The Languages of India

Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam in their native scripts

The words "Hindi," "Bengali," "Telugu," "Tamil," "Punjabi," "Urdu," "Kannada," and "Malayalam" written in their respective scripts.

North Indian

The languages "Hindi," "Bengali," "Punjabi," and "Urdu" are four languages of many North India languages. These languages have been formed under the Indo-Aryan influence. Additionally, the scripts of most North Indian languages look surprisingly similar to one another.

South Indian

The languages "Telugu," "Tamil," "Kannada" and "Malayalam" are considered the four main languages of South India also known as Dravidian languages. Unlike the North Indian languages which have been formed under Indo-European influence, the Dravidian languages are native to their subcontinent, and put little to no influence from other languages.

Language map of India

The locations of many North and South speakers on a map. This map also includes other Indian languages not mentioned in the written paragraphs.

Facts about each North Indian language

Hindi
  • Most widely spoken language in North India.
  • Common in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
  • According to most people, Hindi is the language that represents India in most occasions.
Bengali
  • Bengali is renowned for its rich phonology, the language often uses an "ô" over "o."
  • Unlike many other languages, Bengali does not have a defined word gender system.
Punjabi
  • Main language of Punjab.
  • Punjabi is usually written in the Gurmukhi script in academic environments, but in Pakistan it is written in Shahmukhi.
Urdu
  • Common among many communities in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
  • Shares a similar vocabulary with Hindi but uses a different, more calligraphic script inspired by Persian and Arabic.

Facts about each South Indian language

Telugu
  • It is spoken in Hyderabad, one of the most well-known cities to use it.
  • Known as the "Italian of the east" because every word typically ends with a vowel.
Kannada
  • Kannada takes most of its words from Tamil and Sanskrit, and its script was made in close relation with that of Telugu's.
  • Spoken primarily in the state of Karnataka, but can be found in many neighboring states.
Tamil
  • Tamil is the oldest Dravidian language, and it is the oldest in the world.
  • Apart from Tamil Nadu, Tamil is found in Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.
Malayalam
  • The language is native to the state of Kerala, which is located at the bottom-west of India.
  • The language has included more characters and letters than any other, most notably Sanskrit and English.

Try it out!

Transliterate English text to an Indian language of your choice

North Indian

South Indian