India is a country with a varied culture that encompasses different and interesting traditions, religions and languages. In this article, we inform you about the predominant languages and dialects in the country, and we give you some curious information about them.
Below you have an index with all the points that we are going to deal with in this article.
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Official languages
In India we find two official languages: Hindi and English. According to the 1950 Constitution, English should have ceased to be English in 1965. However, it continues to have great importance today.
Hindi is an Indo-European language, the fifth most widely spoken in the world. It is notably related to Urdu, the official language of Pakistan. Hindi is mostly spoken in northern, central and western India.
However, English and Hindi are not the only languages that we can find in this country. Furthermore, they are not even the first language for the majority of the population, which exceeds 1.000 billion people.
Languages and dialects
In India we find more than 1.600 languages and dialects. Of these, 122 are considered main, as they are used by more than 10.000 people. Most are of the Indo-European or Dravidian family (originating in southwestern Iran).
In addition to Hindi and English, we find 22 languages that are recognized by law:
- A: Assamese
- B: Bengali, Bodo
- C: Cashmere, Kannada
- D: dog
- G: Gujarati
- H: Hindi
- K: Konkani
- M: maithili, malabar, manipuri, marathi
- N: Nepalese
- O:oriya
- P: Eastern Punjabi
- S: Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi
- T: támil, telugu
- U:urdu
Likewise, several languages are distinguished as classical: Támil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malabar and Oriya.
Among all the existing ones, these are the five predominant languages in India, because, although they are not the mother tongue for all, they are spoken by a high percentage of inhabitants:
| Language | Total Speakers | Percentage |
| Hindi | 551.416.518 | 53,60% |
| English | 125.344.736 | 12,18% |
| Bengali | 91.115.079 | 8,86% |
| telugu | 84.992.501 | 8,26% |
| Marathon | 84.184.806 | 8,18% |
Tourism in India
Depending on the area of India you are traveling to, you will hear different languages and dialects. However, in most tourist areas you can communicate in English. These are the languages used in some of the most prominent cities:
- Agra
- Hindi, Urgu, Punjabi, English
- Bangalore
- English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu
- Bombay
- Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, English, Hindi
- Calcutta
- Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English, Oriya, Bhojpuri
- Hyderabad
- Telugu, Urdu, English
- New Delhi
- Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, English
It is not common for them to talk Spanish. However, it is a language on the rise and one that is beginning to become fashionable. For several years, in New Delhi there is the Instituto Cervantes, which teaches Spanish to all interested.
As for Portuguese, it is spoken, although in a low percentage, in the area that was formerly a Portuguese colony, where we find cities such as Goa, Damán and Diu.
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