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— CH. 1 · ORIGINS AND MIGRATION HISTORY —

Indo-Aryan languages

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  • Before 1500 BCE, a reconstructed language known as Proto-Indo-Aryan existed somewhere in Central Asia. This ancient tongue eventually split into Old Indo-Aryan between 1500 and 300 BCE. The earliest concrete evidence for this family appears not in India but in the Late Bronze Age Mitanni civilisation of Upper Mesopotamia. A treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni invokes deities like Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and the Ashvins using names that clearly belong to an early Indo-Aryan superstrate. Kikkuli's horse training text contains technical terms such as aika meaning one, tera meaning three, and panza meaning five. These words place the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper rather than general Indo-Iranian or early Iranian forms. Some scholars argue these traces are the earliest direct evidence of Indo-Aryan, potentially increasing precision in dating the split from Iranian languages. Other theories suggest Proto-Indo-Aryan speakers migrated eastward across the Pontic-Caspian steppe before entering the Indian subcontinent. The Rigveda dates roughly to the same period as the Mitanni texts, yet only a few proper names and specialised loanwords survive from that era.

  • Vedic Sanskrit represents the earliest attested stage of the group within ancient preserved texts of the Indian subcontinent. This foundational canon of the Hindu synthesis known as the Vedas spans from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. From Vedic Sanskrit developed Classical Sanskrit which served as the prestige language for culture, science, religion, court, and theatre until 1300 CE. Outside this learned sphere vernacular dialects called Prakrits continued evolving into Middle Indo-Aryan between 500 BCE and 1500 CE. The oldest attested Prakrits include Buddhist and Jain canonical languages Pali and Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. Inscriptions in Ashokan Prakrit also formed part of this early Middle Indo-Aryan stage developing into Gandhari Prakrit and Monumental Prakrit. By medieval times Apabhraśa emerged as a cover term for transitional dialects connecting late Middle Indo-Aryan with early Modern Indo-Aryan spanning roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Śravakacāra of Devasena dated to the 930s is now considered the first book written in Hindi. A major milestone occurred during Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent between the 13th and 16th centuries when Persian became influential under the Turco-Mongol Mughal Empire.

  • Northern Indo-Aryan languages known as Pahari or hill languages are spoken throughout the Himalayan regions of the subcontinent. Examples include Nepali Jumli Doteli Garhwali Kumaoni Dogri Kangri Bhadarwahi Churahi and many others listed by linguists like Hoernlé and Grierson. Eastern Indo-Aryan languages called Magadhan languages spread across the eastern subcontinent alongside other regions surrounding the northwestern Himalayan corridor. Bengali stands as the seventh most-spoken language globally with national anthems of India and Bangladesh written in its script. Assamese and Odia serve as official languages of Assam and Odisha respectively while descending from Magadhi Prakrit. Western Indo-Aryan languages appear in central and western India including states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan plus contiguous regions in Pakistan. Gujarati functions as the official language of Gujarat and is spoken by over 50 million people. Insular Indo-Aryan languages of Sri Lanka and Maldives started developing independently around the 5th century BCE diverging markedly from continental counterparts. Romani varieties remain notable for their relatively conservative nature maintaining Middle Indo-Aryan present-tense person concord markers despite migration to Europe.

  • The normative system of New Indo-Aryan stops consists of five places of articulation: labial dental retroflex palatal and velar matching Sanskrit exactly. The retroflex position involves curling the tongue to make contact with the underside of the tip or merely retraction depending on dialect. Some languages like Marathi and Konkani retain alveolar affricates instead of palatal ones before front vowels or when geminated. Dardic languages such as Kashmiri and Shina may add a retroflex affricate maxing out stop positions at seven barring borrowed sounds. Assamese Chittagonian Sinhala and Southern Mewari show reductions where *ts becomes simpler forms. Nasals vary significantly across the family with Dogri Kacchi Kalasha Rudhari Shina Saurashtri and Sindhi analysed as having full complements of phonemic nasals. Most Indo-Aryan languages feature contrastive aspiration while some retain historical breathy voice on voiced consonants. Sylheti stands out as one of the few tonal Indo-Aryan languages alongside Punjabi and certain Dardic varieties. Implosive consonants developed in Sindhic subfamily languages Saraiki western Marwari dialects and some Gujarati variants from historical intervocalic geminates.

  • In many Indo-Aryan languages the literary register is often more archaic and utilises different lexicons than spoken vernaculars. Bengali's high literary form Sādhū bhāśā contrasts sharply with modern Calita bhāśa Cholito-bhasha approaching true diglossia. The choice between calling something a language or a dialect remains difficult within South Asia due to ambiguity. A language is generally defined as a developed dialect that is standardised has written tradition and enjoys social prestige yet boundaries remain contestable. Methods quantifying difference based on mutual intelligibility have not been seriously applied in practice making relationships relative rather than absolute. Modern Standard Hindi became official in India after 1947 division of British Indian Empire while Modern Standard Urdu became official in Pakistan. Despite different scripts fundamental grammar remains identical making the distinction more sociolinguistic than purely linguistic today. Hindustani including Standard Hindi and Standard Urdu is widely understood or spoken as second or third language throughout South Asia. It ranks among the most widely known languages globally by number of speakers reaching figures near 260 million first-language users according to Ethnologue data from 2001.

  • Romani varieties are mainly spoken throughout Europe maintaining Middle Indo-Aryan present-tense person concord markers alongside consonantal endings for nominal case. Research by nineteenth-century scholars Pott in 1845 and Miklosich between 1882 and 1888 established Romani as a New Indo-Aryan language suggesting proto-Romani speakers left India no earlier than AD 1000. The loss of old nominal case systems coupled with reduction to two-way nominative-oblique case supports this later migration timeline. Domari represents another Indo-Aryan language spoken by older Dom people scattered across the Middle East ranging from Azerbaijan to central Sudan. Lomavren emerged as a nearly extinct mixed language arising from contact between Romani-related tongues and Armenian. Parya exists in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan retaining features similar to Punjabi and Western Hindi dialects while bearing influence from Tajik Persian. British East India Company use of indentured labourers led to transplanting Indo-Aryan languages worldwide creating locally influenced lects like Fiji Hindi and Caribbean Hindustani. Kholosi Jadgali Luwati Maimani and Al Sayigh represent offshoots of Sindhic subfamily establishing themselves in Persian Gulf region possibly through sea-based migrations.

Common questions

When did Proto-Indo-Aryan exist and where was it located?

Proto-Indo-Aryan existed before 1500 BCE somewhere in Central Asia. This ancient tongue eventually split into Old Indo-Aryan between 1500 and 300 BCE.

What is the earliest concrete evidence for the Indo-Aryan language family?

The earliest concrete evidence appears not in India but in the Late Bronze Age Mitanni civilisation of Upper Mesopotamia. A treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni invokes deities like Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and the Ashvins using names that clearly belong to an early Indo-Aryan superstrate.

Which languages are considered Northern Indo-Aryan or Pahari languages?

Northern Indo-Aryan languages known as Pahari or hill languages include Nepali Jumli Doteli Garhwali Kumaoni Dogri Kangri Bhadarwahi Churahi and many others listed by linguists like Hoernlé and Grierson. These languages are spoken throughout the Himalayan regions of the subcontinent.

How many places of articulation do New Indo-Aryan stops have?

The normative system of New Indo-Aryan stops consists of five places of articulation: labial dental retroflex palatal and velar matching Sanskrit exactly. Some Dardic languages such as Kashmiri and Shina may add a retroflex affricate maxing out stop positions at seven barring borrowed sounds.

When did Romani speakers leave India according to research from 1845 and 1882-1888?

Research by nineteenth-century scholars Pott in 1845 and Miklosich between 1882 and 1888 established Romani as a New Indo-Aryan language suggesting proto-Romani speakers left India no earlier than AD 1000. The loss of old nominal case systems coupled with reduction to two-way nominative-oblique case supports this later migration timeline.

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All sources

39 references cited across the entry

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  36. 36journalMaimani Language and Lawati Language: Two Sides of the Same Coin?Said Humaid Al Jahdhami — 31 July 2022
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