Bihari languages

Not to be confused with the languages of Bihar.

Bihari languages are a group of the Indo-Aryan languages.^[2][3] The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, and also in Nepal.^[4][5] The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili.

Bihari
Geographic distribution	India and Nepal
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bihari
Subdivisions	Angika Bhojpuri Bajjika Bote-Darai Danwar Kumhali Magahi Maithili Sadanic Tharuic
Language codes
ISO 639-1	bh (deprecated)[1]
ISO 639-2 / 5	bih
Glottolog	biha1245

Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only Maithili has been constitutionally recognised in India, which gained constitutional status via the 92nd amendment to the Constitution of India, of 2003 (gaining assent in 2004).^[6] Both Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal.^[7] Bhojpuri is also official in Fiji as Fiji Hindi. There are demands for including Bhojpuri in the 8th schedule of Indian constitution.

In Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters.^[8] These languages were legally absorbed under the overarching label Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments.^[9] After independence Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950.^[10] Hindi was displaced as the sole official language of Bihar in 1981, when Urdu was accorded the status of the second official language.^[11]

Speakers

See also: Languages in Bihar, Maithili language, Bhojpuri language, Angika, Bajjika, Magahi, Magadhi Prakrit, and Hindi in Bihar

The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness.^{[clarification needed]} The educated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.^[12]

British linguist Grierson also mentioned that Bajjika, Angika and Surjapuri are also spoken in particular districts of Bihar. These languages are mostly spoken in rural areas.^[13]

Classification

The Bihari languages fall into four language subgroups:

• Bihari
  • Bhojpuri
    • Nagpuriya Bhojpuri
    • Mauritian Bhojpuri
    • Caribbean Hindustani
    • Fiji Hindi
    • South African Bhojpuri (Naitali)
  • Magahi
  • Maithili
    • Begushoraiya Maithili
    • Bajjika (Western Maithili)
    • Angika (Southern Maithili)
    • Standard Maithili (Central Maithili)
    • Eastern Maithili
    • Thēthi
    • Jolaha
    • Kisan
  • Khortha
  • Sadanic
    • Nagpuri (Sadri)
    • Kurmali
    • Panchpargania
  • Unclassified Bihari (Languages of a distinct origin but currently fall under Bihari language family and are mainly spoken in Nepal)
    • Tharuic
      • Chitwania Tharu
      • Dangaura Tharu
        • Dangaha
      • Sonha
      • Kathariya Tharu
      • Kochila Tharu
        • Western Kochila
        • Central Kochila (Saptariya Tharu)
        • Eastern Kochila (Morangiya, Khawas Tharu)
      • Rana Tharu
      • Buksa
      • Musasa
    • Majhi
    • Kumhali
    • Kuswaric
      • Danwar
        • Dewas Done Danuwar
          • Dewas Rai
          • Done Danuwar
        • Kochariya-East Danuwar
          • East Danuwar
          • Kochariya
      • Bote-Darai
        • Bote
        • Darai

Languages and dialects

Language[14]	ISO 639-3	Scripts	No. of speakers[12]	Geographical distribution
Angika	anp	Devanagari; previously Kaithi; Anga Lipi	743,600[15]	Eastern Bihar, North-eastern Jharkhand and Eastern Madhesh of Nepal
Bajjika	–	Devanagari; previously Tirhuta; Kaithi	8,738,000[citation needed]	North-Central Bihar and Eastern Madhesh of Nepal
Bhojpuri	bho	Devanagari; previously Kaithi	52,245,300[16]	Recognized language in Nepal, Official language in Fiji (as the Fiji Hindi) and Jharkhand (additional) In India : Western Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Western Jharkhand, Northern Chhattisgarh, Northeastern Madhya Pradesh Terai region of Central Nepal
Khortha	–	Devanagari; previously Tirhuta	8,040,000[17]	South Bihar, North-eastern and North central Jharkhand
Kudmali (Panchpargania)	kyw, tdb	Devanagari; sometimes Bengali, Kaithi	556,809[17]	South-Eastern Jharkhand, Southern West Bengal,[18] northern Odisha, Assam
Magahi	mag	Devanagari; previously Tirhuta; Kaithi, Siddham script	14,035,600[19]	South Bihar, North Jharkhand and Eastern Madhesh of Nepal
Maithili	mai	Devanagari; previously Tirhuta, Kaithi	33,890,000[19]	Northern and eastern Bihar, Jharkhand[20] and Eastern Madhesh of Nepal
Nagpuri (Sadri)	sck	Devanagari; previously Kaithi	5,100,000[17]	West-central Jharkhand, North-eastern Chhattisgarh, Northwestern Odisha
Tharu	thl, tkt, thr, the, thq, tkb, soi	Devanagari	1,900,000[17][21]	Terai regions of Nepal and some parts of border side areas of Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Bihar
Danuwar	dhw	Devanagari	46,000 [17][21]	Nepal
Bote-Darai	bmj, dry	Devanagari	30,000[17][21]	Nepal
Kumhali	kra	Devanagari	12,000[17][21]	Nepal
Majhi	mjz	Devanagari	24,000[17][21]	Nepal