The Languages of India
Posted on September 5, 2008 in Art & Culture by Lalita
Languages spoken in India are many, just as the religions, castes, sub-castes and tribes. Some regions have particular languages. The same regions in different places have variations of the same language. Sometimes, a particular community could have a separate language. This way, India has more than 400 languages to its name.
Hindi is popularly the national language. Otherwise, each state has a common language, which is usually classified later according to the dialect of people in different areas. For example, the official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telugu. The same language is spoken differently in the Rayalseema region, the Andhra region and the Telangana region.
Some states have more than one common language. People in Goa speak both Marathi and Konkani. Portuguese is also spoken in this state along with English and Hindi which are seen in almost all the states. In Assam, Assamese, Bodo and Bengali are the best known languages. The state of Delhi speaks Punjabi and Urdu.
Languages in the country are either ancestral or they have come from the influence of rulers and visitors. The best example is that of English. English has made itself popular in India after the reign of the British in the country. In the union territory of Pondicherry, people still speak French, which comes from its visitors from France. The Portuguese have had their influence on Goa. The Mughal rulers brought with them Urdu.
Largely, the languages spoken are classified into two groups- The Indo- Aryan and The Dravidian. The North Indian languages come under the Indo- Aryan group and the South Indian languages come under the Dravidian group. The mongoloid group is a minor one in the country. These have been influences from the history of India.
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