Indo-Aryan Indic
Geographic distribution:	South Asia
Genetic classification:	Indo-European  Indo-Iranian   Indo-Aryan
Subdivisions:	Northern Zone North-Western Zone Central Zone Eastern Zone Insular Indo-Aryan Southern Zone
ISO 639-2:	inc
Geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages (Urdu is not shown because it is mainly a lingua franca with no prevalence as a first language. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Outside of the scope of the map is the migratory Romani language).

The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic^[1]) are a branch of the Indo-European language family. Indo-European studies is a field of Linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct They form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, which consists of three other language groups: the Iranian, Nuristani, and Dardic. The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Nuristani languages are a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian language family, spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Dardic languages are a group of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and in India in the region of Jammu

SIL International in a 2005 estimate counted a total of 209 varieties, the largest in terms of native speakers being Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu, about 540 million), Bengali (about 200 million), Punjabi (about 100 million), Marathi (about 90 million), Gujarati (about 45 million), Nepali (about 40 million),Oriya (about 30 million), Sindhi (about 20 million) and Assamese (about 14 million) with a total number of native speakers of more than 900 million. SIL International (the official name of what was originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is a worldwide U Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी ہندوستانی Hindustānī, hɪn̪d̪ʊst̪aːniː also known as " Hindi-Urdu," is a term covering Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Punjabi may refer to The Punjabi language of Pakistan and India Punjabi grammar List of Punjabi Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī ? Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ oṛiā) is one of the Indian Languages mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa. Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Assamese (অসমীয়া) (ɔxɔmija is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, spoken mainly in the state of Assam in North-East

History

The earliest evidence of the group is from Vedic Sanskrit, the language used in the ancient preserved texts of the Indian subcontinent, the foundational canon of Hinduism known as the Vedas. Vedic Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language, the language of the Vedas, the oldest Shruti texts of Hinduism. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. The Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni is of similar age as the Rigveda, but the only evidence is a number of loanwords. Some theonyms proper names and other terminology of the Mitanni exhibit an Indo-Aryan Superstrate, suggesting that an Indo-Aryan The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge"

In about the 4th century BCE, the Sanskrit language was codified and standardised by the grammarian Panini, called "Classical Sanskrit" by convention. The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Pāṇini ( IAST: Pāṇini Dēvanāgarī: sa पाणिनि a Patronymic meaning "descendant of {{IAST|Paṇi}} " was an ancient Outside the learned sphere of Sanskrit, vernacular dialects (Prakrits) continued to evolve. Prakrit (also transliterated as Pracrit) ( Sanskrit: prākṛta प्राकृत (from pra-kṛti प्रकृति according to one

In medieval times, the Prakrits diversified into various Middle Indic dialects. 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 "Apabhramsa" is the conventional cover term for transitional dialects connecting late Middle Indic with early Modern Indic, spanning roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. Some of these dialects showed considerable literary production; the Sravakachar of Devasena (dated to the 930s) is now considered to be the first Hindi book.

The next major milestone occurred with the Muslim invasions of India in the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 11th to the 17th centuries though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region beginning Under the flourishing Mughal empire, Persian became very influential as the language of prestige of the Islamic courts. The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most However, Persian was soon displaced by Urdu. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised This Indo-Aryan language is a combination with Persian elements in its vocabulary, with the grammar of the local dialects.

The two largest languages that formed from Apabhransa were Bengali and Hindi; others include Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, and Punjabi.

In the Hindi-speaking areas, the main form was Braj-bhasha, which is still spoken today, but was replaced in the 19th century by the Khari Boli dialect. However, a large amount of modern spoken Hindi vocabulary is derived from Perso-Arabic.

This state of affairs continued until the Partition of India in 1947. The Partition of India was the partition of the British Indian Empire which led to the creation on August 14, 1947 and August 15, Hindustani (Urdu) was replaced by Standard Hindi as the official language of India, and soon the Perso-Arabic words of Urdu began to be excised from the official Hindi corpus, in a bid to make the language more "Indian". Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी ہندوستانی Hindustānī, hɪn̪d̪ʊst̪aːniː also known as " Hindi-Urdu," is a term covering Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised A return to Hindi poets such as Tulsidas resulted in what is known as a Sanskritisation of the language. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās (1532-1623 Devanāgarī: तुलसीदास may be written as Tulasī Dāsa depending on if the name is transcribed Persian words in common parlance were slowly replaced by Sanskrit words, sometimes borrowed wholesale, or in new compounds. In contemporary times, there is a continuum of Hindi–Urdu, with heavily-Persianised Urdu at one end and Sanskritised Hindi at the other, although the basic grammar remains identical. Most people speak somewhere in the middle: Hindustani. Contemporary evolution of Hindustani also has a British angle to it - since the Indian subcontinent was a colony of Britain - the classical Persian and Sanskrit words are increasingly being replaced by their equivalents in the English language. This development is more apparent in the urban & affluent regions and specially among the younger generation that has got better access to English education and media.

Classification

Main article: List of Indo-Aryan languages

Indo-Aryan languages, grouping according to SIL Ethnologue:      Central zone      Northern zone      Northwestern zone      Eastern zone      Southern zone      Insular

Because there are not always clear breaks between languages, there is no definite classification of the Indo-Aryan languages. 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 Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian However, they are commonly divided as follows:

• Pahari, or Northern, languages, such as Nepali
• Northwestern languages, such as Western Panjabi (Lahnda)
  • Dardic languages, such as Kashmiri: grouped by SIL as Northwestern, but their exact position within Indo-Aryan or between Indo-Aryan and Iranian is uncertain. 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 Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma Punjabi (pa ਪੰਜਾਬੀ in Gurmukhi script pa-PK {{Nastaliq پنجابی}} in Shahmukhi script Pañjābī in Transliteration) is an The Dardic languages are a group of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and in India in the region of Jammu Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state
• Madhya, Hindi, or Central languages, includes the standard dialects of Hindi and Urdu
  • Western languages, such as Gujarati and perhaps Romani (in the SIL classification part of Madhyan)
• Magadan, or Eastern, languages, such as Assamese and Bengali
• Southern languages, such as Marathi
  • Insular Indic, such as Sinhala (sometimes considered part of the Southern group)

Phonology

Consonants

Stop positions^[2]

The normative system of New Indo-Aryan stops consists of five points of articulation: labial, dental, "retroflex", palatal, and velar, which is the same as that of Sanskrit. 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 Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī ? Assamese (অসমীয়া) (ɔxɔmija is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, spoken mainly in the state of Assam in North-East Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese In Articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a Consonant is the point of contact where an Obstruction Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips ( bilabial articulation or with the lower lip and the upper teeth ( labiodental articulation 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 In Phonetics, retroflex consonants are Consonant sounds used in some Languages (They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants 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 The "retroflex" position may involve retroflexion, or curling the tongue to make the contact with the underside of the tip, or merely retraction. The point of contact may be alveolar or postalveolar, and the distinctive quality may arise more from the shaping than from the position of the tongue. 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 Palatals stops have affricated release and are traditionally included are involving a distinctive tongue position (blade in contact with hard palate). Affricate Consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or) but release as a fricative (such as or or occasionally into Widely transcribed as [tʃ], Masica (1991:94) claims [cʃ] to be a more accurate rendering. The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family

Moving away from the normative system, some languages and dialects have alveolar affricates [ts] instead of palatal, though some among them retain [tʃ] in certain positions: before front vowels (esp. A front vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward /i/), before /j/, or when geminated. In Phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken Consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short Consonant. Alveolar as an additional point of articulation occurs in Marathi and Konkani where dialect mixture and others factors upset the aforementioned complementation to produce minimal environments, in some West Pahari dialects through internal developments (*t̪ɾ, t̪ > tʃ), and in Kashmiri. Marathi (mr मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. Konkani people form an ethnic group mainly found in the Konkan Coast of western India who speak the Konkani language natively Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state The addition of a retroflex affricate to this in some Dardic languages maxes out the number of stop positions at seven (barring borrowed /q/), while a reduction to the inventory involves *ts > s, which has happened in Assamese, Chittagonian, Sinhalese (though there have been other sources of a secondary /ts/), and Southern Mewari. The voiceless retroflex affricate is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet The Dardic languages are a group of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and in India in the region of Jammu Assamese (অসমীয়া) (ɔxɔmija is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, spoken mainly in the state of Assam in North-East Chittagonian (চাটগাঁইয়া বুলি Chaţgãia Buli) is an Indo-European language spoken by the people of Chittagong in Bangladesh Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese

Further reductions in the number of stop articulations are in Assamese and Romany, which have lost the characteristic dental/retroflex contrast, and in Chittagonian, which is in danger of losing its labial and velar articulations through spirantization in many positions (> [f, x]). Lenition is a kind of Consonant mutation that appears in many Languages Along with assimilation, it is one of the primary sources of historical change

Nasals^[3]

Sanskrit was noted as having five nasal stop articulations corresponding to its oral stops, and among modern languages and dialects Dogri, Kacchi, Kalasha, Rudhari, Shina, Saurasthtri, and Sindhi have been analyzed as having this full complement of phonemic nasals /m, n, ɳ, ɲ, ŋ/, with the last two generally as the result of the loss of the stop from a homorganic nasal + stop cluster (ɲj > ɲ, ŋg > ŋ), though there are other sources as well. The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless velar plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless palato-alveolar affricate or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages It is The voiceless velar plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in many spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiceless dental plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that The voiceless retroflex plosive is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet 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 The bilabial nasal is a type of Consonantal sound used in almost all spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this The alveolar nasal is a type of Consonantal sound used in numerous spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents The retroflex nasal is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents The palatal nasal is a type of Consonant, used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this The velar nasal is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents In Articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a Consonant is the point of contact where an Obstruction

Charts

The following are consonant systems of major and representative New Indo-Aryan languages, as presented in Masica (1991:106-107), though here they are in IPA. The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic Parentheses indicate those consonants found only in loanwords: square brackets indicate those with "very low functional load". The arrangement is roughly geographical.

References

• John Beames, A comparative grammar of the modern Aryan languages of India: to wit, Hindi, Panjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Oriya, and Bangali. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Indo-European studies is a field of Linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct Some theonyms proper names and other terminology of the Mitanni exhibit an Indo-Aryan Superstrate, suggesting that an Indo-Aryan This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family John Beames ( 21 June 1837 - May 1902 was a civil servant in British India and an author Londinii: Trübner, 1872-1879. 3 vols.
• Cardona, George & Dhanesh Jain, eds. George Cardona is an American linguist and Indologist He is professor emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. (2003), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, ISBN 9780415772945, <http://books.google.com/books?id=jPR2OlbTbdkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=indo-aryan+languages>.
• Madhav Deshpande (1979). Sociolinguistic attitudes in India: An historical reconstruction. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers. ISBN 0-89720-007-1, ISBN 0-89720-008-X (pbk).
• Chakrabarti,Byomkes (1994). Dr Byomkes Chakrabarti (also spelled Byomkesh Chakraborty or Byomkesh Chakrabarty) (1923–1981 was a Bengali A comparative study of Santali and Bengali. Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi & Co. ISBN 8170741289
• Erdosy, George. (1995). The Indo-Aryans of ancient South Asia: Language, material culture and ethnicity. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-014447-6.
• Kobayashi, Masato. ; & George Cardona (2004). George Cardona is an American linguist and Indologist He is professor emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Historical phonology of old Indo-Aryan consonants. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. ISBN 4-87297-894-3.
• 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.
• Misra, Satya Swarup. (1980). Fresh light on Indo-European classification and chronology. Varanasi: Ashutosh Prakashan Sansthan.
• Misra, Satya Swarup. (1991-1993). The Old-Indo-Aryan, a historical & comparative grammar (Vols. 1-2). Varanasi: Ashutosh Prakashan Sansthan.
• Sen, Sukumar. (1995). Syntactic studies of Indo-Aryan languages. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Foreign Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
• Vacek, Jaroslav. (1976). The sibilants in Old Indo-Aryan: A contribution to the history of a linguistic area. Prague: Charles University.

See also

• List of Indo-Aryan languages
• Indo-Aryans
• Indo-Iranians
• Indo-Aryan migration
• Proto-Vedic Continuity
• The family of Brahmic scripts
• Linguistic history of India

External links

• The Indo Aryan languages
• The Indic languages
• Transliteration of Indic Languages & Scripts - Dr. Anthony Stone's Page