Linguistic Groups

Major Languages of India

1. Linguistic Diversity:

   1. India has a rich linguistic heritage with diverse ethnic and social groups.
   2. These groups have their own languages and dialects.

2. Census Data:

   1. According to the 1961 Census of India, there were 187 languages spoken by various sections of Indian society.
   2. 23 major languages are spoken by about 97% of the country's population.

3. Eighth Schedule of the Constitution:

   1. 22 languages, excluding English, are mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
   2. These languages are: Kashmiri, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Sindhi, Sanskrit, Oriya, Nepali, Konkani, Manipuri, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali.

4. Constitutional Amendments:

   1. Initially, 14 languages were included in the Constitution.
   2. 1967: Sindhi was added by the 21st Constitutional Amendment Act.
   3. 1992: Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were added by the 71st Constitutional Amendment Act.
   4. 2003: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali were added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act.

5. Linguistic Families:

   • Indian languages mainly belong to four linguistic families.
   • 1. Austric – Munda, Mon-Khmer
     2.  Dravidan – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,Malayalam, Gondi, kurukh, orean, etc.
     3. Sino- Tibetan-  Bodo, Karen, Manipuri, etc.
     4. Indo - Aryan – Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit.

Languages spoken in the South Asian region belong to at least four major language families:

1. Indo-European (most of which belong to its sub-branch Indo-Aryan),
2. Dravidian,
3. Austro-Asiatic, and
4. Sino-Tibetan.

Almost one third  of our mother-tongues (574 languages) belonged to the Indo-Aryan family of languages - spoken by 73.30% of Indians.The Dravidian languages, 153 in number, form the second major linguistic group of the country (24.47 per cent).Less than one per cent, 0.73 per cent, of the total population of the country speaks the languages belonging to the Tibeto-Burman subfamily, including the lone  language Khampti, which belongs to the Siamese-Chinese subfamily of the  Sino-Tibetan/TibetoChinese family. The number of Sino-Tibetan languages stood at 226.The languages belonging to the Austro-Asiatic family of languages, 65 in number, accounted for a total number of 6.19 million speakers, and on top of it all, 530 were still recorded as unclassified languages.

The Indo-Aryan Languages

1. The largest chunk of languages and mother tongues belong to the Indo-Aryan sub-familyof Indo-European languages. .
2. The immediate predecessor of Indo-Aryan happens to beIndo-Iranian, the oldest specimens of which are available in the Zend-Avesta.Among the modern Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi and Bangla happen to be the most wellknown languages internationally. Hindi of course has about 49 varieties, and is spreadover a vast tract in North India.
3. The Western Hindi is a Midland Indo-Aryan language, spoken in the Gangetic plain andin the region immediately to its north and south. Around it, on three sides, are Panjabi,Gujarati, Rajasthani.
4. The Eastern Hindi is spoken in Oudh and to its south. 
5. In the outer layer, we get languages such as Kashmiri, Lahnda, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, in the northern and thewestern region, and Oriya, Maithili, Bengali and Assamese in the east.

The Dravidian Languages

1. The actual word ‘Dravidian’ was first used by Robert A. Caldwell, who introduced the Sanskrit word Dravida .
2. Among Dravidian languages, besides the four internationally known languages spread in many parts of the world, there are 26 Dravidian languages by the current count, of which 25 are spoken in India and one (Brahui) is spoken in Baluchistan on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
3. Spoken by more than 300 million peoplein south Asia, the antiquity of Dravidian lnguages is largely due to the rich grammatical and linguistico-literary tradition of Classical Tamil .
4. Even other major Dravidian languages, namely, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu –possess independent scripts and literary histories dating from the pre-Christian era.The smaller Dravidian languages include Kolami-Naiki, Parji-Gadaba, Gondi, Konda,Manda-Kui, Kodagu, Toda-Kota, and Tulu, etc.
5. The Northern Group is the smallest: Brahui, Malto and Kudukh.
6. The Central Group ofDravidian languages seem to be most widespread: Gondi, Konda, Kui, Manda, Parji,Gadaba, Kolami, Pengo, Naiki, Kuvi and Telugu.
7. The ‘Southern Group’ includes Tulu, Kannada, Kodagu, Toda, Kota, Malayalam and Tamil.

The Tibeto-Burman Languages

1. The Tibeto-Burman family is a part of Sino-Tibetan languages, spread over a large area -from Tibet in the north to Burma in the south, and from the Ladkh wathrat of the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the west to the Chinese provinces of Sze-chuen and Yunnan in the east.
2. Lepcha, Sikkimese, Garo, Bodo, Manipuri, and Naga are some of the better-known Tibeto-Burman languages. 
3. Besides a few that are close to Tibetan, the South Himalayan languages spoken from Lahul in the west (Himachal Pradesh) to Bhutan in the east arequite distinct.
4. Bodo and Tipra sub-groups are now well-known, and so are the Naga languages.The Kuki-Chin languages as well as Lushai and Manipuri fall some where in between these extreme sub-families.

The Austric Family

1. The Austric family of languages is divided into two branches, Austroasiatic and Austronesian, the latter formerly called Malayo-Polynesian. They are spoken in India,Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
2. The Austroasiatic branch has three sub-branches: Munda, Mon-Khmer, and VietnameseMuong, out of which the first one is located in India.
3. The Munda languages in India are spoken in the eastern and southern parts of India. Thewell-known Munda languages include the following: Santali, Mundri, Bhumij, Birhar, Ho,Tri, Korku, Khari, Juang, and Savara, etc.
4. The Munda speakers are found mostly in the hills and jungles, while the plains and valleys have some pockets inhabited by people speaking these languages. There are accordingly some Aryanized tribes in northern India (like Cheros in Bihar and Chota Nagpur, and the Kherwars in the Mirzapur area) who have formerly belonged to the Munda stock.

Classical Language

1. The Ministry of Culture provides the guidelines regarding Classical languages.
2. Guidelines for declaring a language as ‘Classical’ are:
   
   1. High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;
   2. A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;
   3. The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;
   4. The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
3. Six languages that enjoy the ‘Classical’ status in India:
   
   1. Tamil (declared in 2004),
   2. Sanskrit (2005),
   3. Kannada (2008),
   4. Telugu (2008),
   5. Malayalam (2013), and
   6. Odia (2014).

Dialect

1. Definition:

   • A distinct linguistic form peculiar to a region or social group but can be understood by speakers of other forms of the same language.

2. Types of Dialects:

   • Geographic Dialect:
     • Spoken by people of the same area or locality.
   • Social Dialect:
     • Used by people of the same social class, educational level, or occupational group.

3. Major Dialects in India

   • Endangered Languages:

     • More than 40 languages or dialects in India are considered endangered.
     • These languages are heading towards extinction as only a few thousand people speak them.

4. Major Dialects in Tamil Nadu

   • Tamil Language:
     1. Tamil is an interesting language with a range of native dialects.
     2. The language features several charming improvisations in different regions of the state.
     3. Familiar dialects include:
        1. Chennai
        2. Coimbatore
        3. Madurai
        4. Tirunelveli