateasitsofficiallanguage,examples
beingKarnatakaandGujarat,whichhaveKannadaandGujaratiastheirsoleofficiallanguage
respectively.Telangana,withasizeableUrduspeakingMuslimpopulation,hastwolanguages,TeluguandUrdu,
asitsofficiallanguages.
Somestatesbuckthetrendbyusingminoritylanguagesasofficiallanguages.JammuandKashmirusesUrdu,
whichisspokenbyfewerthan1%ofthepopulation.MeghalayausesEnglishspokenby0.01%ofthepopulation.
Thisphenomenonhasturnedmajoritylanguagesinto"minoritylanguages"inafunctionalsense.[56]
ListsofOfficialLanguagesofStatesandUnionTerritoriesofIndia

Inadditiontostatesandunionterritories,Indiahasautonomousadministrativeregionswhichmaybepermittedto
selecttheirownofficiallanguageacaseinpointbeingtheBodolandTerritorialCouncilinAssamwhichhas
declaredtheBodolanguageasofficialfortheregion,inadditiontoAssameseandEnglishalreadyin
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use.[57]andBengaliintheBarakValley,[58]asitsofficiallanguages.

ProminentlanguagesofIndia

[ edit ]

BesidesHindi,thefollowinglanguages(arrangedindescendingorderasregardsnumbersofspeakers)areeach
spokenbymorethan25millionIndiansBengali,Telugu,Marathi,Tamil,Urdu,Gujarati,Kannada,Malayalam,
OdiaandPunjabi.[53]

Telugu

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Telugulanguage
TeluguisoneoftheprominentlanguagesinIndia.ItisonlylanguageinIndiathathasofficialstatusinmorethan
onestate,otherthanHindiandBengali.TeluguisspokenpredominantlyinstatesAndhraPradesh,Telanganaand
unionterritoryofYanam.Itisoneoftheofficiallanguagesofabovesaidterritories.Itisalsospokenbysignificant
minoritiesintheAndamanandNicobar,Chhattisgarh,Karnataka,Maharashtra,Odisha,TamilNadu,and
Puducherry,andbytheSriLankanGypsypeople.Itisoneofsixlanguagesdesignatedaclassicallanguageof
India.TeluguranksthirdbythenumberofnativespeakersinIndia(74million)(2001Census),thirteenthinthe
EthnologuelistofmostspokenlanguagesworldwideandisthemostwidelyspokenDravidianlanguage.Itisone
ofthe22scheduledlanguagesofIndia.
InloansfromSanskrit,Teluguretainssomeofitsfeaturesthathavesubsequentlybeenlostinsomeofits
daughterlanguagessuchasHindiandBengali,especiallyinthepronunciationofsomevowelsandconsonants.

Tamil

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Tamillanguage
Tamil,whichisalsospeltasthamizh,isaDravidianlanguagepredominantlyspoken
inTamilNaduandpartsofSriLanka.Itisoneofthe22scheduledlanguagesofIndiaand
wasthefirstIndianlanguagetobedeclaredaclassicallanguagebytheGovernmentof
Indiain2004.Tamilisoneofthelongestsurvivingclassicallanguagesintheworld.[59][60]It
hasbeendescribedas"theonlylanguageofcontemporaryIndiawhichisrecognizably
continuouswithaclassicalpast.".[61]Thetwoearliestmanuscriptsfrom

0:00

15thcentury
anthologyofTamil
religiouspoem
dedicatedto
lordGanesha

India,[62][63]acknowledgedandregisteredbyUNESCOMemoryoftheWorldregisterin
1997and2005,areinTamil.[64]

Bengali

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Bengalilanguage
NativetotheBengalregion,comprisingthenationofBangladeshandthestatesofWestBengal,Tripura,Assam,
andJharkhand,Bengaliisthefifthmostspokenlanguageintheworld.BengalidevelopedfromAbahatta,a
derivativeofApabhramsha,itselfderivedfromMagadhiPrakrit.ThemodernBengalivocabularycontainsthe
vocabularybasefromMagadhiPrakritandPali,alsoborrowings&reborrowingsfromSanskritandothermajor
borrowingsfromPersian,Arabic,Austroasiaticlanguagesandotherlanguagesincontactwith.LikemostIndian
languages,Bengalihasanumberofdialects.Interestinglyitexhibitsdiglossia,withtheliteraryandstandardform
differinggreatlyfromthecolloquialspeechoftheregionsthatidentifywiththelanguage.[65]Bengalilanguagehas
developedarichculturalbasespanningart,music,literatureandreligion.Therehavebeenmanymovementsin
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defenseofthislanguageandin1999UNESCOdeclared21FebastheInternationalMotherLanguageDayin
commemorationoftheBengaliLanguageMovementin1952.[66]

Marathi

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Marathilanguage
MarathiisanIndoAryanlanguage.Itistheofficiallanguageandcoofficiallanguage
inMaharashtraandGoastatesofWesternIndiarespectively,andisoneoftheofficiallanguagesofIndia.There
were73millionspeakersin2001,ranking19thinthelistofmostspokenlanguagesintheworld.Marathihasthe
fourthlargestnumberofnativespeakersinIndia.MarathihassomeoftheoldestliteratureofallmodernIndo
Aryanlanguages,datingfromabout1200AD(Mukundraj'sVivekSindhufromthecloseof12thcentury).The
majordialectsofMarathiareStandardMarathiandtheVarhadidialect.Thereareotherrelatedlanguagessuchas
Khandeshi,Dangi,VadvaliandSamavedi.MalvaniKonkanihasbeenheavilyinfluencedbyMarathi
varieties.MarathiisoneofseverallanguagesthatdescendfromMaharashtriPrakrit.Furtherchangeledtothe
ApabhraalanguageslikeOldMarathi.
MarathiistheofficiallanguageofMaharashtraandcoofficiallanguageintheunionterritoriesofDamanandDiu
andDadraandNagarHaveli.InGoa,Konkaniisthesoleofficiallanguagehowever,Marathimayalsobeusedfor
allofficialpurposes.
OveraperiodofmanycenturiestheMarathilanguageandpeoplecameintocontactwithmanyotherlanguages
anddialects.TheprimaryinfluenceofPrakrit,Maharashtri,Kannada,ApabhraaandSanskritisunderstandable.
Atleast50%ofthewordsinMarathiareeithertakenorderivedfromSanskrit.ManyscholarsclaimthatSanskrit
hasderivedmanywordsfromMarathi.Marathihasalsoshareddirections,vocabularyandgrammarwith
languagessuchasIndianDravidianlanguages,andforeignlanguagessuchasPersian,Arabic,Englishandalittle
fromPortuguese.

Urdu

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Urdulanguage
Afterindependence,ModernStandardUrdu,thePersianisedregisterofHindustanibecamethenationallanguage
ofPakistan.DuringBritishcolonialtimes,aknowledgeofHindustaniorUrduwasmustforofficials.Hindustaniwas
madethesecondlanguageofBritishIndianEmpireafterEnglishandconsideredasthelanguageof
administration.TheBritishintroducedtheuseofRomanscriptforHindustaniaswellasotherlanguages.Urduhad
70millionspeakersinIndia(aspertheCensusof2001),and,alongwithHindi,isoneofthe22officially
recognisedregionallanguagesofIndiaandalsoanofficiallanguageintheIndianstatesofJammuand
Kashmir,Delhi,UttarPradesh,BiharandTelanganathathavesignificantMuslimpopulations.Somedialectsof
Hindi,especiallythosethataroseinMuslimdominatedareas.

Gujarati

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Gujaratilanguage
GujaratiisanIndoAryanlanguage.ItisnativetothewestIndianregionofGujarat.Gujaratiispartofthe
greaterIndoEuropeanlanguagefamily.GujaratiisdescendedfromOldGujarati(c.11001500CE),thesame
sourceasthatofRajasthani.GujaratiisthechieflanguageintheIndianstateofGujarat.Itisalsoanofficial
languageintheunionterritoriesofDamanandDiuandDadraandNagarHaveli.AccordingtotheCentral
IntelligenceAgency(CIA),4.5%ofpopulationofIndia(1.21billionaccordingto2011census)speaksGujarati.This
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amountsto54.6millionspeakersinIndia.[67]

Kannada

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Kannadalanguage
Kannadalanguage(alsocalledKanarese)isanautonomousDravidianlanguagewhichbranchedofffrom
theProtoKannadaTamilsubgrouparound500B.C.EaccordingtotheDravidianscholarZvelebil.[68]Accordingto
theDravidianscholarsSteeverandKrishnamurthy,thestudyofKannadalanguageisusuallydividedintothree
linguisticphases:Old(4501200CE),Middle(12001700CE)andModern(1700present).[69][70]Theearliest
writtenrecordsarefromthe5thcentury,[71]andtheearliestavailableliteratureinrichmanuscript(Kavirajamarga)
isfromc.850.[72][73]Kannadalanguagehasthesecondoldestwrittentraditionofallvernacularlanguagesof
India.[74][75]CurrentestimatesofthetotalnumberofepigraphswritteninKannadarangefrom25,000bythe
scholarSheldonPollocktoover30,000bytheSahityaAkademi,[76]makingKarnatakastate"oneofthemost
denselyinscribedpiecesofrealestateintheworld".[77]AccordingtoGargandShipely,morethanathousand
notablewritershavecontributedtothewealthofthelanguage.[78][79]

Malayalam

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Malayalamlanguage
Thissectionrequiresexpansion.
(December2014)

MalayalamisclassifiedasaDravidianLanguage.Itistheofficialandregionallanguageofthesouthernstate
ofKerala.

Odia

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Odialanguage
Odia(formerlyspelledOriya)[80]isanIndoAryanlanguage.OdiaistheprimarylanguageintheIndianstate
orstateofOdisha.Nativespeakerscomprise80%ofthepopulationinOdisha.[81]Odishaisthoughttohave
originatedfromMagadhiPrakritsimilartoArdhaMagadhi,alanguagespokenineasternIndiaover1,500years
ago.ThehistoryofOdialanguagecanbedividedtoOldOdia[82](7thcentury1200),EarlyMiddleOdia(1200
1400),MiddleOdia(14001700),LateMiddleOdia(17001850)andModernOdia(1850tillpresentday).

Punjabi

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Punjabilanguage
Punjabi,writteninGurmukhiscriptinIndia,isoneoftheprominentlanguagesofIndiawithabout33million
speakers.InPakistanitisspokenbyover60millionpeopleandwritteninshahmukhiscript.Itismainlyspoken
inPunjab,Haryana,Delhi,HimachalPradesh,JammuandKashmir,RajasthanandWestBengal.

Assamese

[ edit ]

Mainarticle:Assameselanguage
AsamiyaorAssameselanguageismostpopularinthestateofAssamandBrahmaputraValley.[83]It'sanEastern
IndoAryanlanguagehavingmorethat10MspeakersasperworldestimatesbyEncarta.[84]

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Classicallanguages

[ edit ]

In2004,theGovernmentofIndiadeclaredthatlanguagesthatmetcertainrequirementscouldbeaccordedthe
statusofa"ClassicalLanguageinIndia".[85]LanguagesthusfardeclaredtobeClassicalareTamil(in
2004),[86]Sanskrit(in2005),[87]Kannada(in2008),Telugu(in2008),[88]Malayalam(in2013),[89]andOdia(in
2014).[90][91]Ina2006pressrelease,MinisterofTourism&CultureAmbikaSonitoldtheRajyaSabhathe
followingcriteriawerelaiddowntodeterminetheeligibilityoflanguagestobeconsideredforclassificationasa
"ClassicalLanguage",[92]
Highantiquityofitsearlytexts/recordedhistoryoveraperiodof15002000yearsabodyofancient
literature/texts,whichisconsideredavaluableheritagebygenerationsofspeakerstheliterary
traditionbeoriginalandnotborrowedfromanotherspeechcommunitytheclassicallanguageand
literaturebeingdistinctfrommodern,theremayalsobeadiscontinuitybetweentheclassical
languageanditslaterformsoritsoffshoots.
TheGovernmenthasbeencriticisedfornotincludingPaliasaclassicallanguage,asexpertshaveargueditfitsall
theabovecriteria.[93]

Benefits

[ edit ]

AsperGovernmentofIndia'sResolutionNo.216/2004US(Akademies)dated1November2004,thebenefitsthat
willaccruetoalanguagedeclaredas"ClassicalLanguage"are
1.TwomajorinternationalawardsforscholarsofeminenceinClassicalIndianLanguagesareawarded
annually.
2.A'CentreofExcellenceforStudiesinClassicalLanguages'issetup.
3.TheUniversityGrantsCommissionberequestedtocreate,tostartwithatleastintheCentralUniversities,
acertainnumberofProfessionalChairsforClassicalLanguagesforscholarsofeminenceinClassical
IndianLanguages.[94]

Otherlocallanguagesanddialects

[ edit ]

The2001censusidentifiedthefollowingnativelanguageshavingmorethanonemillionspeakers.Mostofthem
aredialects/variantsgroupedunderHindi.[53]
Languages

No.ofnativespeakers[53]

Bhojpuri

33,099,497

Rajasthani

18,355,613

Magadh/Magahi

13,978,565

Chhattisgarhi

13,260,186

Haryanvi

7,997,192

Marwari

7,936,183

Malvi

5,565,167

Mewari

5,091,697

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Khorth/Khotta

4,725,927

Bundeli/Bundelkhan

3,072,147

Bagheli/BaghelKhan 2,865,011
Pahari

2,832,825

Laman/Lambadi

2,707,562

Awadhi

2,529,308

Harauti

2,462,867

Garhwali

2,267,314

Nimadi

2,148,146

Sadan/Sadri

2,044,776

Kumauni

2,003,783

Dhundhari

1,871,130

Surgujia

1,458,533

BagriRajasthani

1,434,123

Banjari

1,259,821

Nagpuria(Varhadi)

1,242,586

Surajpuri

1,217,019

Kangri

1,122,843

Tulu

1,722,768

Practicalproblems

[ edit ]

Indiahasseverallanguagesinusechoosinganysinglelanguageasanofficiallanguagepresentsproblemstoall
thosewhose"mothertongue"isdifferent.However,alltheboardsofeducationacrossIndiarecognisetheneed
fortrainingpeopletoonecommonlanguage.[95]TherearecomplaintsthatinNorthIndia,nonHindispeakershave
languagetrouble.Similarly,therearecomplaintsthatNorthIndianshavetoundergodifficultiesonaccountof
languagewhentravellingtoSouthIndia.Itiscommontohearofincidentsthatresultduetofrictionbetweenthose
whostronglybelieveinthechosenofficiallanguage,andthosewhofollowthethoughtthatthechosen
language(s)donottakeintoaccounteveryone'spreferences.[96]Localofficiallanguagecommissionshavebeen
establishedandvariousstepsarebeingtakeninadirectiontoreducetensionsandfriction.[citationneeded]

Languageconflicts

[ edit ]

Furtherinformation:AntiHindiagitationsofTamilNadu,PureTamilmovement,andGokakagitation
ThereareconflictsoverlinguisticrightsinIndia.Thefirstmajorlinguisticconflict,knownastheAntiHindi
agitationsofTamilNadu,tookplaceinTamilNaduagainsttheimplementationofHindiastheofficiallanguageof
India.PoliticalanalystsconsiderthisasamajorfactorinbringingDMKtopowerandleadingtotheoustingand
nearlytotaleliminationoftheCongresspartyinTamilNadu.[97]Strongculturalpridebasedonlanguageisalso
foundinotherIndianstatessuchasBengal,MaharashtraandinKarnataka.Toexpressdisapprovalofthe
impositionofHindionitsstates'peopleasaresultofthecentralgovernment,thegovernmentsofMaharashtra
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andKarnatakamadethestatelanguagesmandatoryineducationalinstitutions.[98]
TheGovernmentofIndiaattemptstoassuagetheseconflictswithvariouscampaigns,coordinatedbytheCentral
InstituteofIndianLanguages,Mysore,abranchoftheDepartmentofHigherEducation,LanguageBureau,and
theMinistryofHumanResourceDevelopment. [clarificationneeded][citationneeded]

Writingsystems

[ edit ]

Mainarticles:IndicscriptsandNasta'liqscript
MostlanguagesinIndiaarewritteninBrahmiderivedscripts,such
asDevanagari,Tamil,Telugu,Kannada,Odia,EasternNagariAssamese/Bengali,etc.,thoughUrduiswrittenina
scriptderivedfromArabic,andafewminorlanguagessuchasSantaliuseindependentscripts.[citationneeded]
VariousIndianlanguageshavetheirownscripts.Hindi,MarathiandAngikaarelanguageswrittenusing
theDevanagariscript.Mostmajorlanguagesarewrittenusingascriptspecifictothem,suchasAssamese
(Asamiya)[99][100][101]withAsamiya,[102]BengaliwithBengali,PunjabiwithGurmukhi,OdiawithOdiascript,Gujarati
withGujarati,etc.UrduandsometimesKashmiri,SaraikiandSindhiarewritteninmodifiedversionsofthePerso
Arabicscript.Withthisoneexception,thescriptsofIndianlanguagesarenativetoIndia.LanguageslikeKodava
thatdidn'thaveascriptwhereasTuluwhichhadascriptadoptedKannadaduetoitsreadilyavailableprinting
settingstheselanguageshavetakenupthescriptsofthelocalofficiallanguagesastheirownandarewrittenin
theKannadascript.[citationneeded]

TamilBrahmiinscriptioninJambaimalai.

NorthIndianBrahmifoundinAshokpillar.

TheHalmidiinscription,theoldestknown

AnearlyTeluguinscriptionfoundintheKrishna

inscriptionintheKannadascriptandlanguage.

districtofAndhraPradesh.

Theinscriptionisdatedtothe450CE500CE
period.

Seealso

[ edit ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India

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7/3/2016

LanguagesofIndiaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

ListoflanguagesbynumberofnativespeakersinIndia

Indiaportal

ListofendangeredlanguagesinIndia

Languagesportal

NationalTranslationMission

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[ edit ]

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