Western Indo-Aryan Languages

The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Maldives. Moreover, apart from the Indian subcontinent, large immigrant and expatriate Indo-Aryan–speaking communities live in Northwestern Europe, Western Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Southeast Africa, Polynesia and Australia, along with several million speakers of Romani languages primarily concentrated in Southeastern Europe. There are over 200 known Indo-Aryan languages.

Modern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Old Indo-Aryan languages such as early Vedic Sanskrit, through Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Prakrits). The largest such languages in terms of first-speakers are Hindi–Urdu (),Standard Hindi first language: 260.3 million (2001), as second language: 120 million (1999). Urdu L1: 68.9 million (2001–2014), L2: 94 million (1999): ''Ethnologue'' 19. Bengali (242 million), Punjabi (about 120 million), Marathi (112 million), Gujarati (60 million), Rajasthani (58 million), Bhojpuri (51 million), Odia (35 million), Maithili (about 34 million), Sindhi (25 million), Nepali (16 million), Assamese (15 million), Chhattisgarhi (18 million), Sinhala (17 million), and Romani (). A 2005 estimate placed the total number of native speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages at nearly 900 million people.

Classification

Theories

The Indo-Aryan family as a whole is thought to represent a dialect continuum, where languages are often transitional towards neighboring varieties. Because of this, the division into languages vs. dialects is in many cases somewhat arbitrary. The classification of the Indo-Aryan languages is controversial, with many transitional areas that are assigned to different branches depending on classification. There are concerns that a tree model is insufficient for explaining the development of New Indo-Aryan, with some scholars suggesting the wave model.

Subgroups

The following table of proposals is expanded from . Note that the table only lists some modern Indo-Aryan languages.

Anton I. Kogan, in 2016, conducted a lexicostatistical study of the New Indo-Aryan languages based on a 100-word Swadesh list, using techniques developed by the glottochronologist and comparative linguist Sergei Starostin. That grouping system is notable for Kogan's exclusion of Dardic from Indo-Aryan on the basis of his previous studies showing low lexical similarity to Indo-Aryan (43.5%) and negligible difference with similarity to Iranian (39.3%). He also calculated Sinhala–Dhivehi to be the most divergent Indo-Aryan branch. Nevertheless, the modern consensus of Indo-Aryan linguists tends towards the inclusion of Dardic based on morphological and grammatical features.

Inner–Outer hypothesis

The Inner–Outer hypothesis argues for a core and periphery of Indo-Aryan languages, with Outer Indo-Aryan (generally including Eastern and Southern Indo-Aryan, and sometimes Northwestern Indo-Aryan, Dardic and Pahari) representing an older stratum of Old Indo-Aryan that has been mixed to varying degrees with the newer stratum that is Inner Indo-Aryan. It is a contentious proposal with a long history, with varying degrees of claimed phonological and morphological evidence. Since its proposal by Rudolf Hoernlé in 1880 and refinement by George Grierson it has undergone numerous revisions and a great deal of debate, with the most recent iteration by Franklin Southworth and Claus Peter Zoller based on robust linguistic evidence (particularly an Outer past tense in ''-l-''). Some of the theory's skeptics include Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Colin P. Masica.

Groups

The below classification follows , and .

Dardic

The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) are a group of Indo-Aryan languages largely spoken in the northwestern extremities of the Indian subcontinent. Dardic was first formulated by George Abraham Grierson in his Linguistic Survey of India but he did not consider it to be a subfamily of Indo-Aryan. The Dardic group as a genetic grouping (rather than areal) has been scrutinised and questioned to a degree by recent scholarship: Southworth, for example, says "the viability of Dardic as a genuine subgroup of Indo-Aryan is doubtful" and "the similarities among ardic languagesmay result from subsequent convergence".

The Dardic languages are thought to be transitional with Punjabi and Pahari (e.g. Zoller describes Kashmiri as "an interlink between Dardic and West Pahāṛī"), as well as non-Indo-Aryan Nuristani; and are renowned for their relatively conservative features in the context of Proto-Indo-Aryan.

* Kashmiri: Kashmiri, Kishtwari, Poguli;
* Shina: Brokskad, Kundal Shahi, Shina, Ushojo, Kalkoti, Palula, Savi;
* Chitrali: Kalasha, Khowar;
* Kohistani: Bateri, Chilisso, Gowro, Indus Kohistani, Kalami, Tirahi, Torwali, Wotapuri-Katarqalai;
* Pashayi
* Kunar: Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nangalami, Shumashti.

Northern Zone

The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as the Pahari ('hill') languages, are spoken throughout the Himalayan regions of the subcontinent.

* Eastern Pahari: Nepali, Jumli, Doteli;
* Central Pahari: Garhwali, Kumaoni;
* Western Pahari (Himachali): Dogri, Kangri, Bhadarwahi, Churahi, Bhateali, Bilaspuri, Chambeali, Gaddi, Pangwali, Mandeali, Mahasu Pahari, Jaunsari, Kullui, Pahari Kinnauri, Hinduri, Sarazi, Sirmauri.

Northwestern Zone

Northwestern Indo-Aryan languages are spoken in the northwestern region of India and Eastern Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken predominantly in the Punjab region and is the official language of the northern Indian state of Punjab; in addition to being the most widely-spoken language in Pakistan. To the south, Sindhi and its variants are spoken; primarily in Sindh. Northwestern languages are ultimately thought to be descended from Shauraseni Prakrit.

* Punjabi
** Eastern Punjabi: Punjabi, Doabi, Majhi, Malwai, Puadhi, Sansi;
** Western Punjabi (Lahnda): Saraiki, Hindko, Pahari-Pothwari, Inku†;
* Sindhi: Sindhi, Jadgali, Kutchi, Luwati, Memoni, Khetrani, Kholosi.

Western Zone

Western Indo-Aryan languages, are spoken in the central and western areas within India, such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, in addition to contiguous regions in Pakistan. Gujarati is the official language of Gujarat, and is spoken by over 50 million people. In Europe, various Romani languages are spoken by the Romani people, an itinerant community who historically migrated from India. The Western Indo-Aryan languages are thought to have diverged from their northwestern counterparts, although they have a common antecedent in Shauraseni Prakrit.

*Rajasthani: Standard Rajasthani, Bagri, Marwari, Mewati, Dhundari, Harauti, Mewari, Shekhawati, Dhatki, Malvi, Nimadi, Gujari, Goaria, Loarki, Bhoyari, Kanjari, Od;

* Gujarati: Gujarati, Jandavra, Saurashtra, Aer, Vaghri, Parkari Koli, Kachi Koli, Wadiyara Koli;
* Bhil: Kalto, Vasavi, Wagdi, Gamit, Vaagri Booli;
** Northern Bhil: Bauria, Bhilori, Magari;
** Central Bhil: Bhili proper, Bhilali, Chodri, Dhodia, Dhanki, Dubli;
** Bareli: Palya Bareli, Pauri Bareli, Rathwi Bareli, Pardhi;
* Khandeshi
* Lambadi
* Domaaki
* Domari
* Romani: Carpathian Romani, Balkan Romani, Vlax Romani;
** Northern Romani: Sinte Romani, Finnish Kalo, Baltic Romani.

Central Zone (Madhya ''or'' Hindi)

Within India, Hindi languages are spoken primarily in the Hindi belt regions and Gangetic plains, including Delhi and the surrounding areas; where they are often transitional with neighbouring lects. Many of these languages, including Braj and Awadhi, have rich literary and poetic traditions. Urdu