Indo-Aryan languages, grouping according to SIL Ethnologue:      Central and East Central zones      Northern zone      Northwestern zone      Eastern zone      Southern zone      Insular

The Indo-Aryan languages include some 210 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by many people in Asia; this language family is a part of the Indo-Iranian language family.

Historical

Further information: Linguistic history of India

• Old Indic (ca. 1500-300 BC)
  • early Old Indic: Vedic Sanskrit (1500 to 500 BCE)
  • late Old Indic: Epic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit (500 to 300 BCE)
• Middle Indic (ca. 300 BCE to 1500 CE)
  • early phase: 3rd century BC
    • Ashoka-Prakrits (3rd century BC regional dialects)
    • Pali (language of the Buddhist canon)
    • early Ardhamagadhi (language of the oldest Jain sutras)
  • middle phase (200 BCE to 700 CE)
    • Niya Prakrit
    • Ardhamagadhi (later Jain canon)
    • Dramatic Prakrits (Maurya period)
      • Maharashtri Prakrit
      • Magadhi Prakrit
      • Sauraseni Prakrit
    • Sinhala Prakrit
    • hybrid Sanskrit (Mahayana canon)
  • late phase: Apabhramsa (700 CE to 1500 CE)
    • Abahatta (Maghadi Apabhramsa)
    • Elu (Sinhalese Apabhramsa)
• Early Modern Indic (Mughal period, 1500 to 1800)
  • early Dakkhini (Kalmitul-hakayat 1580)
  • emergence of Khariboli (Gora-badal ki katha, 1620s)
  • emergence of "Urdu" at Delhi fort (1670s)

Contemporary languages

This classification follows Kausen (2005). The main differences from SIL are noted.

(SIL includes the Nuristani languages within Indo-Aryan.)

Dardic

(The relation of this family to other Indo-Aryan languages is unclear; SIL includes it in the Northwestern zone, despite these languages having a very different grammatical structure from that of the Classical Indo-Aryan languages.)

Kunar languages

• Pashayi
• Gawar-Bati
• Dameli
• Shumashti
• Nangalami (includes Grangali)

Chitral languages

• Khowar
• Kalasha-mun

Kohistani languages

• Kalami
• Torwali
• Kalkoti
• Indus Kohistani
• Bateri
• Chilisso
• Gowro
• Wotapuri-Katarqalai
• Tirahi

Shina languages

• Shina language
• Brokskad (the Shina of Baltistan and Ladakh)
• Ushojo
• Domaaki
• Palula
• Savi

Kashmiri

• Kashmiri
• Poguli

Northern Zone (Pahari)

Main article: Pahari

• Nepali (Gurkali; includes Palpa)
• Garwali (includes Tehri)
• Kumauni

North-Western Zone

Map of areas where Dogri-Kangri languages are spoken

Dogri-Kangri languages

(included in Pahari by SIL)

• Dogri-Kangri
• Gaddi
• Churahi
• Bhattiyali
• Bilaspuri
• Harijan Kinnauri
• Chambeali
• Mandeali
• Mahasu Pahari
• Jaunsari
• Pangwali
• Potwari (also known as Mirpuri or Pothohari and sometimes grouped with Lahnda)

Panjabi

(included in the Central zone by SIL)

• Eastern or Central Punjabi
  • Majhi or Majhail
  • Malwi or Malwai
  • Doabi
  • Powadhi

Lahnda languages

• Lahnda (West Punjabi)
• Potwari (also known as Mirpuri or Pothohari and usually classified as Pahari)
• Hindko
• Mirpuri Punjabi
• Saraiki (South Punjabi or Multani)
• Northern Gujarati

Sindhi languages

• Sindhi
• Jadgali
• Kachchi

Western Zone

(SIL includes these languages in the Central zone)

Rajasthani languages

• Marwari (includes Mewari)
• Harauti
• Goaria
• Malvi
• Nimadi
• Gujari
• Bagri
• Lambadi
• Loarki

Gujarati languages

• Southern Gujarati
• Vasavi
• Sourashtra

Bhil languages

• Bhili (includes Gamit)

Khandeshi

• Ahirani (Kandeshi)

Domari-Romani

(treated as a separate group by Klausen)

• Domari
• Romani languages

Central Zone (Madhya or Hindi)

Indic, Central Zone

Main articles: Hindustani language and Hindi languages

West Central Zone (Western Hindi)

• Haryanvi
• Braj Bhasa-Kanauji
• Khariboli (Hindustani, Standard Hindi, Urdu)
• Bundeli
• Bhaya
• Sansi
• Chamari
• Ghera
• Gowli

East Central Zone (Eastern Hindi)

(made a separate branch of Indo-Aryan by SIL)

• Awadhi (includes Fijian Hindustani)
• Bagheli
• Chhattisgarhi
• Dhanwar

Eastern Zone (Magadhan)

These languages derive from Magadhi Prakrit through Ardhamagadhi ("Half-Magadhi").

Bengali-Assamese languages

• Assamese (Ôxômiya)
• Bengali (Bangla) (includes Mal Paharia)
• Bishnupriya Manipuri (Imar Thar)
• Chakma
• Chittagonian
• Hajong
• Rajbangsi
• Rohingya language
• Sylheti

Bihari languages

• Angika
• Bhojpuri (includes Caribbean Hindustani)
• Maithili
• Magahi
• Majhi
• Musasa
• Oraon Sadri
• Sadri

Oriya languages

• Oriya (Oŗia)
• Adivasi Oriya
• Halbi

Tharu

Tharu is the language of the Tharu people, with roughly 1 million speakers. Tharu can be subdivided into¹

• Chitwania Tharu (ISO 639-3: the, 80,000 speakers as of 1991)
• Kochila Tharu (ISO 639-3: thq, 258,000 speakers as of 2003), dialects: Saptari, Morangiya, Udayapur, Sunsari, Siraha, Mahottari, Sarlahi and Dhanusa
• Rana Tharu (ISO 639-3: thr, 368,000 speakers as of 2000).

Southern Zone languages

• Marathi (includes Dakhini Urdu)

Konkani Family

• Katkari
• Konkani, Goan
• Konkani
• Kukna
• Phudagi
• Samvedi
• Varli

Insular Indic

The insular languages are spoken on the islands of Sri Lanka, Minicoy and the Maldives. They share several characteristics which set them apart significantly from their continental sister languages. (SIL makes them a separate branch of Indo-Aryan.)

• Dhivehi (or Mahal)
• Sinhala
• Vedda

Unclassified

The following languages have not been classified within the Indo-Aryan family.

• Tippera
• Kanjari
• Od
• Usui
• Vaagri Booli
• Darai
• Kumhali
• Chinali

See also

• Nuristani languages
• Proto-Indo-Iranian
• List of languages of India

References

• Ernst Kausen, 2006. Die Klassifikation der indogermanischen Sprachen (Microsoft Word, 133 KB)
• SIL Ethnologue, 2000. (online edition)