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{{short description|Group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages}}
{{Distinguish|text = the [[languages of Bihar]]}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Bihari
| region = [[India]] and [[Nepal]]
| ethnicity = [[Biharis]] (demonym)
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4 = [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern]]
| child1 = [[Bajjika language|Bajjika]]
| child2 = [[Angika language|Angika]]
| child3 = [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]]
| child4 = [[Bote-Darai language|Bote-Darai]]
| child5 = [[Danwar language|Danwar]]
| child6 = [[Kumhali language|Kumhali]]
| child7 = [[Magahi]]
| child8 = [[Maithili language|Maithili]]
| child9 = [[Sadanic languages|Sadanic]]
| child10 = [[Tharu languages|Tharuic]]
| glotto = biha1245
| glottorefname = Bihari
| iso1 = bh (deprecated)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Change to Part 1 Language Code {{!}} ISO 639-3 |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/about/news/change-part-1-language-code |access-date=8 October 2024 |website=iso639-3.sil.org}}</ref>
| iso2 = bih
}}
'''Bihari languages''' are a group of the [[Indo-Aryan languages]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |year=1991 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=12, 26, 446–462}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/bihari Bihari] at ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (23rd ed., 2020).</ref> The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the [[Indian states]] of [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], and [[West Bengal]], and also in [[Nepal]].<ref>Yadava, Y. P. (2013). Linguistic context and language endangerment in Nepal. Nepalese Linguistics 28: 262–274.</ref><ref name="auto1">Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North India''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are [[Bajjika language|Bajjika]], [[Angika language|Angika]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Magahi]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]].

Despite the large number of speakers of these languages, only [[Maithili language|Maithili]] has been constitutionally recognised in India. Which gained constitutional status via the [[Ninety-second Amendment of the Constitution of India|92nd amendment to the Constitution of India]], of 2003 (gaining [[President_of_India#Legislative_powers|assent]] in 2004).<ref>{{cite web |title= The Constitution (Ninety-Second Amendment) Act, 2003 |url= http://india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/amendments/constitution-india-ninety-second-amendment-act-2003 |date= 7 January 2004 |website = National Portal of India |access-date= 11 April 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150412014818/http://india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/amendments/constitution-india-ninety-second-amendment-act-2003 |archive-date = 12 April 2015}}</ref> Maithili and Bhojpuri have constitutional recognition in Nepal.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/nepal/article24876497.ece |title = Nepal|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 6 September 2018|last1 = Kumayaa|first1 = Harshitha}}</ref> Bhojpuri-Awadhi-Magahi mix is also official in Fiji as [[Fiji Hindi]]. There are demands for including Bhojpuri and Magahi/Khortha in the 8th schedule of Indian constitution.

In Bihar, [[Hindi]] is the language used for educational and official matters.<ref name=Damani2015>{{cite web |last = Damani |first= Guarang |title= History of Indian Languages |url = http://www.diehardindian.com/history-of-indian-languages |date = 2015 |website = Die-hard Indian |access-date = 11 April 2015 |url-status= live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413223200/http://www.diehardindian.com/history-of-indian-languages
|archive-date = 13 April 2015}}</ref> These languages were legally absorbed under the overarching label Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments.<ref>{{cite conference
|last = Verma | first = Mahandra K.| title = Language Endangerment and Indian languages : An exploration and a critique| year = 2001| book-title = Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia| isbn = 9788120817654| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tcfJY7kANo8C&q=awadhi+and+magahi+languages&pg=PA5
}}</ref> After independence, Hindi was given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act of 1950.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brass |first=Paul R. |title=The Politics of India Since Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtKe6XV8z7wC&pg=PA183 |edition=Second |date=8 September 1994 |page=183 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521459709 |access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref> Hindi was displaced as the sole official language of Bihar in 1981, when [[Urdu]] was accorded the status of the second official language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benedikter |first1=Thomas |title=Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India |year=2009 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-10231-7 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89 |language=en}}</ref>

== Speakers ==
{{See also|Languages in Bihar| Maithili language|Bhojpuri language|Angika|Bajjika|Magahi|Magadhi Prakrit|Hindi in Bihar}}

The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the [[language]] name [[Hindi]] as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness.{{Clarify|reason=Unawareness of what? Of what languages they speak? Of what languages they grew up with natively? Of what other people understand the vague phrase "your language" to mean?|date=July 2023}} The educated and the urban population of the region return Hindi as the generic name for their language.<ref name=Cardona2003 >{{cite book |editor1-last=Cardona |editor1-first=George |editor1-link=George Cardona |editor2-last=Jain |editor2-first=Dhanesh |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=11 September 2003 |page=500 |publisher=Routledge |series=Routledge Language Family Series |isbn=978-0415772945}}</ref>

British linguist Grierson also mentioned that Bajjika, Angika and Surjapuri are also spoken in particular districts of Bihar. These languages are mostly spoken in rural areas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 October 2020 |title=बिहार में कितनी भाषाएं बोली जाती है? जानिए किन इलाकों में कौन सी भाषा बोली जाती है |url=https://mainmedia.in/regionwise-different-languages-of-bihar-state/ |website=Main Media |language=Hi-IN}}</ref>

== Languages and dialects ==
{{-}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Language<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/browse/families|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104043633/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=287-16|url-status=dead|title=Browse by Language Family|archive-date=4 January 2012|website=Ethnologue|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>
! [[ISO 639-3]]
! Scripts
! data-sort-type="number" |No. of speakers<ref name=Cardona2003/>
! Geographical distribution
|-
| '''[[Angika]]''' || anp || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]]; [[Anga Lipi]] || 743,600<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/anp |title=Angika |access-date=17 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324184439/http://www.ethnologue.com/language/anp |archive-date=24 March 2016 }}</ref> ||Eastern [[Bihar]], North-eastern [[Jharkhand]] and Eastern [[Madhesh Province|Madhesh]] of [[Nepal]]
|-
| '''[[Bajjika]]''' || – || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]]; [[Kaithi]] || 8,738,000{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} || North-Central [[Bihar]] and Eastern [[Madhesh Province|Madhesh]] of Nepal
|-
| '''[[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]]''' || bho || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]] || 52,245,300<ref>{{cite web |title=Bhojpuri |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bho |website=Ethnologue |access-date=21 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> || '''Recognized language in Nepal, Official language''' in [[Fiji]] (as the [[Fiji Hindi]]) and [[Jharkhand]] (additional)
'''In [[India]]''' : Western [[Bihar]], Eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]], Western [[Jharkhand]], Northern [[Chhattisgarh]], Northeastern [[Madhya Pradesh]]

[[Terai]] region of Central Nepal
|-
| '''[[Khortha language|Khortha]]''' || _(sometimes counted under Magahi) || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]] || 8,040,000<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=7 July 2018}}</ref>|| South [[Bihar]], North-eastern and North central [[Jharkhand]]
|-
| '''[[Kurmali language|Kudmali (Panchpargania)]]''' || kyw, tdb || [[Devanagari]]; sometimes [[Bengali alphabet|Bengali]], [[Kaithi]] || 556,809<ref name="auto"/>|| South-Eastern [[Jharkhand]], Southern [[West Bengal]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Kudmali |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kyw |website=Ethnologue |access-date=25 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> northern [[Odisha]], [[Assam]]
|-
| '''[[Magahi]]''' || mag || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]]; [[Kaithi]], [[Siddham script]] || 14,035,600<ref name="eth2016">{{cite web|title=India|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/19/country/IN/languages/|website=Ethnologue|date=2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171002104725/http://www.ethnologue.com/19/country/IN/languages/|archive-date=2 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> || South [[Bihar]], North [[Jharkhand]] and Eastern [[Madhesh Province|Madhesh]] of Nepal
|-
| '''[[Maithili language|Maithili]]''' || mai || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Tirhuta]], [[Kaithi]] ||33,890,000<ref name="eth2016"/> || Northern and eastern [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]]<ref>{{cite news |title=मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा |url=https://www.livehindustan.com/jharkhand/story-maithili-will-get-second-state-language-status-in-jharkhand-1835624.html |last=Praveen |access-date=30 December 2020 |work=Hindustan |date=6 March 2018 |language=hindi}}</ref> and Eastern [[Madhesh Province|Madhesh]] of Nepal
|-
| '''[[Nagpuri language|Nagpuri (Sadri)]]''' || sck || [[Devanagari]]; previously [[Kaithi]] || 5,100,000<ref name="auto"/>|| West-central [[Jharkhand]], North-eastern [[Chhattisgarh]], Northwestern [[Odisha]]
|-
| '''[[Tharu languages|Tharu]]''' || thl, tkt, thr, the, thq, tkb, soi || [[Devanagari]] || 1,900,000<ref name="auto"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=National Population and Housing census 2021 of Nepal |url=https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/results/files/result-folder/Caste%20Ethnicity_report_NPHC_2021.pdf}}</ref>|| [[Terai]] regions of [[Nepal]] and some parts of border side areas of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand|Uttrakhand]] and [[Bihar]]
|-
|[[Danwar language|'''Danuwar''']]
|dhw
|[[Devanagari]]
|46,000 <ref name="auto" /><ref name=":0" />
|Nepal
|-
|[[Bote-Darai language|'''Bote-Darai''']]
|bmj, dry
|[[Devanagari]]
|30,000<ref name="auto" /><ref name=":0" />
|Nepal
|-
| '''[[Kumhali]]''' || kra || [[Devanagari]] || 12,000<ref name="auto"/><ref name=":0" />|| [[Nepal]]
|-
|[[Majhi language|'''Majhi''']]
|mjz
|[[Devanagari]]
|24,000<ref name="auto" /><ref name=":0" />
|Nepal
|}

== References and footnotes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{interwiki|code=anp|Angika}}
{{interwiki|code=bh|Bhojpuri}}
{{interwiki|code=hif}}
{{interwiki|code=mai}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=NNMvAAAAYAAJ ''A Comparative dictionary of the Bihārī language, Volume 1'' By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Sir George Abraham Grierson (1885)]
* [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=bih Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: bih], on www.sil.org
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703182855/http://www.nalandaopenuniversity.com/courses.html Nalanda Open University offers courses on Bihari languages (Magahi, Bhojpuri, Maithili)]

{{Bihari languages}}
{{Bihar topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bihari languages}}
[[Category:Bihari languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Culture of Bihar]]
[[Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Nepal]]

Bihari languages - Revision history

imported>Skrsingh009 at 05:03, 8 November 2025