Magahi language

{{See also|Magadhi Prakrit|Pali|Sadri language}}

The ancestor of Magahi, Magadhi Prakrit, formed in the Indian subcontinent. These regions were part of the ancient kingdom of Magadha, the core of which was the area of Bihar south of the river Ganga.

The name Magahi is directly derived from the word Magadhi.Jain Dhanesh, Cardona George, The Indo-Aryan Languages, pp449

The development of the Magahi language into its current form is unknown. However, linguists have concluded that Magahi along with Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Maithili and Odia originated from the Magadhi Prakrit during the 8th to 11th centuries. These different, but sister dialects differentiated themselves and took their own course of growth and development. But it is not certain when exactly it took place. It was probably such an unidentified period during which modern Indian languages begin to take modern shape. By the end of the 12th century, the development of Apabhramsa reached its climax. Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Odia, Maithili and other modern languages took definite shape in their literary writings in the beginning of the 14th century. The distinct shape of Magadhi can be seen in the Dohakosha written by Sarahapa and Kauhapa.

Magadhi had a setback due to the transition period of the Magadha administration.Maitra Asim, Magahi Culture, Cosmo Publications, New Delhi (1983), pp. 64. Traditionally, strolling bards recite long epic poems in this dialect, and it was because of this that the word "Magadhi" came to mean "a bard". Devanagari is the most widely used script in present times, while Bengali and Odia scripts are also used in some regions and Magahi's old script was Kaithi script.{{cite book |title=Magahi Folklore and Folk Tales |first=Sheela |last=Verma |publisher=Manohar |date=2008 |page=28 |quote=Hindi is the formal language of the region, used in schools and law courts. Magahi today employs the Devanagari script borrowed directly from Hindi in place of the Kaithi script used earlier. |isbn=9788173048043}}{{cite book |title=Magahi Folklore and Folk Tales |first=Sheela |last=Verma |publisher=Manohar |date=2008 |pages=31-32 |isbn=9788173048043}} The pronunciation in Magahi is not as broad as in Maithili and there are a number of verbal forms for each person.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bihar.ws/info/Bihari-Languages/Maithili-and-Magahi.html|title=Maithili and Magahi|access-date=10 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723144641/http://bihar.ws/info/Bihari-Languages/Maithili-and-Magahi.html|archive-date=23 July 2012|url-status=dead}} Historically, Magahi had no famous written literature. There are many popular songs throughout the area in which the language is spoken, and strolling bards recite various long epic poems which are known more or less over the whole of Northern India. In the Magahi speaking area, folk singers sing a good number of ballads. The introduction of Urdu meant a setback to local languages as its Persian script was alien to local people.

The first success in spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced Urdu as the official language of the province. After independence, Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950,Brass Paul R., The Politics of India Since Independence, Cambridge University Press, pp. 183 ignoring the state's own languages.

There are several dialects of Magahi. It is spoken in the area which formed the core of the ancient kingdom of Magadha - the modern districts of Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Aurangabad, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura and Nawada. Magahi is bounded on the north by the various forms of Maithili spoken in Mithila across the Ganga. On the west it is bounded by the Bhojpuri, On the northeast it is bounded by Angika. A blend of Magahi known as Khortha is spoken by non-tribal populace in North Chotanagpur division of Jharkhand which comprises districts of Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Koderma and Ramgarh. People of Southern Bihar and Northern Jharkhand are mostly speakers of Magahi.Verma, Sheela (2003). "Magahi". In Jain Dhanesh, Cardona George, The Indo-Aryan Languages. London: Routledge. Magahi is also spoken in Malda district of West Bengal.{{cite book |title=Magahi Folklore and Folk Tales |first=Sheela |last=Verma |publisher=Manohar |date=2008 |pages=29-30 |isbn=9788173048043}} According to 2011 Census, there were approximately 12.7 million Magahi speakers. Apart from India it is spoken in various districts of south eastern Nepal.{{Cite web |title=2011 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}}

• {{IPA|/i, u/}} may also be heard as lower {{IPA|[ɪ, ʊ]}} in shortened positions.
• {{IPA|/e, o/}} may also be heard as lower {{IPA|[ɛ, ɔ]}} in more initial positions.{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Anil Chandra |title=Phonology and morphology of a Magahi dialect |publisher=Poona: Deccan College |year=1966}}
• {{IPA|/ə/}} can also be heard as {{IPA|[ʌ]}} in more stressed positions.{{Cite book |last=Verma |first=Sheela |title=Magahi |publisher=London: London & New York: Routledge. |year=2003 |location=In George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages |pages=498–514}}

Some common kinship terms:

• Culture of Magadh Region
• Culture of Bhojpuri Region
• Culture of Mithila Region
• Culture of Angika Region
• Pāli, the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism traditionally associated with the language of Magadhi
• Phool Bahadur

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{{Reflist}}

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• Munishwar Jha. "Magadhi And Its Formation," Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series, 1967, 256 pp
• Saryu Prasad - "A Descriptive Study of Magahi Phonology", PhD thesis submitted to Patna University.
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3N81Di9EN8C&pg=PA6&dq|title=Magahī Phonology: A Descriptive Study | access-date=11 February 2025 |isbn=9788180695254 |last1=Prasad |first1=Saryoo |location=New Delhi |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=2008 }}
• A.C. Sinha (1966) - "Phonology and Morphology of a Magahi Dialect", PhD awarded by the University of Poona.(now Pune)
• G.A. Grierson. Essays on Bihari Declension and Conjugation, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. iii, pp. 119–159
• Hoernle, A.F. Rudolf & Grierson, G.A. A Comparative Dictionary of the Bihari Language.
• Prasad, Swarnlata (1959). Juncture and Aitch in Magahi. Indian Linguistics, Turner Jubilee Volume, 1959 pp. 118–124.
• Sweta Sinha (2014) - "The Prosody of Stress and Rhythm in Magahi", PhD thesis submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
• Sweta Sinha (2018)- "Magahi Prosody", Bahri Publications: New Delhi. {{ISBN|978-93-83469-14-7}}.

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{{Incubator|mag}}

• [https://www.sites.google.com/site/bihargatha/the-history-of-the-dialects-folk-and-proverbs/the-historical-magahi-dialect Magahi - A Historical language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027124645/https://sites.google.com/site/bihargatha/the-history-of-the-dialects-folk-and-proverbs/the-historical-magahi-dialect |date=27 October 2020 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311232843/http://www.jainworld.com/scriptures/ Jain Scriptures]
• [https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_mag_detail-1 Magahi Detailed Description by Grierson, G.A.]
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=p3N81Di9EN8C Magahī Phonology: A Descriptive Study by Saryoo Prasad]

{{Bihari languages}}

{{Languages of India}}

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Category:Magahi language

Category:Bihari languages

Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages

Category:Languages of Bihar

Category:Languages of Jharkhand

Category:Languages of West Bengal

Category:Languages of Madhesh Province

Category:Languages written in Devanagari

Category:Languages listed as Hindi dialects in latest census