In India Which Language Is Spoken Mostly?

Today we are going to talk about What Language Is Spoken in India. Hindi is known as the most spoken language in India. People in India speak different languages. Due to the long history of India, Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Oriya and Telugu have been designated as classical languages. So let us gather some more information about What Language Is Spoken in India.

1. Hindi

Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in India. This language is often described as the standard and Sanskrit register of Hindustani language. Hindi is the fourth most common first language in the world, after Spanish, Mandarin, and English. Hindi language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India. For centuries, a descendant of Sanskrit in India, Hindi has been influenced by various languages, including the Dravidian mother tongue, Portuguese, English, Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.

First language speakers : 528,347,193

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 43.63%

2. English

The language is a West German language spoken in eventually becoming a global lingua franca and early medieval England. The English language was named after Engels, one of the oldest Germans to have migrated to the Great Britain area. The English language has evolved over a period of more than 1,400 years. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century, with worldwide influence from the British Empire and the United States. English language is the largest language by number of speakers.

First language speakers : 259,678

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.02%

3. Bengali

Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh. The language is also known as Bengali by the native speakers of Bangladesh. Bengali is the most widely spoken language in the Indian states of West Bengal, Lower Assam and Tripura. Bengali language is the fifth most spoken language in the world. Like Hindi, Bengali has evolved from Sanskrit, as well as Pali and Prakrit, and has influenced many other languages, including Persian, Dutch, Portuguese, French and English. The language is an outstanding element of Bengali identity and connects culturally diverse spheres.

First language speakers : 97,237,669

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 8.30%

4. Marathi

The Marathi language is meant to be more than 1,300 years old. Marathi is the official language of the states in the western regions of India, including Goa and Maharashtra. Like other Indian languages, Marathi is derived from Sanskrit. Marathi language is made up of at least 42 regional dialects and some of them sound similar to Eastern Hindi in sound and structure. The origin of Marathi language can also be found in Indian languages like Konkani, Goanese, Gowlan, Ikrani, Deccan and Varhadi-Nagpuri.

First language speakers : 83,026,680

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 7.09%

5. Telugu

This language is a Dravidian language. Telugu is one of the six languages designated as the classical language of India by the Government of India. Telugu is spoken mainly in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam, as well as in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Chattisgarh. The earliest known inscriptions here appear on 400 BCE coins containing some Telugu language words. In India, Telugu is also the official language of the Union Territory of Puducherry.

First language speakers : 81,127,740

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 6.93%

6. Tamil

Tamil is also known as Dravidian. Tamil is a language spoken by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka. Tamil is also spoken by Muslims in Sri Lanka. The language is the official language in Singapore and Sri Lanka. Tamil is a recognized minority language in countries like Mauritius, Malaysia and South Africa. The Tamil language is notable as one of the oldest languages in the modern world and has a literary history of at least 2,000 years. The language is commonly spoken in South India and is mainly spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu and the Indian Union Territories of Puducherry.

First language speakers : 69,026,881

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 5.89%

7. Gujarati

Gujarati is the native Indian and Aryan language of the Indian state of Gujarat. This language is mainly spoken by Gujarati people. Gujarati language is part of a large family of Indo-European languages. Gujarati is the official language of the state of Gujarat in India and is also the official language of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu. As per 2007, Gujarati is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world in terms of number of native speakers. The language is over 700 years old.

First language speakers : 55,492,554

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 4.74%

8. Urdu

Urdu language is also known as the military. The modern standard Urdu language is often described as the Persianised standard register of Hindustani language. Urdu is the official national language of Pakistan and lingua franca. Urdu is one of the 22 constitutionally recognized languages in India, with Bihar, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal as the official capital of Delhi. The spoken Urdu language is intertwined with most of the written Hindi.

First language speakers : 50,772,631

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 4.34%

9. Kannada

This language is commonly known as Kanarese. Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken mainly by the people of Karnataka in the southwestern part of India. Kannada is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa. Kannada is one of the defined languages of India and is the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka. The language was the court language of some of the most powerful empires in South and Central India.

First language speakers : 43,706,512

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 3.73%

10. Odia

This language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. Odia is the official language of Odisha. Odia language is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. This language is one of the many official languages of India. Odia is the second official language of Jharkhand. Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated as a classical language in India due to its long literary history and not being heavily borrowed from other languages.

First language speakers : 37,521,324

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 3.20%

11. Malayalam

This language is a Dravidian language. Malayalam is spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and in the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry by the Malayali people. Malayalam language is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam is also widely spoken in the Gulf countries due to Malayalee foreigners in the Persian Gulf. The oldest script for writing Malayalam was the Vatteluttu script. The Malayalam language differs from the most ancient literary work, the Tamil tradition, and the Malayalam language dates back to the 9th and 11th centuries.

First language speakers : 34,838,819

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 2.97%

12. Punjabi

It is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 125 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and worldwide. Punjabi is the native language of the Punjabi people and is the ethnic language of the cultural region of Punjab. The Punjabi language covers North West India and East Pakistan. Punjabi language is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the 11th most widely spoken language in India and the third most widely spoken native language in the Indian subcontinent.

First language speakers : 33,124,726

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 2.83

13. English

First language speakers : 259,678

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.02%

14. Sanskrit

The Sanskrit language is the primary marriage language of Hinduism and the main language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the main texts of Buddhism and Jainism. The Sanskrit language, in its various forms and numerous dialects, was the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India. Sanskrit is an old Indo-Aryan language. Sanskrit is at the forefront of Indo-European studies. The language is related to Greek and Latin as well as Hittite, Old Avestan, Luwian and many other living and extinct languages of historical significance in Europe, West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia.

First language speakers : 24,821

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.00185%

Other Language Is Spoken in India

1) Assamese:

First language speakers : 15,311,351

First language speakers as a percentage of total population: 1.28%

2) Maithili

First language speakers : 13,583,464

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 1.18%

3) Bhili/Bhilodi

First language speakers : 10,413,637

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.93%

4) Santali

First language speakers : 7,368,192

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.63%

5) Kashmiri

First language speakers : 6,797,587

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.54%

6) Gondi

First language speakers : 2,984,453

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.26%

7) Nepali

First language speakers : 2,926,168

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.28%

8) Sindhi

First language speakers : 2,772,264

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.25%

9) Dogri:

First language speakers : 2,596,767

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.22%

10) Konkani

First language speakers : 2,256,502

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.24%

11) Kurukh

First language speakers : 1,988,350

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.17%

12) Khandeshi

First language speakers : 1,860,236

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.21%

13) Tulu

First language speakers : 1,846,427

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.17%

14) Meitei (Manipuri)

First language speakers : 1,761,079

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.14%

15) Bodo

First language speakers : 1,482,929

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.13%

16) Khasi

First language speakers : 1,431,344

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.11%

17) Ho

First language speakers : 1,421,418

First language speakers as a percentage of total population : 0.10%

18) Garo

First language speakers : 1,145,323