Languages of Uttar Pradesh

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Languages of Uttar Pradesh
Languages of Uttar Pradesh State.png
A linguistic map of Uttar Pradesh
Official Hindi, Urdu
Regional

Uttar Pradesh is a multilingual state with 3 predominant languages and 26 other languages spoken in the state. The languages of Uttar Pradesh primarily belong to two zones in the Indo-Aryan languages, Central and East.

Contents

After the state's official language Hindi (and co-official Urdu which is mutually intelligible), the Bhojpuri language is the second most spoken language with 25.5 million speakers or 11% of the state's population. [1] Other languages spoken are Kauravi, Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli, Bagheli and Kannauji. However, the exact speaker numbers for the languages are not known because the more educated prefer to speak in Hindi (in formal situations) and so return this answer on the census, while many in rural areas and the urban poor, especially the illiterate, list their language as "Hindi" on the census as they regard that as the term for their language, though incorrect.

Inventories

Language data of Uttar Pradesh from 2011 census. [2] [3]
  1. Hindi (80.16%)
  2. Bhojpuri (10.93%)
  3. Urdu (5.42%)
  4. Awadhi (1.9%)
  5. Others (1.59%)

Official languages

The languages of state administration are Hindi, [4] established by the Uttar Pradesh Official Language Act, 1951, and Urdu, established by the Amendment to the same in 1989.

Other languages

Awadhi

It is a major language spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh.

Bagheli

It is spoken in Southeast corner of the state encompassing Banda, Chitrakoot and Southern parts of Prayagraj, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts.

Bhojpuri

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken in the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region located in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. [5] It is widely spoken in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ballia, Deoria, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Chandauli, Mau,Ghazipur, Basti, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh.

Bhojpuri has several dialects: Southern Bhojpuri, Northern Bhojpuri, Western Bhojpuri, and Nagpuria. [6] The Bhojpuri variant of the Kaithi script is the indigenous script of the Bhojpuri language. [7] However, in modern times, Devanagari has become more commonly used for writing Bhojpuri.

There is a demand for the greater recognition of Bhojpuri language, its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and its status as an official language in Uttar Pradesh. [8]

Braj Bhasha

Spoken in Braj region and being related with Hindu deity Shri Krishna.

Bundeli

Spoken in Bundelkhand region of the state.

Kannauji

Spoken in Kannauj region.

Kauravi

Spoken in West parts of the bordering with Haryana and Delhi.

Writing systems

Devanagari is the main script used to write Uttar Pradesh languages, although Urdu is written in the Nastaliq style of the Perso-Arabic script. Kaithi was widely used historically.

The Nagari Pracharini Sabha was formed in 1893 to promote the usage of the Devanagari script. [9]

Footnotes and references

  1. ↑ Experts, Disha (1 July 2020). Amazing Uttar Pradesh - General Knowledge for UPPSC, UPSSSC & other Competitive Exams. Disha Publications. ISBN   978-93-90486-72-4.
  2. ↑ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Kurux". Ethnologue. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Uttar Pradesh Legislature". Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  5. ↑ Thakur, Gopal. "A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tribhuvan University in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in LINGUISTICS". Unpublished doctoral dissertation submitted in Tribhuvan University.
  6. ↑ "The phonology of the Northern standard dialect of Bhojpuri | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Grierson, George Abraham (1881). A handbook to the Kayathi character. The Library of Congress. Calcutta, Thacker, Spink, and co.
  8. ↑ "क्या हिंदी-संस्कृत की तरह भोजपुरी भी बनेगी आधिकारिक भाषा? रवि किशन का बिल कानून बना तो क्या होगा फायदा". आज तक (in Hindi). 29 July 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  9. ↑ "Nagari Pracharini Sabha". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.

See also

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