About Hindi Language

• Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in India
• It is the official language of the Union government of India
• Hindi is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India

Distribution

• In the 2011 census, approximately 258 million people reported Hindi as their native language
• An additional 120 million people reported it as their second language in 2011
• Hindi is spoken in the Hindi Belt of north and central India
• Hindi dialects are spoken in the diasporas of the United States, Mauritius, South Africa, Yemen, Uganda, Singapore, Nepal, and New Zealand
• Fijian Hindi is an official language of Fiji

Official Status

• Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is one of the two official languages of the Union government of India, the other being English
• According to Article 351 of the Indian Constitution, it is the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language
• Article 351 also covers developing the language to serve as a medium of expression for all elements of India's composite culture
• It is the duty of the Union to enrich Hindi by assimilating forms, styles, and expressions used in Hindustani and other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule without interfering with its genius
• Hindi is an official language in the following states of India: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Delhi

History

• The immediate ancestor of Hindi is Apabhramsha, a medieval form of Indo-Aryan speech
• Modern Standard Hindi evolved from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi and surrounding areas
• During the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526) and Mughal Empire (1526-1806), Persian became the court language
• The vernacular Hindustani continued to be spoken by all sections of society
• Hindustani became more widespread during the 18th century as the Mughal empire declined
• In the early 19th century, British administrators promoted the use of Hindustani for administration and education
• As a result, two styles of Hindustani emerged: one with Persian and Arabic loanwords and the other with Sanskrit loanwords
• The style with Persian and Arabic loanwords became known as Urdu
• The style with Sanskrit loanwords became known as Hindi
• In the late 19th century, Bharatendu Harishchandra played a significant role in establishing Hindi as a modern literary language

Structure

• Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language with a grammar largely derived from Sanskrit
• The typical word order is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV)
• Nouns in Hindi are inflected for gender (masculine and feminine) and number (singular and plural)
• Verbs in Hindi are inflected for tense, aspect, mood, gender, and number

Vocabulary

• Hindi vocabulary primarily comes from Sanskrit and Prakrit
• Loanwords from Persian, Arabic, English, and Portuguese are also present
• Sanskritization continues to enrich Hindi with new terms and concepts

Writing System

• Hindi is written in the Devanagari script
• Devanagari is an abugida, where each consonant has an inherent vowel sound (usually /a/)
• Vowels can be written as independent letters or as diacritics attached to consonants
• Devanagari is written from left to right

Dialects

• Hindi has dialects that can be broadly classified into Western Hindi and Eastern Hindi
• Western Hindi dialects include Khariboli, Braj Bhasha, Haryanvi, Bundeli, and Kannauji
• Eastern Hindi dialects include Awadhi, Bagheli, and Chhattisgarhi
• Modern Standard Hindi is based on the Khariboli dialect

Relationship with Urdu

• Hindi and Urdu are considered two registers of the same language, Hindustani
• The major difference between Hindi and Urdu is in their vocabulary
• Hindi draws its vocabulary primarily from Sanskrit
• Urdu draws its vocabulary primarily from Persian and Arabic
• Hindi is written in the Devanagari script
• Urdu is written in the Perso-Arabic script
• Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible in their spoken forms, despite their differences

Influence

• Hindi has influenced many other languages, including English
• Loanwords of Hindi origin in English include avatar, guru, jungle, karma, loot, mantra, nirvana, pundit, shampoo, and veranda
• Hindi cinema, also known as Bollywood, has had a major influence on popular culture in India and around the world