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The languages of Uttar Pradesh belong to two zones in the Indo-Aryan languages, the Central and the Eastern.
Contents
Individual mother tongues in Uttar Pradesh are many, but well-recognised dialects number around 6 or 7.
History
The languages of Uttar Pradesh mainly derive from the Prakrits of the Old Indo-Aryan languages, and ultimately Sanskrit.
Inventories
Linguists generally distinguish the terms "language" and "dialects" on the basis of 'mutual comprehension'. The Indian census uses two specific classifications in its own unique way: (1) 'language' and (2) 'mother tongue'. The 'mother tongues' are grouped within each 'language'. Many 'mother tongues' so defined would be considered a language rather than a dialect by linguistic standards. This is specifically the case for many 'mother tongues' with tens of millions of speakers that are officially grouped under the 'language' Hindi.
Language families
The dominant language family of Uttar Pradesh is Indo-Aryan, with the two major zones represented being Central and Eastern. Except for Bhojpuri, which belongs to the Eastern zone of Indo-Aryan, the rest of the languages belong to the Central zone.
Official languages
The languages of state administration are Hindi, established by the Uttar Pradesh Official Language Act, 1951, and Urdu, established by the Amendment to the same in 1989.
Language movements
The Nagari Pracharini Sabha was formed in 1893 to promote the usage of the Devanagari script.