{{Short description|Language family of South Asia}} {{Infobox language family | name = Eastern Indo-Aryan | altname = Magadhan | region = Eastern India, Bangladesh, southern Nepal | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = Indo-Iranian | fam3 = Indo-Aryan | ancestor = Prakrit | ancestor2 = Magadhi Prakrit | children={{Plainlist| * Bengali–Assamese * Bihari * Halbic * ''Odia''}} | glotto = indo1323 | glottoname = Indo-Aryan Eastern zone | glotto2 = biha1245 | glottoname2 = Bihari | map = Indo-Aryan language map.svg | mapcaption = Major Indo-Aryan languages of South Asia; {{legend|#fff87c|Bengali-Assamese}} {{legend|#f8d836|Bihari}} {{legend|#e0c036|Odia}} {{legend|#AB8900|Halbic}} }}
The '''Eastern Indo-Aryan languages''', also known as '''Māgadhan languages''', are spoken throughout the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, which includes Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal region, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongside other regions surrounding the northeastern Himalayan corridor. Bengali is official language of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal, Tripura and the Barak Valley of Assam while Assamese and Odia are the official languages of Assam and Odisha, respectively. The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Abahattha, which descends from Magadhan Apabhraṃśa<ref name=Ray2007 /> and ultimately from Magadhi Prakrit.<ref>{{Citation| contribution=The historical context and development of Indo-Aryan | editor1-last=Cardona | editor1-first=George | editor2-last=Jain | editor2-first=Dhanesh | title=The Indo-Aryan Languages | publisher=Routledge | place=London | year=2003 | series=Routledge language family series | isbn=0-7007-1130-9 | pages=46–66}}</ref><ref name=Claus2003>South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203</ref><ref name=Ray2007>Ray, Tapas S. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA444 "Chapter Eleven: "Oriya"]. In Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George. ''The Indo-Aryan Languages''. Routledge. p. 445. {{ISBN|978-1-135-79711-9}}.</ref>
==Classification== {{further|Indo-Aryan languages#Classification}} The exact scope of the Eastern branch of the Indo-Aryan languages is controversial. All scholars agree about a kernel that includes the Odia cluster and the Bengali–Assamese languages, while many also include the Bihari languages. The widest scope was proposed by Suniti Kumar Chatterji who included the Eastern Hindi varieties, but this has not been widely accepted.<ref>{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Masica |year=1991 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |place= Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=446–462}}</ref>
When the Bihari languages are included, the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages fall into four language groups in two broader categories:{{cn|date=March 2024}}
===Western Magadhan===
{{Tree list}} *'''Bihari''' **Bhojpuri ***Caribbean Hindustani ** Magahi ***Khortha ** Maithili ***Bajjika (Western Maithili) ***Angika (Southern Maithili) ***Central Maithili ***Eastern Maithili ***Thēthi ***Jolaha ***Kisan **Sadanic ***Nagpuri ***Kurmali (Panchpargania) **'''Unclassified Bihari''' ***Tharuic ****Chitwania Tharu ****Dangaura Tharu *****Dangaha ****Sonha ****Kathariya Tharu ****Kochila Tharu *****Western Kochila *****Central Kochila (Saptariya Tharu) *****Eastern Kochila (Morangiya, Khawas Tharu) ****Rana Tharu ****Buksa ****Musasa ***Majhi ***Kumhali ***Kuswaric ****Danwar *****Dewas Done Danuwar ******Dewas Rai ******Done Danuwar *****Kochariya-East Danuwar ******East Danuwar ******Kochariya ****Bote-Darai *****Bote *****Darai {{Tree list/end}}
===Eastern Magadhan=== {{Tree list}} * '''Bengali–Assamese''': ** Gauda-Banga *** Bengali **** Vanga (Eastern Bengali) ***** Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali ***** Mymensinghi Bengali ***** Dobhashi Bengali ***** Christian Bengali **** Manbhumi (Western Bengali) **** Rajbanshi (dialect) (Far Northern Bengali) **** Rarhi (Central Bengali) ***** Chôlitô Bhāṣā ***** Sādhu Bhāṣā **** Sundarbani (Southern Bengali) **** Varendri (North-Central Bengali) *** Bishnupriya Manipuri *** Chakma *** Chittagonian *** Noakhali *** Rohingya *** Sylheti *** Tanchangya *** Thar ** Kamarupic: ***Eastern Kamarupi **** Assamese *****Eastern Assamese *****Central Assamese ***** Kamrupi (Western Assamese) ***** Dehan (Southern Assamese) **** Nagamese **** Nefamese ***Western Kamarupi **** KRDS lects *****Kamtapuri ***** Rangpuri ***** Surjapuri ***** Goalpariya (Western) ***** Rajbanshi **** Hajong * '''Odia languages''' ** Odia ***Baleswari (Northern Odia) ***Singhbhumi (Southern Jharkhandi Odia) *** Kataki (Central Odia) ***Sundargadi (Northwestern Odia) ***Kalahandia (Southwestern Odia) ***Ganjami (Southern Odia) ** Bodo Parja ** Bhatri **Desia ** Reli **Sambalpuri ** Kupia * '''Halbic''': ** Halbi ***Adkuri ***Bastari ***Chandari ***Gachikolo ***Govari ***Kawari ***Kunbi ***Mahari ***Muri ***Sundi ** Kamar ** Bhunjia ** Nahari {{Tree list/end}}
==Features== Grammatical features of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages:<ref>{{harvcol|Toulmin|2006|p=148}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" ! Case !! Bengali !! Assamese !! Odia !! Rajbangshi !! Surjapuri !! Maithili !! Bhojpuri !! Tharu !! Sylheti |- | Instrumental || -t̪e, -ke d̪ie || -e, -er-e, di, -e-di || -e, -re, -d̪ei || -d̪i || sɛ || -e,e˜, sə˜, d̪ea || || le, leka || -re, di |- | Dative || -ke, -re || -k, -ɒk || -ku || -k, -ɔk || -k, -ɔk || -ke˜ || -ke || -hənə || -gu, -gur |- | Ablative || -t̪ʰeke || -pɒra || -u, -ru, -ʈʰaru, -ʈʰiru || -hat̪ɛ, t̪ʰaki || -sɛ || -sə˜, -k -karəne || || se || -lagi, -tône |- | Genitive || -r, -er || -r, -ɒr || -rɔ || -r, -ɛr || -r, -ɛr || -ker (-k) || -kæ || -ək || -r, -ôr |- | Locative || -e, -t̪e || -t, -ɒt || -re || -t̪, -ɔt̪ || -t̪, -ɔt̪ || e, me, -hi, -tə || || -mə || -t, -ô |}
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages display many morphosyntactic features similar to those of Munda languages, while western Indo-Aryan languages do not. It is suggested that "pre-Munda" ("proto-" in regular terminology) languages may have once dominated the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain, and were then absorbed by Indo-Aryan languages at an early date as Indo-Aryan spread east.<ref>Peterson, John (2017). "[http://southasiabibliography.de/uploads/Peterson.pdf The prehistorical spread of Austro-Asiatic in South Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411025821/http://southasiabibliography.de/uploads/Peterson.pdf |date=11 April 2018 }}". Presented at ICAAL 7, Kiel, Germany.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ivani |first1=Jessica K. |last2=Paudyal |first2=Netra |last3=Peterson |first3=John |date=2020-09-01 |title=Indo-Aryan – a house divided? Evidence for the east–west Indo-Aryan divide and its significance for the study of northern South Asia |journal=Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=287–326 |doi=10.1515/jsall-2021-2029 |issn=2196-078X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://books.google.com/books?id=NNMvAAAAYAAJ ''A Comparative dictionary of the Bihārī language, Volume 1'' By August Friedrich Rudolf Hoernle, Sir George Abraham Grierson (1885)] * {{cite thesis|type=PhD|first=Mathew W S|last=Toulmin|title=Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan|url=https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/45743|publisher=The Australian National University|year=2006}}
{{Northern Indo-Aryan languages}}
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Category:Languages of India Category:Languages of Bangladesh Category:Languages of Nepal Category:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Category:History of the Bengali language