LANGUAGES OF INDIA

INTRODUCTION
• Language is a system of communication developed by humans around 2,00,000 years ago.
• Neanderthals are believed to be among the earliest humans with coherent speech.
• India is linguistically diverse due to multiple waves of migration and cultural interaction.
• Indian languages belong to several language families, with Indo-Aryan being the largest.
• Some language groups are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

CLASSIFICATION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES
• Indian languages are broadly classified into:
  • Indo-Aryan Group
  • Dravidian Group
  • Sino-Tibetan Group
  • Austric (Austro-Asiatic) Group

INDO-ARYAN GROUP OF LANGUAGES
• Also called Indic languages.
• Part of the Indo-European language family.
• Originated with Aryan migration around 1500 BCE.
• Spoken by nearly 74% of India’s population.
• Divided into:
  • Old Indo-Aryan
  • Middle Indo-Aryan
  • Modern Indo-Aryan

OLD INDO-ARYAN
• Belongs to early Vedic age.
• Sanskrit developed as a cultural, religious and court language.
• Source language for many Indian languages.
• One of the 22 Scheduled Languages of India.

MIDDLE INDO-ARYAN
• Emerged in post-Vedic period.
• Prakrit was the common vernacular.
• Basis for Pali, Ardha-Magadhi and Apabhramsa.

PRINCIPAL PRAKRITS
• Pali
  • Spoken in Magadha region.
  • Language of Theravada Buddhism.
  • Tripitaka written in Pali.
• Ardha-Magadhi
  • Language of Buddha and Mahavira.
  • Used in Ashokan edicts.
  • Gave rise to Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Maithili, Bhojpuri.
• Shauraseni
  • Dramatic Prakrit.
  • Used in classical dramas.
• Maharashtri
  • Precursor of Marathi and Konkani.
  • Official language of Satavahanas.
• Paishachi
  • Known as Bhuta-Bhasa.
  • Brihatkatha written in Paishachi.
• Elu
  • Ancient form of Sinhala.

APABHRAMSA
• Developed between 6th–7th century CE.
• Transitional stage between Middle and Modern Indo-Aryan.
• Recognised as a literary language.
• Major texts:
  • Pushpadanta’s Mahapurana
  • Dhanapala’s Bhavisayattakaha

MODERN INDO-ARYAN
• Widely spoken in North, West and East India.
• Languages include:
  • Hindi
  • Bengali
  • Assamese
  • Odia
  • Marathi
  • Gujarati
  • Kashmiri
  • Sindhi
  • Maithili

DRAVIDIAN GROUP OF LANGUAGES
• Spoken mainly in Southern India.
• Covers about 25% of Indian population.
• Originated from Proto-Dravidian.
• Divided into:
  • Northern
  • Central
  • Southern

NORTHERN DRAVIDIAN
• Languages:
  • Brahui
  • Malto
  • Kurukh

CENTRAL DRAVIDIAN
• Languages:
  • Gondi
  • Khond
  • Kui
  • Kuvi
  • Parji
  • Gadaba
  • Telugu (only developed literary language)

SOUTHERN DRAVIDIAN
• Languages:
  • Tamil
  • Kannada
  • Malayalam
  • Tulu
  • Kodagu
  • Toda
  • Kota
• Tamil is the oldest Dravidian language.

SINO-TIBETAN GROUP
• Associated with Mongoloid racial groups.
• Spoken in Himalayas and North-East India.
• Mentioned as Kiratas in Sanskrit literature.
• Spoken by about 0.6% population.

SUB-GROUPS
• Tibeto-Burman
  • Tibetan: Ladakhi, Bhutia, Sherpa
  • Himalayan: Kinnauri, Limbu
  • North Assam: Abor, Miri, Mishmi
  • Meitei (Manipuri)
• Siamese-Chinese
  • Ahom (extinct)

AUSTRIC (AUSTRO-ASIATIC) GROUP
• Includes Munda and Mon-Khmer languages.
• Existed before Aryan arrival.
• Called Nisadas in ancient texts.
• Important languages:
  • Santhali
  • Khasi
  • Nicobarese
• Most are endangered except Santhali and Khasi.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE COMMISSION
• Provided under Article 344 of the Constitution.
• First commission formed in 1955 under B.G. Kher.
• Led to Official Language Act, 1963.
• Hindi declared official language.
• English continued as associate official language (amended in 1967).

CLASSICAL LANGUAGES OF INDIA
• Introduced in 2004.
• Criteria:
  • Antiquity of 1500–2000 years.
  • Rich ancient literature.
  • Independent literary tradition.
  • Distinct from modern forms.

CLASSICAL LANGUAGES
• Tamil – 2004
• Sanskrit – 2005
• Kannada – 2008
• Telugu – 2008
• Malayalam – 2013
• Odia – 2014

BENEFITS
• International awards.
• Centres of Excellence.
• UGC Chairs in Classical Languages.

ANCIENT SCRIPTS OF INDIA
• Indus Script
  • Undeciphered.
  • Pictographic.
  • Written right-to-left.
• Brahmi
  • Oldest deciphered script.
  • Parent of most Indian scripts.
• Kharosthi
  • Right-to-left.
  • Used in Gandhara.
• Gupta Script
  • Late Brahmi.
  • Origin of Devanagari, Sharada.
• Nagari
  • Precursor of Devanagari.
• Sharada
  • Used in Kashmir.
• Gurmukhi
  • Developed by Guru Angad.
• Modi
  • Old Marathi script.
• Devanagari
  • Used for Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi etc.
• Grantha
  • Used for Sanskrit in South India.
• Vatteluttu
  • Derived from Tamil-Brahmi.
• Kadamba
  • Origin of Kannada-Telugu script.
• Tamil Script
  • Derived from Grantha.
• Telugu Script
  • Derived from Bhattiprolu Brahmi.
• Ol Chiki
  • Script for Santhali.
• Urdu Script
  • Derived from Perso-Arabic Nastaliq.

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Subject: Art and Culture

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