List of languages by number of native speakers in India

The Republic of India is home to several hundred languages. Most Indians speak a language belonging to the families of the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European (c. 77%), the Dravidian (c. 20.61%), the Austroasiatic (precisely Munda and Khasic) (c. 1.2%), or the Sino-Tibetan (precisely Tibeto-Burman) (c. 0.8%), with some languages of the Himalayas still unclassified. The SIL Ethnologue lists 415 living languages in India.

States and union territories of India by the most commonly spoken (L1) first language[1][note 1]

Overview

India has not had a national language since its independence in 1947. However, Rule 1976 (As Amended, 1987) of the Constitution of India, mandates Hindi and English as the "Official Languages" required "for Official Purpose of the Union." Business in the Indian parliament is transacted in either Hindi or in English. English is allowed for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.

States within India have the liberty and powers to select their own official language(s) through legislation. In addition to the two Official Languages, the constitution recognizes 22 regional languages, named in a specific list as "Scheduled Languages". (Hindi is a listed Scheduled Language but English is not.) India's Constitution includes provisions detailing the languages used for the official purposes of the union, the languages used for the official purposes of each state and union territory and the languages used for communication between the union and the states.

Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the northern parts of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of "Hindi" as a broad variety of the "Hindi Belt".[2] According to 2001 Census, 53.6% of the Indian population declared that they speak Hindi as either their first or second language, in which 41% of them have declared it as their native language.[3][4][5] 12% of Indians declared that they can speak English as a second language.[6]

Thirteen languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95%; all of them are "scheduled languages of the constitution". Scheduled languages spoken by fewer than 1% of Indians are Santali (0.63%), Kashmiri (0.54%), Nepali (0.28%), Sindhi (0.25%), Konkani (0.24%), Dogri (0.22%), Meitei (0.14%), Bodo (0.13%) and Sanskrit (In the 2001 census of India, 14,135 people reported Sanskrit as their native language).[7] The largest language that is not "scheduled" is Bhili (0.95%), followed by Gondi (0.27%), Khandeshi (0.21%), Tulu (0.17%) and Kurukh (0.10%).

As per 2011 census, 26% of Indians are bilingual and 7% are trilingual.[8]

India has a Greenberg's diversity index of 0.914—i.e. two people selected at random from the country will have different native languages in 91.4% of cases.[9]

As per the 2011 Census of India, languages by highest number of speakers are as follows: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam.[10][11]

List of languages by number of native speakers

Ordered by number of speakers as first language.

More than one million speakers

The 2011 census recorded 31 individual languages as having more than 1 million native speakers (0.1% of total population). The languages in bold are scheduled languages (the only scheduled language with less than 1 million native speakers is Sanskrit). The first table is restricted to only speaking populations for scheduled languages.

First, second, and third languages by number of speakers in India (2011 Census)
First language speakers Second language
speakers[12]		 Third language
speakers[12]		 Total speakers
Language Figure[12] % of total
population		 Figure[13][12] % of total
population
Hindi[note 2] 528,347,193 43.63% 139,207,180 24,160,696 691,347,193 57.09%
Bengali 97,237,669 8.03% 9,037,222 1,008,088 107,237,669 8.85%
Marathi 83,026,680 6.86% 12,923,626 2,966,019 99,026,680 8.18%
Telugu 81,127,740 6.70% 11,946,414 1,001,498 94,127,740 7.77%
Tamil 69,026,881 5.70% 6,992,253 956,335 77,026,881 6.36%
Gujarati 55,492,554 4.58% 4,035,489 1,007,912 60,492,554 4.99%
Urdu[note 3] 50,772,631 4.19% 11,055,287 1,096,428 62,772,631 5.18%
Kannada 43,706,512 3.61% 14,076,355 993,989 58,706,512 4.84%
Odia 37,521,324 3.10% 4,972,151 31,525 42,551,324 3.51%
Malayalam 34,838,819 2.88% 499,188 195,885 35,538,819 2.93%
Punjabi 33,124,726 2.74% 2,300,000 720,000 36,074,726 2.97%
Assamese 15,311,351 1.26% 7,488,153 740,402 23,539,906 1.94%
English 259,678 0.02% 83,125,221 45,993,066 129,259,678 10.67%
Table: Population ordered by number of native speakers
RankLanguage 1991 census of India[14]
(total: 838,583,988)		 2001 census of India[15]
(total: 1,028,610,328)		 2011 Census of India[16][17]
(total: 1,210,854,977)[18]		 Encarta 2007 estimate[19]
Worldwide total
SpeakersPercentageSpeakersPercentageSpeakersPercentageSpeakers
1Hindi[note 2]329,518,08739.29%422,048,64241.1%528,347,19343.63%366 million
2Bengali69,595,7388.30%83,369,7698.11%97,237,6698.03%207 million
3Marathi62,481,6817.45%71,936,8946.99%83,026,6806.86%68.0 million
4Telugu66,017,6157.87%74,002,8567.19%81,127,7406.70%69.7 million
5Tamil53,006,3686.32%60,793,8145.91%69,026,8815.70%66.0 million
6Gujarati40,673,8144.85%46,091,6174.48%55,492,5544.58%46.1 million
7Urdu[note 3]43,406,9325.18%51,536,1115.01%50,772,6314.19%60.3 million
8Kannada32,753,6763.91%37,924,0113.69%43,706,5123.61%35.3 million
9 Odia28,061,3133.35%33,017,4463.21%37,521,3243.10%32.3 million
10Malayalam30,377,1763.62%33,066,3923.21%34,838,8192.88%35.7 million
11Punjabi23,378,7442.79%29,102,4772.83%33,124,7262.74%57.1 million
12Assamese13,079,6961.56%13,168,4841.28%15,311,3511.26%15.4 million
13Maithili7,766,9210.926%12,179,1221.18%13,583,4641.12%24.2 million
14Bhili/Bhilodi9,582,9570.93%10,413,6370.86%
15Santali5,216,3250.622%6,469,6000.63%7,368,1920.61%
16Kashmiri5,527,6980.54%6,797,5870.56%
17Gondi2,713,7900.26%2,984,4530.25%
18Nepali2,076,6450.248%2,871,7490.28%2,926,1680.24%16.1 million
19Sindhi2,122,8480.253%2,535,4850.25%2,772,2640.23%19.7 million
20Dogri2,282,5890.22%2,596,7670.21%
21Konkani1,760,6070.210%2,489,0150.24%2,256,5020.19%
22Kurukh1,751,4890.17%1,988,3500.16%
23Khandeshi2,075,2580.21%1,860,2360.15%
24Tulu1,722,7680.17%1,846,4270.15%
25Meitei (Manipuri)1,270,2160.151%1,466,705*0.14%1,761,0790.15%
26Bodo1,221,8810.146%1,350,4780.13%1,482,9290.12%
27Khasi1,128,5750.11%1,431,3440.12%
28Ho1,042,7240.101%1,421,4180.12%
29Garo1,061,3520.103%1,145,3230.09%
30Mundari889,4790.086%1,128,2280.09%
31Tripuri854,0230.083%1,011,2940.08%

* Excludes figures of Paomata, Mao-Maram and Purul sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur for 2001.
** The percentage of speakers of each language for 2001 has been worked out on the total population of India excluding the population of Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati district of Manipur due to cancellation of census results.

100,000 to one million speakers
RankLanguage2001 census
SpeakersPercentage
32Kui916,2220.089%
33Lushai/Mizo674,7560.066%
34Halabi593,4430.058%
35Korku574,4810.056%
36Miri/Mishing551,2240.054%
37Munda469,3570.046%
38Karbi/Mikir419,5340.041%
39Koya362,0700.035%
40Ao261,3870.025%
41Savara252,5190.025%
42Konyak248,1090.024%
43Kharia239,6080.023%
44English226,4490.022%
45Malto224,9260.022%
46Nissi/Dafla211,4850.021%
47Adi198,4620.019%
48Thado190,5950.019%
49Lotha170,0010.017%
50Coorgi/Kodagu166,1870.016%
51Rabha164,7700.016%
52Tangkhul142,0350.014%
53Kisan141,0880.014%
54Angami132,2250.013%
55Phom122,5080.012%
56Kolami121,8550.012%
57Khond/Kondh[20]118,5970.012%
58Dimasa111,9610.011%
59Ladakhi104,6180.010%
60Sema103,5290.010%

List of mother tongues by number of speakers

Each of the languages of the 2001 census subsumes one or more mother tongues. Speaker numbers are available for these mother tongues and they are also included in the speaker numbers for their respective language. For example, the language Telugu (with a total of 81,127,740 speakers) includes the mother tongues of Telugu (with 80,912,459 speakers), Vadari (198,020 speakers) and "Others" (17,261 speakers).[21] The General Notes from the 2001 census define "mother tongue" as "the language spoken in childhood by the person's mother to the person. If the mother died in infancy, the language mainly spoken in the person's home in childhood will be the mother tongue."[22]

The following table lists those mother tongues that have more than one million speakers according to the 2011 census:[23]

Mother tongues with more than one million speakers
RankMother tongue2011 censusIncluded
in language
SpeakersPercentage
1Hindi322,200,00026.6%
2Bengali96,180,0007.94%
3Marathi82,800,0006.84%
4Telugu80,910,0006.68%
5Tamil68,890,0005.69%
6Gujarati55,040,0004.55%
7Urdu50,730,0004.19%
8Bhojpuri50,580,0004.18%Hindi
9Kannada43,510,0003.59%
10Malayalam34,780,0002.87%
11Odia34,060,0002.81%
12Punjabi31,140,0002.57%
13Rajasthani25,810,0002.13%Hindi
14Chhattisgarhi16,250,0001.34%Hindi
15Assamese14,820,0001.22%
16Maithili13,350,0001.10%
17Magadhi/Magahi12,710,0001.05%Hindi
18Haryanvi9,807,0000.810%Hindi
19Khortha/Khotta8,039,0000.664%Hindi
20Marwari7,832,0000.647%Hindi
21Santali6,973,0000.576%
22Kashmiri6,554,0000.541%
23Bundeli/Bundel khandi5,626,0000.465%Hindi
24Malvi5,213,0000.430%Hindi
25Sadan/Sadri4,346,0000.359%Hindi
26Mewari4,212,0000.348%Hindi
27Awadhi3,851,0000.318%Hindi
28Wagdi3,394,0000.280%Bhili/Bhilodi
29Lamani/Lambadi3,277,0000.271%Hindi
30Pahari[note 4]3,254,0000.269%Hindi
31Bhili/Bhilodi3,207,0000.265%
32Hara/Harauti2,944,0000.243%Hindi
33Nepali2,926,0000.242%
34Gondi2,857,0000.236%
35Bagheli/Baghel Khandi2,679,0000.221%Hindi
36Sambalpuri2,630,0000.217%Odia
37Dogri2,597,0000.214%
38Garhwali2,482,0000.205%Hindi
39Nimadi2,309,0000.191%Hindi
40Surjapuri2,256,0000.186%Hindi
41Konkani2,147,0000.177%
42Kumauni2,081,0000.172%Hindi
43Kurukh/Oraon1,977,0000.163%
44Tulu1,842,0000.152%
45Manipuri1,761,0000.145%
46Surgujia1,738,0000.144%Hindi
47Sindhi1,679,0000.139%
48Bagri1,657,0000.137%Punjabi
49Ahirani1,636,0000.135%Khandeshi
50Banjari1,581,0000.131%Hindi
51Brajbhasha1,556,0000.129%Hindi
52Dhundhari1,476,0000.122%Hindi
53Bodo/Boro1,455,0000.120%Bodo
54Ho1,411,0000.117%
55Gojri/Gujjari/Gujar1,228,0000.101%Hindi
56Mundari1,128,0000.093%
57Garo1,125,0000.093%
58Kangri1,117,0000.092%Hindi
59Khasi1,038,0000.086%
60Kachchhi1,031,0000.085%Sindhi

Notes
  1. Some languages may be over- or under-represented as the census data used is at the state-level. For example, while Urdu has 52 million speakers (2001), in no state is it a majority language.
  2. Hindi does not merely refer to "Modern Standard Hindi" (which is based on Dehlavi dialect of Kauravi), but also broadly many "Hindi languages", which includes Western Hindi (apart from Urdu), Eastern Hindi, Bihari languages except for Maithili, the Rajasthani languages, and the Pahari languages apart from Nepali and (in 2001) Dogri, whether or not the included varieties were reported as "Hindi" or under their individual names during census.
  3. Although linguistically Modern Standard Hindi and Urdu together is classified as a single language called Hindustani, the government classifies them as separate languages instead of different standard registers of the same language due to socio-political reasons.
  4. "Pahari" as ambiguous, but in the census returns the language name most commonly comes from the Western Pahari area.[24]

See also

References
  1. "50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India (July 2012 to June 2013)" (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  2. "How a Bihari lost his mother tongue to Hindi".
  3. "These four charts break down India's complex relationship with Hindi".
  4. "Nearly 60% of Indians speak a language other than Hindi".
  5. 2001 census data Archived 2013-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  6. In 1991, there were 90,000,000 "users" of English. (Census of India Indian Census Archived 2006-12-23 at the Wayback Machine, Issue 10, 2003, pp. 8–10, (Feature: Languages of West Bengal in Census and Surveys, Bilingualism and Trilingualism) and Tropf, Herbert S. 2004. India and its Languages Archived 2008-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Siemens AG, Munich.)
  7. "COMPARATIVE SPEAKERS' STRENGTH OF SCHEDULED LANGUAGES -1971, 1981, 1991 AND 2001". censusindia.gov. New Delhi, India: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  8. https://censusindia.gov.in/census.website/data/census-tables Table C-17
  9. Paul, Lewis M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D. Fennig, eds. (2015). "Summary by country". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Eighteenth ed.). SIL International.
  10. Jain, Bharti (27 June 2018). "Hindi mother tongue of 44% in India, Bangla second most-spoken". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  11. Statement 4 : Scheduled Languages in descending order of speakers' strength – 2011
  12. Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. "C-17 POPULATION BY BILINGUALISM AND TRILINGUALISM". Archived from the original on 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  13. "Indiaspeak: English is our 2nd language – Times of India".
  14. Comparative Speaker's Strength of Scheduled Languages -1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 Archived 2013-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Census of India, 1991
  15. Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2000 Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, Census of India, 2001
  16. "Language" (PDF). Census of India. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  17. Statement 1 : Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011 Archived 2018-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Statement 2 : Distribution of population by Scheduled and other Languages India, States and Union Territories – 2011 Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People – Table – MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2007-12-03.
  20. different from Kui language
  21. The data are from http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-0000.XLSX. Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  22. "Census Data 2001 General Notes". Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
  23. "2011 Census tables: C-16, population by mother tongue". Census of India Website. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  24. Masica, Colin P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. p. 439. ISBN 978-0-521-23420-7.

General references
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.