India’s Linguistic Diversity

Overview

• Presenter: Paul from LangFocus
• India is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.
• Estimated number of languages varies:
  • Ethnologue: 448 languages
  • People's Linguistic Survey of India: 780 languages
  • Indian Census: 19,569 different named responses, grouped into 1,369 mother tongues and 121 languages with 10,000+ speakers.

Official Languages

• National Level: Hindi and English
• Scheduled Languages: 22 recognized by the national government
• Each state/territory can choose its own official languages.

Major Language Families in India

• Indo-Aryan Family (Indo-European): Predominant in the north.
• Dravidian Family: Predominant in the south.
• Other Families: Austro-Asiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai.

Top Languages (Census-based)

• Numbers can vary based on how languages/dialects are defined.
• Hindi belt includes multiple related languages but not Urdu.

Dravidian Languages

• Origin: Unclear, predates Indo-European languages in India.
• Early Scripts & Literature: Tamil Brahmi (3rd-4th century BCE), Telugu, Kannada.
• Features:
  • Agglutinative Grammar
  • SOV Word Order
  • Sanskrit Influence: Less in Tamil, more in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam.

Indo-Aryan Languages

• Descended from: Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indo-European languages.
• Evolution: Sanskrit -> Prakrits -> Modern Indo-Aryan languages.
• Prakrit Examples:
  • Pali: Language of Theravada Buddhist scriptures.
  • Magadhi: Ancestor of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages (e.g., Bengali).
  • Sauraseni: Ancestor of Central Indo-Aryan languages (e.g., Hindi).
  • Maharashtri: Ancestor of Southern Indo-Aryan languages (e.g., Marathi).
• External Influences: Persian, Turkic, Arabic due to historical Muslim rule.
  • Vocabulary Examples: Sabzi, Kitab, Nanawa, Garam.

Contact and Influence

• Mutual Influence: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages influenced each other over millennia.
• Sprachbund: Linguistic area where languages influence each other.
• Agglutination Example: Marathi influenced by Dravidian languages.

Other Language Families

• Sino-Tibetan:
  • Languages: Boro, Meitei (Manipuri)
  • Regions: Assam, Manipur, northeastern India.
  • Diversity: High dialectical variation.
  • Lingua Francas: Assamese, English in some areas.
• Austroasiatic:
  • Language: Santali, Khasi
  • Regions: Eastern and northeastern India.

Scripts

• Brahmi-derived Scripts: Most modern scripts in India.
  • Devanagari: Widely used for Hindi, Sanskrit, etc.
  • Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese: Variations of Brahmi.
  • Dravidian Scripts: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam.
• Unique Scripts: Old Chiki for Santali.
• Characteristics: Mostly Abugida scripts (vowel-consonant combinations).

Multilingual Communication

• Mutual Intelligibility: Indo-Aryan languages through exposure.
• Hindi: Contrary to official stance, widely understood though not always spoken.
• Multilingualism: Many Indians are bilingual or trilingual.
• English: Key for cross-family (e.g., Indo-Aryan to Dravidian) communication.
• Local Lingua Francas: States/regions usually have dominant languages used for wider communication.

Viewer Interaction

• Questions for Viewers: Encourages answers about native languages and multilingual experiences.
• Engagement: Mention of LangFocus social media and Patreon supporters.