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The Marathi—Konkani languages are the mainland
Southern 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 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east of the Indus river in Ban ...
, spoken in
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
and the
Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...
region of
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. The other branch of Southern Indo-Aryan languages is called Insular Indic languages, which are spoken in Insular South Asia (predominantly the island countries,
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and
Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...
).


Languages

The languages are: Marathi,
Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...
, Phudagi, Kadodi (Samavedi), Katkari, Varli and Andh. Several of the Marathi-Konkani languages have been variously claimed to be dialects of both Marathi and Konkani.


Maharashtrian Konkani

A collection of dialects of Marathi-Konkani languages spoken in the Konkan region is referred to as Maharashtrian Konkani. It is often mistakenly extended to cover Goan Konkani which is an independent language. George Abraham Grierson has referred to this dialect as the ''Konkan Standard of Marathi'' in order to differentiate it from
Konkani language Konkani, (Devanagari: , Konkani in the Roman script, Romi: , Kannada script, Kannada: , Koleluttu: , Nastaliq: ; IAST: , ) formerly Concani or Concanese, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily i ...
. The sub dialects of Konkani gradually merge from standard Marathi into Goan Konkani from North to South Konkan. The various sub dialects are: Parabhi, Koli, Kiristanva, Kunbi, Agari, Dhangari, Thakri, Karadhi and Maoli. These sub dialects are together considered by the
ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...
to be a separate language and is assigned the
ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for ...
code knn. * Agari (Spoken by the Agri community found in Raigad &
Thane district Thane district (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a districts of Maharashtra, district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the c ...
of Maharashtra;
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by th ...
;
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
) * Thakri (Spoken by the Adivasi and Katkari communities found in Raigad district of Maharashtra) *Koli (Spoken by the Koli or fishermen community found in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
,
Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...
, Palghar and Raigad districts of Maharashtra) * Warli (Varli) language spoken by the Warli people. Although commonly associated with Maharashtra and found in Gujarat too, Varlis (Warlis) consider the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to be their original home.


Phudagi

Phudagi or Vadvali was primarily spoken by Vadvals, which basically means agricultural plot owners, of the Naigaon, Vasai to Dahanu region. Somavamshi Kshatriyas speak this dialect. This language is preserved mostly by the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
s native to this region, since they are a closely knit community here and have very few relatives outside this region. It was also widely spoken among the Hindus native to this region, but due to external influences, ordinary Marathi is now more popular among the Hindus. There are many songs in this language. Recently a book was published by Nutan Patil containing around 70 songs. The songs are about marriage, pachvi, etc. The dialect of the Kolis (fisherfolk) of Vasai and neighbouring Mumbai resembles this dialect closely, though they speak with a heavier accent. There is a village in Vasai called Chulna, which was predominantly Roman Catholic (now cosmopolitan). The striking feature of the dialect here contrasting it with Phudagi, is the preference of pronouncing the thinner 'l' and 'n' ('ल' and 'न') instead of the thicker 'l' and 'n' ('ळ' and 'ण'), which was retained even in the 1990s generation of speakers even for conversing normal Marathi.


Samavedi

Samavedi or Kadodi is spoken in the interiors of the Vasai-Virar region along the north of
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, up to the
Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...
, Panvel and Uran talukas of
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
. The name of this
language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
correctly suggests that its origins lie with the Samavedi
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
s native to this region. This language, too, finds more speakers among the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
converts native to the region (who are sometimes known as East Indians like other local Christians of Mumbai), but nevertheless is popular among the Samavedi Brahmins. This dialect is very different from the other Marathi dialects spoken in other regions of Maharashtra, but resembles Vadvali very closely. Both Vadvali and Samavedi have relatively high proportions of words imported from Portuguese as compared to ordinary Marathi, because of direct influence of the Portuguese who colonized this region till 1739. (These Samavedi Brahmins have supposed origins in Odisha.) There is a little difference between Samavedi and Kadodi. Kado's trace their origin from Samavedi Brahmins, Goans and Portuguese due to their inter communal marriages. Christianity in Vasai dates back to the 16th century. The churches built by Portuguese in the 16th century are still being used by Christians today as well.


Official status

With the exception of Marathi and Goan Konkani, the languages have no official status. Most are considered to be a dialect of one of the larger local languages. Goan Konkani is the official language of the Indian state of Goa along with minor Marathi, which is the official language of Maharashtra, and both are also among India's scheduled languages. Many Native Goans have challenged the status of Marathi being official language in Goa.https://www.gomantaktimes.com/my-goa/art-culture/mauzo-says-without-konkani-unique-identify-meaningless


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marathi-Konkani languages Southern Indo-Aryan languages Konkani languages Marathi language