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List of national
languages of India
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 Central (Federal) government. 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 Tamil Nadu 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.
Neither the constitution nor the laws of India accord the status
of "National Language" to any language in India. There is a law
which basically says 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.
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.
Official languages
Two languages are the languages used
by the central administration:
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Hindi
is the language used by the Central Government when
communicating with the states of Hindi Belt. It is also the
official language of Arunachal Pradesh,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Bihar, Chandigarh,
Chhattisgarh, Delhi,
Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
Uttaranchal.
-
English
is also an official language and the language to be used while
communicating with the states.
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:
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Assamese
— official language of Assam
-
Bengali
— official language of Tripura and
West Bengal
-
Bodo
— official language of Assam
-
Dogri
— official language of Jammu and Kashmir
-
Gondi
— language of the Gond tribals of the
Gondwana (part of the northern Deccan
plateau) comprising Chattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Orissa,
Andhra Pradesh.
-
Gujarati
— language of Dadra and Nagar Haveli,
Daman and Diu and
Gujarat
-
Kannada
— official language of Karnataka
-
Kashmiri
— official language of Jammu and Kashmir
-
Konkani
— official language of Goa
-
Malayalam
— official language of Kerala,
Lakshadweep,
Pondicherry
-
Maithili
- official language of Bihar
-
Manipuri
or Meithei — official language of
Manipur
-
Marathi
— official language of Maharashtra
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Nepali
— official language of Sikkim
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Oriya
— official language of Orissa
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Punjabi
— official language of Punjab and
Chandigarh, second official language
of Delhi and
Haryana
-
Sanskrit
— language of Hinduism,
Jainism and
Buddhism, required teaching in many schools
-
Santali
- language of the Santhal tribals of
the Chota Nagpur Plateau (comprising
the states of Jharkhand,
Bihar, Orissa
and Chattisgarh)
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Sindhi
- language of the Sindhi community
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Tamil
— official language of Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry
-
Telugu
— official language of Andhra Pradesh
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Urdu
— official language of Jammu and Kashmir,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh
Other important state languages
These languages are state official
languages but are not yet recognized as national languages:
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Kokborok
- official language of Tripura
-
Mizo
- official language of Mizoram
-
Khasi
- official language of Meghalaya
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Garo
- official language of Meghalaya
Other
popular languages of India
These languages have over 5 million
speakers but no official status. Many are often considered
sub-varieties of Hindi.
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 part of the
Eastern Group of
Indic languages, along with Bengali,
Assamese, and Oriya.
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Angika
— language of Bihar, Spoken largely in
the Northern and Southern part of Bihar, Major part of Jharkhand
and Maldah district of West Bengal
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Bhojpuri
— language of Bihar
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Magadhi
— language of southern Bihar
Rajasthani languages
Rajasthani dialect is spoken in
state of Rajasthan by more than fifty million people, the dialect
changes from district to district but people can communicate with
each other even if they are from different districts and have
different dialects. The main varieties are as such:
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Marwari
— language of Marwar. The region
including Jodhpur, Nagour and Bikaner.
-
Mewari
— language of Mewar. The region
including Udaipur, Chittor and Kota-Bundi.
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Shekhavati — language of
Shekhavati. The region including Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu.
Other languages
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Haryanvi
- Hindi dialect of Haryana
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Bhili
(Bhil tribals)
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Gondi
(Gond tribals)
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Kodava,
spoken in the Kodagu district of
Karnataka
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Kutchi
— language of Kutch, a region in
Gujarat
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Tulu
— spoken by Tulu people of
Karnataka and
Kerala
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Sankethi
— spoken by Sankethi people in
Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala
The Constitution of India lists 18
regional languages.
Minority languages of India
These languages have fewer than one
million speakers:
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Mahl
— language of Minicoy, spoken in the
island of Minicoy.
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