Language of India

Language
India is a huge country, with a lot of cultural and geographical multiplicities. This has resulted in a number of different languages spoken across the country. There are a total of 22 officially recognized language in India, even though there is so much more; the others are accepted as the dialects of the particular region. E.g. It is just like the classic case of ‘Hokkien’ or ‘Cantonese’ in Singapore. Just so you know, there are about 33 different languages and about 2000 dialects identified in India!

The Indian languages are classified into the four language families: Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic (Austric) and Sino-Tibetan. Bulk of India’s population uses Indo-European and Dravidian languages, and is spoken mostly in northern and central regions, and in southern India respectively. Some ethnic groups in Assam and other parts of eastern India converse in the Austric tongue, while people in the northern Himalayan region and near the Burmese border speak Sino-Tibetan languages.

Hindi is the official language of the Federal government of India. English is an associate official language. Sanskrit, the classical language of India, is the oldest literary language of India. More than 5,000 years old, it is the foundation for countless of contemporary Indian languages which includes Hindi and Urdu. Sanskrit is used in all the classical literature and the Indian epics.

Below is a list of language accepted by the Indian Constitution.

Languages	Official Language of	Spoken by
Assamese	Assam	15 million
Bengali	Tripura & West Bengal	67 million
Bodo	Assam
Dogri	Jammu and Kashmir
Gujarati	Dadra and Nagar Haeli, Daman and Diu & Gujrat	43 million
Hindi	Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Uttaranchal	180 million
Kannada	Karnataka	35 million
Kashmiri
Konkani	Goa
Maithili	Bihar	22 million
Malayalam	Kerala & Lakshadweep	34 million
Manipuri (Meithei)	Manipur
Marathi	Maharashtra	65 million
Nepali	Sikkim
Oriya	Orissa	30 million
Punjabi	Punjab	26 million
Sanskrit
Santhali
Sindhi
Tamil	Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry	66 million
Telugu	Andhra Pradesh	70 million
Urdu	Jammu and Kashmir	46 million

List of other languages of India

Languages	Language of	Spoken by
Awadhi (sub-variety of Hindi)		20 million
Bhili	Bhil tribals
Bhojpuri (sub-variety of Hindi)	Bihar	23 million
Bundeli (sub-variety of Hindi)
Chhattisgarhi (sub-variety of Hindi)	Chhattisgarh	11 million
Deccani		11 million
Gondi	Gond tribals
Haryanvi (sub-variety of Hindi)	Haryana	13 million
Hindustani (mixture of Hindi and Urdu)	Northern part of India
Kanauji (sub-variety of Hindi)	Uttar Pradesh
Kodava	Kodagu (Karnataka)
Kutchi	Kutch (Gujarat)
Magahi (sub-variety of Hindi)	southern Bihar	11 million
Marwari (sub-variety of Hindi)	Rajasthan	12 million
Portuguese	Partly in Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Sikkimese	Sikkim
Tibetan	Tibet (Kashmir)	6 million
Tulu	Tulu people (Karnataka & Kerala)

Learning Hindi
The following are five trendy Hindi words that will be used most often, but may be puzzled as to what they actually mean or the context they are used in.

3. Accha

This multi-purpose word literally means "good". However, it could also mean “Okay, really?”, “I understand”, “oh!”, or “I have a question”.

2. Thik Hai

"Thik hai", pronounced "teek hey". Its literal meaning "is fine". In this regard, it’s a bit like the word “accha” and is often used along with “accha” or instead of “accha”. “I’m going over to friend’s place, and will be back by 5 p.m.” “Accha, accha, thik hai”.(Good, good, fine). “Thik hai, I’m going now” (Alright, I’m going now). Thik hai is also a common reply to the question of how you’re feeling. “How are you feeling now?” “Thik Hai, think hai (So-so)”

3. Chalega

The literal meaning is “will move” or “will walk”. nNonetheless, it is usually used by itself as a question or a statement as to whether something will work. For example, you went shopping and saw a cute top: “Chalega?” If you like it, you’d reply “chalega”. If you really like it, you could even add another “chalega” for emphasis and say “chalega, chalega”. Another situation where chalega is used is to ask if someone will go somewhere. For example, "Tampines chalega?"