India is said to be home to a thousand languages and you have to shape your business to meet the market aspects. India has such a vast array of languages and encompasses the geographical diversity that is related to the communities which have introduced new linguistic elements.
Despite the presence of various languages, India officially recognizes 22 languages. There are more than 450 living languages spoken throughout the country with various dialects but those languages haven’t gotten much attention as they have less number of speakers.
Most common languages are spoken natively by around 88% of the world’s population, and there are millions of more people speaking them as a second language. This is one of the reasons why is language translation important and this provides a significant advantage to establish better communication.
Let’s see and learn more about the common languages spoken by the people of India:
Major Languages and Their Roles
India is a huge nation and has several languages. The Indian Constitution originally identified Hindi in the Devanagari script for the central government’s official purposes and later English took space as an associate official language. Several popular Indian languages covers a huge number of speakers and is widely used in education, mass media, and administration, etc.
Top 10 Languages Spoken In India
India has a huge global business potential and several businesses look forward to establishing in this market to see great results. Facilitating communication in international markets is necessary and there is a need to adapt to the local language to communicate with multilingual communities.
Here are the 10 major spoken languages that hold importance in India and you must also know it in a better way:
1- Hindi (52.83 Crore Speakers)
Hindi is the language with the most number of speakers in India which makes up 43.63% of the population of India. It is also the 4th largest spoken language in the world and it always stays in demand whenever there is a need to get an accurate translation to function in the Indian market. It is one of the official languages of India as per Article 343.
Geographical Distribution Of Hindi Language: Primary speakers exist in Northern states like Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi.
2- Bengali ( 9.72 Crore Speakers)
Bengali is at positioned as the second most spoken language and approximately covers 8.03% of the country’s population speaks Bengali. It was a secular language of old Indo-Aryans in the beginning and was influenced by Persian and Arabic. Also, the Indian National Anthem is also written in this language.
Geographical Distribution Of Bengali Language: Highly spoken in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, etc. It is also spoken internationally in the USA, the UK, Australia, Japan, and the Middle East.
3- Marathi (8.30 Crore Speakers)
Marathi is the third most spoken language in India and is spoken by approx. 6.86% of the population of India. Marathi has nearly 42 types of dialects and has three genders in Marathi grammar. Language experts know what is Gendered language and understand how challenging it is to deal with it during translation.
Geographical Distribution Of Marathi Language: Maharashtra and Goa.
4- Telugu (8.11 Crore Speakers)
Telugu is the fourth most spoken language in India which is about 6.7% of the total population of India. Telugu language is has 6 main dialects Domara, Wadaga, Beraad, Salavari, Kamathi, etc.
Geographical Distribution Of Telugu Language: The speakers of the Telugu language can be found in states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc. Some Telugu speakers are also reside abroad in the UK, the USA, South Africa, UAE, New Zealand, etc.
5- Tamil (6.90 crore speakers)
Tamil is at fifth most spoken language in India and about 6.7% of the total population of India speaks Tamil. It is often tagged as the oldest surviving language literary tradition that dates back more than 2000 years.
Geographical Distribution Of Tamil Language: It is spoken in significant numbers in states such as Andaman and Nicobar islands, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. Also, you can find Tamil speakers in other South Africa, USA, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, etc.
6- Gujarati (5.54 Crore Speakers)
It is the sixth most spoken language and covers 4.58% of the total population of India. One of the unique language facts about Gujarati language is the language holds historical significance as Mahatma Gandhi conducted his so many freedom campaigns in Gujarat.
Geographical Distribution of Gujarati language: Highly spoken In Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Dadar and Nagar Haveli.
7- Urdu (5.07 Crore Speakers)
Urdu language speakers make up 4.19% of the total population of India. It is recognized as the official language in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Geographical Distribution of Urdu language: it is the second most spoken language in five states of India such as Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka. Urdu is spoken in several countries such as the UK, Canada, the USA, etc.
8- Kannada (4.37 Crore Speakers)
Kannada is the eighth most spoken language and covers up to 3.61% of the total population of India. Also, about 1 crore people speak Kannada as their second language.
Geographical Distribution of Kannada language: It is spoken in states such as Tamil Nadu, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
9- Odia (3.75 Crore Speakers)
It is the ninth most spoken language in India which makes up to 3.1% of the total population of India. It also holds official language status in Odisha and is the 2nd official language of the Jharkhand state. There is a need to understand cultural sensitivity in communication when using the Odia language in communication.
Geographical Distribution of Odia Language: It is highly spoken In West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, etc.
10- Malayalam (3.48 Crore Speakers)
It is the tenth most spoken language in India and around 2.88% of the total population of India is Malayalam speakers. It holds official status in Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
Geographical Distribution of Malayalam language: Spoken in Kerala and some part of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. Also, it is spoken in UK, Qatar, UAE, Singapore, Israel, Fiji, Malaysia, etc.
Conclusion
With the increasing integration of India’s economy and its popularity in the world, international businesses are focused on knowing more about the languages of India. For better functioning, businesses have to adapt mainstream languages to be able to engage well with the audience. To promote understanding, your business needs translation solutions to communicate accurately and effectively. We have native language speakers who understand the language and its dialects in depth.
If you are interested to know more about us, contact us at +91-8527599523 or quickly send us a instant quote.