Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (Hindi: आधुनिक मानक हिन्दी, romanized: Ādhunik Mānak Hindī),[14] commonly referred to as Hindi (Hindi: हिन्दी,[a] Hindī), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in North India, and serves as the lingua franca of the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been described as a standardised and Sanskritised register[15] of the Hindustani language, which itself is based primarily on the Khariboli dialect of Delhi and neighbouring areas of North India.[16][17][18] Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is one of the two official languages of the Government of India, along with English.[19] It is an official language in nine states and three union territories and an additional official language in three other states.[20][21][22][23] Hindi is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India.[24]
This article is about Modern Standard Hindi. For other uses, see Hindi (disambiguation).Hindi
- Devanagari (official)
- Kaithi (historical)
- Mahajani (historical)
- Laṇḍā (historical)[4]
- Latin (Hinglish, unofficial)[5]
- Devanagari Braille
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- South Africa (protected language)[11]
- United Arab Emirates (third official court language)[12]
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Hindi is also spoken, to a lesser extent, in other parts of India (usually in a simplified or pidginised variety such as Bazaar Hindustani or Haflong Hindi).[20][21] Outside India, several other languages are recognised officially as "Hindi" but do not refer to the Standard Hindi language described here and instead descend from other nearby languages, such as Awadhi and Bhojpuri. Such languages include Fiji Hindi, which has an official status in Fiji,[25] and Caribbean Hindustani, which is spoken in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.[26][27][28][29] Apart from the script and formal vocabulary, standard Hindi is mutually intelligible with standard Urdu, another recognised register of Hindustani as both share a common colloquial base.[30]
Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, Spanish and English.[31] If counted together with the mutually intelligible Urdu, it is the third most-spoken language in the world, after Mandarin and English.[32][33] According to reports of Ethnologue (2022, 25th edition) Hindi is the third most-spoken language in the world including first and second language speakers.[34]
Hindi is the fastest growing language of India, followed by Kashmiri in the second place, with Meitei (officially called Manipuri) as well as Gujarati, in the third place, and Bengali in the fourth place, according to the 2011 census of India.[35]
Terminology
The term Hindī originally was used to refer to inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It was borrowed from Classical Persian هندی Hindī (Iranian Persian pronunciation: Hendi), meaning "of or belonging to Hind (India)" (hence, "Indian").[36]
Another name Hindavī (हिन्दवी) or Hinduī (हिन्दुई) (from Persian: هندوی "of or belonging to the Hindu/Indian people") was often used in the past, for example by Amir Khusrau in his poetry.[37][38]
The terms "Hindi" and "Hindu" trace back to Old Persian which derived these names from the Sanskrit name Sindhu (सिन्धु), referring to the Indus River. The Greek cognates of the same terms are "Indus" (for the river) and "India" (for the land of the river).[39][40]
The term Modern Standard Hindi is commonly used to specifically refer the modern literary Hindi language, as opposed to colloquial and regional varieties that are also referred to as Hindi in a wider sense.[41]
Official status
India
Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official language of the Indian Commonwealth. Under Article 343, the official languages of the Union have been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English:
Geographical distribution
Hindi is the lingua franca of northern India (which contains the Hindi Belt), as well as an official language of the Government of India, along with English.[69]
In Northeast India a pidgin known as Haflong Hindi has developed as a lingua franca for the people living in Haflong, Assam who speak other languages natively.[94] In Arunachal Pradesh, Hindi emerged as a lingua franca among locals who speak over 50 dialects natively.[95]
Hindi is quite easy to understand for many Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, which, like Hindi, is a standard register of the Hindustani language; additionally, Indian media are widely viewed in Pakistan.[96]
A sizeable population in Afghanistan, especially in Kabul, can also speak and understand Hindi-Urdu due to the popularity and influence of Bollywood films, songs and actors in the region.[97][98]
Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis (people having roots in north-India but having migrated to Nepal over hundreds of years) of Nepal. Apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the "Hindi Belt" of India. A substantially large North Indian diaspora lives in countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, South Africa, Fiji and Mauritius, where it is natively spoken at home and among their own Hindustani-speaking communities. Outside India, Hindi speakers are 8 million in Nepal; 863,077 in the United States of America;[99][100] 450,170 in Mauritius; 380,000 in Fiji;[86] 250,292 in South Africa; 150,000 in Suriname;[101] 100,000 in Uganda; 45,800 in the United Kingdom;[102] 20,000 in New Zealand; 20,000 in Germany; 26,000 in Trinidad and Tobago;[101] 3,000 in Singapore.