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There are 15 national languages recognized by the Indian constitution and these are spoken in over 1600 dialects. The national or official languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Panjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English (Associate Official). An estimated 850 languages are in daily use (Todd and Hancock 1986).
Other languages spoken in India include Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, Armenian, Burushaski, Western Farsi, Geman Deng, Lisu, Northern Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Thami, Chitwania Tharu, Kathoriya Tharu, Uyghur, Walungge, Arabic and Chinese.
India's official language is Hindi in the Devnagri script. However, English continues to be the official working language. For many educated Indians, English is virtually their first language, and for a great number of Indians who are multilingual, it will probably be the second. The literacy rate of India is between 36% to 52%.
India has a wide variety of local languages and in many cases the state boundaries have been drawn on linguistic lines. Besides Hindi and English, the other popular languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Panjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Some Indian languages have evolved from the Indo-European group of languages. This set is known as the Indic group of languages. The other set of languages are Dravidian and are native to South India, though a distinct influence of Sanskrit and Hindi is evident in these languages. Most of the Indian languages have their own script and are spoken in the respective states along with English.
Languages of India in the Language Sets
Gujarati
Gujarati is the state language of Gujarat, a western state of India, and is spoken by 70 percent of the state's population. More than 46 million people worldwide consider Gujarati as their first language. Apart from Gujarat, it is widely spoken in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Worldwide it is spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States, Kenya, South Africa, East Africa, Uganda, Fiji, Singapore and New Zealand.
| Speakers |
46 million first-language speakers |
| Region |
Gujarat; Maharashtra; Rajasthan; Karnataka; Madhya Pradesh
Also spoken in Bangladesh, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Reunion, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
Hindi
Hindi is spoken mainly in the northern part of India; however, it is widely understood across all of India, except by about 40 percent of the population in a few states of southern India.
It is not easy to delimit the borders of the Hindi-speaking region. Outside India, Hindi-speaking population is found in Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, South Africa, Singapore, Uganda, Nepal, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
| Speakers |
366 million first-language speakers; an additional 121 million second-language speakers |
| Region |
Throughout northern India: Delhi; Uttar Pradesh; Rajasthan; Punjab; Madhya Pradesh; northern Bihar; Himachal Pradesh
Also spoken in Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Germany, Kenya, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, UAE, UK, USA, Yemen, and Zambia |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
Malayalam
Malayalam is a Dravidian language used predominantly in the state of Kerala, in southern India. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and it is used by around 36 million people. Malayalam is also widely used in the union territories of Lakshadweep and Mah`e, the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu districts of Karnataka. It is also used by a large population of Indian expatriates living in Arab States, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
| Speakers |
Total 37,198,000 speakers, with 35,351,000 in India, 1,800,000 in the Persian Gulf, 37,000 in Malaysia, and 10,000 in Singapore |
| Region |
Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Malayalam |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
Marathi
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is the fourth most spoken language in India and the 15th most spoken language in the world. Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 1000 AD.
| Speakers |
Total 90 million speakers, with 70 million native, 20 million second language |
| Region |
In Maharashtra and adjacent states
Also spoken in Israel and Mauritius. Marathi speaking population is found in the United States, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Canada, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Israel, Pakistan Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. |
| Classification |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Southern zone |
Panjabi
Eastern Panjabi is the state Language of Panjab, the northern state of India. 30 to 45 million people regard Eastern Panjabi as their main language. Western Panjabi is widely spoken in Pakistan. About 27 million consider this branch of Panjabi their first language.
Eastern Panjabi
| Speakers |
27 million people speak Eastern Panjabi as their first language. |
| Region |
Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi; Jammu and Kashmir
Also spoken in Bangladesh, Canada, Fiji, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
Western Panjabi
| Speakers |
30-45 million first-language speakers |
| Region |
Mainly in the Punjab area of Pakistan
Also spoken in Afghanistan, Canada, India, UAE, UK , USA |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
Telugu
Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian language mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language. The Telugu script is derived from the Brāhmī script of the Mauryan Empire. Telugu has been subjected to prolonged, enormous influence from Sanskrit and also from the Prakrits, the spoken Indo-Aryan languages of medieval North India.
| Speakers |
70 million native, 75 million total |
| Region |
In Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states
Also spoken in Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates |
| Classification |
Dravidian, South-Central, Telugu |
Urdu
Urdu is one of the official languages of Pakistan, although it is spoken by only 8% of the population. It is also the state language of the Indian provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. Urdu is the language adopted by the majority of the Muslims in India. Urdu is written in the Persio-Arabic script and contains many words from the Persian language.
| Speakers |
11 million first-language speakers; additional 44 million second-language speakers |
| Region |
Also spoken in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, India, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom, and Zambia |
| Classification |
Indo-European |
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Resources
Order OCLC Language Sets
Other Language Sets pages
Languages of Asia
Languages of Europe
Languages of the Americas
Languages of the Phillipines
Other links
Languages by country
Ten most widely spoken world languages |
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