Marathi language

Marathi language

Marathi is one of the many languages of India, and has a long literary history. It is the language spoken in the state of Maharashtra. Marathi is supposed to be derived from Sanskrit (like many other languages in India). It is spoken by about 70 million people and is to have separated from the other languages in its group about a thousand years ago. Other names for the language are Maharashtra, Maharathi, Malhatee, Marthi, and Muruthu.

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width="300" ! colspan="2" bgcolor="#7CFC00" style="font-size:120%"|Marathi (Marathi) |- | valign="top"|Spoken in: |India |- | valign="top"|Region: |Maharashtra and adjacent states |- | valign="top"|Total speakers: |68 Million native speakers
3 Million second language speakers |- | valign="top"|Ranking: |17 |- | valign="top"|Genetic
classification: |Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
  Indo-Aryan
   Southern zone
    Marathi |- ! colspan="2" bgcolor="#7CFC00"|Official status |- | valign="top"|Official language of: | valign="top"|India |- | valign="top"|Regulated by: | valign="top"| -- |- ! colspan="2" bgcolor="#7CFC00"|Language codes |- |ISO 639-1||mr |- |ISO 639-2||mar |- |SIL||MRT |}

Table of contents

1 History
2 Classification
3 Geographic distribution

3.1 Official status
3.2 Dialects

4 Sounds
5 Grammar
6 Vocabulary
7 Writing system
8 Examples
9 See also
10 External links

History

Probable history of the language. What language(s) it is derived from. Dates of movement of major groups of speakers, etc.

Classification

Marathi is part of the Indo-European family of languages.

Geographic distribution

Marathi is mostly spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra, but is also spoken in neighboring states. The Ethnologue states that Marathi is also spoken in Israel and Mauritius.

Official status

Marathi is an official language of India.

Dialects

Dialects of Marathi include Konkani, Ahirani, Manadeshi.

Sounds

Grammar

It partly preserves the locative case in noun declension as follows:

Sanskrit:

prabhaat: dawn grha: house prabhaate: at dawn grhe: at/in house

Marathi:

pahaat: dawn ghar: house pahaate: at dawn ghari: at/in/to house

Vocabulary

Writing system

Marathi uses the Devanagari script for writing.

The oldest evidence of written Marathi is found at the base of a thousand year old gigantic statue in southern Indian town of Shrawana-belagola. The inscription is about the king Gangaraya who funded the effort, and his general Chamundaraya, who erected the statue for the king.

Examples

Marathi has a long literary tradition, and a huge literature has been written in Marathi in the last seven centuries. The saint-poet Dnyaneshwar is considered the first major literateur in the Marathi language. Prominent contemporary Marathi authors include P.L. Deshpande, Jaywant Dalawi, V. P. Kale, Wyankatesh Madgoolkar and D. M. Mirasdar.

External links

Ethnologue report for Marathi