Awadhi language

File:Awadhi regions of Uttar Pradesh.jpg

File:Awadh region.jpg

Awadhi is predominantly spoken in the Awadh region encompassing central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, along with the lower part of the Ganga-Yamuna doab.{{Harvcoltxt|Grierson|1904|pp=9–10}} In the west, it is bounded by Western Hindi, specifically Kannauji and Bundeli, while in the east, Bhojpuri from the Bihari group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages is spoken.{{Cite book |last=Saksena |first=Baburam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfkWvgqk5c4C&dq=Awadhi+east+bhojpuri+language&pg=PA5 |title=Evolution of Awadhi (a Branch of Hindi). |date=1971 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0855-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Verbeke |first=Saartje |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63iC56LeJ_MC&dq=Hindi+is+central+indo+aryan+bhojpuri+eastern+indo+aryan&pg=PA67 |title=Alignment and Ergativity in New Indo-Aryan Languages |date=22 March 2013 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-029267-1 |language=en}} In the north, it is bounded by the country of Nepal and in the south by Bagheli, which shares a great resemblance with Awadhi.{{Harvcoltxt|Saxena|1971|pp=2–5}}

The following districts of North and Central UP speak Awadhi-

• Lakhimpur Kheri (along with Kannauji)
• Sitapur (along with Kannauji)
• Unnao
• Fatehpur
• Barabanki
• Lucknow
• Rae Bareli
• Amethi
• Bahraich
• Shrawasti

In eastern parts of UP the Awadhi language changes its form to a special dialect called "Eastern Standard Awadhi." This region makes boundary with Bhojpuri speaking districts of Purvanchal. This part include districts of-

• Ayodhya
• Ambedkar Nagar
• Prayagraj
• Mirzapur
• Jaunpur (western parts)
• Bhadohi
• Sultanpur
• Pratapgarh
• Gonda
• Balrampur
• Basti (western parts)
• Siddharthnagar (western parts)
• Kaushambi

The Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Tharu and Awadhi as official language in Lumbini province.{{Cite web |title=सरकारी कामकाजको भाषाका आधारहरूको निर्धारण तथा भाषासम्बन्धी सिफारिसहरू (पञ्चवर्षीय प्रतिवेदन- साराांश) २०७८ |url=https://languagecommission.gov.np/files/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B8%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A3%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906171816/https://languagecommission.gov.np/files/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B8%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A3%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE.pdf |archive-date=6 September 2021 |access-date=28 October 2021 |website=Language Commission}} Awadhi is spoken in two provinces in Nepal:

• Lumbini Province
• Banke District
• Bardiya District
• Dang District
• Kapilvastu District
• Sudurpashchim Province
• Kailali District
• Kanchanpur District

{{further|Fiji Hindi|Caribbean Hindustani}}

A language influenced by Awadhi (as well as other languages) is also spoken as a lingua franca for Indians in Fiji and is referred to as Fijian Hindi. According to Ethnologue, it is a type of Awadhi influenced by Bhojpuri and is also classified as Eastern-Hindi.{{e25|hif|Fiji Hindi}} Caribbean Hindustani spoken by Indians in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana is based on Bhojpuri and partly on Awadhi. The Hindustani that is spoken in South Africa{{Cite book|last=Mesthrie|first=Rajend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIivedw-oZYC&q=awadhi|title=Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics|date=1995|publisher=New Africa Books|isbn=978-0-86486-280-8|language=en}} and the Bhojpuri spoken in Mauritius{{cite web|title=Awadhi language|url=https://omniglot.com/writing/awadhi.htm|access-date=17 December 2020|website=omniglot.com}} is also partly influenced by Awadhi.

File:Awadhi classification.png

Awadhi is an Indo-European language and belongs to the Indo-Aryan sub-group of the Indo-Iranian language family. Within the Indo-Aryan dialect continuum, it falls under the East-Central zone of languages and is often recognised as Eastern-Hindi. It is generally believed that an older form of Ardhamagadhi, which agreed partly with Sauraseni and partly with Magadhi Prakrit, could be the basis of Awadhi.{{Harvcoltxt|Grierson|1904|p=2}}

The closest relative of Awadhi is the Bagheli language as genealogically both descend from the same 'Ardha-Magadhi'. Most early Indian linguists regarded Bagheli merely as 'the southern form of Awadhi', but recent studies accept Bagheli as a separate dialect at par with Awadhi and not merely a sub-dialect of it.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__DaXf3XedoC|title=Patterns of Regional Geography: Indian perspective|last=Mandal|first=R. B.|date=1990|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-291-0|pages=127–129|language=en}}

{{See also|List of Awadhi-language poets}}

In this period, Awadhi became the vehicle for epic poetry in northern India.{{Harvcoltxt|Grierson|1904|p=13}} Its literature is mainly divided into: bhaktīkāvya (devotional poetry) and premākhyān (romantic tales).

The most important work, probably in any modern Indo-Aryan language, came from the poet-saint Tulsidas in the form of Ramcharitmanas (1575 C.E.) or "The Lake of the Deeds of Rama", written in doha-chaupai metre. Its plot is mostly derivative, either from the original Rāmāyaṇa by Valmiki or from the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa, both of which are in Sanskrit.{{Harvcoltxt|Saxena|1971|pp=11–12}} Mahatma Gandhi had acclaimed the Ramcharitmanas as "the greatest book of all devotional literature" while western observers have christened it as "the Bible of Northern India".{{Harvcoltxt|Lutgendorf|1991|p=1}} It is sometimes synonymously referred as 'Tulsidas Ramayana' or simply 'the Ramayana'.{{Harvcoltxt|Lutgendorf|1991|p=12}}—Since the Ramcaritmanas is a text in the Ramayana tradition, for which the Sanskrit epic of Valmiki is the accepted archetype, it is commonly referred to simply as "the Ramayan" and many popular editions bear only this name on their spine and cover, perhaps adding above it in small print: "composed by Goswami Tulsidas".

{{multiple image

| align = right

| header_background = #FDF5E6

| header = Illustrations to the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas

| direction = vertical

| footer_align = center

| image_style = border:none;

| total_width = 280

| image1 = 5_Illustration_from_the_Ramcharitmanas_of_Tulsidas_(1532–1623)_Jodhpur,_c._1775;_62.7_x_134.5_cm_Mehrangarh_Museum_Trust.jpg

| image2 = 7 Rama's Army reaches Lanka from the Ram Charit Artist Unknown, ca. 1780, 63x125.8cm Mehrangarh Museum Trust.jpg

| footer = (a) Death of Vali: Rama and Lakshmana Wait Out the Monsoon, (b) Rama's Army Crossing the Ocean to Lanka.

| alt1 =

| caption1 =

| caption2 =

}}

Tulsidas's compositions Hanuman Chalisa,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MX1SDwAAQBAJ&q=awadhi&pg=PT151|title=Hanuman Chalisa: Verse by Verse Description|last=Padam|first=Sandeep|date=21 March 2018|publisher=Notion Press|isbn=978-1-64249-611-6|language=hi}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFE4DwAAQBAJ&q=hanuman+chalisa+awadhi&pg=PA42|title=Lucknow Poetica|last=Shamim|first=Dr Rupali Saran Mirza Dr and Amna|date=14 November 2016|publisher=Idea Publishing|page=42|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlduDwAAQBAJ&q=hanuman+chalisa+awadhi&pg=PA11|title=Sri Hanuman Chalisa: Commentary on the Praises to the Eternal Servant|last=Vishwananda|first=Paramahamsa Sri Swami|date=13 March 2018|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|isbn=978-3-96343-015-2|page=11|language=en}} Pārvatī Maṅgala and Jānakī Maṅgala are also written in Awadhi.{{Harvcoltxt|Saxena|1971|p=12}}

{{Verse translation|lang=awa|अंडकोस प्रति प्रति निज रूपा।

देखेउँ जिनस अनेक अनूपा॥

अवधपुरी प्रति भुअन निनारी।

सरजू भिन्न भिन्न नर नारी॥|In each universe I saw my own self,

As well as many an object beyond compare;

Each universe had its own Ayodhya,

With its own Saryu and its own men and women.|italicsoff=y|attr1=Tulsidas, 7.81.3 chaupai, Ramcharitmanas|attr2=Translation by R.C Prasad{{Harvcoltxt|Tulasīdāsa|1999|p=747}}}}

{{Verse translation|lang=awa|सिंधु तीर एक भूधर सुंदर।

कौतुक कूदि चढ़ेउ ता-ऊपर॥

बार-बार रघुबीर सँभारी।

तरकेउ पवनतनय बल भारी॥|On the sea-shore there was a mountain lovely,

He hopped to its peak sportively;

Over and again, the Lord he did recall

And the Son of Wind darted with energy no small.|italicsoff=y|attr1=Tulsidas, 5.1.3 chaupai, Ramcharitmanas|attr2=Translation{{Cite journal|last=Rao|first=I. Panduranga|date=1998|title=Review of The Beautiful Verses (Ram-Charit Manas, "Sunder-Kand" and Hanuman Chalisa of Goswami Tulsidas rendered into English verse)|journal=Indian Literature|volume=41|issue=1 (183)|pages=240–241|issn=0019-5804|jstor=23341337}}}}

The first Hindi vernacular adaptation of the 'Dasam Skandha' of the Bhagavata Purana, the "Haricharit" by Lalachdas, who hailed from Hastigram (present-day Hathgaon near Rae Bareilly), was concluded in 1530 C.E. It circulated widely for a long time and scores of manuscript copies of the text have been found as far as eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Malwa and Gujarat, all written in the Kaithi script.{{Harvcoltxt|Orsini|2014|p=200}}—"That Brahmin kathavachaks were not the only tellers of the story is proved by the first Hindi vernacular adaptation of the Dasam Skandha, the Haricharit in the Chaupai Doha by Lalach Kavi, a Kayastha from "Hastigram" (present-day Hathgaon) near Rae Bareilly, concluded in 1530 (VS1587)."

Satyavatī (ca. 1501) of Ishvaradas (of Delhi) under the reign of Sikander Lodi and Avadhabilāsa (1700 C.E.) of Laladas were also written in Awadhi.

Awadhi appeared as a major component in the works of Bhakti saints like Kabir, who used a language often described as being a pancmel khicṛī or "a hotch-potch" of several vernaculars.{{Harvcoltxt|Vaudeville|1990|p=260}}–The first editor of the Kabir Granthavali, S.S Das, also stresses the composite character of Kabir's language, giving examples in his introduction, of vanis composed in Khariboli (i.e. Standard Hindi), Rajasthani, and Panjabi, besides Awadhi.{{Harvcoltxt|Vaudeville|1990|p=264}}–Among the dialects or languages "melted" in the Hindavi language, the most important is Avadhi, mentioned above. The language of Kabir himself an Easterner, retains old Eastern forms, especially the old Avadhi forms. The language of Kabir's major work Bijak is primarily Awadhi.{{Harvcoltxt|Vaudeville|1990|p=260}}–Chaturvedi has shown that the same pada may be found with more characteristic Avadhi forms in the Bijak, with more Khari-boli in the Guru Granth and with Braj forms in the Kabir Granthavali.{{Harvcoltxt|Vaudeville|1990|p=259}}–According to Grierson, however, there is not a single word typical of the Bhojpuri language in the Bijak. According to him, the basic language of the Bijak is old Avadhi...

{{multiple image

| total_width = 200

| caption_align = center

| align = right

| direction = vertical

| image_style = border:none;

| image1 = Queen Nagamati talks to her parrot, Padmavat, c1750.jpg

| caption1 = Queen Nagamati talks to her parrot, Padmavat, 1750 C.E.

| image2 = Meister des Madhu-Malati-Manuskripts 001.jpg

| caption2 = Lovers shoot at a tiger in the jungle. From the mystical Sufi text Madhumalati.

| alt1 =

| header = Illustrations to Awadhi Sufi texts

| header_background = #FDF5E6

}}

Awadhi also emerged as the favourite literary language of the Eastern Sufis from the last quarter of the 14th century onwards. It became the language of premākhyāns, romantic tales built on the pattern of Persian masnavi, steeped in Sufi mysticism but set in a purely Indian background, with a large number of motifs directly borrowed from Indian lore. The first of such premākhyān in the Awadhi language was Candāyan (1379 C.E.) of Maulana Da'ud.{{Harvcoltxt|Vaudeville|1990|p=263}} The tradition was carried forward by Jayasi, whose masterpiece, the Padmāvat (1540 C.E.) was composed under the reign of the famous ruler Sher Shah Suri. The Padmavat travelled far and wide, from Arakan to the Deccan, and was eagerly copied and retold in Persian and other languages.{{Harvcoltxt|Orsini|2014|p=213}}

Other prominent works of Jayasi such as Kānhāvat,{{Citation|last=Hawley|first=John Stratton|title=Did Surdas Perform the Bhāgavata-purāṇa?|date=2015|work=Tellings and Texts|page=212|editor-last=Orsini|editor-first=Francesca|series=Music, Literature and Performance in North India|edition=1|publisher=Open Book Publishers|isbn=978-1-78374-102-1|quote=Then there are the Ahirs whose performances of the Krishna story fascinated Malik Muhammad Jayasi, as he tells us in his Kanhavat of 1540;...|editor2-last=Schofield|editor2-first=Katherine Butler|jstor=j.ctt17rw4vj.15}} Akhrāvaṭ and Ākhrī Kalām{{Cite journal|last=Singh|first=Virendra|date=2009|title=An Avadhi language account of an earthquake in medieval North India circa AD 1500|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296774084|journal=Current Science|volume=96|pages=1648–1649}} are also written in Awadhi.

{{Rquote

| text = I'll tell you about my great town, the ever-beautiful Jais.

In the satyayuga it was a holy place, then it was called the "Town of

Gardens."

Then the treta went, and when the dvapara came, there was a great rishi

called Bhunjaraja.

88,000 rishis lived here then, and dense ... and eighty-four ponds.

They baked bricks to make solid ghats, and dug eight-four wells.

Here and there they built handsome forts, at night they looked like stars

in the sky.

They also put up several orchards with temples on top.

Doha: They sat there doing tapas, all those human avataras.They crossed this world doing homa and japa day and night.

| author = Jayasi

| source = Kanhavat, ed. Pathak (8), 7–8.{{Harvcoltxt|Orsini|2014|p=209}}

|right}}

The Awadhi romance Mirigāvatī (ca.1503) or "The Magic Doe", was written by Shaikh 'Qutban' Suhravardi, who was an expert and storyteller attached to the court-in-exile of Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur.{{Harvcoltxt|Kutban|2012|p=9}}{{Harvcoltxt|Saxena|1971|p=15}} Another romance named Madhumālatī or "Night Flowering Jasmine" by poet Sayyid Manjhan Rajgiri was written in 1545 C.E.{{Harvcoltxt|Manjhan|2001|p=xi}} —"Manjhan's birthplace Rajgir is in the present-day state of Bihar, not far away from Patna in northern India, and the poem itself is written in Awadhi or eastern Hindavi".

Amir Khusrau (d. 1379 C.E) is also said to have written some compositions in Awadhi.{{Cite journal|last=Jafri|first=Saiyid Zaheer Husain|date=2016|title=Sectional President's Address: 'MAKING' OF THE COMPOSITE CULTURE IN PRE-NAWABI AWADH|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=77|page=148|issn=2249-1937|jstor=26552634}}

The most significant contributions to the Awadhi literature in the modern period have come from writers like Ramai Kaka (1915–1982 C.E.), Balbhadra Prasad Dikshit better known as ‘Padhees’(1898–1943 C.E.) and Vanshidhar Shukla (1904–1980 C.E.).

‘Krishnayan’ (1942 C.E.) is a major Awadhi epic-poem that Dwarka Prasad Mishra wrote in imprisonment during the Freedom Movement of India. In 2022 Dr. Vidya Vindu Singh has been awarded Padma Shri for her contribution in Awadhi literature.{{clear}}

Awadhi possesses both voiced and voiceless vowels. The voiced vowels are: /ə/, /ʌ/, /aː/, /ɪ/, /iː/, /ʊ/, /uː/, /e/, /eː/, /o/, /oː/.{{Harvcoltxt|Saxena|1971|p=23}} The voiceless vowels, also described as "whispered vowels" are: /i̥/, /ʊ̥/, /e̥/.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/onlanguageselect0000gree|url-access=registration|quote=awadhi.|title=On Language: Selected Writings of Joseph H. Greenberg|last1=Greenberg|first1=Joseph Harold|last2=Kemmer|first2=Suzanne|date=1990|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9780804716130|pages=[https://archive.org/details/onlanguageselect0000gree/page/85 85]|language=en}}

{{mw-datatable}}

Awadhi has many features that separate it from the neighbouring Western Hindi and Bihari vernaculars. In Awadhi, nouns are generally both short and long, whereas Western Hindi has generally short while Bihari generally employs longer and long forms. The gender is rigorously maintained in Western Hindi, Awadhi is a little loose yet largely preserved, while Bihari is highly attenuated. Regarding postpositions, Awadhi is distinguished from Western Hindi by the absence of agentive postposition in the former, agreeing with Bihari dialects. The accusative-dative postposition in Awadhi is /kaː/ or /kə/ while Western Hindi has /koː/ or /kɔː/ and Bihari has /keː/. The locative postposition in both Bihari and Western Hindi is /mẽː/ while Awadhi has /maː/. The pronouns in Awadhi have /toːɾ-/, /moːɾ-/ as personal genitives while /teːɾ-/, /meːɾ-/ are used in Western Hindi. The oblique of /ɦəmaːɾ/ is /ɦəmɾeː/ in Awadhi while it is /ɦəmaːɾeː/ in Western Hindi and /ɦəmrən'kæ/ in Bihari.

Another defining characteristic of Awadhi is the affix /-ɪs/ as in /dɪɦɪs/, /maːɾɪs/ etc. The neighbouring Bhojpuri has the distinctive (i) /laː/ enclitic in present tense (ii) /-l/ in past tense (iii) dative postposition /-laː/ which separates it from the Awadhi language.

;Notes:

:{{note|asterisk|*}}indicates a form inflectable for gender and number :

:# mor → mōrā (masculine), mōrī (feminine), mōrē (plural)

:# hamār → hamrā (masc.), hamrī (fem.), hamrē (pl.)

:# tōr→ torā (masc.), torī (fem.), torē (pl.)

:# tumar→ tumrā (masc.), tumrī (fem.), tumrē (pl.)

:# tohār→ tohrā (masc.), tohrī (fem.), tohrē (pl.)

Following are the morphological processes of stem formation in the Awadhi language:

Affixation

An affix is used to alter the meaning or form of a word. It can be either a prefix or a suffix.

• Example: Prefix bē– preceding the root saram means "shameless" while apna followed by –pan means "belonging-ness".

Compounding

Two or more stems are combined to form one stem.

• Example: nīlkanṭh means "blue bird" and banmānus means "forest man" or "chimpanzee".

Reduplication

This process involves the repetition of certain forms. It may be complete, partial, or interrupted.

1. Complete reduplication: It denotes continuity of action.
2. * Example: jāt-jāt for "going on".
3. Partial reduplication: It denotes similarity of one object to other.
4. * Example: hãpaṭ-dãpaṭ for "panting".
5. Interrupted reduplication: It stresses on the instant condition of the action that follows and expresses abundance of something.
6. * Example: khētaī khēt "between the fields"; garmaī garam "the very hot".

The 1961 film Gunga Jumna features Awadhi being spoken by the characters in a neutralised form. Gabbar Singh's speech in the 1975 film Sholay was a mix of Khariboli and Awadhi, inspired by Dilip Kumar's dacoit character Gunga from Gunga Jumna.{{Cite web|last=Chopra|first=Anupama|author-link=Anupama Chopra|date=11 August 2015|title=Shatrughan Sinha as Jai, Pran as Thakur and Danny as Gabbar? What 'Sholay' could have been|url=https://scroll.in/article/745687/shatrughan-sinha-as-jai-pran-as-thakur-and-danny-as-gabbar-what-sholay-could-have-been|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108092131/http://scroll.in/article/745687/shatrughan-sinha-as-jai-pran-as-thakur-and-danny-as-gabbar-what-sholay-could-have-been|archive-date=8 November 2015|access-date=|website=Scroll.in}} In the 2001 film Lagaan, a neutralised form of Awadhi language was used to make it understandable to audiences.{{cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/feb/21aamir1.htm|title=rediff.com, Movies: Exclusive!!! Aamir Khan on the sets of Lagaan|website=www.rediff.com|access-date=16 September 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Lagaan-Just-perfect/articleshow/2134618786.cms|title='Lagaan: Just perfect' – Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=16 September 2018}} The 2009 film Dev.D features an Awadhi song, "Paayaliya", composed by Amit Trivedi.{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/jul/21amit.htm|title=Making music, from Aamir to Dev D|website=www.rediff.com|access-date=5 September 2018}} In the television series Yudh, Amitabh Bachchan spoke parts of his dialogue in Awadhi, which received critical acclaim from the Hindustan Times.{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/television/yudh-review-amitabh-bachchan-s-show-limps-back-to-sluggish-pace/article1-1241418.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802030602/https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/television/yudh-review-amitabh-bachchan-s-show-limps-back-to-sluggish-pace/article1-1241418.aspx|archive-date=2 August 2014|title=Yudh review: Amitabh Bachchan's show limps back to sluggish pace – Hindustan Times|date=2 August 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=16 September 2018}} Awadhi is also spoken by the residents of Ayodhya and other minor characters in Ramanand Sagar's 1987 television series Ramayan. The lyrics of the song "Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali", from the movie Silsila starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, are in Awadhi dialect.

The Awadhi folk song "Mere Angne Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai" has become popular in Bollywood with a neutralised version of it being in the 1981 film Laawaris starring Amitabh Bachchan, as well as being in the 1970 film Bombay Talkie and the 1975 film Maze Le Lo, it was also released as a single by Neha Kakkar in 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bobbytalkscinema.com/recentpost/the-curious-case-of-mere-angn-2137/ |title=The curious case of |access-date=20 April 2022 |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528082456/https://www.bobbytalkscinema.com/recentpost/The-curious-case-of-Mere-Angn-2137 |url-status=dead }} Another Awadhi folk song that became popular through Bollywood was "Holi Khele Raghuveera", which was neutralised and sung by Amitabh Bachchan and put into the 2003 film Baghban starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini.

The 1982 movie Nadiya Ke Paar was in Awadhi (the 1994 remake by the same director, ''Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, was in Hindi.){{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sooraj-barjatya-didnt-want-to-direct-hum-aapke-hain-koun-had-two-ecgs-due-to-stress-why-would-i-do-a-remake-9653087/lite/ | title=Sooraj Barjatya didn't want to direct Hum Aapke Hain Koun, had two ECGs 'due to stress': 'Why would I do a remake?' | date=4 November 2024 }}

The genres of folklore sung in Awadh include Sariya, Byaah, Suhag, Gaari, Nakta, Banraa (Banna-Banni), Alha, Sawan, Jhula, Hori and Barahmasa.{{Harvcoltxt|Pandey|2011|p=31}}

The Awadhi language comes with its dialectal variations. For instance, in western regions, the auxiliary /hʌiː/ is used, while in central and eastern parts /ʌhʌiː/ is used.

The following examples were taken from Baburam Saxena's Evolution of Awadhi, and alternative versions are also provided to show dialectal variations.

• Awadh
• Bagheli language
• Fijian Hindustani
• Caribbean Hindustani
• Mirzapuri
• Gangapari

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes|3}}

• {{Cite book|last=Saxena|first=Baburam|date=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfkWvgqk5c4C&pg=PP1|title=Evolution of Awadhi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publication|isbn=9788120808553|location=Allahabad}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.32106|title=Linguistic survey of India, Vol. 6, Mediate Group|last=Grierson|first=George Abraham|publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing|year=1904|location=India}}
• {{Citation|last=Singh|first=Ravindra Pratap|title=Nature, Climate and Self: Reading select texts of Awadhi Baramasa|url=https://www.rjoe.org.in/Files/vol4issue2/new/RJOE-luknow%20sir%20-2(26-34).pdf|work=Research Journal of English|volume=4|issue=2|date=2019|issn=2456-2696}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wT5v79lMmzEC|title=Awadhi Granthavali Volume 5|last=Pandey|first=Jagdish Prasad|publisher=Vani Prakashan|year=2011|isbn=978-81-8143-905-5|location=India|language=hi}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV7leonJ8aQC|title=Sri Ramacaritamanasa|last=Tulasīdāsa|date=1999|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0762-4|page=747|language=en}}
• {{Citation|last=Orsini|first=Francesca|title=Inflected Kathas: Sufis and Krishna Bhaktas in Awadh|date=2014|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/19887/|work=Religious Interactions in Mughal India|pages=195–232|editor-last=Dalmia|editor-first=Vasudha|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-19-808167-8|editor2-last=Faruqui|editor2-first=Munis}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Vaudeville|first=Charlotte|date=1990|title=Kabīr's language and languages, Hinduī as the language of non-conformity|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=33|issue=4|pages=259–266|doi=10.1163/000000090790083572|issn=0019-7246}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kA7HB8s621cC|title=The Magic Doe: Qutban Suhravardi's Mirigavati|last=Kutban|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-984292-6|language=en}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3iHIOwV3mYC|title=Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance|last=Manjhan|date=2001|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-160625-0|language=en}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19zvfkwXyzUC|title=The Life of a Text: Performing the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas|last=Lutgendorf|first=Philip|date=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06690-8|language=en}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC&q=central+portion |title=The Indo-Aryan languages|last=Masica|first =Colin P.|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-23420-4|location=Cambridge|oclc=18947567}}

{{refend}}

• {{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/loves-subtle-magic-9780195146707?cc=in&lang=en&|title=Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379-1545|date=29 November 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514670-7|editor-last=Behl|editor-first=Aditya|location=Oxford, New York|editor2-last=Doniger|editor2-first=Wendy}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7679/page/n3|title=Evolution of Awadhi: A Branch of Hindi|last=Saksena|first=Baburam|publisher=Indian Press; Allahabad|year=1938|isbn=|location=}}

{{InterWiki|code=awa}}

{{wiktionarycat|type=Awadhi|category=Awadhi language}}

• Entry for Awadhi at SIL International
• [https://www.digitallibrary.io/awa Awadhi Books]

{{Hindi topics}}

{{Central Indo-Aryan languages}}

{{Languages of India}}

{{Languages of Nepal}}

{{Language phonologies}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Central Indo-Aryan languages

Category:Languages of India

Category:Languages of Fiji

Category:Languages of Uttar Pradesh

Category:Culture of Awadh

Category:Languages of Lumbini Province

Category:Languages of Sudurpashchim Province

Category:Awadhi language

Category:Languages written in Devanagari

Category:Languages listed as Hindi dialects in latest census