Language Research

India, the second most populous country, consists of twenty-five states; each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs and seven less fully empowered "Union Territories".

INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

About 80% of all Indians (750 million in 1995) speak one of the languages from the Indo-Aryan family. A majority of the languages were derived from Sanskrit, the language of the ancient Aryans.

The most widely spoken language in the country is Hindi with more than 400 million speakers (1995). Hindi has a large number of dialects (at least 13, some of them completely different from each other). Hindi has been adopted as the official language in eight states.

Hindi is very closely related to Urdu, from which it differs principally only in script and vocabulary. Although Hindi replaced English within a single administration and became a medium of common communication, both languages are lingua franca in India. The official version of Hindi is based on the dialect that was spoken in the Delhi-Agra region using a Sanskrit vocabulary.

ENGLISH

English, a vestige of British colonial rule, is spoken fluently by less then 5% of the population. It is used as a linking language between the central government and the states, especially those in which Hindi is not widely understood. The government intended to switch the administration to Hindi till 1965. Even the official Language Act of 1963 stated that Hindi would become the sole official language starting in 1965. English, however, would continue as an "associate additional official language". Only when a wave of massive riots erupted in reaction to this plan in 1964, were non-Hindu-speaking states assured that Hindi would not be imposed as the sole language of communication between the central government and the states as long as even one state objected. In addition, any of the Scheduled Languages could be used in taking examinations for entry into the central government services.

On the other hand, some Dravidian-speakers from the southern part of the country feel that speakers of Hindi have an advantage in getting well-paid jobs in the military, national bureaucracy and other services. Native speakers of Hindi, who are concentrated in the northern part of India, contend that English, spoken by only a small fraction of the population, is hopelessly elitist and unsuitable as the nation's official language. Proponents of English argue that the use of Hindi is unfair because it is a liability for those Indians who do not speak it as their native tongue. English, they say, at least represents an equal handicap for Indians of every region. An increasing percentage of Indians send their children to private English language schools, to give them a chance to work in high-privilege positions of business, education and government.

DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGES

Around 18% of the Indian population (169 million in 1995), residing mostly in the southern part of the country where Indo-Aryan influence was less extensive than in the north, speaks Dravidian languages. The oldest of the Dravidian languages is Tamil.

Top of page

Updated (August 2001)

India has been home to several great empires which brought many centuries of peace to the land. Nonetheless, the Indian sub-continent has endured many conquests throughout its history. Certainly the one with the longest-lasting effect was the Aryan invasion, which brought Vedic speech with it. Sanskrit, Sauraseni Prakrit, and then Sauraseni Apabhramsa served as languages of interregional communication from early times until the Muslim invasions in north India in the 13th Century. At this time, Persian became the court language while Sauraseni Apabhramsa continued to be used as an official language. Beginning with the Moghul emperor Akbar's reign, Persian was used as the official language and over time gained such prestige that it enjoyed continued use as the official language in north India even after the end of Muslim rule. However, during the 17th and 18th centuries, Hindi and Urdu also developed into languages of interregional communication.

The last foreign language to hold sway in India is English, which to this day continues to play a prominent role in Indian life. English replaced Persian as the official language in 1837, though Persian and, to a lesser extent, Hindi were retained in some capacity at the lower levels of administration. English also became the language of the intellectual elite, a situation which has been replicated in many parts of the post-colonial world. Today, English is spoken by approximately 3 to 4% of the Indian population. Although this is a minority, it is perhaps the most elite and influential minority in India today.

Top of page