[Fsf-friends] Languages of India

[Kanti Jadia]

Hi,

  There are around 18 languages recognized by the Indian 
Constitution. These languages are

          1. Assamese
          2. Bengali
          3. Gujrati
          4. Hindi
          5. Kannada
          6. Kashmiri
          7. Konkani
          8. Malyalam
          9. Manipuri
         10. Marathi
         11. Nepali
         12. Oriya
         13. Punjabi
         14. Sanskrit
         15. Sindhi
         16. Tamil
         17. Telgu
         18. Urdu

Hindi is the national, official and main link language of India. 
Its homeland is mainly in the north of India, but it is spoken and 
widely understood in all urban centers of India. It is written in 
the Devanagri script, which is phonetic and, unlike English, is 
pronounced as it is written. Hindi is a direct descendant of 
Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. It has been influenced 
and enriched by Dravidian, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, Portugese and 
English. It is a very expressive language. In poetry and songs, it 
can convey emotions using simple and gentle words. It can also be 
used for exact and rational reasoning.



URL: http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm