What is the origin of the word Hindi?
The word Hindi traces back to Old Persian, which derived the name from Sanskrit Sindhu referring to the Indus River. Early inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic Plain were called Hindī by Classical Persians as Hendi.
Questions about Hindi
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When did the Constituent Assembly adopt Hindi written in Devanagari script as India's official language?
On the 14th of September 1949 the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as India's official language. This decision replaced previous usage of Hindustani in Perso-Arabic script from the British Indian Empire.
Which state accepted Hindi as its sole official language in 1881?
Bihar accepted Hindi as its sole official language in 1881 becoming India's first state to adopt it. Standard Hindi developed by supplanting foreign loanwords with Sanskrit terms though some Persian vocabulary remained.
How many vowels and consonants does the Devanagari script contain for writing Hindi?
Hindi uses Devanagari script containing 11 vowels and 33 consonants written left to right. Unlike Sanskrit Devanagari fails to mark schwa deletion present in spoken Standard Hindi.
What was Chandrakanta and when was it published?
Chandrakanta written by Devaki Nandan Khatri in 1888 stands as the first authentic prose work in modern Hindi. It represents a key milestone in the development of Hindi literature during the late 19th century.