Western Hindi languages

The Western Hindi languages, are a branch of the Indo-Aryan language family spoken chiefly in Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, in Northwest and Central India. The Western Hindi languages evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit.^[1] The most-spoken language in the Western Hindi language family is Hindustani (comprising the standard registers of Standard Hindi, commonly referred to as just 'Hindi', and Standard Urdu), deriving from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi.^[2]^: 1^[3]^[4]^[5]

Geographic
distributionBraj, Bundelkhand, Haryana, Western UP

EthnicityBrajis, Bundelis, Haryanvis, Paryas

Native speakers

approx. 272 million in India and Pakistan^{[citation needed]}

Linguistic classificationIndo-European

Indo-Iranian
- Indo-Aryan
  - Central Indo-Aryan
    - Western Hindi

Quick facts Geographic distribution, Ethnicity ...

Western Hindi
Geographic distribution	Braj, Bundelkhand, Haryana, Western UP
Ethnicity	Brajis, Bundelis, Haryanvis, Paryas
Native speakers	approx. 272 million in India and Pakistan^{[citation needed]}
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Indo-Aryan Western Hindi
Early form	Sauraseni Prakrit
Language codes
Glottolog	`west2812`
Geographical distribution of Western Hindi languages

Geographical extent

Western Hindi languages are much more widespread and spoken than their Eastern counterpart.^{[citation needed]} Western Hindi languages are spoken in India and Pakistan. In India, it is chiefly spoken in Western Uttar Pradesh, in the Bundelkhand region and the Braj region and in pockets of the Deccan region. In Pakistan, it is spoken by Muhajirs (a multi-origin ethnic group of Pakistan, migrated from various parts of present-day India mostly after the partition). Apart from this, Hindustani forms the lingua franca in a large region in Pakistan and North India (Hindi Belt) and the trade language in Andaman and Arunachal Pradesh. A version of Hindustani heavily influenced by Magadhi, Maithili and Bhojpuri, called Bihari Hindi is spoken in Patna and some other urban areas in Bihar. Another version influenced by Marathi, called Bombay Hindi is spoken in Mumbai and neighbouring urban regions in Maharashtra.^{[citation needed]}

Languages and dialects

Braj Bhasha (1.6 m), spoken in western Uttar Pradesh and adjacent districts of Rajasthan and Haryana.
Bundeli (6.5 m), spoken in south-western Uttar Pradesh and west-central Madhya Pradesh.
Haryanvi (10 m), spoken in Chandigarh, Haryana, and as a minority in Punjab and Delhi.
Hindustani (including Hindi and Urdu (250 m)), spoken in western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and after partition in Pakistan.
- Andaman Creole Hindi
- Arunachali Hindi
- Begamati
- Bangalori Urdu
- Bihari Hindi (Not to be confused with the Bihari languages, a group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages)
- Bombay Hindi
- Dhakaiya Urdu
- Deccani
- Haflong Hindi
- Hinglish
- Hyderabadi Urdu
- Judeo-Urdu^[2]
- Kalkatiya Urdu
- Karkhandari Urdu
- Kauravi (Khariboli)
- Rekhta
- Urdish
Kannauji (9.5 m), spoken in west-central Uttar Pradesh.
Parya (2,600), spoken in Gissar Valley in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

References

[1]
Zograph, G.A. (8 March 2023). Languages of South Asia: A guide. ISBN 9781000831658. Numerically, the content of the Central Group of the Indo-Aryan languages has been very variously assessed by different researchers: Chatterji sees in it one language while Grierson enumerated six. Strictly speaking, the core of this group is represented not by languages at all, but by a number of closely related dialects-Braj, Kanauji and Bundell, which together with Khari Boli and Hariani, can be lumped under the common title 'Western Hindi'. The last-mentioned two dialects which occupy the north-western corner of the area covered by Hindi, display a number of common features with Panjabi, which in its turn can be seen as a transitional link with the most typical representative of the North Western group – Lahnda.
Closely connected with the dialects of the 'Western Hindi' group are Awadhi, Bagheli and Chattisgarhi, which come under the heading of 'Eastern Hindi'. Linguistically, these can be regarded as a transitional stage between the Central [= Western Hindi] and the Eastern groups of languages [= Eastern Indo-Aryan]. The 'intermediate' character of this group of dialects seems to have taken shape as far back as the Old Indo-Aryan period. The Middle Indo-Aryan forerunner of the contemporary Eastern Hindi dialects was the Ardhamagadhi Prakrit, which was a transitional form between Sauraseni and Magadhi; the present-day Central dialects go back to Sauraseni, while the languages of the Eastern group derive from Magadhi
[2]
Grierson, George A. (1916). "Western Hindi" (PDF). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. IX Indo-Aryan family. Central group, Part 1, Specimens of western Hindi and Pañjābī. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
[3]
Shapiro, Michael C. (1990) [1989]. A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. pp. 3–5. ISBN 81-208-0508-9.
[4]
Kachru, Yamuna (2006). Hindi. London Oriental and African Language Library. Vol. 12. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 1. doi:10.1075/loall.12. ISBN 9789027293145.
[5]
Shapiro, Michael C. (2003). "Hindi". In Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5.

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