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.
| Marathi (Marathi) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | India |
| Region: | Maharashtra and adjacent states |
| Total speakers: | 68 Million native speakers 3 Million second language speakers |
| Ranking: | 17 |
| Genetic classification: |
Indo-European Indo-Iranian |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Maharashtra State, India |
| Regulated by: | -- |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | mr |
| ISO 639-2 | mar |
| SIL | MRT |
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 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.
Before the usage of printing press for Marathi. a different script, called the Modi script was used to write the Marathi script. This was a cursive script and could be written with minimum rising of pen from the paper. However, with the advent of large scale printing, the script fell into disuse as it was very difficult to type set in this script.(See External Link)
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.