Indian people speak a vast number of languages, reflecting the country's immense linguistic diversity. The Constitution of India recognizes 22 official languages, but there are actually hundreds of languages and dialects spoken across the country. Key points about languages spoken in India:
- Hindi is the most widely spoken language, used by over 40% of the population and recognized as an official language of the Union of India. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and is predominant in North and Central India
- English is the second official language and widely used in business, education, and government. It continues to be an important lingua franca due to historical British rule
- Other major languages include Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Assamese. These languages belong mainly to two large language families: the Indo-Aryan family (spoken by about 78% of the population) and the Dravidian family (spoken by about 19.6%)
- India has over 121 languages and 270 mother tongues officially recognized, and Ethnologue lists around 456 languages spoken in the country. The People's Linguistic Survey of India reports even higher numbers, making India one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world
- There is no national language of India; Hindi is the official language of the Union, and English is used alongside it indefinitely as per the Official Languages Act
In summary, Indians speak many languages, with Hindi and English being the most prominent official languages, alongside numerous regional languages that vary widely across different states and regions
