Hindi language

The Hindi or Hindustani (autoglottony: हिन्दी [ˈɦɪn̪d̪iː ]) is one of the two official languages in India, along with English and twenty-two other languages in various states of the country that are co-official.

Hindi is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, based on the number of native speakers, after Mandarin, English and Spanish, and the third most widely spoken language based on the total number of speakers, after Mandarin and English. It is closely related to Urdu, the official language of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Both are mutually intelligible, being, from a linguistic point of view, varieties of the same language, the Hindustani language, which, counted in this way, would be the second most widely spoken language, behind Mandarin Chinese and ahead of Spanish. Their differences mainly come down to the writing system, which in the case of Hindi is the Devanagari alphabet, while Urdu uses a form of the Arabic alphabet. These two languages also differ in their learned terminology, which Hindi generally borrows from Sanskrit (the process of "Sanskritizing"). In this way, a process of eradication of terminology of Persian-Arabic origin from Hindi began, in order to politically disassociate it from Urdu, while in Urdu the cultisms are mostly of Perso-Arabic origin. In the familiar language spoken on a daily basis by most speakers, Hindi and Urdu are more similar than they are in their respective more highly educated forms.

It is estimated that by the year 2050 the Hindi language will have 680 million speakers, and by the year 2100 it will have 780 million speakers.

Etymology

The Hindi term was originally used to refer to the inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic plain. That word was borrowed from classical Persian هندی Hindī (pronunciation: Hendi), meaning "belongs to Hind (India)" (hence, Indian).

The terms "Hindi" and "Hindu" date back to ancient Persian who derived these names from the Sanskrit name Sindhu (सिन्धु), which refers to the Indus River. The Greek cognates of the same terms are "Indus" (for river) and "India" (for river land).

Classification

Hindi is a language of the Indo-European family. It is part of the Indo-Iranian subfamily, more precisely the Central Indo-Aryan subgroup. It is considered a standardized version of Hindustani. The other standardized variety is Urdu. In fact, Hindi and Urdu are mutually understandable.

Hindustanic language

It is the language from which Hindi and other languages were derived (something like Latin with respect to Spanish, French, Italian...)

Dialects

Hindustani or Hindustani language is an official language of India with the Hindi dialect and Pakistan with the Urdu dialect. Although they are properly distinct languages but under the constitution of India, the languages of the Western Hindi group (and even some of the other groups in the central area) are considered as dialects of Hindi (or rather Hindustani).

• Khadiboli, Khariboli or Sarhindi is the dialect used as the national language of India, taught in schools and in government. It comes from northern Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi.
  • Urdu It is the dialect used as the national language of Pakistan, but that many Pakistanis and Indians consider a completely different language of Hindi, although linguistically (at least at the colloquial level) is not so. It is spoken in many states of India as the mother tongue of Muslim communities, and is one of the Indian languages recognized as regional languages by the government. Most people who speak Urdu as a mother tongue live in India, and most people who speak it as a second language live in Pakistan, where it is the French language that most people understand. Also, many of the Muslim immigrants who came to Pakistan (Mojayires) after the separation of the two countries speak Urdu as their mother tongue, and they form the majority of the population in the city of Karachi. The written Urdu takes many words from the Persian and Arabic, while the standard Hindi takes words from the Sanskrit.
    • Andhra Pradesh's Urdu is spoken with his own accent (which by Dravida influence preserves some diptongos that the northern Urdu lost).
  • Standard Hindi Khadiboli literary dialect.
  • Bambaiya or Mumbaiyya He speaks in Bombay, and has features of the marathi.

The following varieties are not dialects but languages:

• Braj-bhasha (‘Taj’) was the literary dialect during the bhakti period, originated in the area of Vraja (Vrindavan) and spoken in western Uttar Pradesh.
• Awadhi or Avadhi is spoken in central Uttar Pradesh.
• Kanauji is spoken in the region between Awadh and Braj in Uttar Pradesh.
• Bundeli is spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.
• Bagheli is spoken in the northeast of Madhya Pradesh.
• Chhattisgarhí, Lahariya or Khalwahi is spoken in Chhattisgarh.
• Hariyanvi, Bangaru or Jatu This is Haryana.
• Bhaya is spoken in southern Pakistan.
• Chamari, spoken by the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• Gowli is spoken in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Amravati district.

Geographic distribution

Mostly in the northwest and west-central regions of India. There is a significant percentage of speakers in Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Status

It is one of the twenty-one official languages of the Republic of India.

Dialects

Although distinct languages themselves, the languages of the East Hindi group (and some of the other groups in the central zone) are considered as dialects of Hindi (or rather, Hindustani) under the constitution of India.

• The Jadibolí or sarhindi is the dialect used as the national language of India, taught in schools and in government. It comes from northern Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi.
  • The Urdu It is the dialect used as the national language of Pakistan, but that many Pakistanis and Indians consider as their own language totally differentiated from the Hindi, although in the linguistic sphere (at least at the colloquial level) it is not so. It is spoken in many states of India as the mother tongue of Muslim communities, and is one of the Indian languages recognized as regional languages by the government. Most people who speak Urdu as a mother tongue live in India, and most people who speak it as a second language live in Pakistan, where it is the French language that most people understand. Also, many of the Muslim immigrants who went to Pakistan (Mojayires) after the separation of the two countries speak Urdu as their mother tongue: they form the majority of the population in the city of Karachi. The written Urdu takes many words from the Persian and Arabic, while the standard Hindi takes words from the Sanskrit.
    • Andra Pradesh's Urdu is spoken with his own accent (which, by a drastic influence, preserves some diptongos that the northern Urdu lost).
  • The standardized hindi, literary dialect of jadibolí.
  • The bambaiya or mumbaiyya is spoken in Bombay, and has features of the maratí.

Some dialects can be considered as languages because they are not mutually intelligible:

• The braj-bhasha (spoke in Braj) was the literary dialect during the bhakti period, originated in the area of Vraja (Vrindavan) and spoken in western Uttar Pradesh.
• The avadí, spoken at Uttar Pradesh Central.
• The Kanauji, spoken in the region between Awadh and Braj in Uttar Pradesh.
• The bundelí, spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.
• The Baguelí, spoken in the northeast of Madhya Pradesh.
• The chatisgarí, lahariya or jalhuahí, spoken in Chatisgar.
• The Hariyanví, bangaru or already, spoken in Haryana.
• The bayaspoken in southern Pakistan.
• The chamarí, spoken by the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• The Goulíspoken in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Amravati district.