North India - Languages

Languages

Further information: Languages of India, List of Indo-Aryan languages, and Dravidian languages

Linguistically, North India is dominated by Indo-Aryan languages, although subregions of Northern Dravidian languages (such as Bihar's Kurukh language), Tibeto-Burman languages (such as Himachal's Lahauli language) and Austro-Asiatic languages (such as Munda) exist throughout the region. It is in this region, or its proximity, that Sanskrit and the various Prakrits are thought to have evolved. Indo-Aryan languages native to North India include the Hindustani lingua franca (including both its Hindi and Urdu registers), a wide range of western and eastern Hindi dialects, Rajasthani languages (Marwari, Mewari, Shekhawati, Malwi, Bagri), Haryanvi, Bihari languages (Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili and Angika), Pahari, Kumaoni, Garhwali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Haryanavi and other languages. The subregion where Hindi languages are widely spoken (as either primary or secondary languages) is sometimes called the Hindi Heartland or the Hindi Belt, and is loosely defined.

Small speaker populations of two language isolates (Nihali and Burushaski), which are not known to be rooted in any other language families, also exist in North India.

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Famous quotes containing the word languages:

    The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.
    Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)

    People in places many of us never heard of, whose names we can’t pronounce or even spell, are speaking up for themselves. They speak in languages we once classified as “exotic” but whose mastery is now essential for our diplomats and businessmen. But what they say is very much the same the world over. They want a decent standard of living. They want human dignity and a voice in their own futures. They want their children to grow up strong and healthy and free.
    Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)

    The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.
    Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)