11/29/12 Languages of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

1/11 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of _India

Languages of India
Language families of greater India.
Nihali, Kusunda, and Thai languages are not shown.
Official
language(s)
For Central Government:Standard
Hindi written in the Devangar script
(the Indian Constitution recognises
English as a subsidiary official
language)
Regional
language(s)
Angika Assamese Beary bashe
Bengali Bodo Chhattisgarhi Dogri
Garhwali Garo Gujarati Standard
Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Khasi
Kodava Takk Kokborok Konkani
Kumaoni Maithili Malayalam
Manipuri Marathi Mizo Nepali
Oriya Punjabi Rajasthani Sanskrit
Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu
Tulu Urdu
Languages of India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Languages of India belong to several language
families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages (a
subbranch of Indo-European) spoken by 74% of Indians
and the Dravidian languages spoken by 23% of Indians.
[1][2]
Other languages spoken in India belong to the Austro-
Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and a few minor language families
and isolates.
[3]
The official language of the Central Government of Republic
of India is Standard Hindi, while English is the secondary
official language.
[4]
The constitution of India states that "The
official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari
script."
[5]
Neither the Constitution of India nor Indian law
specifies a national language, a position supported by a High
Court ruling.
[6]
However, languages listed in the Eighth
Schedule of the Indian constitution are sometimes referred
to, without legal standing, as the national languages of
India.
[7][8]
Individual mother tongues in India number several
hundred;
[9]
the 1961 census recognized 1,652
[10]
(SIL
Ethnologue lists 415). According to Census of India of
2001, 30 languages are spoken by more than a million
native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000. Three millennia
of language contact has led to significant mutual influence
among the four language families in India and South Asia.
Two contact languages have played an important role in the
history of India: Persian and English.
[11]
Contents
1 History
2 Inventories
3 Language families
4 Official languages
5 Official classical languages
6 Regional languages
6.1 Practical problems
7 Language conflicts
8 Writing systems
9 See also
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The Hindi-belt, including Hindi-related
languages such as Rajasthani and
Bihari.
10 References
11 External links
12 References
History
Main article: Linguistic history of India
The northern Indian languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-
European family evolved from Old Indo-Aryan by way of the Middle
Indo-Aryan Prakrit languages and Apabhraa of the Middle Ages.
There is no consensus for a specific time where the modern north Indian
languages such as Hindi-Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi,
Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi and Oriya emerged, but AD 1000 is
commonly accepted.
[12]
Each language had different influences, with
Hindi-Urdu (Hindustani) being strongly influenced by Persian.
The Dravidian languages of South India had a history independent of
Sanskrit. The major Dravidian languages are Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam,
Kannada and Tulu.
[13]
Though Malayalam and Telugu are Dravidian in
origin, over eighty percent of their lexicon is borrowed from
Sanskrit.
[14][15][16][17]
The Telugu script can reproduce the full range of
Sanskrit phonetics without losing any of the text's originality,
[18]
whereas
the Malayalam script includes graphemes capable of representing all the
sounds of Sanskrit and all Dravidian languages.
[19][20]
The Tamil and Kannada languages have lesser Sanskrit and
Prakrit influence.
[citation needed]
The Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages of North-East India also have
long independent histories.
[citation needed]
Inventories
Main articles: Languages with official status in India and List of languages by number of native
speakers in India
Dialectologists distinguish the terms "language" and "dialect" on the basis of mutual intelligibility. The Indian census
uses two specific classifications in its own unique way: (1) 'language' and (2) 'mother tongue'. The 'mother tongues'
are grouped within each 'language'. Many 'mother tongues' so defined would be considered a language rather than a
dialect by linguistic standards. This is especially so for many 'mother tongues' with tens of millions of speakers that
are officially grouped under the 'language' Hindi.
The Indian census of 1961 recognised 1,652 different languages in India (including languages not native to the
subcontinent). The 1991 census recognizes 1,576 classified "mother tongues"
[21]
The People of India (POI) project
of Anthropological Survey of India reported 325 languages which are used for in-group communication by the
Indian communities.SIL Ethnologue lists 415 living "Languages of India" (out of 6,912 worldwide).
According to the 1991 census, 22 'languages' had more than a million native speakers, 50 had more than 100,000
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and 114 had more than 10,000 native speakers. The remaining accounted for a total of 566,000 native speakers
(out of a total of 838 million Indians in 1991).
[21]
According to the most recent census of 2001, 29 'languages' have more than a million native speakers, 60 have
more than 100,000 and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers.
The government of India has given 22 "languages of the 8th Schedule" the status of official language. The number of
languages given this status has increased through the political process. Some languages with a large number of
speakers still do not have this status, the largest of these being Bhili/Bhiladi with some 9.6 million native speakers
(ranked 14th), followed by Garhwali with 2.9 million speakers, Gondi with 2.7 million speakers (ranked 18th) and
Khandeshi with 2.1 million speakers (ranked 22nd). On the other hand, 2 languages with fewer than 2 million native
speakers have recently been included in the 8th Schedule for mostly political reasons: Manipuri/Maithei with 1.5
million speakers (ranked 25th) and Bodo with 1.4 million speakers (ranked 26th).
Language families
The languages of India belong to several language families. The largest of these in terms of speakers is the Indo-
European family, predominantly represented in its Indo-Aryan branch (accounting for some 700 million speakers,
or 69% of the population), but also including minority languages such as Persian, Portuguese or French, and English
as a lingua franca. Kashmiri and other Dardic languages, which form part of the Indo-Iranian, and arguably Indo-
Aryan family, have some 4.6 million speakers in India.
The second largest language family is the Dravidian family, accounting for some 200 million speakers, or 26%.
Families with smaller numbers of speakers are Austro-Asiatic and numerous small Tibeto-Burman languages, with
some 10 and 6 million speakers, respectively, together 5% of the population.
The Ongan languages of the southern Andaman Islands form a fifth family; the Great Andamanese languages are
extinct apart from one highly endangered language with a dwindling number of speakers. There is also a known
language isolate, the Nihali language. The Shompen language or languages is/are poorly attested and unclassified.
Sentinelese is entirely unknown.
Most languages in the Indian republic are written in Brahmi-derived scripts, such as Devanagari, Kannada, Eastern
Nagari - Assamese/Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, etc., though Urdu is written in an Arabic script, and a few minor
languages such as Santali use independent scripts.
Official languages
Main article: Languages with official status in India#Eighth Schedule to the Constitution
The official languages of the Republic of India are Standard Hindi (41% of the country speaks Standard Hindi or
another Hindi dialect) and English. According to the article 343 (1) of the Constitution of India, "The Official
Language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script."
[22]
The individual states can legislate their own official
languages, depending on their linguistic demographics. For example, the state of Maharashtra has Marathi as its
sole official language, the state of Punjab has Punjabi as its sole official language, the state of Andhra Pradesh has
Telugu as its sole official language, the state of Orissa has Oriya as its sole official language, the state of Tamil Nadu
has Tamil as its sole official language, the state of Karnataka has Kannada as its sole official language and the state
of Kerala has Malayalam as its sole official language, while the state of Jammu and Kashmir has Kashmiri, Urdu,
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and Dogri as its official languages.
Article 345 of the constitution authorizes the several states of India to adopt as "official languages" of that state
which people of that state can then use in all dealings with all branches of the local, state and federal governments
either Standard Hindi or any one or more of the languages spoken in that state. Until the Twenty-First
Amendment of the Constitution in 1967, the country recognised 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule
and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Meiteilon and Nepali, thereby
increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18. At present there are 22 official languages of
India.
[23]
Individual states, whose borders are mostly drawn on socio-linguistic lines, are free to decide their own
language for internal administration and education.
The following table lists the official languages, aside from English, set out in the eighth schedule as of May 2008:
[24]
Language Family
Speakers
(in millions, 2001)
[25]
State(s)
Assamese/Axomiya
Indo-Aryan,
Eastern
13 Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
Bengali
Indo-Aryan,
Eastern
83 West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Bodo
Tibeto-
Burman
1.4 Assam
Dogri
Indo-Aryan,
Northwestern
2.3 Jammu and Kashmir
Gujarati
Indo-Aryan,
Western
46 Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat
Hindi
Indo-Aryan,
Central
258422
[26]
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh,
Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, the national capital
territory of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Kannada Dravidian 38 Karnataka
Kashmiri
Indo-Aryan,
Dardic
5.5 Jammu and Kashmir
Konkani
Indo-Aryan,
Southern
2.57.6
[27]
Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala
Maithili
Indo-Aryan,
Eastern
1232
[28]
Bihar
Malayalam Dravidian 33
Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Lakshadweep, Pondicherry
Manipuri (also
Meitei or Meithei)
Tibeto-
Burman
1.5 Manipur
Indo-Aryan, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman
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Marathi
Indo-Aryan,
Southern 72
Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman
and Diu, Madhya Pradesh
Nepali
Indo-Aryan,
Northern
2.9 Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam
Oriya
Indo-Aryan,
Eastern
33 Orissa
Punjabi
Indo-Aryan,
Northwestern
29 Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab
Sanskrit Indo-Aryan 0.01 non-regional
Santhali Munda 6.5
Santhal tribals of the Chota Nagpur Plateau
(comprising the states of Bihar, Chattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Orissa)
Sindhi
Indo-Aryan,
Northwestern
2.5 non-regional
Tamil Dravidian 61
Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
Pondicherry
Telugu Dravidian 74
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh,
Pondicherry
Urdu
Indo-Aryan,
Central
52
Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi,
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Official classical languages
In 2004, the Government of India declared that languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the
status of a "Classical Language in India".
[29]
Languages thus far declared to be Classical are Tamil (in 2004),
[30]
Sanskrit (in 2005),
[31]
Kannada and Telugu (in 2008).
[32]
In 2005, Sanskrit, which already had special status in Article 351 of the Constitution of India as the primary source
language for the development of the official standard of Hindi,
[33]
was also declared to be a classical language; this
was followed by similar declarations for Kannada and Telugu in 2008, based on the recommendation of a
committee of linguistic experts constituted by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
[32]
In a 2006 press release, Minister of Tourism & Culture Ambika Soni told the Rajya Sabha the following criteria
were laid down to determine the eligibility of languages to be considered for classification as a "Classical
Language",
[34]

High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years; A body of
ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers; The
literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community; The classical
language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the
classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

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At a tourist site in Bangalore, most
widely spoken Indian Dravidian
languages are shown along with north
Indian language Hindi . Top to
bottom, the languages are: Hindi,
Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and
Malayalam. English and many other
European languages are also provided
here for tourists.
Regional languages
In British India, English was the sole language used for administrative
purposes as well as for higher education purposes. When India became
independent in 1947, the Indian legislators had the challenge of choosing
a language for official communication as well as for communication
between different linguistic regions across India. The choices available
were:
Making "Hindi", which a plurality of the people
(43%)
[citation needed]
identified as their mother tongue, the official
language, though only a minority of these "Hindi" speakers spoke
Hindi proper.
Making English, as preferred by non-Hindi speakers, particularly
Tamils and Kannadigas, and those from Mizoram and Nagaland,
the official language. See also Anti-Hindi agitations.
Declare both Hindi and English as official languages and each state
is given freedom to choose the official language of the state.
The Indian constitution, in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to
be the official language of the union.
[35]
Unless Parliament decided
otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years
after the constitution came into effect, i.e., on 26 January 1965.
[35]
The
prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non
Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially Dravidian-speaking states in
South India whose languages were not related to Hindi at all (see
examples at right). As a result, Parliament enacted the Official Languages
Act, 1963,
[36][37][38][39][40][41]
which provided for the continued use of
English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965.
See also: Languages with official status in India
Practical problems
India has hundreds of active dialects in use. Therefore, choosing any single language as an official language presents
serious problems to all those whose "mother tongue" is different. However, all the boards of education across India,
recognize the 'need' for training people to one common language.
[42]
This results in many complaints: There are
many complaints that in North India, non-Hindi speakers undergo considerable difficulties on account of language.
Similarly, there are numerous complaints that all North Indians have language trouble when traveling to South India.
It's common to hear of incidents that result due to friction between those who strongly believe in the chosen official
language, and those who follow the thought that the chosen language(s) do not take into account everyone's
preferences.
[43]
Local official language commissions have been established and various steps are being taken in a
direction to reduce tensions and friction.
[citation needed]
Language conflicts
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Ashoka's 6th pillar edict, 3rd century
BC
Further information: Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu, Pure Tamil movement, and Gokak agitation
There are some significant conflicts over linguistic rights in India.
The first major linguistic conflict, known as the Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu took place in Tamil Nadu
against the implementation of Hindi as the sole official language of India. Political analysts consider this as a major
factor in bringing DMK to power and leading to the ousting and nearly total elimination of the Congress party in
Tamil Nadu.
[44]
Strong cultural pride based on language is also found in other Indian states such as Bengal,
Maharashtra and in Karnataka. To express disapproval of the imposition of an alien language Hindi on its people as
a result of the central government overstepping its constitutional authority, Maharashtra and Karnataka
Governments made the state languages compulsory in educational institutions.
[45]
However, in Andhra Pradesh, in majority of the schools, students have to learn English and one chosen regional
language (Telugu or Urdu) or Hindi as the main language subjects, and learn an other language (Telugu, or Hindi, or
Special English) as a special language subject. So, usually they learn three in total.
Recently anti-Hindi feelings have been expressed in Mumbai by Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
[46]
The Government of India attempts to assuage these conflicts with various campaigns, coordinated by the Central
Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, a branch of the Department of Higher Education, Language Bureau,
Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Writing systems
Main articles: Indic scripts and Nasta'liq script
Various Indian languages have corresponding scripts for them. The Hindi,
Marathi and Angika languages are all written using the Devanagari script.
Most languages are written using a script specific to them, such as
Assamese with Assamese/Axomiya, Bengali with Bengali, Punjabi with
Gurmukhi, Oriya with Utkal Lipi, Gujarati with Gujarati, etc. Urdu and
sometimes Kashmiri, Saraiki and Sindhi are written in modified versions
of the Perso-Arabic script. With this one exception, the scripts of Indian
languages are native to India. (See ISO 15919 regarding Romanization
of Indian languages)
See also
English in India
List of languages by number of native speakers in India
List of endangered languages in India
List of states and union territories of India by population
National Translation Mission
References
1. ^ Ishtiaq, M. (1999). Language Shifts Among the Scheduled Tribes in India: A Geographical Study
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(http://books.google.com/books?id=fkIgsfb95rAC) . Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 26-27.
ISBN 9788120816176. http://books.google.com/books?id=fkIgsfb95rAC. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
2. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html#People
3. ^ Nihali, Shompen languages, and the various Andamanese languages
4. ^ 1. Schwartzberg, Joseph E., 2007. Encyclopdia Britannica, IndiaLinguistic Composition
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46398) . Quote: "By far the most widely spoken is Hindi, the country's
official language, with more than 300 million speakers." 2. Oldenburg, Phillip
(http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/data/indiv/area/idsas/OLDENBURG,Philip.htm) . (1997-2007) Encarta
Encyclopedia "India: Official Languages." Quote: "Hindi is the main language of more than 40 percent of the
population. No single language other than Hindi can claim speakers among even 10 percent of the total population.
Hindi was therefore made Indias official language in 1965. English, which was associated with British rule, was
retained as an option for official use because non-Hindi states, particularly in Tamil Ndu, opposed the official use
of Hindi." 3. United Kingdom, Foreign and Commonwealth Office: IndiaCountry Profile
(http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?
pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=101896532
3192) . Quote: "The official language of India is Hindi written in the Devanagari script and spoken by some 30% of
the population as a first language. Since 1965 English has been recognised as an 'associated language'." 4.
UNESCO: Education for AllThe Nine Largest Countries (http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-
docs/findings/efa9.doc) Quote: "Hindi is the language of 30 percent of the population and the official language of
India." 5. United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Country Profile: India
(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/India.pdf) Quote: "Languages: Hindi is the official language and the most
commonly spoken, but not all dialects are mutually comprehensible. English also has official status and is widely
used in business and politics, although knowledge of English varies widely from fluency to knowledge of just a
few words." 6 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Country Profile: India
(http://www.unhcr.org/publ/RSDCOI/3ae6a6400.html) Quote: "Hindi is constitutionally designated as the official
language of India, with English as an associate official language."
5. ^ See: PART XVII (OFFICIAL LANGUAGE) (http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf)
6. ^ There's no national language in India: Gujarat High Court (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-
national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms)
7. ^ Andrew Simpson (2007). Language and national identity in Asia (http://books.google.com/?
id=F3XvBbdWCKYC) . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926748-0. http://books.google.com/?
id=F3XvBbdWCKYC. "... the languages of the Eighth Schedule, which have been referred to as the national
languages of India since Nehru initiated such a practice ..."
8. ^ James W. Tollefson (2002). Language policies in education: critical issues (http://books.google.com/?
id=4syP7jPzGSoC) . Routledge. ISBN 0-8058-3601-2. http://books.google.com/?id=4syP7jPzGSoC. "... Despite
negligible practical import, the symbolic significant of Schedule VIII inclusion is substantial ... Any language
included in Schedule VIII is a national language of India ... the "national" languages of India, i.e., those in
Schedule VIII ..."
9. ^ More than a thousand including major dialects. The 1991 census recognized "1576 rationalized mother tongues"
which were further grouped into language categories (Indian Census (http://www.censusindia.gov.in/) )
10. ^ "Language in India" (http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2002/indianmothertongues1961aug2002.html) .
Language in India. http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2002/indianmothertongues1961aug2002.html. Retrieved
2010-08-01.
11. ^ Bhatia, Tej K and William C. Ritchie. (2006) Bilingualism in South Asia. In: Handbook of Bilingualism, pp. 780-
807. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
12. ^ Shapiro, M: Hindi.
13. ^ Encyclopdia Britannica. "Dravidian languages - Britannica Online Encyclopedia"
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171083/Dravidian-languages) . Britannica.com.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171083/Dravidian-languages. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
14. ^ Narayan, Heukar; Jha (1997). Non-fictional Indian prose in English, 1960-1990 (http://books.google.com/?
id=ZqplAAAAMAAJ) . Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-0294-8. http://books.google.com/?
id=ZqplAAAAMAAJ.
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15. ^ Malayalam literary survey, Volume 15 (http://books.google.com/?id=k5JkAAAAMAAJ) . Kraa Shitya
Akkdami. 1993. p. 76. http://books.google.com/?id=k5JkAAAAMAAJ.
16. ^ Gupta, Balarama (2007). The Journal of Indian writing in English, Volume 35 (http://books.google.com/?
id=EdpHAAAAYAAJ) . p. 8. http://books.google.com/?id=EdpHAAAAYAAJ.
17. ^ Velcheru Narayana Rao; David Shulman. Classical Telugu Poetry (2 ed.). The Regents of the University of
California. p. 3
18. ^ Chenchiah, P.; Rao, Raja Bhujanga (1988). A History of Telugu Literature. Asian Educational Services. p. 18.
ISBN 81-206-0313-3.
19. ^ Aiyar, Swaminatha (1987). Dravidian theories (http://books.google.com/books?id=D-dIbnuJCjUC) . p. 286.
ISBN 978-81-208-0331-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=D-dIbnuJCjUC.
20. ^ "Malayalam" (http://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Malayalam/) . ALS International.
http://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Malayalam/. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
21. ^
a

b
Indian Census (http://www.censusindia.gov.in/)
22. ^ 1. Oldenburg, Phillip (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/data/indiv/area/idsas/OLDENBURG,Philip.htm) . (1997-
2007) Encarta Encyclopedia "India: Official Languages."
2. United Kingdom, Foreign and Commonwealth Office: IndiaCountry Profile
(http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?
pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=101896532
3192) .
3. UNESCO: Education for AllThe Nine Largest Countries (http://www2.unesco.org/wef/en-
docs/findings/efa9.doc) Quote: "Hindi is the language of 30% of the population and the official language of India."
(these do not refer to the same conception of Hindi)
4. United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Country Profile: India
(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/India.pdf) .
5 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Country Profile: India
(http://www.unhcr.org/publ/RSDCOI/3ae6a6400.html) .
23. ^ "Constitution of India" (http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss(36).pdf) .
http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss(36).pdf.
24. ^ Constitution of India (http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf) , page 330, EIGHTH SCHEDULE, Articles
344 (1) and 351]. Languages.
25. ^ Official 2001 census data
(http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm)
26. ^ The 2001 census records two figures, of 258 million and 422 million "Hindi" speakers. However, both figures
include languages other than Standard Hindi, such as Rajasthani (ca. 80 million in independent estimates), Bhojpuri
(40 million), Awadhi (38 million), Chhattisgarhi (18 million), and dozens of other languages with a million to over
ten million speakers apiece. The figure of 422 million specifically includes all such people, whereas the figure of
258 depends on speaker identification as recorded in the census. For example, of the estimated 38 million Awadhi
speakers, only 2 million gave their language as "Awadhi", with the rest apparently giving it as
"Hindi"
[citation needed]
, and of the approximately 80 million Rajasthani speakers, only 18 million were counted
separately
[citation needed]
. Maithili, listed as a separate language in the 2001 census but previously considered a
dialect of Hindi, also appeared to be severely undercounted.
[citation needed]
27. ^ 7.6 per Ethnologue
28. ^ 32 in India in 2000 per Ethnologue
29. ^ "India sets up classical languages" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm) . BBC. 2004-09-17.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
30. ^ "Front Page : Tamil to be a classical language"
(http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/18/stories/2004091806530100.htm) . Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2004-09-18.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/18/stories/2004091806530100.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
31. ^ "National : Sanskrit to be declared classical language"
(http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/28/stories/2005102809281200.htm) . Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2005-10-28.
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/28/stories/2005102809281200.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
32. ^
a

b
"Declaration of Telugu and Kannada as classical languages" (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44340) .
11/29/12 Languages of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia
10/11 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of _India
Press Information Bureau. Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44340. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
33. ^ Constitution of India, Part XVII.Official Language.Art. 351. Page 217
(http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf) Quote: "It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the
Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite
culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style
and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by
drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other
languages."
34. ^ "CLASSICAL LANGUAGE STATUS TO KANNADA" (http://pib.nic.in/release/rel_print_page1.asp?relid=19653)
. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2006-08-08. http://pib.nic.in/release/rel_print_page1.asp?
relid=19653. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
35. ^
a

b
"Constitution of India as of 29 July 2008" (http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf) . The Constitution Of
India. Ministry of Law & Justice. http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
36. ^ DOL (http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/dolacteng.htm)
37. ^ Commissioner Linguistic Minorities (http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/35.htm)
38. ^ Language in India (http://www.languageinindia.com/april2002/officiallanguagesact.html)
39. ^ THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, 1963
(http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/RPF/Files/law/BareActs/officiallang1963act.htm)
40. ^ National Portal of India : Know India : Profile (http://india.gov.in/knowindia/official_language.php)
41. ^ Committee of Parliament on Official Language report (http://www.rajbhasha.gov.in/khand8-eng7.pdf)
42. ^ Language and Globalization: Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois
(http://cgs.illinois.edu/content/language-and-globalization)
43. ^ The Pioneer > Columnists (http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?
main_variable=Columnist&file_name=surya%2Fsurya25.txt&writer=surya)
44. ^ "Magazine / Columns : Hindi against India"
(http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm) . Chennai, India: The Hindu. 16 January
2005. http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/16/stories/2005011600260300.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
45. ^ "Marathi a must in Maharashtra schools - India News" (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/marathi-a-must-in-
maharashtra-schools/28502-3.html) . IBNLive. 2010-02-03. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/marathi-a-must-in-
maharashtra-schools/28502-3.html. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
46. ^ "Abu Azmi slapped by MNS MLA for taking oath in Hindi" (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/abu-azmi-
slapped-by-mns-mla-for-taking-o.../539149/) . Indianexpress.com. 2009-11-09.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/abu-azmi-slapped-by-mns-mla-for-taking-o.../539149/. Retrieved 2010-08-
01.
External links
Distribution of languages in India (http://www.mapsofindia.com/culture/indian-languages.html)
http://www.languageinindia.com/
Languages of India (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=IN) (SIL Ethnologue list)
Languages and Scripts of India (http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/scripts.html)
Reconciling Linguistic Diversity: The History and the Future of Language Policy in India
(http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~jason2/papers/natlang.htm) by Jason Baldridge
Titus - Languages of India (http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/karten/indi/indicm.htm)
Typing in Indian Languages (http://indicpad.com)
Diversity of Languages in India (http://www.kamat.com/indica/diversity/languages.htm)
Official webpage explains the chronological events related to Official Languages Act and amendments
(http://rajbhasha.nic.in/)
A comprehensive federal government site that offers complete info on Indian Languages
11/29/12 Languages of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia
11/11 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of _India
(http://www.ciil.org/)
Ethnologue Ethnologue report on the languages of India (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?
name=IN)
Technology Development for Indian Languages, Government of India (http://tdil.mit.gov.in/news.htm)
The Official Portal of the Indian Government (http://india.gov.in/knowindia/india_at_a_glance.php)
References
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Categories: Languages of India
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