Languages of South Asia

2022-06-27T14:45:46Z

2409:4041:E06:CDCB:0:0:BB8B:8413:

{{Short description|Languages of a geographic region}}
[[File:South Asian language Families.jpg|thumb|Map of language families in [[South Asia]].]]
[[File:States of South Asia.png|thumb|right|400px|The names of each state in the script of the dominant language of that state of India, part of Pakistan and the whole of Bangladesh, Maldives , Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.]]
[[South Asia]] is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of [[Afghanistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]], [[Maldives]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It is home to the third most spoken language in the world, [[Hindi–Urdu]]; and the sixth most spoken language, [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. The languages in the region mostly comprise [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranic]] and [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] languages, and further members of other language families like [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]], [[Turkic languages|Turkic]], and [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] languages.

[[South Asian English]] is considered the international lingua franca of the [[SAARC|South Asian countries]].

== Afghanistan ==
{{Main|Languages of Afghanistan}}

The official languages of Afghanistan are [[Pashto]] and [[Dari]], both of which are [[Iranic languages]]. Dari, an Afghan [[Register (sociolinguistics)|standardized register]] of the [[Persian language]], is considered the lingua franca of Afghanistan and used to write Afghan literature. [[Tajik language|Tajik]] is spoken by people closer to [[Tajikistan]], although officially the language is regarded same as Dari. A few [[Turkic languages]] like [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]] and [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]] are also spoken near regions closer to [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Turkmenistan]]. [[Pashto]] is widely spoken by the [[Pashtun]] people, who mainly reside towards the south of [[Afghanistan]] on the [[Pakistani]]-[[Afghanistan|Afghan]] border.

== Bangladesh ==
{{Main|Languages of Bangladesh}}

[[Bengali language|Standard Bengali]] based on [[Rarhi dialect]] (West Bengal, India) is the national language of Bangladesh. Majority of Bangladeshis speaks [[Eastern Bengali]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Bangladesh - Languages {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bangladesh/Languages|access-date=2022-01-10|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> Native languages of Bangladesh are [[Sylheti language|Sylheti]] and [[Chittagonian language|Chittagonian]], while some ethnic minority groups also speak [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]], [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] and [[Austroasiatic languages|Austro-asiatic]] languages. <ref name=":0" />

== Bhutan ==
{{Main|Languages of Bhutan}}

[[Dzongkha]] is the national language of the [[Kingdom of Bhutan]]. Almost all the languages of Bhutan are from [[Tibetic languages|Tibetic family]] (except [[Nepali language|Nepali]], an [[Indo-Aryan language]]).

== India ==
{{Main|Languages of India}}

Most languages spoken in India belong either to the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] ({{circa|74%}}), the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] (c. 24%), the [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] ([[Munda languages|Munda]]) (c. 1.2%), or the [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] (c. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the [[Himalayas]] still unclassified.
The [[SIL International|SIL]] Ethnologue lists 461 living languages for India.

[[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] is the most widespread language of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of "Hindi" as the broad variety of the [[Hindi languages]]. The native speakers of [[Hindi]] so defined account for 39% of Indians. Bengali is the second most spoken language of South Asia, found in both [[Bangladesh]] and Indian states of [[West Bengal]] and [[Tripura]]. The [[International Mother Language Day]] was created by [[UNESCO]] to commemorate the [[Bengali language]].<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000117961.page=38|title=The General Conference proclaim"International Mother Language Day" to be observed on 21 February|website=unesdoc.unesco.org |date=1999-11-16 |access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref> Other notable languages include [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Urdu]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Kannada]], [[Pashto]], [[Malayalam]] and [[Konkani language|Konkani]].

Thirteen languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95%; all of them are "[[Official languages of India#The languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution|scheduled languages of the constitution]]."

Scheduled languages spoken by less than 1% of Indians are [[Santali language|Santali]] (0.64%), [[Meitei language|Manipuri]] (0.14%), [[Bodo language|Bodo]] (0.13%), [[Dogri language|Dogri]] (0.01%, spoken in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]). The largest language that is not "scheduled" is [[Bhili language|Bhili]] (0.95%), followed by [[Gondi language|Gondi]] (0.27%), [[Tulu language|Tulu]] (0.17%) and [[Kurukh language|Kurukh]] (0.099%)

== Maldives ==
{{Main|Languages of Maldives}}

[[Dhivehi language|Divehi]] is national language of [[Maldives]], spoken by 95% of the population. [[Arabic]] being considered as religious language and [[English language|English]] being medium of instruction for education and international purposes such as tourism.

== Nepal ==
{{Main|Languages of Nepal}}

Most of the languages of [[Nepal]] either fall under [[Indo-Aryan languages]] or [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]. The official language of the country is [[Nepali language|Nepali]], earlier known as Gorkhali in the [[Kingdom of Nepal]], and is the mother tongue of around half the population.

== Pakistan ==
{{Main|Languages of Pakistan}}

[[Pakistan]] is a linguistically diverse country it has many dozens of languages spoken as first languages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kukreja |first=Veena |date=March 2020 |title=Ethnic Diversity, Political Aspirations and State Response: A Case Study of Pakistan |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0019556120906585 |journal=Indian Journal of Public Administration |language=en |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=28–42 |doi=10.1177/0019556120906585 |issn=0019-5561}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=A revealing map of the world’s most and least ethnically diverse countries |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16/a-revealing-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-ethnically-diverse-countries/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The major languages of Pakistan broadly fall under the category [[Indo-Iranian languages]], with western regions of Pakistan (close to [[Iran]] and [[Afghanistan]]) speaking [[Iranic languages]] and eastern regions (close to India) speaking [[Indo-Aryan languages]] (with the [[Indus River]] approximately dividing the families).

Other language families in Pakistan include [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] ([[Brahui language|Brahui]] spoken in Central [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]), [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] languages such as [[Balti language|Balti]] and [[Purgi language|Purgi]] spoken in the north-east (In [[Baltistan]] region of Pakistan), [[Nuristani languages]] such as [[Kamkata-vari language|Kamkata-vari]] spoken in the north-west (In [[Chitral Kalasha language|chitral]] region of Pakistan), [[Language isolate|Language Isolate]] [[Burushaski]] spoken in the north (In [[Gilgit Division]]), [[Turkic languages]] are also spoken in Pakistan by a few [[Kyrgyz people|kyrgyz]] families in the North and by Refugees from [[Afghan refugees|Afghanistan]] and [[China]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The last Kirghiz khan in Gilgit {{!}} Footloose {{!}} thenews.com.pk |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/575661-the-last-kirghiz-khan-in-gilgit |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Government delivered first new Proof of Registration smartcards to Afghan refugees |url=https://www.unhcr.org/pk/12999-government-to-deliver-first-new-por-smartcards-to-afghan-refugees.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=UNHCR Pakistan |language=en}}</ref>

The national uniting medium of Pakistan is [[Urdu]], a persianized register of the [[Hindustani language]]. The major native languages of Pakistan are [[Balochistan|Baluchi]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]], [[Pashto]], while more than 70 other languages like [[Shina language|Shina]], [[Balti language|Balti]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-02 |title=Karachi’s Gujarati speaking youth strive to revive Jinnah’s language |url=https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1381116/pakistan |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=Arab News PK |language=en}}</ref> [[Bengali language|Bengali]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-01-16 |title=Five million illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/322325/five-million-illegal-immigrants-residing-in-pakistan |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref> etc. are also spoken.

== Sri Lanka ==
{{Main|Languages of Sri Lanka}}

[[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] are the official languages of Sri Lanka, with [[Sri Lankan English]] as the link language. Tamil is a South-Dravidian language, and Sinhala belongs to the Insular Indic family (along with [[Dhivehi language|Dhivehi]] of [[Maldives]]). [[Vedda language|Vedda]] is said to be the indigenous language of Sri Lanka before the arrival of Aryans and Dravidians.

== See also ==
* [[Languages of Asia]]
* [[Languages of Pakistan]]
* [[Languages of Bangladesh]]
* India:
** [[Official languages of India]]
** [[List of languages by number of native speakers in India]]
* [[Languages of Maldives]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120206233628/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm Data table of Census of India, 2001]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ciil.org/languages/map4.html |title=Indian Language Family|website=Central Institute of Indian Languages |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020615144043/http://www.ciil.org/languages/map4.html |archive-date=15 June 2002}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080324032158/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement4.htm SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH – 2001]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081118143215/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement6.htm COMPARATIVE RANKING OF SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH-1971, 1981, 1991 AND 2001]
* [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/data_on_language.html Census data on Languages]

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070101015404/http://www.indojin.com/discoverindia/indianlang.htm Major Indian Languages]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050109084200/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=India Ethnologue report]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041213203632/http://www.ciil.org/ Central Institute of Indian Languages]

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[[Category:Languages of South Asia| ]]

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Languages of South Asia