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 India''. Cambridge University Press.] The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are
Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri (;[Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries](_blank)
, Oxford U ...
,
Magahi 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 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 was accorded the status of the second official language.
Speakers
The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name
Hindi 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
Bhojpuri (;[Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries](_blank)
, Oxford U ...
***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)
**
Magahi
**
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
KOSI (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. KOSI is owned by Salt Lake City–based ...
***Jolaha
***Kisan
**
Khortha
**
Sadanic
***
Nagpuri (Sadri)
***
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
Kumhali, Kumali, or Kumbale, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by some of the Kumal people of Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त� ...
*** 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