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{{Short description|Bihari language of India and Nepal}}
{{infobox language
| name = Bajjika
| altname = बज्जिका
| region = [[Bihar]] of [[India]] and [[Terai]] ([[Madhesh Province]]) of [[Nepal]]
| speakers = c. 20 million
| date = 2013 estimate
| ref =
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern]]
| fam5 = [[Bihari languages|Bihari]]
| script = *[[Kaithi]]
*[[Tirhuta]]
| nation =
| iso3 = vjk
| isoexception = dialect
| linglist =
| glotto = bajj1234
| glottoname =
| image = Bajjika.svg
| imagecaption = The word "Bajjika" written in Devanagari script
| imagescale =
| states = [[India]] and [[Nepal]]
}}

'''Bajjika''' is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] language variety spoken in parts of Bihar, India and in Nepal.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Jared |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQA2DwAAQBAJ&dq=bajjika&pg=PA431 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |last2=Joseph |first2=Brian |last3=Fritz |first3=Matthias |date=2017-09-25 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-026128-8 |language=en}}</ref>

== Territory and speakers ==
Bajjika language is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, in a region popularly known as [[Tirhut division|Tirhut]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pradhuman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=399UDwAAQBAJ&dq=bajjika&pg=PT506 |title=Bihar General Knowledge Digest: Bestseller Book by Pradhuman Singh: Bihar General Knowledge Digest |date=2021-01-19 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=978-93-5266-769-7 |language=en}}</ref> It is mainly spoken in the [[Sheohar district|Sheohar]], [[Muzaffarpur district|Muzaffarpur]], [[Sitamarhi district|Sitamarhi]], [[Samastipur district|Samastipur]] and [[Vaishali district|Vaishali]] districts of [[Bihar]].{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=1}} A 2013 estimate based on 2001 census data suggests that there were 20 million Bajjika speakers in Bihar.{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|pp=1-2}}

Bajjika is also spoken by a major population in [[Nepal]], where it has 1,133,764 speakers according to the country's 2021 census. It is the most spoken language in [[Rautahat District|Rautahat]], [[Sarlahi District|Sarlahi]] and [[Mahottari District|Mahottari]] district of [[Madhesh Province]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables |url=https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314170005/https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |archive-date=14 March 2023 |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Abhishek Kashyap|2014|p=2}}

==Academy==
In a move aimed at protecting indigenous language and culture, the Bihar government has decided to set up two new academies to promote local dialects; Surjapuri and Bajjika, spoken in politically influential Seemanchal and Bajjikanchal regions of the state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bihar to get two new academies to promote Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/bihar-to-get-two-new-academies-to-promote-surjapuri-bajjika-dialects-news-225746/amp |website=Outlook |access-date=2025-08-31 |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222220845/https://www.outlookindia.com/national/bihar-to-get-two-new-academies-to-promote-surjapuri-bajjika-dialects-news-225746/amp |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Swadesh list ==
The [[Swadesh list]] for Bajjika, an [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern Indo-Aryan language]] spoken in Bihar, India, and parts of Nepal, is a standardized vocabulary set used for linguistic comparison. Bajjika, often considered a dialect of Maithili, lacks extensive public documentation, so its [[Swadesh list]] is typically constructed by approximation, drawing from related languages like Maithili and Hindi, with adjustments for Bajjika's unique phonological and lexical features.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!S.No
!English
!Bajjika
!IPA
|-
|1
|I
|हम
|/ɦəm/
|-
|2
|You
|तू
|/t̪uː/
|-
|3
|we
|हमनी
|/ɦəməniː/
|-
|4
|This
|ई
|/iː/
|-
|6
|Who
|के
|/keː/
|-
|7
|What
|का
|/kɑː/
|-
|8
|No
|न
|/nə/
|-
|9
|All
|सब
|/səb/
|-
|10
|Many
|बहुत
|/bəɦʊt̪/
|-
|11
|One
|एक
|/eːk/
|-
|12
|Two
|दुइ
|/d̪ui/
|-
|13
|Big
|बड़ा
|/bəɽɑː/
|-
|14
|Long
|लम्मा
|/ləmmɑː/
|-
|15
|Small
|छोट
|/tʃʰoʈ/
|-
|16
|Women
|औरत
|/ɔːrət̪/
|-
|17
|Man
|मर्द
|/mərd̪/
|}

== Films in Bajjika ==
''Lakshmi Elthin Hammar Angna'' (2009) was the first formal feature film in Bajjika. ''Sajan Aiha Doli le ke'' subsequently followed.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Bhojpuri-artist-to-make-first-Bajjika-film-/articleshow/4899362.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512144105/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-17/patna/28156704_1_bhojpuri-film-industry-soumya-songs | url-status=live | archive-date=12 May 2013 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Bhojpuri artist to make first Bajjika film | date=17 August 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Bihari languages]]
*[[Tirhut division|Tirhut]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=Abhishek Kashyap |chapter=On the linguistic resources of Bajjika |editor=Vibha Chauhan |title=The People's Linguistic Survey of India |volume=6: The Languages of Bihar |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2014 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259569719 }}
* {{cite book |author=Abhishek Kumar Kashyap |chapter=The representation of gender in Bajjika grammar and discourse |editor1=Julie Abbou |editor2=Fabienne H. Baider |title=Gender, Language and the Periphery: Grammatical and social gender from the margins |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JOcDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 |year=2016 |publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=978-90-272-6683-5 }}
* {{cite book |editor=Kathleen Kuiper |title=The Culture of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8PJFLeURhsC&pg=PA57 |year=2010 |publisher=Rosen |isbn=978-1-61530-149-2 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Manish Kumar Thakur |title=The politics of minority languages: Some reflections on the Maithili language movement |journal=Journal of Social and Economic Development |volume=4 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=199–212 |url=http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/1461/J_Social_Econ_Develop_4_199.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2018-03-24 |access-date=2018-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324103531/http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/bitstream/handle/unigoa/1461/J_Social_Econ_Develop_4_199.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |author=Mithilesh Kumar Jha |title=Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India: Making of the Maithili Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0-pIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT158 |year=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press India |isbn=978-0-19-909172-0 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==

*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2014. The Bajjika language and speech community. [[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]] 227: 209–224.
*Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar. 2012. The pragmatic principles of agreement in Bajjika verb. [[Journal of Pragmatics]] 44: 1668–1687.

== External links ==
* http://www.bajjika.in {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102140727/http://www.bajjika.in/ |date=2020-11-02 }} Official Website of Bajjika Vikash Manch

{{Maithili language}}

{{Bihari languages}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Bihari languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Bihar]]
[[Category:Languages of Nepal]]
[[Category:Languages of Madhesh Province]]
[[Category:Maithili dialects]]

Bajjika - Revision history

Barkatofficial at 06:08, 27 March 2026