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Which modern languages belong to the Indo-Aryan group?
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Indo-Aryan languages
Devanagari script from a section of the Sanskrit Bhagavata Purana, c. 1880–c. 1900; in the British Library.
The Indo-Aryan languages constitute a major subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. These languages are primarily spoken in South Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.12
Modern Indo-Aryan languages include a wide variety of tongues, many of which are officially recognized in their respective countries. Widely spoken examples include:3
- Hindi
- Bengali (Bangla)
- Marathi
- Urdu
- Gujarati
- Punjabi
- Odia (Oriya)
- Assamese
- Sinhalese (Sinhala)
- Nepali
- Kashmiri
- Sindhi
- Konkani3
Additionally, the group includes various other languages such as those within the Pahari languages family, languages spoken in Rajasthan (e.g., Marwari, Mewari), and the dialects of Romany. While some of these languages serve as official state or national media, others lack official recognition despite having large numbers of speakers.32