Languages of South Asia

File:States of South Asia by language.png|thumb|270px|A clickable map of the official language or lingua franca spoken in each state/province of South Asia excluding the Maldives. Indo-Aryan languages are in green, Iranic languages in dark green, Dravidian languages in purple, Tibeto-Burman languages in red, and Turkic languages in orange.

rect 30 70 355 230 w:Provinces of Afghanistan#UN Regions

rect 10 130 430 305 w:Pashtunistan

rect 185 435 330 585 w:Sindh

rect 215 590 450 695 w:Gujarat

rect 90 320 275 500 w:Balochistan, Pakistan

rect 375 270 515 430 w:Punjab

rect 445 255 670 565 w:Hindi belt

rect 320 480 900 720 w:Hindi belt

rect 430 50 710 255 w:Kashmir

rect 980 345 1075 510 w:Bhutan

rect 670 380 920 500 w:Nepal

rect 900 540 1070 685 w:Bengal

rect 985 360 1250 640 w:Northeast India

rect 550 805 740 1070 w:Telugu states

rect 410 690 660 845 w:Maharashtra

rect 760 660 980 850 w:Odisha

rect 460 830 550 1100 w:Karnataka

rect 430 1100 550 1380 w:Kerala

rect 550 1070 655 1160 w:Tamil Nadu

rect 660 1140 760 1220 w:Sri Lankan Tamils

rect 650 1220 780 1520 w:Sinhalese people

Geolinguistically, the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Munda language groups are predominantly distributed across the Indian subcontinent. The term Indic languages is also used to refer to these languages,{{Citation |last1=Reynolds |first1=Mike |title=Indic languages |year=2007 |work=Language in the British Isles |pages=293–307 |editor-last=Britain |editor-first=David |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/language-in-the-british-isles/indic-languages/8343FABC094E91986DBD68A492FFEA1B |access-date=6 October 2024 |edition=2 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79488-6 |last2=Verma |first2=Mahendra}} though it may be narrowed to refer only to Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages.{{Cite journal |last=Kak |first=Subhash |title=Indic Language Families and Indo-European |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250291466 |journal=Yavanika: Journal of the Indian Society for Greek and Roman Studies |issue=6 |year=1996 |pages=51–64}} The subcontinent is also home to a few language isolates, like Burushaski, Kusunda, Nihali, and Vedda.

Areally, the influence of the languages extend beyond the subcontinent into other neighbouring Southern Asian as well as East and Southeast Asian regions, and the extended linguistic area is known as Indosphere. More precisely, the sprachbund of Indic languages and other geopolitically neighboring languages is known as South Asian languages (which additionally includes Eastern-Iranic and Nuristani languages, as well as Central- and Western- Tibeto-Burman linkages).

The Iranian Plateau, located west of the subcontinent, is home to Iranic languages, beginning with Pashto of Pashtunistan and Balochi of Balochistan in the eastern-side of the plateau. Persian is spoken in the central plateau, with varieties like Dari in Afghanistan, Farsi in Iran and Tajik in Tajikistan. Kafiri languages are spoken in pockets at the northern intersection of the plateau and the subcontinent.

Tibeto-Burman languages of the Trans-Himalayan family and Khasi–Palaungic languages of the Austroasiatic family are spoken in and beyond the regions of the Himalayan and Indo-Burman Ranges, predominantly on the Tibetan Plateau and Burma. Andamanese languages are spoken on the Andaman Islands.

{{See also|Sanskritisation (linguistics)|Sant Bhasha|Englishisation#South Asia}}

File:Kismet-1943-movie-poster.jpg

Historically, Sanskrit was the lingua franca of South Asia. In the Indo-Muslim period, Persian became a connecting language throughout much of India and the Persianate world in general, influencing local languages.{{Cite web |last=Eaton |first=Richard M. |date=14 October 2020 |title=The Two Languages That Shaped the History of India |url=https://lithub.com/the-two-languages-that-shaped-the-history-of-india/ |access-date=5 October 2024 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}} From the colonial era onwards, English became a lingua franca to some extent, aiding those who participated in the Indian independence movement, for example.

In contemporary times, English is considered the international lingua franca of the South Asian countries. Since the colonial era, the South Asian languages have absorbed significant influences from the English language,{{Cite book |last=Cheshire |first=Jenny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cPLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |title=English around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives |date=26 April 1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-58235-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Rauch |first1=Irmengard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZRsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA199 |title=Linguistic Method: Essays in Honor of Herbert Penzl |last2=Carr |first2=Gerald F. |date=19 February 2018 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-081566-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Hodges |first1=Amy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=txxQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |title=Going Global: Transnational Perspectives on Globalization, Language, and Education |last2=Seawright |first2=Leslie |date=26 September 2014 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6761-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Kachru |first=Braj B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgEEptNmwEwC&pg=PP59 |title=The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions, and Models of Non-native Englishes |date=1986 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06172-1 |language=en}} with the most-spoken South Asian language Hindustani also acquiring a new English-influenced variant known as Hinglish{{Cite book |last1=Kothari |first1=Rita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4tmwFFhoAEC&pg=PA37 |title=Chutnefying English: The Phenomenon of Hinglish |last2=Snell |first2=Rupert |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341639-5 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |title=Hindi, Hinglish: Head to Head |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/world-policy-journal/article-abstract/29/2/97/78965/Hindi-Hinglish-Head-to-Head |access-date=29 October 2023 |journal=World Policy Journal |year=2012 |doi=10.1177/0740277512451519 |last1=Vajpeyi |first1=Ananya |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=97–103|url-access=subscription }}Salwathura, A. N. "[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anusha-Salwathura/publication/346595689_EVOLUTIONARY_DEVELOPMENT_OF_'HINGLISH'_LANGUAGE_WITHIN_THE_INDIAN_SUB-CONTINENT/links/5fc8df9aa6fdcc697bd861a3/EVOLUTIONARY-DEVELOPMENT-OF-HINGLISH-LANGUAGE-WITHIN-THE-INDIAN-SUB-CONTINENT.pdf Evolutionary development of 'hinglish' language within the Indian sub-continent.]" International Journal of Research-GRANTHAALAYAH. Vol. 8. No. 11. Granthaalayah Publications and Printers, 2020. 41-48.{{Cite journal |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |date=1 April 2009 |title=Eloquent Parrots; Mixed Language and the Examples of Hinglish and Rekhti |url=https://scholarworks.umt.edu/libstudies_pubs/2 |journal=International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter |issue=50 |pages=16–17}}{{Cite journal |last=Singh |first=Rajendra |date=1 January 1985 |title=Modern Hindustani and Formal and Social Aspects of Language Contact |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/itl.70.02sin |journal=ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics |language=en |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=33–60 |doi=10.1075/itl.70.02sin |issn=0019-0829|url-access=subscription }} which is spoken more in urban areas.{{Cite journal |last1=Parshad |first1=Rana D. |last2=Bhowmick |first2=Suman |last3=Chand |first3=Vineeta |last4=Kumari |first4=Nitu |last5=Sinha |first5=Neha |date=1 May 2016 |title=What is India speaking? Exploring the "Hinglish" invasion |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437116000236 |journal=Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications |volume=449 |pages=375–389 |doi=10.1016/j.physa.2016.01.015 |bibcode=2016PhyA..449..375P |issn=0378-4371 |s2cid=59247503}}

On a subregional level, Telugu was a language of high culture in South India in precolonial times,{{Refn|{{cite book |last=Winterbottom |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3wYDAAAQBAJ&dq=telugu+high+culture&pg=PA120 |title=Hybrid Knowledge in the Early East India Company World |date=29 April 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-38020-3 |page=120 |language=en |quote=Telugu had become the language of high culture in southern India during the medieval period, and by the seventeenth century its status rivalled that of Sanskrit.}}{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Barbara Stoler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3_WAAAAMAAJ&q=Telugu+language+of+high+culture |title=The Powers of Art: Patronage in Indian Culture |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-562842-5 |page=132 |language=en |quote=In Tyagaraja's time, Telugu was the language of high culture even in Tanjore, the heartland of the Tamil linguistic area. |author-link=Barbara Stoler Miller}}{{cite book |last=Ramaswamy |first=Vijaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALUvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils |date=25 August 2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0686-0 |page=88 |language=en |quote=In precolonial or early-modern South India, Telugu became the cultural language of the south, including the Tamil country, somewhat similar to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of modern Europe during roughly the same era. Therefore, Telugu predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, and it is the practice to teach Telugu language in music colleges to those aspiring to become singers.}}}} while in modern times, Punjabi and Bengali function as major transnational languages connecting the northwestern and eastern regions of India to Pakistan and Bangladesh, respectively (see also Punjabiyat).{{Cite journal |last=Gera Roy |first=Anjali |date=3 July 2014 |title=Imagining Punjab and the Punjabi diaspora: after more than a century of Punjabi migration |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19438192.2014.934053 |journal=South Asian Diaspora |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=137–140 |doi=10.1080/19438192.2014.934053 |issn=1943-8192|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite news |title=Bangla becoming a global language - |url=https://www.observerbd.com/news.php?id=461062 |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=The Daily Observer}}

{{Main|Languages of Afghanistan}}

The official languages of Afghanistan are Pashto and Dari (Farsi), both of which are Iranic languages. Dari, an Afghan standardised register of the Persian language, is considered the lingua franca of Afghanistan and used to write Afghan literature. Tajik is spoken by people closer to Tajikistan, although officially, is regarded to be the same as Dari. Pashto is widely spoken by the Pashtun people, who mainly reside towards the south of Afghanistan on the Pakistani-Afghan border. A few Turkic languages, like Uzbek and Turkmen, are spoken near regions closer to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Balochi is spoken in southern part of the country, primarily bordering areas of Sistan Baluchistan and Balochistan, Pakistan.

{{Main|Languages of Bangladesh}}

Standard Bengali based on the Central dialect is the national language of Bangladesh. The majority of Bangladeshis speak an eastern variant of Bengali language.{{Cite web |title=Bangladesh - Languages |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bangladesh/Languages |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} Other native languages include Sylheti, Rangpuri, Noakhailla and Chittagonian, while some ethnic minority indigenous groups also speak Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian and Austroasiatic languages.

{{Main|Languages of Bhutan}}

Dzongkha is the national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Other languages spoken include Brokpa, Dzala, Chali Chocangacakha, Dakpa language, Khengkha language, Nepali language, Gongduk, Nyenkha, Lhokpu, Takpa and Tshangla.{{cite web |last1=Sen Nag |first1=Oishimaya |title=Which Languages Are Spoken In Bhutan? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-bhutan.html#:~:text=Which%20Languages%20Are%20Spoken%20in%20Bhutan%3F%201%20Tibetan,5%20Border%20Languages%20Spoken%20In%20Bhutan%20Sikkimese%20 |website=WorldAtlas |date=August 2017 |access-date=12 January 2022}}

Almost all the languages of Bhutan are from the Tibetic family (except Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language).

{{Main|Languages of India}}

Most languages spoken in the Republic of India belong either to the Indo-Aryan ({{circa|74%}}), the Dravidian (c. 24%), the Austroasiatic (Munda) (c. 1.2%), or the Tibeto-Burman (c. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the Himalayas still unclassified.

The SIL Ethnologue lists 461 living languages for the Indian Republic.

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, Tripura and Assam. The International Mother Language Day was created by UNESCO to commemorate the Bengali language.{{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 |publisher=UNESCO |date=16 November 1999 |access-date=21 April 2019}} Other notable languages include Odia, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Sindhi, Kannada, Pashto, Malayalam, Maithili, Meitei (Manipuri), Konkani, and Tulu.

Thirteen languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95%; all of them are the "scheduled languages of the Constitution".

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

{{Main|Maldives#Languages{{!}}Languages of Maldives}}

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

{{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, earlier known as Gorkhali in the Kingdom of Nepal, which is part of the Indo-Aryan group and is the spoken by majority of the population.

The Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Nepal include Maithili language, Bhojpuri language and Tharu language, which constitutes majority of the speakers in southern Nepal in the Terai region.{{cite web |last1=Sen Nag |first1=Oishimaya |title=What Languages Are Spoken In Nepal? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-nepal.html |website=WorldAtlas |date=August 2017 |access-date=19 February 2023}} The Sino-Tibetan languages include Tamang, Newari, Magar language, Gurung language, Kiranti languages and Sherpa language and are often spoken in central and northern Nepal in the hilly and mountainous regions.

{{Main|Languages of Pakistan}}

Pakistan is a linguistically diverse country; it has many dozens of languages spoken as first languages.{{Cite journal |last=Kukreja |first=Veena |date=March 2020 |title=Ethnic Diversity, Political Aspirations and State Response: A Case Study of Pakistan |journal=Indian Journal of Public Administration |language=en |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=28–42 |doi=10.1177/0019556120906585 |s2cid=216455412 |issn=0019-5561 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite news |title=A revealing map of the world's most and least ethnically diverse countries |newspaper=The 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/ |date=16 May 2013 |access-date=29 April 2022}} The major languages of Pakistan broadly fall under the category Indo-Iranian languages, with western regions of Pakistan speaking Iranic languages, and eastern regions speaking Indo-Aryan languages; with the Indus River approximately dividing the families.

Other language families in Pakistan include Dravidian (Brahui spoken in Central Balochistan), Sino-Tibetan languages such as Balti and Purgi spoken in the north-east (In Baltistan region of Pakistan), Nuristani languages such as Kamkata-vari spoken in the north-west (In chitral region of Pakistan), Language isolate Burushaski spoken in the north (In Gilgit Division), Turkic languages are also spoken in Pakistan, by Kyrgyz migrant families in the North and Uzbeks and Turkmen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and by refugees from Afghanistan; and Uyghur refugees from China.{{Cite news |title=The last Kirghiz khan in Gilgit {{!}} Footloose |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/575661-the-last-kirghiz-khan-in-gilgit |access-date=29 April 2022 |work=The News International}}{{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=29 April 2022 |website=UNHCR Pakistan}}

The lingua franca in Pakistan is Urdu, a Persianised register of the Hindustani language. The most-widely spoken first language in the country is Punjabi, spoken by the Punjabi people, forming a majority in the Punjab province and Islamabad Capital Territory. Punjabi is followed by Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki,{{efn|Seen by many as a variety of Punjabi}} Hindko, Pahari-Pothwari, Urdu, and Balochi; while more than 70 other languages like Shina, Balti, Gujarati,{{Cite web |date=2 October 2018 |title=Karachi's Gujarati speaking youth strive to revive Jinnah's language |url=https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1381116/pakistan |access-date=29 April 2022 |website=Arab News PK |language=en}} Bengali,{{Cite news |date=16 January 2012 |title=Five million illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/322325/five-million-illegal-immigrants-residing-in-pakistan |access-date=29 April 2022 |work=The Express Tribune |language=en}} etc. are also spoken.

{{Main|Languages of Sri Lanka}}

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

• Languages of Asia
• Languages of Bangladesh
• Languages of Bhutan
• Languages of India
• Languages with official status in India
• List of languages by number of native speakers in India
• Languages of Maldives
• Languages of Nepal
• Languages of Pakistan
• Languages of Sri Lanka

{{reflist}}

• {{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/20120206233628/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm Data table of Census of India, 2001]
• [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]

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{notelist}}

• [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]

{{Languages of South Asia}}

{{Eurasian languages}}{{South Asian topics}}{{Authority control}}