List of Indian languages by number of native speakers

List of Indian languages by number of native speakers

India is home to several hundred languages. Most languages spoken in India belong either to the Indo-European (ca. 74%), the Dravidian (ca. 24%), the Austroasiatic (Munda) (ca. 1.2%), or the Tibeto-Burman (ca. 0.6%) families, with some languages of the Himalayas still unclassified.The SIL Ethnologue lists 415 living languages for India.

Overview

Hindi (Standard Hindi besides many dialects of varying mutual intelligibility) is the most widespread language of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of "Hindi" as a broad variety of "Hindi languages". The native speakers of Hindi so defined accounts for 40% of Indians.

Indian English ranks as 40th as first language as per the census. English is the second "language of the Union" besides Hindi.

Twelve languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95% of Indians; all of them are "scheduled languages of the constitution".

Scheduled languages spoken by less than 1% of Indians are Santali (0.62%), Sindhi (0.25%), Nepali (0.25%), Manipuri (0.15%), Bodo (0.25%), Dogri (spoken in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir). The largest language that is not "scheduled" is Bhili (0.67%), followed by Gondi (0.25%), Tulu (0.19%) and Kurukh (0.17%).

Classical Languages of India are Tamil and Sanskrit

List by number of native speakers

Ordered by number of speakers as first language. Indian population in 1991 exhibited 19.4% of bilingualism and 7.2% of trilingualism, so that the total percentage of "native languages" is at about 127%.

Fewer than 100,000 speakers

The following are SIL Ethnologue estimates:

Fewer than 10,000 speakers

*Zome: 9,112
*Bondo: 9,000
*Khamti: 8,879
*Bhalay: 8,672
*Digaro-Mishmi: 8,622
*Paliyan: 8,615
*Holiya: 8,000
*Rongpo: 7,500
*Malankuravan: 7,339
*Mannan: 7,289
*Pao: 7,223
*Simte: 7,150
*Nagarchal: 7,090
*Chiru: 7,000
*Miju-Mishmi: 6,500
*Kinnauri, Harijan: 6,331
*Sanskrit: 6,106
*Turi: 6,054
*Darlong: 6,000
*Kinnauri, Bhoti: 6,000
*Kurumba, Mullu: 6,000
*Urali: 5,843
*Sulung: 5,443
*Chamari: 5,324
*Bhatola: 5,045
*Nicobarese, Southern: 5,045
*Aiton: 5,000
*Balochi, Eastern: 5,000
*Kom: 5,000
*Phake: 5,000
*Katkari: 4,951
*Maldivian: 4,500
*Chin, Bawm: 4,439
*Manda: 4,036
*Gahri: 4,000
*Hruso: 4,000
*Kupia: 4,000
*Sajalong: 4,000
*Naga, Moyon: 3,700
*Naga, Chothe: 3,600
*Thulung: 3,313
*Naga, Monsang: 3,200
*Malapandaram: 3,147
*Sherdukpen: 3,100
*Gata': 3,055
*Brokskat: 3,000
*Dzongkha: 3,000
*Koireng: 3,000
*Kurmukar: 3,000
*Naga, Puimei: 3,000
*Singpho: 3,000
*Zyphe: 3,000
*Rawat: 2,926
*Byangsi: 2,829
*Teressa: 2,767
*Aimol: 2,643
*Kurumba, Alu: 2,500
*Stod Bhoti: 2,500
*Kudiya: 2,462
*Bijori: 2,391
*Kadar: 2,265
*Nicobarese, Central: 2,200
*Shumcho: 2,174
*Darmiya: 2,027
*Chaura: 2,018
*Kota: 2,000
*Nihali: 2,000
*Tinani: 2,000
*Jangshung: 1,990
*Chaudangsi: 1,825
*Na: 1,500
*Kanashi: 1,400
*Naga, Kharam: 1,400
*Bellari: 1,352
*Khamba: 1,333
*Merwari: 1,312
*Mru: 1,231
*Kinnauri, Chitkuli: 1,060
*Bugun: 1,046
*Rangkas: 1,014
*Lohar, Gade: 1,009
*Phudagi: 1,009
*Lhomi: 1,000
*Lisu: 1,000
*Yakha: 1,000
*Naga, Tarao: 870
*Bateri: 800
*Parenga: 767
*Korlai Creole Portuguese: 750
*Lohar, Lahul: 750
*Tukpa: 723
*Indo-Portuguese: 700
*Toda: 600
*Sunam: 558
*Naga, Purum: 503
*Chinali: 500
*Varhadi-Nagpuri: 463
*Dhimal: 450
*Allar: 350
*Ralte: 303
*Jad: 300
*Jarawa: 300
*Koda: 300
*Zakhring: 300
*Majhi: 246
*Aranadan: 236
*Pankhu: 234
*Shom Peng: 223
*Vishavan: 150
*Hinduri: 138
*Nahari: 108
*Sentinel: 101
*Mugom: 100
*Önge: 96
*Gurung, Western: 82
*Godwari: 61
*Khamyang: 50
*Great Andamanese: 24
*Farsa: 2
*Kadubhashe: 1

References

* [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm Data table of Census of India, 2001]
* [http://www.ciil.org/languages/map4.html Language Maps from Central Institute of Indian Languages]
* [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement4.htm SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH - 2001]
* [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement6.htm COMPARATIVE RANKING OF SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SPEAKERS' STRENGTH-1971, 1981, 1991 AND 2001]
* [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/data_on_language.html Census data on Languages]

See also

* Official languages of India
* Languages of India

External links

* [http://www.indojin.com/discoverindia/indianlang.htm Major Indian Languages]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=India Ethnologue report]
* [http://www.ciil.org/ Central Institute of Indian Languages]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of languages by number of native speakers — For various estimates of the total speakers of the top dozen languages, see List of languages by total number of speakers. Current distribution of human language families For larger map, scroll towards end of article. The following tables list… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages with official status in India — The official language of the Indian Union is Hindi with English as an additional language for official work;[1] states in India can legislate their own official languages.[1] Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any… …   Wikipedia

  • List of indigenous languages in Argentina — This is a list of Indigenous languages that are or were spoken in the present territory of Argentina.Although the official language of Argentina is Spanish, several Indigenous languages are in use. Most are spoken only within their respective… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of India — Indian languages redirects here. For languages of Americans, see Indigenous languages of the Americas. Languages of India Official language(s) Standard Hindi written in the Devanāgarī script (the Indian Constitution recognises English as a… …   Wikipedia

  • South American Indian languages — Introduction       group of languages that once covered and today still partially cover all of South America, the Antilles, and Central America to the south of a line from the Gulf of Honduras to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Estimates of… …   Universalium

  • Mesoamerican Indian languages — Introduction also called  Middle American Indian languages        group of languages spoken in an area of the aboriginal New World that includes central and southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, parts of Honduras and Nicaragua, and… …   Universalium

  • Languages of the Philippines — See also: Philippine languages Languages of the Philippines Map of the dominant ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Asia — There is a wide variety of languages spoken throughout Asia, comprising a number of families and some unrelated isolates. Many languages have a long tradition of writing. Contents 1 Central and North Asian languages 2 East Asian 3 Southeast Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of the United States — Official language(s) none Main language(s) English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo European 3.8%, Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Indian English — is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India. As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947, English remains an official language of India and continues… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”