India has been home to immense cultures and thousands of languages were born here. This soil has provided the shelter to world’s famous dynasties. Similarly, languages people speak in India are more than 450. Most of the languages come from the Indo-Aryan language family. More than 78% of Indians speak Indo-Aryan languages and around 19.64% of them use Dravidian languages. Interestingly both of these languages are also named the Indic languages together.
Languages spoken in India differ with the language families and the dynasties which invaded the land in different periods for different reasons.
Three main languages that belong to India for a long period of time are
Hindi
Bengali
English
Contents
1.Hindi language
Hindi is one of the official languages of India. The speakers of Hindi use the Devanagari script to write this language. There are a lot of misconceptions regarding the Hindi being the national language of India, however, it is not the case. According to the constitution of India, no language in India holds the status of the national language.
Historical background
Hindi language like all other Indo-Aryan languages is the descendent of the initial form of Vedic Sanskrit. It emerged through Shauraseni Prakrit from Sanskrit back in the 7th century. There are significant changes that appeared during the transition from Middle Indo-Aryan to Hindi. The Hindi language which is one important indigenous language of India then got the status of Hindustani in the time of the Delhi sultanate. That happened due to the coordination and communication of the Hindi and Muslim cultures. It led to the Sanskrit and Prakrit base of old Hindi that got enriched with loanwords from the Persian language and that further evolved to the present-day Hindustani. It soon emerged as the expression of Indian nationality during the Indian movement of independence.
Dialects
The knowledge of dialects is extremely vital for Hindi translation services or else the whole effort of translation can go wrong.
Early Hindi had a lot of dialects. However, the Delhi dialect is mainly in practice in modern Hindi.
The major dialects of hindi are
- Braj Bhasha (ब्रज भाषा)
- Khari boli (खड़ी बोली)
- Haryanvi (हरियाणवी )
- Bundeli (बुन्देली )
- Awadhi (अवधी)
- Bagheli (बघेली or बाघेली)
- Kannauji (क़न्नौजी)
- Chhattisgarhi (छत्तीसगढ़ी)
2.Bengali language
Bengali is another important indigenous language of India. It also belongs to the Indo-Aryan language. It is mainly native to Bengal which is a region of South Asia. Also, this is the second most spoken language among the 22 languages of India. It also happens to be the fifth most spoken Indo-European language.
Historical background
There are pieces of evidence that tell that Bengali has come as in the varieties of the Prakrit. This language has evolved as a distinct language over the period of a long time. The local varieties of this language didn’t have any serious official status during Gupta Empire. Bengali soon started getting to be the hub of Sanskrit literature for the Hindu persists. Interestingly a lot of translation companies also offer Bengali translation services where they have to work on the history and etymology of the Bengali language and its origin. A lot of students also require translation services for their research papers and dissertations.
Dialects
The dialects of the Bengali language are divided into four main clusters. These are
- Rarhi
- Vangiya
- Kamrupi
- Varendri
3.English language
India is one of the most important and prominent countries in the English Speaking Countries in the world. The language however might not be termed indigenous. But Indian English is a different language that is spoken by the Indian diaspora. It is also one of the official languages of the India. It is the official language of seven states. Interestingly English is also the sole official language of the Indian judiciary. It is so until there are changes in using the regional language from the state governor or the president of India allows to use the regional language in the courts.
Historical background
The English language was in India and the sub-continent since always. British rule in the sub-continent made this language an integral part of the language group which they used to speak in the country. It established its hold with the invasion of the East India Company which was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I back in the 1600s. The English language started getting popular with the public during the 1830s under British rule. India has always been one of the most linguistically diverse regions in all over the world.
India also ranks at 50th number out of 100 countries in the 2021 EF English proficiency index and that is quite low proficiency. This is what makes the Indians seek English translation services for better content. It is worth mentioning that other Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong including China rather received higher scores and have better proficiency in the English language as compared to India.
Dialects of Indian English
Interestingly Indian English has its own accents and dialects. The accents differ with the different regions and parts of the country.
Babu English is more like a Bengali version of English.
Butler English comes from the Madras presidency. They developed it for occupational use.
Hindi English also ‘Hinglish’ is a combination of the Hindi and English languages. It is a hybrid of British English and South Asian languages.
Assamese English dialect of English comes from Assamese speakers. They have made the consonants quite short in Assamese English.
Final words
Hindi and Bengali are more of the indigenous language of India. As for the English, it also enjoys a rich history in the region. Indian English is the variant of the language that is spoken in India and its states. Similarly, the dialects also differ and variate with the different regions and states. All three languages have evolved over a period of time and have a significant historical background to talk and write about.