The Central Indo-Aryan languagesorHindi languages are a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken across Northern and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the Indo-European language family. They historically form a dialect continuum that descends from the Middle Prakrits. Located in the Hindi Belt, the Central Zone includes the Dehlavi (Delhi) dialect (one of several called 'Khariboli') of the Hindustani language, the lingua franca of Northern India that is the basis of the Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu literary standards. In regards to the Indo-Aryan language family, the coherence of this language group depends on the classification being used; here only Eastern and Western Hindi languages will be considered.

Languages[edit]

If there can be considered a consensus within the dialectology of Hindi proper, it is that it can be split into two sets of dialects: Western and Eastern Hindi.^[1] Western Hindi evolved from the Apabhraṃśa form of Shauraseni Prakrit, Eastern Hindi from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit.^[2]

Western Hindi languages. Clockwise from the top: Haryanvi, Hindi, Bundeli, Braj.
Eastern Hindi languages. From top to bottom: Awadhi, Bagheli and Chhattisgarhi.

Western Hindi^[3]
- Braj (1.6 m), spoken in western Uttar Pradesh and adjacent districts of Rajasthan and Haryana.

Bundeli (3 m), spoken in south-western Uttar Pradesh and west-central Madhya Pradesh.

Haryanvi (8 m), spoken in Chandigarh, Haryana, and as a minority in Punjab and Delhi.

Hindustani (including Hindi and Urdu (373 m)), spoken in western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and after partition in Pakistan.

Kannauji (9.5 m), spoken in west-central Uttar Pradesh.

Parya (2,600), spoken in Gissar ValleyinTajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Eastern Hindi^[4]
- Awadhi (4.35 m), spoken in north and north-central Uttar Pradesh as well as the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius and South Africa
  - Caribbean Hindustani (300 k) (mostly based on Bhojpuri but has major Awadhi influence)

Fiji Hindi (460 k) (mostly based on Awadhi with Bhojpuri influence)

Bagheli (8 m), spoken in north-central Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Chhattisgarhi (18 m), spoken in southeast Madhya Pradesh and northern and central Chhattisgarh.

Surgujia (1.7 m), spoken in Chhattisgarh

This analysis excludes varieties sometimes claimed for Hindi for mere political reasons, such as Bihari, Rajasthani, and Pahari. They are languages much older than Hindi.^[4]

Seb Seliyer (or at least its ancestor) appear to be Central Zone languages that migrated to the Middle East and Europe ca. 500–1000 CE.

To Western Hindi Ethnologue adds Sansi (Sansiboli), Bagheli, Chamari (aspurious language), Bhaya, Gowari (not a separate language), and Ghera.

Use in non-Hindi regions[edit]

Andaman Creole Hindi is a trade language of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Arunachali Hindi is a trade language of Arunachal Pradesh
Bihari Hindi is a dialect of Hindustani greatly influenced by Bihari languages such as Bhojpuri and Magahi, spoken in urban areas in Bihar.
Bombay Hindi ("Bombay Baat"), the dialect of the city of Mumbai (Bombay); it is based on Hindustani but heavily influenced by Marathi. Technically it is a pidgin, i.e. neither is it a native language of any people nor is it used in formal settings by the educated and upper social strata. However, it is often used in the films of Hindi cinema (Bollywood) because Mumbai is the base of the Bollywood film industry.
Caribbean Hindustani is an Bihari-Eastern Hindi lingua-franca that developed among Indo-Caribbeans.
Dhakaiya Urdu, a dialect of Urdu spoken in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is based on Hindustani but heavily influenced by Bengali.
Deccani, including Hyderabadi Urdu, and Bangalori Urdu, a dialect of Urdu spoken in the present areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, and the historical Deccan region. There is a small but distinct difference between Deccani and standard Hindustani, which is bigger the further south it is spoken.
Fiji Hindi is an Eastern Hindi-Bihari lingua-franca that developed among Indo-Fijians.
Haflong Hindi is a trade language of the areas adjacent to HaflonginAssam
Domari and Romani are both central Indo-Aryan languages, although deriving from separate origins within the family.^[5]

Comparison[edit]

The Delhi Hindustani pronunciations [ɛː, ɔː] commonly have diphthongal realizations, ranging from [əɪ]to[ɑɪ] and from [əu]to[ɑu], respectively, in Eastern Hindi varieties and many non-standard Western Hindi varieties.^[6]

Notes[edit]

^ Not to be confused with the Bihari languages, a group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.

References[edit]

^ Shapiro (2003), p. 276.

^ Shapiro (2003), p. 305.

^ Grierson, George A. (1916). "Western Hindi" (PDF). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. IX Indo-Aryan family. Central group, Part 1, Specimens of western Hindi and Pañjābī. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.

^ ^a ^b Shapiro (2003), p. 277.

^ Herin, Bruno (2016). "Elements of Domari Dialectology". Mediterranean Language Review. 23: 33–73. doi:10.13173/medilangrevi.23.2016.0033. ISSN 0724-7567.

^ Shapiro (2003), p. 283.

Bibliography[edit]

Shapiro, Michael C. (2003), "Hindi", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 276–314, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5