Multilingualism in India
In this article we are going to explore Multilingualism in India, a topic that has captured the interest of many people in recent times. Multilingualism in India is a source of debate and discussion in today's society, and has an important impact on various aspects of daily life. Throughout this article, we will examine different perspectives and opinions on Multilingualism in India, as well as its relevance to our culture, history, and future. With a critical and reflective look, we will try to shed light on this topic that is so relevant today, offering different approaches and arguments that invite reflection and debate.
The Constitution of India designates the official languages of India as Hindi and English.[1] The number of bilingual speakers in India is 314.9 million, which is 26% of the population in 2011.[2]
Multilingualism
Hindi
Hindi is one of the official languages of India and had 528 million native speakers as of the 2011 Census. About 139 million Indians speak Hindi as a second language and 24 million speak it as their third language.
| Language | First language speakers[5] |
First language speakers as a percentage of total population |
Second language speakers [6] |
Third language speakers [6] |
Total speakers | Total speakers as a percentage of total population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi | 528,347,193 | 43.63 | 139,000,000 | 24,000,000 | 692,000,000 | 57.1 |
| English | 259,678 | 0.02 | 83,000,000 | 46,000,000 | 129,000,000 | 10.6 |
| Bengali | 97,237,669 | 8.3 | 9,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 107,000,000 | 8.9 |
| Marathi | 83,026,680 | 7.09 | 13,000,000 | 3,000,000 | 99,000,000 | 8.2 |
| Telugu | 81,127,740 | 6.93 | 12,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 95,000,000 | 7.8 |
| Tamil | 69,026,881 | 5.89 | 7,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 77,000,000 | 6.3 |
| Gujarati | 55,492,554 | 4.74 | 4,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 60,000,000 | 5 |
| Urdu | 50,772,631 | 4.34 | 11,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 63,000,000 | 5.2 |
| Kannada | 43,706,512 | 3.73 | 14,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 59,000,000 | 4.94 |
| Odia | 37,521,324 | 3.2 | 5,000,000 | 390,000 | 43,000,000 | 3.56 |
| Malayalam | 34,838,819 | 2.97 | 500,000 | 210,000 | 36,000,000 | 2.9 |
| Punjabi | 33,124,726 | 2.83 | 2,230,000 | 720,000 | 36,600,000 | 3 |
| Assamese | 15,311,351 | 1.26 | 7,488,153 | 740,402 | 23,539,906 | 1.94 |
| Sanskrit | 0[7][8][9] | 0 | 1,230,000 | 1,960,000 | 3,190,000 | 0.19 |
Multilingualism by state
Combined percentages of first, second and third language speakers of Hindi and English in India from the 2011 Census.[10]
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| State or union territory | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|
| India | 57.11% | 10.62% |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 79.87% | 21.94% |
| Andhra Pradesh (incl. Telangana) | 12.59% | 13.06% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 62.76% | 23.08% |
| Assam | 25.24% | 8.05% |
| Bihar | 89.37% | 2.72% |
| Chandigarh | 94.05% | 41.62% |
| Chhattisgarh | 93.64% | 2.29% |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 57.50% | 10.34% |
| Daman and Diu | 76.19% | 15.38% |
| Delhi | 96.75% | 31.72% |
| Goa | 53.34% | 41.80% |
| Gujarat | 43.63% | 12.44% |
| Haryana | 95.34% | 15.59% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 96.57% | 10.64% |
| Jammu and Kashmir (incl. Ladakh) | 38.00% | 15.98% |
| Jharkhand | 85.43% | 5.15% |
| Karnataka | 12.27% | 11.83% |
| Kerala | 9.12% | 20.15% |
| Lakshadweep | 17.87% | 19.30% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 95.74% | 5.44% |
| Maharashtra | 52.09% | 14.32% |
| Manipur | 18.44% | 31.62% |
| Meghalaya | 13.95% | 15.61% |
| Mizoram | 7.01% | 15.50% |
| Nagaland | 15.89% | 32.57% |
| Odisha | 18.76% | 17.23% |
| Puducherry | 3.87% | 28.10% |
| Punjab | 51.04% | 30.05% |
| Rajasthan | 95.04% | 4.55% |
| Sikkim | 47.96% | 27.69% |
| Tamil Nadu | 2.11% | 18.49% |
| Tripura | 9.95% | 7.53% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 97.40% | 6.42% |
| Uttarakhand | 97.19% | 8.36% |
| West Bengal | 13.83% | 6.70% |
See also
- Languages of India
- Languages with official status in India
- List of languages by number of native speakers in India
References
- ^ "Constitutional Provisions: Official Language Related Part-17 of The Constitution Of India". Department of Official Language, Government of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ^ "Hindi migrants speaking Marathi rise to 60 lakh". The Times of India.
- ^ "How languages intersect in India". Hindustan Times. 22 November 2018.
- ^ "How many Indians can you talk to?".
- ^ ORGI. "Census of India: Comparative speaker's strength of Scheduled Languages-1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 ,2001 and 2011" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019.
- ^ "Searching for Sanskrit Speakers in the Indian Census". The Wire. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "The Myth of 'Sanskrit Villages' and the Realm of Soft Power". The Wire. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Sreevatsan, Ajai (10 August 2014). "Where are the Sanskrit speakers?". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Sen, Sumant (4 June 2019). "Hindi the first choice of people in only 12 States". The Hindu.
