Languages of South Asia

With a population of ~1.75 billion, South Asia is home to eight countries and ~700 languages. About 30 languages serve as national, official, or recognized provincial languages, and about 25 of these are traditional literary languages. Most of the remainder are referred to as tribal, and many of these are marginalized and endangered. Three tribal languages (Bodo, Manipuri, and Santali) have acquired official language status in India; conversely, several Indian literary languages (Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Braj Bhasha, and Rajasthani) do not have official status but are considered dialects of Hindi. In addition to the indigenous national, official, or recognized [Page 1049]provincial languages, English plays a major role as a national link language (India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) or as a language of wider communication. Attempts ...