Bihari is a group of the

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, P ...

. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand,

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

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 ...

and also in Nepal.Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North India''. Cambridge University Press. The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are Bhojpuri,

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 ...

and Maithili. Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only Maithili has been constitutionally recognised in India, which gained constitutional status via the 92nd amendment to the Constitution of India, of 2003 (gaining assent in 2004). Both Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal. Bhojpuri is also official in Fiji as Fiji Baat. There are demands for including Bhojpuri in the 8th schedule of Indian constitution. In Bihar,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

is the language used for educational and official matters. These languages were legally absorbed under the overarching label Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments. After independence Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950. Hindi was displaced as the sole official language of Bihar in 1981, when

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The educated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.

Classification

The Bihari languages fall into four language subgroups: *Bihari ** Bhojpuri ***Nagpuriya Bhojpuri ***Tharu Bhojpuri ***Mauritian Bhojpuri *** Caribbean Hindustani ***

Fiji Baat Fiji Hindi ( Devanagari: ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Fijians. It is an Eastern Hindi language, considered to be a dialect of Awadhi that has also been subject to considerable influence by Bhojpuri, other Bihari dialects, and ...

***South African Bhojpuri (Naitali) **

** Maithili ***Begushoraiya 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) ***Standard 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 ** Khortha ** Sadanic *** Nagpuri (Sadri) ***

Kurmali Kurmali or Kudmali (ISO: Kuṛmāli) is an Indo-Aryan language classified as belonging to the Bihari group of languages spoken in eastern India. As a trade dialect, it is also known as Panchpargania (Bengali: পঞ্চপরগনিয়� ...

***

Panchpargania Kurmali or Kudmali (ISO: Kuṛmāli) is an Indo-Aryan language classified as belonging to the Bihari group of languages spoken in eastern India. As a trade dialect, it is also known as Panchpargania (Bengali: পঞ্চপরগনিয়� ...

** 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

Languages and dialects

References and footnotes

External links

''A Comparative dictionary of the Bihārī language, Volume 1'' By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Sir George Abraham Grierson (1885)

Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: bih
on www.sil.org

* Angika Language Wikipedia (incubator) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bihari languages Languages of India Culture of Bihar Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Languages of Nepal