Official languages of India
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India has a diverse list of spoken languages among different groups of people. At least 800 different languages and around 2000 dialects have been identified. The Constitution of India has stipulated the usage of Hindi and English to be the two languages of communication for the federal Central Government. However, the state governments use their own language along with English for communication with the Central government.
For example, the central government sends its information in Hindi and English to the state of Assam and this state communicates back in Assamese and English. Similarly, information from the center to Tamil Nadu is in English and Hindi and this state communicates back in Tamil and English.
India has a list of 23 official languages (including Hindi and English). These languages are entitled to representation on the Official Language Commission, and a candidate in an examination conducted for national government service may opt to take the exam in any of these languages. In most of the Northern states, Hindi is popular as a source or means of communication among the masses in this region. Such use of Hindi in Southern states is not widespread since the Official language of that state would be dominant.
Neither the constitution nor the laws of India accord the status of "National Language" to any language in India[1]. Indian law states that no language will be made the National Language unless and until all the constituent states of the Union of India accept it. Out of the 28 states and 7 union territories, only 10 states and 3 union territories have Hindi as the principal official language.
Article 343 of the India Constitution states that the official language of the Union (India) shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. As drafted in the constitution in 1950, English ceased to exist as an official language (on par with Hindi) in 1965, after which it was intended to continue as an "associate additional official language" until such time that a duly appointed committee can decide on a full-scale transition to Hindi, based on a periodic review.
However, due to protests from South Indian states where there is low Hindi penetration, the "twin language" system is still in vogue. Due to rapid industrialization, and a bustling multinational influence in the economy, English continues to be a popular and influential means of communication in the government and day-to-day business, and moves to replace it have effectively been shelved.
[edit] Official languages - Central Government
Two languages are the languages used by the central administration:
- Hindi is the principal official language used by the Central Government when communicating with the states having Hindi as their official language. It is also the official language of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, the national capital territory of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- English is the associate official language and the language to be used while communicating with the states not having Hindi as the official language. It is also the official language of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
[edit] Official languages - State Governments
[edit] States
| No. | State | Official Language |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andhra Pradesh | Telugu, Urdu |
| 2. | Arunachal Pradesh | English, Hindi |
| 3. | Assam | Asomiya/Assamese, Bodo, Bengali, Karbi |
| 4. | Bihar | Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili |
| 5. | Chhattisgarh | Hindi, Chhattisgarhi |
| 6. | Goa | Konkani, Marathi, Portuguese, English |
| 7. | Gujarat | Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu |
| 8. | Haryana | Hindi, Punjabi |
| 9. | Himachal Pradesh | Hindi, Pahari |
| 10. | Jammu and Kashmir | Dogri, Kashmiri, Urdu |
| 11. | Jharkhand | Hindi |
| 12. | Karnataka | Kannada |
| 13. | Kerala | Malayalam |
| 14. | Madhya Pradesh | Hindi |
| 15. | Maharashtra | Marathi, Konkani |
| 16. | Manipur | Meitei |
| 17. | Meghalaya | Khasi, Garo, English |
| 18. | Mizoram | Mizo, English |
| 19. | Nagaland | English |
| 20. | Orissa | Oriya |
| 21. | Punjab | Punjabi |
| 22. | Rajasthan | Hindi, Rajasthani |
| 23. | Sikkim | Nepali |
| 24. | Tamil Nadu | Tamil |
| 25. | Tripura | Bengali, Kokborok |
| 26. | Uttarakhand | Hindi |
| 27. | Uttar Pradesh | Hindi, Urdu |
| 28. | West Bengal | Bengali |
| 29. | Delhi | Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi |
[edit] Union Territories
| No. | Union Territory | Official Language |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Nicobarese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu |
| 2. | Chandigarh | Punjabi, Hindi |
| 3. | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Gujarati |
| 4. | Daman and Diu | Gujarati, English |
| 5. | Lakshadweep | Malayalam |
| 6. | Pondicherry | Tamil,Telugu, French |
[edit] Official languages of India
Apart from Hindi and English, a total of 21 other languages are recognized as official languages by the Constitution of India:
| No. | Official Language | Place(s)/Community |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Assamese/Asomiya | Assam |
| 2. | Bengali | Tripura, West Bengal |
| 3. | Bodo | Assam |
| 4. | Dogri | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 5. | Gujarati | Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat |
| 6. | Kannada | Karnataka |
| 7. | Kashmiri | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 8. | Konkani | Goa |
| 9. | Maithili | Bihar |
| 10. | Malayalam | Kerala, Lakshadweep |
| 11. | Manipuri (also Meitei or Meithei) | Manipur |
| 12. | Marathi | Maharashtra |
| 13. | Nepali | Sikkim |
| 14. | Oriya | Orissa |
| 15. | Punjabi | Punjab, Chandigarh, second official language of Delhi, Haryana |
| 16. | Sanskrit | classical language of learning |
| 17. | Santhali | Santhal tribals of the Chota Nagpur Plateau (comprising the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Chattisgarh) |
| 18. | Sindhi | Sindhi community |
| 19. | Tamil | Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
| 20. | Telugu | Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
| 21. | Urdu | Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh |
[edit] Classical languages of India
In 2004, a new category was created by constitutional decree under which languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a 'classical' in India.[2] With the creation of this category, Tamil and a year later, Sanskrit have been accorded the status. More languages are being considered to be added to the list.[2]
[edit] Other important state languages
These languages serve as the official languages within particular states although they are not yet recognized as official languages by the national Constitution:
| No. | State | Official Language |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tripura | Kokborok |
| 2 | Mizoram | Mizo |
| 3 | Meghalaya | Khasi, Garo, Jaintia |
| 4 | Goa | Portuguese |
| 5 | Puducherry | French |
[edit] Other popular languages of India
These languages have over 5 million speakers but no official status. Many are often considered by locals to be varieties of Hindi.
[edit] Bihari languages
These three Bihari languages also have over 5 million speakers but no official status. They were once mistakenly thought to be dialects of Hindi, but have been more recently shown to be descendants of the Eastern Group of Indic languages, along with Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya.
- Angika — language of Bihar, spoken largely in the northern and southern part of Bihar, most of Jharkhand, and the Maldah district of West Bengal
- Bhojpuri — language of Bihar
- Magadhi — language of southern Bihar
[edit] Rajasthani
Rajasthani is spoken in state of Rajasthan by more than fifty million people. There is a dialect continuum across the various districts where Rajasthani is spoken, but most people can communicate with each other even if they are from different districts and have different dialects. Many speakers can also speak in Hindi, and there are many who consider Rajasthani to be a dialect of Hindi. The main varieties of Rajasthani are as follows:
- Marwari — language of Marwar. The region including Jodhpur, Nagour and Bikaner.
- Mewari — language of Mewar. The region including Udaipur, Chittor and Kota-Bundi.
- Shekhavati — language of Shekhavati. The region including Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu.
[edit] Other languages
- Haryanvi - Hindi dialect of Haryana
- Bhili (Bhil tribals)
- Gondi (Gond tribals)
- Kodava, spoken in the Kodagu district of Karnataka
- Kutchi — language of Kutch, a region in Gujarat
- Tulu — spoken by Tulu people of Karnataka and Kerala
- Sankethi — spoken by Sankethi people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
The Constitution of India lists 22 regional languages.
[edit] Dialects and minor languages in India
These languages have fewer than one million speakers:
- Mahl — language of the island of Minicoy in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
Badaga- mainly spoken in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
[edit] Puducherry
In the territories of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), a former French colony, French is still one of the official languages. So, French is taught in schools and colleges.
It remained as de jure official language of Puducherry Union Territory because of Treaty of Cession signed by India and France on 28 May 1956. The Article XXVIII of Traité de Cession states that,
| “ | Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les représentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente. ("The French language shall remain the official language of the Establishments so long as the elected representatives of the people shall not decide otherwise.") | ” |
[edit] Goa, Daman and Diu
In the state of Goa and in the territories of Daman and Diu, Portuguese is still spoken by a minority of the population, though it has no official status. The same is also true, to a lesser degree, in the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. All these areas were formerly part of Portuguese India.
[edit] Uttaranchal
The two major dialects spoken here are Kumaoni and Garhwali from the two regions (the Kumaon and the Garhwal) which make up this state. Kumaoni is also influenced by Nepali in regions bordering Nepal. They are written in Devanagari script.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/const.html
- ^ a b http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm
[edit] External links
- Department of Official Language (DOL) – Official webpage explains the chronological events related to Official Languages Act and amendments
- Central Institute of Indian Languages – A comprehensive federal government site that offers complete info on Indian Languages
- Ethnologue – Ethnologue report on the languages of India
- TDIL-MCIT,GoI – Technology Development for Indian Languages, Government of India
- India at a Glance – The Official Portal of the Indian Government
Malwi is also one of the language spoken in India in the Malwa region of M.P. (Madhya Pradesh). Malwa Region consists of Western M.P., which covers around 7 districts including Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Mandsour, Neemach, and bordering Rajasthan Towns. The people of this language are mainly business class people, and the main caste of these people are Jain's, Agrawal's, Neema's, Soni's and other related people
