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- The Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. They are mostly spoken in Southern Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh. However, some are also spoken in other places, such as Europe.
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Present-day geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan language groups. Romani, Domari, Kholosi, Luwati, and Lomavren are outside the scope of the map.
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Indo-Aryan languages, subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. In the early 21st century, Indo-Aryan languages were spoken by more than 800 million people, primarily in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Linguists generally recognize three major divisions of Indo-Aryan languages: Old, Middle, and New (or Modern) Indo-Aryan. These divisions are primarily linguistic and are named in the order in which they initially appeared, with later divisions coexisting with rather than completely replacing earlier ones.
Old Indo-Aryan includes different dialects and linguistic states that are referred to in common as Sanskrit. The most archaic Old Indo-Aryan is found in Hindu sacred texts called the Vedas, which date to approximately 1500 bce. There is a clear-cut difference between Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit in that the former has certain formations that the latter has eliminated. The grammarian Pāṇini (c. 5th–6th century bce) appropriately distinguishes between usage proper to the language of sacred texts (chandas, locative sg. chandasi)—that is, Vedic usage—and what occurs in the spoken language (bhāṣā, locative sg. bhāṣāyām) of his time. Other distinctions are also made within the language, so scholars speak of Classical Sanskrit and Epic Sanskrit. Despite differences in genre, however, the Sanskrit found in such works generally agrees with the language Pāṇini describes. So-called un-Pāṇinian forms not only reflect the influence of vernaculars but also continue a freedom of usage—referred to as ārṣaprayoga (usage of ṛṣis)—already to be seen in aspects of the living spoken language Pāṇini described.
Middle Indo-Aryan includes the dialects of inscriptions from the 3rd century bce to the 4th century ce as well as various literary languages. Apabhraṃśa dialects represent the latest stage of Middle Indo-Aryan development. Though all Middle Indo-Aryan languages are included under the name Prākrit, it is customary to speak of the Prākrits as excluding Apabhraṃśa.
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Uncertainties regarding the course of Indo-Aryan migration make it difficult to determine the domain of Proto-Indo-Aryan, the ancestral language of all the known Indo-Aryan tongues, if indeed there was any such single region (see Indo-Iranian languages). All that can be said with certainty is that the Indo-Aryan speakers on the Indian subcontinent first occupied the area comprising most of present-day Punjab state (India), Punjab province (Pakistan), Haryana, and the Upper Doab (of the Ganges–Yamuna Doab) of Uttar Pradesh. The structure of Proto-Indo-Aryan must have been similar to that of early Vedic, albeit with dialect variations.
- George Cardona
Scholarly consensus holds that the Indo-Iranian languages include the Iranian and Indo-Aryan (Indic) language groups. Some scholars suggest that the Nūristānī and Bangani languages belong in the Indo-Iranian group as well. Distribution
- George Cardona
Indo-Aryan languages, or Indic languages, Major subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by more than 800 million people, principally in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Indo-Iranian; Indo-Iranic (Aryan) Geographic distribution: South, Central, West Asia and the Caucasus: Linguistic classification: Indo-European. Indo-Iranian; Proto-language: Proto-Indo-Iranian: Subdivisions: Indo-Aryan; Iranian; Nuristani; ISO 639-5: iir: Glottolog: indo1320
1978 map showing geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages. (Urdu is included under Hindi. Romani, Domari, and Lomavren are outside the scope of the map.) Dotted/striped areas indicate where multilingualism is common.
Contents. hide. Beginning. Related pages. References. Further reading. Other websites. Indo-Aryan languages. The Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. They are mostly spoken in Southern Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh.
