Hindi
Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in northern and central India. It is one of the official languages of the Union of India.
Devanagari: Devanagari is an abugida used to write several South Asian languages, including Hindi. Hindi is conventionally written in Devanagari, whose letters represent consonants with inherent vowels.
Urdu: Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language closely related to Hindi, with a Persian-influenced literary tradition and Perso-Arabic script. Hindi and Urdu share much everyday speech but differ in scripts, formal vocabulary, and official standards.
Indo-Aryan languages: Indo-Aryan languages form a branch of the Indo-European family spoken mainly across South Asia. Hindi belongs to this family, whose history traces the language’s deeper linguistic ancestry.
Official languages of India: India’s official-language framework governs language use in Union government and recognizes languages in the Constitution. Hindi is an official language of the Union, though India has no constitutionally designated national language.
Languages of India: Languages of India comprise the country’s many language families, regional languages, and multilingual communities. Hindi operates within a highly multilingual country rather than replacing its many regional languages.
Hindustani phonology: Hindustani phonology describes the sound system shared broadly by Hindi and Urdu. Its shared sound patterns help explain Hindi pronunciation and its relationship to Urdu.
Punjabi language: Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in Punjab and written in Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi scripts. Punjabi is a neighboring language, not a Hindi dialect, despite geographic and linguistic contact.
Middle Indo-Aryan languages: Middle Indo-Aryan languages are historical stages and varieties between Old and New Indo-Aryan. Their evolution connects ancient Indo-Aryan forms to the ancestors of modern Hindi.
Hindi cinema: Hindi cinema is film production primarily in Hindi, centered historically in Mumbai. Films have spread Hindi expressions and popular culture across linguistic regions and diasporas.
Hindi imposition: Hindi imposition is opposition to policies perceived as promoting Hindi at the expense of other Indian languages. Debates over Hindi’s official role have sparked resistance, particularly in non-Hindi-speaking regions.