| Eastern Indo-Aryan | |
|---|---|
| Magadhan | |
| Geographic distribution | EasternIndia,Bangladesh, southernNepal |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
Early forms | |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | indo1323 (Indo-Aryan Eastern zone)biha1245 (Bihari) |
TheEastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known asMāgadhan languages, are spoken throughout theeastern region of theIndian subcontinent, which includesBihar,Uttar Pradesh,Jharkhand,Bengal region,Tripura,Assam, andOdisha; alongside other regions surrounding the northeastern Himalayan corridor.Bengali is official language ofBangladesh and the state ofWest Bengal,Tripura and theBarak Valley ofAssam whileAssamese andOdia are the official languages ofAssam andOdisha, respectively. The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages descend fromAbahattha, which descends from MagadhanApabhraṃśa[1] and ultimately fromMagadhi Prakrit.[2][3][1]
The exact scope of the Eastern branch of the Indo-Aryan languages is controversial. All scholars agree about a kernel that includes theOdia cluster and theBengali–Assamese languages, while many also include theBihari languages. The widest scope was proposed bySuniti Kumar Chatterji who included theEastern Hindi varieties, but this has not been widely accepted.[4]
When the Bihari languages are included, the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages fall into four language groups in two broader categories:[citation needed]
Grammatical features of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages:[5]
| 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 |
EasternIndo-Aryan languages display many morphosyntactic features similar to those ofMunda languages, while western Indo-Aryan languages do not. It is suggested that "pre-Munda" ("proto-" in regular terminology) languages may have once dominated the easternIndo-Gangetic Plain, and were then absorbed by Indo-Aryan languages at an early date as Indo-Aryan spread east.[6][7]