The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Māgadhan languages, are spoken throughout the eastern Indian subcontinent (

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

), including

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

, and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

; alongside other regions surrounding the northeastern Himalayan corridor.

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

is official language of

and the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and

, while

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

and

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

are the official languages of

and

, respectively. The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Magadhan

Apabhraṃśa Apabhraṃśa ( sa, अपभ्रंश, , Prakrit: , ta, அவப்பிரஞ்சனம், , ) is a term used by '' vaiyākaraṇāḥ'' (native grammarians) since Patañjali to refer to languages spoken in North India before the ris ...

and ultimately from

Magadhi Prakrit Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit. Hist ...

.South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203Ray, Tapas S. (2007)
"Chapter Eleven: "Oriya"
In Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George. ''The Indo-Aryan Languages''. Routledge. p. 445. .

Classification

The exact scope of the Eastern branch of the Indo-Aryan languages is controversial. All scholars agree about a kernel that includes the Odia cluster and the Bengali–Assamese languages, while many also include the

Bihari languages Bihari is a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal.Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North ...

. The widest scope was proposed by

Suniti Kumar Chatterji Bhashacharya Acharya Suniti Kumar Chatterjee (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan. Life Childhood Chatterji ...

who included the Eastern Hindi varieties, but this has not been widely accepted. When the Bihari languages are included, the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages fall into four language groups in two broader categories:

Western Magadhan

*Bihari **

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

*** Caribbean Hindustani **

Magahi The Magahi language (), also known as Magadhi (), is a language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name derives. ...

*** Khortha ** Maithili ***

Bajjika Bajjika is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in parts of eastern India and Nepal. It is closely related to Maithili (of which it is often considered a dialect). Territory and speakers Bajjika is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, ...

(Western Maithili) *** Angika(Southern Maithili) ***Central Maithili ***Eastern Maithili ***

Thēthi Thēthi, also known as ''Thēth'', ''Thethiya'' or ''Thati'', is a Maithili dialect of India and Nepal. It is spoken mainly in Kosi, Purnia and Munger divisions of Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest st ...

***Jolaha ***Kisan ** Sadanic *** Sadri (Nagpuri) *** Kurmali (Panchpargania) ** Tharuic ***Chitwania Tharu ***Dangaura Tharu ***Sonha ***Kathoriya Tharu ***

Kochila Tharu Kochila Tharu, also called Septari or Saptariya Tharu, Madhya-Purbiya Tharu, and Mid-Eastern Tharu, is a diverse group of language varieties in the Tharu group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The several names of the varieties refer to the regions ...

***Rana Tharu *** Buksa *** Majhi *** Musasa **Unclassified Bihari ***

Kumhali Kumhali, Kumali, or Kumbale, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by some of the Kumal people of Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त� ...

*** Kuswaric **** Danwar **** Bote-Darai

Eastern Magadhan

* Bengali–Assamese: ** Bengali-Gauda *** Rarhi ( Standard Bengali) ***

Bangali Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of S ...

( Dhakaiya Kutti) ***

Bishnupriya Manipuri Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as simply Bishnupriya, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Bengali–Assamese languages, Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole language, creole of Bengali language and Meitei languag ...

***

Chakma Chakma may refer to: *Chakma people, a Tibeto-Burman people of Bangladesh and Northeast India *Chakma language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them **Chakma script ***Chakma (Unicode block) Chakma is a Unicode block containing characters for ...

*** Chittagonian *** Hajong ***

Manbhumi Manbhumi ( bn, মানভূমী, Mānbhūmī, ) is the local Bengali dialect spoken in the district of Purulia, and adjacent area of other districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand, previously Manbhum, in Eastern India. It is one of the Benga ...

***

Noakhailla Noakhailla (), also known by the exonym Noakhalian, is a dialect of Bengali, spoken by an estimated 7 million people, primarily in the Greater Noakhali region of Bangladesh as well as southern parts of Tripura in India. Outside of these regions, t ...

*** Rohingya *** Sundarbani *** Sylheti *** Tanchangya ***

Varendri North Central Bengali or Varendrī () is a dialect of the Bengali language, spoken in the Varendra region (primarily consisting of the Rajshahi Division in Bangladesh and the Malda division in India). Varendri dialect was classified by many re ...

** Kamarupic: ***

( Kamrupi, Goalpariya) *** Rangpuri,

Surjapuri Surjapuri is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in Eastern India including North Bengal, West Bengal, and Banganchal of Eastern Bihar, as well as in Nepal. Among speakers in some regions, it is known as 'Deshi Bhasa'. It possesses similaritie ...

, Rajbanshi * Odia languages ** Odia Family *** Baleswari *** Kataki *** Sambalpuri *** Sundargadi ***

Kalahandia Kalahandia is a dialect of Odia spoken in the region of Kalahandi and Nuapada district of Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest st ...

*** Ganjami *** Desia ** Bodo Parja ** Bhatri ** Reli ** Kupia * Halbic: ** Halbi, Kamar, Bhunjia, Nahari

Features

Grammatical features of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages:

References

External links

''A Comparative dictionary of the Bihārī language, Volume 1'' By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Sir George Abraham Grierson (1885)
* {{Authority control Languages of India Languages of Bangladesh Languages of Nepal