Hindi

Hindi is a language of the Indo-Aryan family, which belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. It is spoken mainly in northern and central India, particularly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and the city of Delhi. It is among the most widely spoken languages in the world, counting both native speakers and second-language speakers.

Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, a right-to-left writing system derived from the Brahmi writing tradition. The Devanagari script has consonants and vowels that are regularly combined, and it is also used to write Sanskrit, Marathi, and Nepali.

Legal status

The Constitution of India designated Hindi, written in Devanagari, as an official language of the central government, while English is also used for official purposes. India does not have a single national language; each state has its own official language or languages. In some southern and eastern states, the status of Hindi has been politically contentious, with local populations defending their own languages.

Relation to Urdu

Hindi and Urdu share a common basic grammar and vocabulary to the extent that speakers can generally understand each other's everyday speech. The differences lie in the script—Urdu is written in an adapted Arabic script—and in higher-register vocabulary: Hindi draws from Sanskrit, while Urdu draws from Persian and Arabic. The combination of the two is sometimes called Hindustani.

Dialects and traditions

There are many dialects that fall under or are related to Hindi, such as Braj Bhasha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, and Haryanvi. Some of these have been recognized as independent languages. Early Hindi literature was written in Braj and Awadhi, particularly in religious poetry from the medieval period. Today, journalism, Bollywood films, and publishing have made Hindi a widely used language across India and beyond.