Language
Linguistics
Cultural studies
Indian subcontinent
Language Classification
South Asian Studies
Which language family to languages of a region belong to in the Indian subcontinent?
More info in thread.
More info in thread.
Indo Aryan: Originated from the Proto Indo-European which split into Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek. Sanskrit evolved to modern-day languages evolving into Pali and Prakrit. Some also fused with Persian to take Iranian influences.
Ex: Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Odia
Ex: Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Odia
Dravidian branch evolved independently from Sanskrit. Outside of South India, there exist Dravidian languages like Brahui in Balochistan; Kurukh and Malto in Bengal and even Bazigar in Haryana.
Members: Tamizh, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Beary, Brahui, Kurukh, Malto, Irumba
Members: Tamizh, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Beary, Brahui, Kurukh, Malto, Irumba
Austro-Asiatic: Literally meaning South Asia, this branch is also called Mon-Khmer. Vietnamese and Khmer are major languages. Santali is the only recognized language of this family. Rest like Nicobarese, Mundari, Ho, Savara are spoken by minorities with no official recognition.
Tibeto Burman: Also called the Sino-Tibetan, this finds home in the Himalayan region. Members are Almora, Kannauric in Himachal and Uttarakhand, Tamangic languages in West Nepal, Tani in Arunachal Pradesh, Kuki-Chin in Mizoram, Ao, Angami-Pachuri (Naga) in Manipur and Nagaland.
Iranian: Also called Irano-Aryan languages, these are spoken in the West part of Pakistan. The Islamic conquest of Persia changed a lot of structure of the original language. Pashto, Ossetian, Kurdish are major members in the Indian subcontinent.
Nuristani: Not much is known about this group but it certainly is distinct from Indo-Aryan and Iranian branch. These are spoken in eastern Afghanistan. Members are Ashkun, Bashgali, Prasuni, Kalashala.
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