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 Magad ...
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 mo ...
), 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 ...
,
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 195 ...
,
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 . I ...
,
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 ea ...
,
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 ...
, 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
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 mo ...
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 fou ...
and
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 ea ...
, while
Assamese 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
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 ...
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 ...
, 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 ri ...
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.
H ...
.
[South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203][Ray, 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
The Bengali–Assamese languages (also Gauda–Kamarupa languages) is a grouping of several languages. This group belongs to the Eastern zone of Indo-Aryan languages. The languages in this group as per Glottolog includes Assamese, Bengali, Bi ...
, 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](_blank)
, Oxford U ...
***
Caribbean Hindustani
Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as i ...
**
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 deriv ...
***
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 stat ...
***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
*** Kuswaric
****
Danwar
****
Bote-Darai
Eastern Magadhan
*
Bengali–Assamese:
** Bengali-Gauda
***
Rarhi (
Standard Bengali
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of t ...
)
***
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
***
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
The Chakma Script (''Ajhā pāṭh''), also called Ajhā pāṭh, Ojhapath, O ...
***
Chittagonian
***
Hajong
***
Manbhumi
***
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
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
*** Sundarbani
***
Sylheti
***
Tanchangya
***
Varendri
** Kamarupic:
***
Assamese (
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
***
Ganjami
***
Desia
**
Bodo Parja
**
Bhatri
Bhatri is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Bhottada tribe in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, India. The language is spoken predominantly in eastern Bastar district and in Koraput
Koraput is a town and a Municipality in Koraput distr ...
**
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