Hindi हिन्दी, हिंदी
Spoken in:	India, Fiji (Fiji Hindi), Mauritius (Urdu), Nepal (Bhojpuri), Surinam (Bhojpuri), Trinidad and Tobago (Bhojpuri), Guyana
Total speakers:	First language: ~ 500–680 million (2008)[1] Second language: 120–225 million (1999)[2]
Language family:	Indo-European  Indo-Iranian   Indo-Aryan    Hindi
Writing system:	Devanagari, Urdu, Kaithi, Latin, and several regional scripts. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Fiji Hindi, also known as Fijian Hindi or Fiji Hindustani, is a language which is spoken in Fiji by most Fijian citizens of Indian descent Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. Bhojpuri ( is a regional language spoken in parts of north-central and eastern India. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ˈtrɪnɪdæd ən təˈbeɪgoʊ is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American Guyana (ɡaɪˈænə or /ɡiːˈɑːnə/ officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only Nation state List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. The Urdu alphabet is the Right to left Alphabet used for the Urdu language. Kaithi (कैथी also called "Kayathi" or "Kayasthi" is the name of a historical script used widely in parts of North India, primarily in the former
Official status
Official language in:	India (Standard Hindi, Urdu, Maithili)  Fiji (Fiji Hindi)
Regulated by:	Central Hindi Directorate (in India),[3] National Language Authority (in Pakistan), National Council for Promotion of Urdu language
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	hi
ISO 639-2:	hin
ISO 639-3:	hin
This page contains Indic text. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Maithili (मैथिली Maithilī) is a language spoken in the eastern part of India, mainly in the Indian state of Bihar Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Fiji Hindi, also known as Fijian Hindi or Fiji Hindustani, is a language which is spoken in Fiji by most Fijian citizens of Indian descent This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language The Central Hindi Directorate (केन्द्रीय हिन्दी निदेशालय Kendriya Hindi Nideshalayais the department under the Human Resource Ministry The National Language Authority ( Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban; Urdu: مقتدرہ قومی زبان (or Urdu Language Authority is an Autonomous ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

Hindi (Devanāgarī: हिन्दी or हिंदी, IAST: Hindī, IPA: [hɪnd̪iː] (help·info)) is the name given to an Indo-Aryan language, or a dialect continuum of languages, spoken in northern and central India (the "Hindi belt"),^[4]

Native speakers of Hindi dialects between them account for 41% of the Indian population (2001 Indian census). The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration ( IAST) is a popular Transliteration scheme that allows a lossless Romanization of Indic The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family A dialect continuum is a range of Dialects spoken across a large geographical area differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close and gradually decreasing Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula The Central India Agency was a political unit of British India, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by The Demographics of India are overall remarkably diverse India's population of approximately 1 As defined in the Constitution, Hindi is the official language of India and is one of the 22 scheduled languages specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The Constitution of India envisages Hindi as the primary official language to be used by the Union Government, with English as the subsidiary official language ^[5] Official Hindi is often described as Modern Standard Hindi, which is used, along with English, for administration of the central government. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States ^[6][7] Standard Hindi is a sanskritised register derived from the khari boli dialect. Sanskritisation may also refer to introduction of Sanskrit vocabulary in another language or dialect (such as Khariboli) Khariboli (also Khadiboli, Khadi-Boli, or Khari dialect identified as Hindi by SIL Ethnologue) (/ kʰəɽiː boːliː / Hindi Urdu is a different, persianised, register of the same dialect. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Persianization or Persianisation is a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-Persian becomes Persian. However, speakers of the two dialects can easily communicate. Taken together, these registers are historically also known as Hindustani. Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी ہندوستانی Hindustānī, hɪn̪d̪ʊst̪aːniː also known as " Hindi-Urdu," is a term covering

Terminology

Etymology

The word hindī is of pre-Islamic Persian origin. It literally means "Indian", comprising hind "India", and the adjectival suffix -ī. The name India may refer to either the region of Greater India (the Indian subcontinent) or to the contemporary Republic of India contained therein The word was originally used by pre-Islamic Persian merchants and ambassadors in north India to refer to any Indian language. The eleventh-century writer Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī used it to refer to Sanskrit. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical ^[8] By the 13th century, "Hindi", along with its variant forms "Hindavi" and "Hindui", had acquired a more specific meaning: the "linguistically mixed speech of Delhi, which came into wide use across north India and incorporated a component of Persian vocabulary". Hindavi (हिन्दवी ہندوی) Hindawi, or Hindvi is the mother language of modern standard Hindi and Urdu. Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population ^[8] It was later used by members of the Mughal court to distinguish the local vernacular of the Delhi region where the court was located from Persian, which was the official language of the court. The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most ^[9]

Evidence from the 17th century indicates that the language then called "Hindi" existed in two differing styles: among Muslims it was liable to contain a larger component of Persian-derived words and would be written down in a script derived from Persian, while among Hindus it used a vocabulary more influenced by Sanskrit and was written in Devanagari script. These styles eventually developed into modern Urdu and modern Hindi respectively. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised ^[8] However the word "Urdu" was not used until around 1780: before then the word "Hindi" could be used for both purposes. ^[10] The use of "Hindi" to designate what would now be called "Urdu" continued as late as the early twentieth century. ^[10] Nowadays Hindī as taken to mean "Indian" is chiefly obsolete^[11]; it has come to specifically refer to the language(s) bearing that name.

Definitions

"Hindi" as the term for a language is used in at least four different but overlapping senses:^[12]

1. defined regionally, Hindi languages, i. Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by e. the dialects native to Northern India

   in a narrower sense, the Central zone dialects, divided into Western Hindi and Eastern Hindi

   in a wider sense, all languages native to north-central India, stretching from Rajasthani in the west and Pahari in the northwest to Bihari in the east. Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula The Indo-Aryan languages include some 210 ( SIL estimate languages and dialects spoken by many people in Asia; this language family is a part of the Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by Pahari (or Pahaari) is a general terms for a range of dialects spoken across the Himalayan range not limited to a single country in the subcontinent

2. defined historically, the literary dialects of Hindi literature, that is, historical regional standards such as Braj Bhasha and Avadhi. Hindi literature, is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles being Bhakti (devotional - Kabir Raskhan Shringar (beauty - Keshav Brij Bhasha (ब्रज भाषा also called Braj Bhasha, Braj Bhakha, or Daihaati Zabaan (country tongue is a Central Indian language Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh (Oudh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Bihar
3. defined as a single standard language, Modern Standard Hindi, or "High Hindi", that is, highly Sanskritized Khari boli
4. defined politically, Hindi is any dialect of the region that is not Urdu. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that Sanskritisation may also refer to introduction of Sanskrit vocabulary in another language or dialect (such as Khariboli) Khariboli (also Khadiboli, Khadi-Boli, or Khari dialect identified as Hindi by SIL Ethnologue) (/ kʰəɽiː boːliː / Hindi Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised This usage originates in the Hindi-Urdu controversy in the 19th century, and is that adopted by the official Indian census (as of 1991), which includes as Hindi a wide variety of dialects of the Hindi belt (adding up to a fraction native speakers of 40% of the total population), but lists Urdu as a separate language (with 5. In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be The Demographics of India are overall remarkably diverse India's population of approximately 1 8% native speakers).

East and West Hindi dialects

Hindi per the 1991 census

History

Main articles: History of the Hindi language and Hindavi

Like many other modern Indian languages, it is believed that Hindi had been evolved from Sanskrit, by way of the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit languages and Apabhramsha of the Middle Ages. The history of the Hindi dialect continuum (including Urdu) i Hindavi (हिन्दवी ہندوی) Hindawi, or Hindvi is the mother language of modern standard Hindi and Urdu. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical The Middle Indo-Aryan ( Middle Indic) languages are the early medieval dialects of the Indo-Aryan languages, the descendants of the Old Indo-Aryan dialects such as Prakrit (also transliterated as Pracrit) ( Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति according to one Though there is no consensus for a specific time, Hindi originated as local dialects such as Braj, Awadhi and finally Khari Boli after the turn of tenth century. ^[13] In the span of nearly a thousand years of Muslim influence, such as when Muslim rulers controlled much of northern India during the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, many Persian and Arabic words were absorbed into khari boli and was called Urdu or Hindustani. The Delhi Sultanate ( Urdu: دلی سلطنت, दिल्ली सलतनत or Sultanat e Hind ( سلطنتِ هند; सलतनत ए The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most Since almost all Arabic words came via Persian, they do not preserve the original phonology of Arabic.

Hindi is contrasted with Urdu in the way both are written, and the use of Sanskrit vocabulary in higher registers. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and also an official language in some parts of India. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The primary differences between the two are the way Standard Hindi is written in Devanagari and draws its "vocabulary" with words from (Indo-Aryan) Sanskrit, while Urdu is written in Urdu script, a variant of the (Semitic) Perso-Arabic script, and draws heavily on Persian and Arabic "vocabulary. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical The Urdu alphabet is the Right to left Alphabet used for the Urdu language. The Perso-Arabic script is a Writing system that is based on the Arabic alphabet. " Vocabulary is in quotes here since it is mostly the literary vocabulary that shows this visible distinction with the everyday vocabulary being essentially common between the two. To a common unbiased person, both Hindi and Urdu are same (Hindustani) though politics of religion and ethnicity portrays them as two separate languages since they are written in two entirely different scripts. (See Hindi-Urdu controversy. In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be ) Interestingly, if Urdu is written in Devanagari script, it will be assumed as Hindi and vice versa. The popular examples are Bollywood songs and ghazals. In Poetry, the ghazal ( Arabic / Persian / Urdu: غزل; Hindi: ग़ज़ल Turkish gazel) is a Hindi is spoken mainly in northern states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Bihar. But is understood, and spoken, as well as regional languages like Punjabi or Telugu, throughout India.

Varieties and registers

Further information: Hindustani

Hindi languages

Main article: Hindi languages

The "Hindi languages" in the widest sense of all dialects native to the "Hindi belt" accounts for 486 million (including Maithili [12 M] and Urdu [51 M]) native speakers (2001 Indian census), consisting of:

• Central zone
  • Western Hindi (West Central zone)
    • 258 M: Khariboli
    • (52 M: Urdu, counted separately in the official census)
    • 8 M: Haryanvi
    • 6 M: Kanauji
  • Eastern Hindi (East Central zone)
    • 20 M: Awadhi
    • 11 M: Chhattisgarhi
  • 18 M: Rajasthani
• Bihari (Eastern zone)
  • 12 M: Maithili (since 2003 recognized as a separate scheduled language)
  • 33 M: Bhojpuri
  • 13 M: Magadhi
  • 2 M: Sadri
• 7 M: Pahari (Northern zone) (excludes Dogri and Nepali)

Khari boli

Main article: Khari boli

Khari boli or "standing dialect" is the term for the Western Hindi dialect of the Delhi region, which since the later 17th century (Mughal period) has emerged as the prestige dialect. Hindustani ( Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी is an adjectival form of Hindustan which originally meant people from the whole geographical region of Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by The Demographics of India are overall remarkably diverse India's population of approximately 1 The Indo-Aryan languages include some 210 ( SIL estimate languages and dialects spoken by many people in Asia; this language family is a part of the Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by Khariboli (also Khadiboli, Khadi-Boli, or Khari dialect identified as Hindi by SIL Ethnologue) (/ kʰəɽiː boːliː / Hindi Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Haryanvi (हरियाणवी is the northern most Dialect of the Hindi language. Kannauji language (कन्नौजी (also spelled Kanauji, Kanauji language) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Indian Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh (Oudh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Bihar Chhattisgarhi (छत्तिसगढ़ी is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh which has approximately Rajasthani (राजस्थानी is a language or language cluster Bagri: about five million speakers in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts of Bihari is a name given to the western group of Eastern Indic languages, spoken in Bihar and neighboring states in India. Maithili (मैथिली Maithilī) is a language spoken in the eastern part of India, mainly in the Indian state of Bihar The Constitution of India envisages Hindi as the primary official language to be used by the Union Government, with English as the subsidiary official language Bhojpuri ( is a regional language spoken in parts of north-central and eastern India. The Magadhi language (also known as मगही Magahi is a language spoken by 17449446 people in India. Sadri is a branch of Prakrit language and is regarded as the sister languages of Oriya, Bengali and Angika, spoken in Indian state of Jharkhand The Pahari languages, also known as Northern Zone languages, are a group of related Indo-Aryan languages or dialects spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas Khariboli (also Khadiboli, Khadi-Boli, or Khari dialect identified as Hindi by SIL Ethnologue) (/ kʰəɽiː boːliː / Hindi Hindi (in the broad sense is a Dialect continuum of the Indic language family in the northern plains of India bounded on the northwest and west by Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most A prestige dialect is the Dialect spoken by the most prestigious people in a Speech community which is large enough to sustain more than one dialect Khari boli includes several standardized registers, including:

• Urdu, historically the "language of the court", a Persianized register
• Rekhta, a heavily Persianized and Arabized register used in Urdu poetry
• Dakhni, the historical literary register of the Deccan region
• Standard Hindi, a heavily Sanskritzed register created in the 19th century (colonial period) as a counter-proposal contrasted to Urdu in the Hindi-Urdu controversy. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised The Persian language influenced the formation of many languages of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Rekhta ( Urdū /ur ریختہ Hindī: रेख़्ता rekhtā; Persian for mixed) is the highly Persianized form of Urdū a language Urdu poetry ( Urdu: اردو شاعری, Urdu Shayari) is one of the most dominant and prominent poetries of times and has many different colours & types Dakhni, also known as Dakkhani, Deccani (Urdu دکنی is a dialect of the Urdu language, was spoken in the Deccan region of southern For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be

Modern Standard Hindi

Main article: Modern Standard Hindi

After independence, the Government of India worked on standardizing Hindi, instituting the following changes:

• standardization of Hindi grammar: In 1954, the Government of India set up a committee to prepare a grammar of Hindi; The committee's report was released in 1958 as "A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi"
• standardization of Hindi spelling
• standardization of the Devanagari script by the Central Hindi Directorate of the Ministry of Education and Culture to bring about uniformity in writing and to improve the shape of some Devanagari characters. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Hindustani, Hindi, and Urdu have been written in several different scripts The Central Hindi Directorate (केन्द्रीय हिन्दी निदेशालय Kendriya Hindi Nideshalayais the department under the Human Resource Ministry
• scientific mode of transcribing the Devanagari alphabet
• incorporation of diacritics to express sounds from other languages.

Hindi and Urdu

Further information: Hindi-Urdu controversy

The term Urdu arose in 1645. In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be Until then, and even after 1645, the term Hindi or Hindawi was used in a general sense for the dialects of central and northern India.

There are two fundamental distinctions between standard Urdu and standard Hindi that lead to their being recognised as distinct languages:

• the source of borrowed vocabulary (Persian/Arabic for Urdu and Sanskrit for Hindi); and
• the script used to write them (for Urdu, an adaptation of the Perso-Arabic alphabet written in Nasta'liq style; for Hindi, an adaptation of the Devanagari script).

Colloquially and linguistically, the distinction between the Urdu and Hindi is insignificant. This is true for the northern half of the Indian subcontinent, wherever neither learned vocabulary nor writing is used. Outside the Delhi dialect area, the term "Hindi" is used in reference to the local dialect, which may be different from both Hindi and Urdu.

The word Hindi has many different uses; confusion of these is one of the primary causes of debate about the identity of Urdu. These uses include:

1. standardised Hindi as taught in schools throughout India,
2. formal or official Hindi advocated by Purushottam Das Tandon and as instituted by the post-independence Indian government, heavily influenced by Sanskrit,
3. the vernacular nonstandard dialects of Hindustani/Hindi-Urdu as spoken throughout much of India and Pakistan, as discussed above,
4. the neutralised form of the language used in popular television and films, or
5. the more formal neutralized form of the language used in broadcast and print news reports. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that Purushottam Das Tandon पुरुशोत्तम दास टंडन August 1, 1882 &ndash July 1, 1962) was a independence fighter Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Vernacular refers to the Native language of a country or a locality A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी ہندوستانی Hindustānī, hɪn̪d̪ʊst̪aːniː also known as " Hindi-Urdu," is a term covering

The rubric "Hindi" is often used as a catch-all for those idioms in the North Indian dialect continuum that are not recognised as languages separate from the language of the Delhi region. A dialect continuum is a range of Dialects spoken across a large geographical area differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close and gradually decreasing Panjabi, Bihari, and Chhatisgarhi, while sometimes recognised as being distinct languages, are often considered dialects of Hindi. Many other local idioms, such as the Bhili languages, which do not have a distinct identity defined by an established literary tradition, are almost always considered dialects of Hindi. In other words, the boundaries of "Hindi" have little to do with mutual intelligibility, and instead depend on social perceptions of what constitutes a language.

The other use of the word "Hindi" is in reference to Standard Hindi, the Khari boli register of the Delhi dialect of Hindi (generally called Hindustani) with its direct loanwords from Sanskrit. Standard Urdu is also a standardized form of Hindustani. Such a state of affairs, with two standardized forms of what is essentially one language, is known as a diasystem. In Linguistics, in the field of structural Dialectology, a diasystem is a single genetic Language which has two or more standard forms

Urdu was earlier called Zabān-e-Urdū-e-Mu`allah (زبانِ اردوِ معلہ, ज़बान-ए उर्दू), lit. , the "Exalted Language of the Camp". Earlier, the terms "Hindi" and "Urdu" were used interchangeably even by Urdu poets like Mir and Mirza Ghalib of the early 19th century (more often, however, the terms Hindvi/Hindi were used). Dabeer-ul-Mulk Najm-ud-daulah Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan ( Urdu / Persian: مرزا اسد اللہ بیگ خان) Pen-name By 1850, Hindi and Urdu were no longer used for the same language. Other linguists such as Sir G. A. Grierson (1903) have also claimed that Urdu is simply a dialect or style of Western Hindi. Before the Partition of India, Delhi, Lucknow, Aligarh and Hyderabad used to be the four literary centers of Urdu — none of which lie in present Pakistan. Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population Lucknow is also a mansion in New Hampshire Lucknow ( लखनऊ لکھنؤ Lakhnaū) is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh Aligarh ( Hindi: अलीगढ़ Urdu: علی گڑھ) is a city in Aligarh District in the northern Indian Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and

The colloquial language spoken by the people of Delhi is indistinguishable by ear, whether it is called Hindi or Urdu by its speakers. The only important distinction at this level is in the script: if written in the Perso-Arabic script, the language is generally considered to be Urdu, and if written in devanagari it is generally considered to be Hindi. However, since independence the formal registers used in education and the media have become increasingly divergent in their vocabulary. Where there is no colloquial word for a concept, Standard Urdu uses Perso-Arabic vocabulary, while Standard Hindi uses Sanskrit vocabulary. This results in the official languages being heavily Sanskritized or Persianized, and nearly unintelligible to speakers educated in the other standard (as far as the formal vocabulary is concerned).

These two standardised registers of Hindustani have become so entrenched as separate languages that many extreme-nationalists, both Hindu and Muslim, claim that Hindi and Urdu have always been separate languages. The tensions reached a peak in the Hindi-Urdu controversy in 1867 in the then United Provinces during the British Raj. In 1867, some Hindus in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj in India began to demand that Hindi should be The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, more commonly the United Provinces, was a Province of British India, which existed from 1902 to 1947 For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British However, there were and are unifying forces as well. For example, it is said that Indian Bollywood films are made in "Hindi", but the language used in most of them is the same as that of Urdu speakers in Pakistan.

Phonology

Main article: Hindi-Urdu phonology

Writing system

Main article: Hindustani orthography

Grammar

Main article: Hindi-Urdu grammar

Literature

Main article: Hindi literature

Further information: Bollywood and Bollywood songs

Hindi films play an important role in popular culture. Modern Standard Hindi is the official language of India, while Urdu is the national language of Pakistan as well as a scheduled In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Phonetics, labiodentals are Consonants articulated with the lower Lip and the upper Teeth. In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets In Phonetics, retroflex consonants are Consonant sounds used in some Languages (They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Affricate Consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or) but release as a fricative (such as or or occasionally into Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together In Phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of Consonantal sound which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract Hindustani, Hindi, and Urdu have been written in several different scripts Modern Standard Hindi is the Official language of India, while Urdu is the National language of Pakistan as Hindi literature, is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles being Bhakti (devotional - Kabir Raskhan Shringar (beauty - Keshav Bollywood (बॉलीवूड بالی وڈ is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai -based Hindi-language Film industry in India Bollywood songs (often termed filmi songs) are heard far beyond the borders of India. The dialogues and songs of Hindi films use Khariboli and Hindi-Urdu in general, but the intermittent use of various dialects such as Awadhi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and quite often Bambaiya Hindi, as also of many English words, is common. Hindustani ( Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी is an adjectival form of Hindustan which originally meant people from the whole geographical region of Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh (Oudh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Bihar Bhojpuri ( is a regional language spoken in parts of north-central and eastern India. Punjabi may refer to The Punjabi language of Pakistan and India Punjabi grammar List of Punjabi Bambaiya Hindi (also spelled Bambaiyya Hindi, Hindi: बंबय्या हिंदी is a dialect of Hindi commonly spoken in and around the

Alam Ara (1931), which ushered in the era of "talkie" films in India, was a Hindustani film. This film had seven songs in it. Music soon became an integral part of Hindustani/ Hindi cinema. It is a very important part of popular culture and now comprises an entire genre of popular music. So popular is film music that songs filmed even 50-60 years ago are a staple of radio/TV and are generally very familiar to an Indian.

Hindi movies and songs are popular in many parts of India, such as Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra, that do not speak Hindi as a native language. Indeed, the Hindi film industry is largely based at Mumbai (Bombay), in the Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial Maharashtra ( Marathi: mahārāṣṭra, IPA) is a state located on the western coast of India. Hindi films are also popular abroad, especially in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Iran and UK. These days Hindi movies are released worldwide and have large audience in Americas, Europe and Middle Eastern countries too.

The role of radio and television in propagating Hindi beyond its native audience cannot be overstated. Television in India was controlled by the central government until the proliferation of satellite TV rendered regulation redundant. During the era of control, Hindi predominated on both radio and TV, enjoying more air-time than local languages. After the advent of satellite TV, several private channels emerged to compete with the government's official TV channel. Today, a large number of satellite channels provide viewers with much variety in entertainment. These include soap operas, detective serials, horror shows, dramas, cartoons, comedies, host shows for Hindi songs, Hindu mythology and documentaries.

Indian Hindi books has also played a big role in making Hindi a popular spoken language world wide. Now we have website which are selling book online with many Indian languages. One such example is DK Agencies Pvt Ltd - http://www.dkagencies.com

See also

• Hindi languages
• Hindi literature
• Hindi belt
• History of Hindi
• Anti-Hindi agitations
• Hindi Wikipedia
• Hinglish
• Languages of India and Official languages of India
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• Complex Text Layout languages

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Bhatia, Tej K. Colloquial Hindi: The Complete Course for Beginners. London, UK & New York, NY: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0-415-11087-4 (Book), 0415110882 (Cassettes), 0415110890 (Book & Cassette Course)
• Gordon, Raymond G. , Jr. (ed. ) (2005), "Hindi", written at Dallas, Ethnologue: Languages of the World (15th ed. Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian ), SIL International. SIL International (the official name of what was originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is a worldwide U
• Grierson, G. A. Linguistic Survey of India Vol I-XI, Calcutta, 1928, ISBN 81-85395-27-6
• Hock, Hans H. (1991), Principles of Historical Linguistics, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin–New York, ISBN 3-11-012962-0
• McGregor, R. S. (1977), Outline of Hindi Grammar, 2nd Ed. , Oxford University Press, Oxford-Delhi, ISBN 0-19-870008-3 (3rd ed. )
• Masica, Colin (1991), written at Cambridge, The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521299442, <http://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=indo-aryan+languages>. Colin P Masica (1931- is professor emeritus in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago.
• Ohala, Manjari (1999), "Hindi", in International Phonetic Association, Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: a Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, 100-103, ISBN 9780521637510, <http://books.google.com/books?id=33BSkFV_8PEC&pg=PA100&vq=%22manjari+ohala%22&dq=%22handbook+of+the+international+phonetic+association%22&sig=sDM59_awCtRXNVwRrx-0jcqollw>. The International Phonetic Association (IPA is an organization that promotes the scientific study of Phonetics and the various practical applications of that science
• Pollock, Sheldon I (ed. ) (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0520228219.  
• Shapiro, Michael C. (2001), "Hindi", in Garry, Jane & Carl Rubino, An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present, New England Publishing Associates, 305-309.
• Shapiro, Michael C. (2003), "Hindi", in Cardona, George & Dhanesh Jain, The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, 250-285, ISBN 9780415772945, <http://books.google.com/books?id=jPR2OlbTbdkC&pg=PA250&dq=indo-aryan&sig=cUNurxJKkTLfKf8uiMd7pWX2RC0>.
• Snell, Rupert & Simon Weightman (1989), Teach Yourself Hindi (2003 ed. Teach Yourself is an imprint of Hodder Headline that specializes in self-teaching books ), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 9780071420129.
• Taj, Afroz (2002) A door into Hindi. Retrieved November 8, 2005. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
• Tiwari, Bholanath ([1966] 2004) हिन्दी भाषा (Hindī Bhāshā), Kitāb Mahal, Allahabad, ISBN 81-225-0017-X.

Dictionaries

• McGregor, R. S. (1993), Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary (2004 ed. ), Oxford University Press, USA.

Further reading

• Bhatia, Tej K A History of the Hindi Grammatical Tradition. Leiden, Netherlands & New York, NY : E. J. Brill, 1987. ISBN 90-04-07924-60

External links

• Hindi at the Open Directory Project
• The Union: Official Language
• Official Unicode Chart for Devanagari (PDF)
• Romanized to Unicode Hindi transliterator
• Web Hindi Resources
• Hindi Phrasebook - ( Wikitravel )