Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Marathi
Nativename	''''
Imagecaption	Marathi written in Devanāgarī and Modi
Imageheader	Script
Pronunciation
States	India, Mauritius and Israel Marathi-speaking populations are found in United States, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Canada, UAE, South Africa, Israel, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, UK, Australia & New Zealand
Region	Maharashtra, Goa, parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu
Speakers	Total 70 million speakers70 million native, 20 million second language
Familycolor	Indo-European
Fam2	Indo-Iranian
Fam3	Indo-Aryan
Fam4	Southern Indo-Aryan
Dia1	Thanjavur Marathi
Script	Devanagari script (standard), Modi script (shorthand script)
Nation	(State of Maharashtra, Union territories of Daman-Diu) and Dadra Nagar Haveli
Agency	Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad & various other institutions
Iso1	mr|iso2mar|iso3mar
Map	Marathispeakers.png
Mapcaption	Distribution of native Marathi speakers in India
Notice	Indic
Notice2	IPA}}

Marathi ( '''') is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the 4th largest number of native speakers in India and is the 15th most spoken language in the world. Marathi has the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 1000 CE. The major dialects of Marathi are called the Standard Marathi and the Warhadi Marathi. There are a few other sub-dialects like Ahirani, Dangi, Samavedi, Khandeshi . Standard Marathi is the official language of the State of Maharashtra.

Geographic distribution

Marathi is primarily spoken in Maharashtra and parts of neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, union-territories of Daman-diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli. The cities of Baroda, Surat, Ahmedabad and Belgaum (Karnataka), Indore, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Tanjore (Tamil Nadu) each have sizable Marathi-speaking communities. Marathi is also spoken by Maharashtrian emigrants worldwide, in the United States, UAE, South Africa, Singapore, Germany, UK, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The Ethnologue states that Marathi is also spoken in Israel and Mauritius, and Canada.

Official status

Marathi is an official language of the Indian state of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In Goa, Konkani is the sole official language; however, Marathi may also be used for all official purposes. The Constitution of India recognizes Marathi as one of India's 22 official languages.

In addition to all universities in Maharashtra, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Gujarat), Osmania University (Andhra Pradesh), Gulbarga university (Karnataka), Devi Ahilya University of Indore and Goa University (Panaji) all have special departments for higher studies in Marathi linguistics. Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) has announced plans to establish a special department for Marathi.

History

The Prakrit vernacular languages, including Maharashtri Prakrit, were originally derived from Sanskrit. Further change led to ''apabhraṃśa'' languages like Marathi, which may be described as being a re-Sanskritised, developed form of Maharashtri Apabhraṃśa. The more recent influence of Persian, Arabic or Urdu has also made this language seem close to mainstream Hindi.

Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 CE and was the official language of the Sātavāhana empire. It had risen to a high literary level, and works like ''Karpurmanjari'' and ''Saptashati'' (150 BCE) were written in it. Maharashtri Prakrit was the most widely used Prakrit language in western and southern India.

Maharashtri Apabhraṃśa remained in use for several hundred years until at least 500 CE. Apabhraṃśa was used widely in Jain literature and formed an important link in the evolution of Marathi. This form of Apabhraṃśa was re-Sanskritised and eventually became Marathi.

According to the written forms and historical attestations and evidences, Marathi is said to date to the 8th century.

Pre-13th century

Earliest forms

The first written attestation of Marathi, a document found in Karnataka, dates from 700 CE. The earliest known written form is on the copperplate of Vijayaditya found in Satara, dated 739 CE.

The stone inscription at the feet of Shravanabelagola Gomateshwar in South Karnataka, whose first line reads as "Chavundarajen Karaviyalen" (, meaning ''Built by Chavundaraja, the son of Gangaraja''), is another old specimen, constructed in 983 CE. This inscription has been quite controversial, and was being touted as being in old-Marathi since the time it was noticed and interpreted. However, given that the distinctive instrumental ''viyalem'' ending of the verb is the hallmark of Konkani language, and the verb ''sutatale'' or ''sutatalap'' not being prevalent in Marathi, linguists and historians such as S.B. Kulkarni of Nagpur University, Dr V.P. Chavan (former vice-president of the Anthropological society of Mumbai), and others have thus concluded that this inscription is in Konkani.

Also, an interesting couplet is found in the Jain monk Udyotan Suri's ''Kuvalayamala'' in the 8th century, referring to a bazaar where the Marhattes speak ''Didhale'' (''Dile'' - given), ''Gahille'' (''Ghetale'' - taken). The Marathi translation of ''Panchatantra'' is also considered very old.

It is because the language was spoken so widely that the deeds of charitable gifts like the one at Patan recording the maintenance grants given by King Soidev to Changdev's University and the imperial mandates expected to be obeyed by all, like the Edict of King Aparaditya (1183), were inscribed in Marathi. The Pandharpur inscription (1273) of the days of Raja Shiromani Ramdev Rao is in flawless Marathi. Marathi was now spoken by all classes and castes.

12th century to 1905

Yadava

Marathi literature began and grew thanks to the rise of both the Yadava dynasty of Devgiri (who adopted Marathi as the court language and patronized Marathi scholars) and two religious sects - Mahanubhav Panth and Warkari Panth, who adopted Marathi as the medium for preaching their doctrines of devotion. Marathi had attained a venerable place in court life by the time of the Yadava kings. During the reign of the last three Yadava kings, a great deal of literature in verse and prose, on astrology, medicine, Puranas, Vedanta, kings and courtiers were created. ''Nalopakhyan'', ''Rukmini swayamvar'' and Shripati's ''Jyotishratnamala'' (1039 CE) are a few examples.

The oldest book in prose form in Marathi, ''Vivekasindhu'' (), was written by Mukundaraj, a yogi of Natha Pantha and arch-poet of Marathi. Mukundaraj bases his exposition of the basic tenets of the Hindu philosophy and Yoga Marga on the utterances or teachings of Shankaracharya. Mukundaraj's other work, ''Paramamrita,'' is considered the first systematic attempt to explain the Vedanta in the Marathi language. One of the famous saints of this period is Sant Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296) who wrote ''Bhavarthadeepika'', popularly known as Dnyaneshwari (1290), and ''Amritanubhava''. He also composed devotional songs called ''abhangas.'' Dnyaneshwar gave a higher status to Marathi by bringing the sacred Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to Marathi.

Mahanubhav sect

Notable examples of Marathi prose are "" (), events and anecdotes from the miracle filled life of Chakradhar Swami of the Mahanubhav sect compiled by his close disciple, Mahimabhatta, in 1238. The Mahanubhav sect made Marathi a vehicle for the propagation of religion and culture.

Warkari sect

The Mahanubhav sect was followed by the Warkari saint-poet Eknath (1528–1599). Eknath's Bhavarth Ramayana brought the message of the Bhagvat cult to the people. Mukteswar translated the epic Mahabharata into Marathi. Social reformers like saint-poet Tukaram transformed Marathi into a rich literary language. Saint Tukaram’s (1608–49) poetry contained his inspirations. He was a radical reformer. Tukaram wrote over 3000 Abhangas. He was followed by Ramadas. Writers of the Mahanubhav sect contributed to Marathi prose while the saint-poets of Warkari sect composed Marathi poetry. However, the latter group is regarded as the pioneers and founders of Marathi literature. Jainism too enriched Marathi during Bahamani period.

Modern period

Since 1630, Marathi regained prominence with the rise of the Maratha empire beginning with the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji (1627–1680). Subsequent rulers extended the empire northwards to Delhi, eastwards to Orissa, and southwards to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. These excursions by the Marathas helped to spread Marathi over broader geographical regions. This period also saw the use of Marathi in transactions involving land and other business. Documents from this period, therefore, give a better picture of life of common people - who spoke the language - than the documents in Persian which was used previously but understood only by the elites of the Islamic rulers. At the time, Saint Tukaram made important contributions to Marathi poetic literature in Warkari Pantha. But by the late 18th century, the Maratha Empire's influence over a large part of the country was on the decline.

18th century

In the 18th century, some well-known works such as Yatharthadeepika by Vaman Pandit, Naladamayanti Swayamvara by Raghunath Pandit, Pandava Pratap, Harivijay, Ramvijay by Shridhar Pandit and Mahabharata by Moropanta were produced. Krishnadayarnava and Sridhar were poets during the Peshwa period. New literary forms were successfully experimented with during the period and classical styles were revived, especially the Mahakavya and Prabandha forms.

After 1800 to 20th century

The British colonial period (also known as the Modern Period) saw standardization of Marathi grammar through the efforts of the Christian missionary William Carey. Christian missionaries played an important role in the production of scientific dictionaries and grammars.

The late 19th century in Maharashtra was a period of colonial modernity. Like the corresponding periods in other Indian languages, this was the period dominated by English-educated intellectuals. It was the age of prose and reason. It was the period of reformist activism and a great intellectual ferment.

The first Marathi translation of an English book was published in 1817, and the first Marathi newspaper was started in 1835. Newspapers provided a platform for sharing literary views, and many books on social reforms were written. The Marathi language flourished as Marathi drama gained popularity. Musicals known as ''Sangeet Natak'' also evolved. Keshavasut, the father of modern Marathi poetry published his first poem in 1885. First Marathi periodical ''Dirghadarshan'' was started in 1840 while first Marathi newspaper ''Durpan'' was started by Balshastri Jambhekar in 1832.

The first half of 20th century was marked by new enthusiasm in literary pursuits, and socio-political activism helped achieve major milestones in Marathi literature, drama, music and film. Modern Marathi prose flourished through various new literary forms like the essay, the biographies, the novels, prose, drama etc. Chiplunkar's Nibandhmala (essays), N.C.Kelkar's biographical writings, novels of Hari Narayan Apte, Narayan Sitaram Phadke and V. S. Khandekar, and plays of Mama Varerkar and Kirloskar's are particularly worth noting. Similarly Khandekar's Yayati which has won for him, the Jnanpith Award is a very noteworthy novel. Vijay Tendulkar's plays in Marathi have earned him a reputation beyond Maharashtra.

After Indian independence, Marathi was accorded the status of a scheduled language on the national level.

By May 1, 1960, Maharashtra emerged re-organised on linguistic lines adding Vidarbha and Marathwada region in its fold and bringing major chunks of Marathi population socio-politically together. With state and cultural protection, Marathi made great strides by the 1990s.

A literary event called ''Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan'' (All-India Marathi Literature Meet) is held every year. In addition, the ''Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Sammelan'' (All-India Marathi Theatre Meet) is also held annually. Both events are very popular amongst Maharashtrians.

Dialects

Standard Marathi is based on dialects used by academics and the print media, and is influenced by the educated élite of the Pune region. Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad (MSP) is the apex guiding body for literary institutions of Marathi language.

Indic scholars distinguish 42 dialects of spoken Marathi. Dialects bordering other major language areas have many properties in common with those languages, further differentiating them from standard spoken Marathi. The bulk of the variation within these dialects is primarily lexical and phonological (e.g. accent placement and pronunciation). Although the number of dialects is considerable, the degree of intelligibility within these dialects is relatively high. Historically, the major dialect divisions have been Ahirani, Khandeshi, Varhadi, Zadi Boli, Vadvali, Samavedi and Are Marathi.

Zadi Boli

Zadi Boli, Jhadi Boli or Zadiboli is spoken in Zadipranta (Forest rich region) of far eastern Maharashtra or eastern Vidarbha or western-central Gondvana comprising Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrpur, Gadchiroli and some parts of Nagpur and Wardha districts of Maharashtra.

Zadi Boli Sahitya Mandal and many literary are working for the conservation of this important and distinct dialect of Marathi.

Varhadi

Varhadi, Varhādi or Vaidarbhi is spoken in the Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. In Marathi, the retroflex lateral approximant '''' is common, while in the Varhadii dialect, it corresponds to the palatal approximant ''y'' (IPA: [j]), making this dialect quite distinct. Such phonetic shifts are common in spoken Marathi, and as such, the spoken dialects vary from one region of Maharashtra to another.

Ahirani

Ahirani is spoken in the west Khandesh North Maharashtra region.

Ahirani is a language today spoken in the western and southern parts of Jalgaon (Chalisgaon, Bhadgaon, Pachora, Erandol, Dharangaon, Parole, Amalner, Chopada talukas), Nandurbar (Shahada, Maharashtra, Taloda, Navapur), Dhule (Shirpur, Shindkheda, Sakri)and eastern Nashik (Baglan, Malegaon and Kalwan talukas) districts of Maharashtra. This dialect has a considerable influence of Gujrati and Hindi, the languages spoken in the neighouring states Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh.

Khandeshi

Khandesh was an old district of Bombay presidency. Later it was divided into East and West Khandesh. East Khandesh is now known as Jalgaon District and West Khandesh is now known as Dhule district. Ahirani was the languages of Ahir's who lived in Khandesh.

Khandeshi has social and territorial dailects. Taptayngi, Varlyangi, Khallyangi, Baglani, Nandurbari, Ghatoi, Dhakani, Jamneri are territorial dailects of Khandeshi. Ahirani, Bhilli, Rajputi, Pardeshi, Ladsikkiwani, Tavadi, Levapatidari and Gujari are social dailects of Khandeshi.

Dilemma of Ahirani & Khandeshi

The views of Dr. Ramesh Sitaram Suryawanshi on Ahirani and Khandeshi are explained in detail in his linguistic study of Ahirani. His books, published on the linguistic study of the Ahirani dialect, are ''Ahirani Bhasha Vaidnynik Abhyasa'' ("A linguistic study of Ahirani"; it explains the grammar formation of words and formation of sentences of Ahirani), ''Ahirani-shabdkosh'' (the first dictionary of Ahirani dialect which contains nearly 10,000 words lexicographically arranged) and ''Aharani Mhani Ani Wakprachar'' ("sayings and proverbs" in Ahirani dialect; it contains 1,000 sayings and 4,000 proverbs with illustrations). All these books were published by Akshaya Prakashan, Pune in 1997. His fourth book is ''Khandeshatil Krishak Jivan Sachitra Kosha'' — a pictorial dictionary used by the farmers in Khandesh. It is a book with pictures of the tools used by the farmers: the tools and their parts are labeled with their local names in the Ahirani dialect. It is published by Maharashtra State Governments Sahitya Ani Sanskriti Mandal, Mumbai, in 2000, and uploaded to the net by the Digital Library of India under the barcode 999999901412000. Dr. Ramesh Suryawanshi explains Ahirani and Khandeshi in detail. His explanation is elaborated in this article.

Ahirani or Khandeshi is spoken in Khandesh. Khandesh is the old name of area which covers today's Jalgaon, Dhulia, Nandurbar and part of Nasik and Aurangabad districts. Originally Ahirani was spoken by the Ahiras, herders who were with their cows, sheep, goats and bedfellows in the grassy land of Khandesh (previously known as Khandav Van). Khandesh was an old district of the Bombay Presidency. (Kahan means dry grass or grass land. Khan means pure. Khan means large ditch.) Khandesh is an area surrounded by the Satpuda, Ajanta, and Chandwad ranges, and the River Waghur. This wide basin was grass land, useful for cattle, the basin of the Tapi and Narbada rivers. Ahirani is the caste based name of the dialect and Khandeshi is the region based name of the dialect.

When the Ahiras arrived in Khandesh with their cattle, they settled in Khandesh. They were large in number. Meanwhile they indulged in social roles. People around them tried to imitate their dialect, while speaking with them. The Lewa, Wani, Bhill, and Pardeshi all have their own dialect yet they started speaking mixed Ahirani (Ahirani affected by their dialect) in the Khandesh territory. The dialects in Khandesh were known by others as Khandeshi. In Khandesh the dialect spoken by the Ahiras was known as Ahirani. Ahirani is caste-based name; Khandeshi is region-based name. Khandeshi is large concept which merges Ahirani in its stomach. Socially Khandeshi is classified in Ahirani, Bhilli, Pardeshi, Lewa–Patidar, in such subdialects.

Chalisgaon, Dhulia is hypocenter of Ahirani. Chandwadi is spoken around Chandwad hills, Nandubari is spoken around Nandurbar, Jamnerior Tawadi is spoken around Jamner tehsil, Taptangi is spoken by the side of Tapi, Tapti river. Dongarangi is spoken by the side of forest Ajanta hills. All these are region-based names for Khandeshi subdialects. All are regional categories. Ahirani, Gujari, Bhilau, Maharau, Lewa, Purbhi all are social (caste-based) categories of Khandeshi. Some say Bhanabai poetess is not Ahirani but she is Lewa. But Lewa and Ahirani are wrapped in Khandeshi. So Khandeshi is the term or concept that merges all disputes. It is wide, region-based concept.

The Khandeshi language has six vowel sounds and 34 consonantal sounds. Out of 34 consonants 14 are voiced. There are three genders and eight cases. Verbs are of both type transitive and intransitive; they are formed according to tense, person, gender and number.

Konkani

Konkani refers to the collection of dialects of Marathi language spoken in the Konkan region. It is often mistakenly extended to cover Goan Konkani which is an independent language. George Abraham Grierson has referred to this dialect as the ''Konkan Standard of Marathi'' in order to differentiate it from Konkani language. The sub-dialects of Konkani gradually merge from standard Marathi into Goan Konkani from north to south Konkan. The various sub dialects are: Parabhi, Koli, Kiristanv, Kunbi, Agari, Dhangari, Thakri, Karadhi, and Maoli. These sub-dialects are together considered by the ISO to be a separate language and is assigned the ISO 639-3 code knn.

Vadvali

This dialect may not necessarily be named thus. It was primarily spoken by Vadvals, which basically means agricultural plot owners, of the Naigaon, Vasai to Dahanu region. Somavamshi Kshatriyas speak this dialect. This language is preserved mostly by the Roman Catholics native to this region, since they are a closely knit community here and have very few relatives outside this region. It was also widely spoken among the Hindus native to this region, but due to external influences, ordinary Marathi is now more popular among the Hindus. There are many songs in this language. Recently a book was published by Nutan Patil containing around 70 songs. The songs are about marriage, pachvi etc. The dialect of the Kolis (fisherfolk) of Vasai and neighbouring Mumbai resembles this dialect closely, though they speak with a heavier accent. There is a village in Vasai called Chulna, which was predominantly Roman Catholic (now cosmopolitan). The striking feature of the dialect here contrasting it with Vadvali, is the preference of pronouncing the thinner 'l' and 'n' ('ल' and 'न') instead of the thicker 'l' and 'n' ('ळ' and 'ण'), which is retained even in the current generation of speakers even for conversing normal Marathi.

Samavedi

Samavedi is spoken in the interiors of the Nala Sopara and Virar regions to the north of Mumbai in the Vasai Talukauran panvel, Thane District of Maharashtra. The name of this language correctly suggests that its origins lie with the Samavedi Brahmins native to this region. This language, too, finds more speakers among the Roman Catholic converts native to the region (who are known as East Indians), but nevertheless is popular among the Samavedi Brahmins. This dialect is very different from the other Marathi dialects spoken in other regions of Maharashtra, but resembles Vadvali very closely. Both Vadvali and Samavedi have relatively high proportions of words imported from Portuguese as compared to ordinary Marathi, because of direct influence of the Portuguese who colonized this region till 1739.

Thanjavur Marathi and Namdev Marathi

Thanjavur Marathi, Namdev Marathi and Bhavsar Marathi are spoken by many Southern Indians. This dialect evolved from the time of occupation of the Marathas in Thanjavur in southern Tamil Nadu. It has speakers in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Others

Tharki (Spoken by the Adivasi community found in Raigad district of Maharashtra)

Dangii (spoken near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border)

Judæo-Marathi (spoken by the Bene Israel Jews)

Kadodi (spoken near Vasai)

Agari (Spoken by the Agari community found in Raigad & Thane district of Maharashtra)

Ahirani ( spoken in north maharatra esp in Jalgaon and some parts of Dhule, Nandurbar )

Other dialects of Marathi include Warli of Thane District, Dakshini (Marathwada), Deshi (Eastern Konkan Ghats), Deccan, Nagpuri, Ikrani and Gowlan.

Malvani ( spoken in South Maharashtra esp in down below southern part of Kokan.)

Satari/Deshi ( spoken in South Maharashtra, especially in Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur Districts)

Other languages having considerable Marathi influence

Dakhini and Hyderabadi Urdu spoken in Hyderabad and some parts of Deccan are considerably influenced by Marathi. The grammar of ''Hyderabadi Urdu'' is adapted from Marathi. In fact, it is also called a creole between Marathi and Urdu with some Telugu words.

Sounds

The phoneme inventory of Marathi is similar to that of many other Indo-Aryan languages, especially that of the Konkani language. An IPA chart of all contrastive sounds in Marathi is provided below.

{|class="wikitable" |+Consonants ! ||Labial||Dental||Alveolar||Retroflex||Alveopalatal||Velar||Glottal |-style="text-align:center" !Voicelessstops ||||| |||||| || |-style="text-align:center" !Voicedstops ||||| |||||||| |-style="text-align:center" !Voicelessfricatives | || |||| |||| || |-style="text-align:center" !Nasals ||||| |||| || || |-style="text-align:center" !Liquids ||| || ||| |||| || |} Older aspirated have lost their onset, with merging with and being typically realized as an aspirated fricative, . This series is not distinguished in writing from .

{|class="wikitable" |+Vowels ! ||Front||Central||Back |-style="text-align:center" !High ||| || |-style="text-align:center" !Mid ||||| |-style="text-align:center" !Low | ||||  |}

There are two more vowels in Marathi to denote the pronunciations of English words such as of ''a'' in ''act'' and ''a'' in ''all''. These are written as and . The IPA signs for these are and , respectively. Marathi retains the original Sanskrit pronunciations of certain alphabets such as the ''anusvāra'' (for instance, ''saṃhar,'' compared to ''sanhar'' in Hindi). Moreover, Marathi preserves certain Sanskrit patterns of pronunciation, as in the words ''purṇa'' and ''rāma'' compared to ''purṇ'' and ''rām'' in Hindi.

Writing

Written Marathi first appeared during the 11th century in the form of inscriptions on stones and copper plates. From the 13th century until the mid-20th century, it was written with the Modi alphabet. Since 1950 it has been written with the Devanāgarī alphabet.

Devanagari script

Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, an alphasyllabary or abugida consisting of 16 vowel letters and 36 consonant letters making a total of 52 letters. It is written from left to right. The Devanagari used to write Marathi is slightly different than that of Hindi or other languages. The Marathi Devanagari script is called Balbodh () script.

Modi script

From the thirteenth century until 1950, Marathi was written in Modi script — a cursive script designed for minimising the lifting of pen from paper while writing. Most writings of the Maratha empire are in Modi script. However, Persian-based scripts were also used for court documentation. With the advent of large-scale printing, Modi script fell into disuse, as it proved very difficult for type-setting. Currently, due to the availability of Modi fonts and the enthusiasm of the younger speakers, the script is far from disappearing. (See Reference Links).

Consonant clusters

In Marathi, the consonants by default come with a schwa. Therefore, will be 'təyāche', not 'tyāche'. To form 'tyāche', you will have to add + , giving .

When two or more consecutive consonants are followed by a vowel then a ''jodakshar'' (consonant cluster) is formed. Some examples of consonant clusters are shown below: - ''tyāche'' - "his" - ''prastāv''-"proposal" - ''vidyā'' - "knowledge" - ''myān'' "Sword Cover" - ''tvarā'' "immediate/Quick" - ''mahatva'' - "importance" - "only" - "dolls"

Marathi has a few consonant clusters that are rarely seen in the world's languages, including the so-called "nasal aspirates" (, nh, and mh) and liquid aspirates (rh, , lh, and vh). Some examples are given below.

- - "a shrub known for flowers" - - "bath" - - "because" - '''' - "different way of behaving" - ''kolhā'' - "fox" - '''' "when"

Grammar

Marathi grammar shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc. The first modern book exclusively concerning Marathi Grammar was printed in 1805 by William Carey. Sanskrit Grammar used to be referred more till late stages of Marathi Language.

The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and the above mentioned rules give special status to 'Tatsam' (Without Change) words adapted from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for 'Tatsam' words to be followed as in Sanskrit grammar. While this supports Marathi Language with a larger treasure of Sanskrit words to cope with demands of new technical words whenever needed; maintains influence over Marathi.

The primary word order of Marathi is SOV (subject–object–verb) An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, common to the Austronesian languages, Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.

Unlike its related languages, Marathi preserves all three grammatical genders (''Linga'') from Sanskrit, masculine, feminine and neuter. Marathi contains three grammatical voices (''prayog'') i.e. ''Kartari'', ''Karmani'' and ''Bhave''. Detailed analysis of grammatical aspects of Marathi language are covered in Marathi grammar.

Marathi organisations

Many government and semi-government organisations exist which work for the regulation, promotion and enrichment of the Marathi language. These are either initiated or funded by Government of Maharashtra. Few Marathi organisations are given below:

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad

Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal (Central confederation of all Marathi organisations)

Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh

Shodh Marathicha

Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, Pune

Marathi Vishwakosh (encyclopedia) project

Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh, Nagpur

Marathwada Sahitya Parishad, Aurangabad

Outside Maharashtra state

Gomantak Marathi academy

Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, Jabalpur

Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Paraishad, Hyderabad

Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Karnataka

Gomantak Sahitya Sewak Mandal, Goa

Vocabulary

Sharing of linguistic resources with other languages

Over a period of many centuries the Marathi language and people came into contact with many other languages and dialects. The primary influence of Prakrit, Maharashtri, Apbhramsha and Sanskrit is understandable. At least 50% of the words in Marathi are either taken or derived from Sanskrit.

Marathi has also shared directions, vocabulary and grammar with languages such as Indian Dravidian languages, and a few foreign languages like Persian, Arabic, English and a little from Portuguese.

While recent genome studies suggest some amount of political and trade relations between the Indian subcontinent and East Africa, Middle East, Central Asia over a millennium, these studies are still not conclusive about the exact effect on linguistics.

Morphology and etymology

Day-to-day spoken Marathi retains a noticeably higher number of Sanskrit-derived (''tatsam'') words compared to sister North-Indian languages like Hindi, and many of these words are more or less unchanged versions of their original Sanskrit counterparts. Examples of such words used more or less daily by Marathi speakers include ''nantar'' (from ''nantaram'' or after), '''' ('''' or complete, full, or full measure of something), ''ola'' (''olam'' or damp), '''' ('''' or cause), ''puṣkaḷ'' (''puṣkalam'' or much, many), ''satat'' (''satatam'' or always), ''vichitra'' (''vichitram'' or strange), ''svatah'' (''svatah'' or himself/herself), ''prayatna'' (''prayatnam'' or effort, attempt), ''bhīti'' (from ''bhīti'', or fear) and '''' ('' or vessel for cooking or storing food). Others such as ''dār'' (''dwāram'' or door), ''ghar'' (''gṛham'' or house), ''vāgh'' (''vyāghram'' or tiger), ''paḷaṇe'' (''palāyate'' or to run away), ''kiti'' (''kati'' or how many) have undergone more modification.

Examples of words borrowed from other Indian and foreign languages include:

''Adakitta'' "nutcracker" directly borrowed from Kannada

''Begeen'' "early" directly borrowed from Kannada

''Estek'' "estate" corrupted from English

''Jaahiraat'' "advertisement" is derived from Arabic ''zaahiraat''

''Shiphaaras'' "recommendation" is derived from Persian sefaresh

''Marjii'' "wish" is derived from Persian "marzi"

''Hajeri'' Attendance from ''Hajiri'' Urdu

A lot of English words are commonly used in conversation, and are considered to be totally assimilated into the Marathi vocabulary. These include "pen" (native Marathi ), "shirt" (''sadaraa'').

Influence of foreign languages

Usage of punctuation marks was one of the major contributions to Indic script by foreign languages. Previously, due to Sanskritised poetry, textual punctuation requirements of many texts may have been less.

Forming complex words

Marathi uses many morphological processes to join words together, forming complex words. These processes are traditionally referred to as ''sandhi'' (from Sanskrit, "combination"). For example, ''ati'' + ''uttam'' gives the word ''atyuttam''.

Another method of combining words is referred to as ''samaas'' (from Sanskrit, "margin"). There are no reliable rules to follow to make a ''samaas''. When the second word starts with a consonant, a ''sandhi'' can not be formed, but a ''samaas'' can be formed. For example, ''miith-bhaakar'' ("salt-bread"), ''udyog-patii'' ("businessman"), ("eight-hands", name of a Hindu goddess), and so on. There are different names given to each type of ''samaas''.

Counting

Like many other languages, Marathi uses distinct names for the numbers 1 to 20 and each multiple of 10, and composite ones for those greater than 20.

As with other Indic languages, there are distinct names for the fractions , , and . They are ''paava'', ''ardhaa'', and , respectively. For most fractions greater than 1, the prefixes ''savvaa-'', , are used. There are special names for and .

The powers of ten are as follows:

10: ''daha'' (Devanagari:)

100: ''shambhar'' (Devanagari:शंभर) (also constructed with number prefix and "-she" suffix)

1,000: ''hajaar'' (Devanagari:हजार/सहस्र) (or ''sahasra'', a word close to the Sanskrit version)

100,000: ''laakh'' (Devanagari:लाख/लक्ष) (or ''laksha'')

10,000,000: ''koti'' (Devanagari:कोटी)

1,000,000,000: ''abja'' (Devanagari:अब्ज)

10,000,000,000: ''kharva'' (Devanagari:खर्व)

100,000,000,000: ''nikharva'' (Devanagari:निखर्व)

100,000,000,000,000,000: ''parardha'' (Devanagari:परार्ध)

A positive integer is read by breaking it up from the tens digit leftwards, into parts each containing two digits, the only exception being the hundreds place containing only one digit instead of two. For example, 1,234,567 is read as ''12 laakh 34 hajaar 5 she 67''. Every two-digit number after 18 (11 to 18 are predefined) is read backwards. For example, 21 is read एक-वीस (1-twenty). Also, a two digit number that ends with a 9 is considered to be the next tens place minus one. For example, 29 is एकुणतीस (Thirty minus one). Two digit numbers used before ''hajaar'', etc. are written in the same way.

Marathi on computers and the Internet

Shrilipi, Shivaji, kothare 2,4,6 Kiran and many more (about48) based on ASCII code were used prior to the introduction of Unicode standard for Devanagari script. Fonts (Tanka) in ASCII code are in vogue on PCs even today since most of the computers in use are working with English Keyboard. Even today a large number of printed publications of books, news papers and magazines are prepared using these ASCII based fonts. However, these fonts cannot be used on internet due to new restrictions.

Earlier Marathi suffered from weak support by computer operating systems and Internet services, as have other Indian languages. But recently, with the introduction of language localisation projects and new technologies, various software and Internet applications have been introduced. Various Marathi typing software is widely used and display interface packages are now available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Many Marathi websites, including Marathi newspapers, have become popular especially with Maharashtrians outside India. Online projects such as the Marathi language Wikipedia, with 25,000+ articles, the Marathi blogroll and Marathi blogs have gained immense popularity.

Voyager Golden Record

The Voyager Golden Record carries greetings from earth to the Universe in 55 different languages including Marathi. The message in Marathi is "नमस्कार. ह्या पृथ्वीतील लोक तुम्हाला त्यांचे शुभविचार पाठवतात आणि त्यांची इच्छा आहे की तुम्ही ह्या जन्मी धन्य व्हा". ("Namaskar! Hya prithvitil lok tumhala tyanche shubhavichar pathavitat, ani tyanchi iccha ahe ki tumhi hya janmi dhanya vha").

See also

Devanagari

Languages of India

Languages with official status in India

List of Indian languages by total speakers

List of Marathi writers

Maharashtra

Marathi literature

Marathi Newspapers

Marathi people

Modi script

References

A Survey of Marathi Dialects. VIII. Gāwḍi, A.M.Ghatage & P.P.Karapurkar. The State Board for Literature and Culture, Bombay. 1972.

Marathi: The Language and its Linguistic Traditions - Prabhakar Machwe, Indian and Foreign Review, 15 March 1985.

'Atyavashyak Marathi Vyakaran' (''Essential Marathi Grammar'') - Dr. V. L. Vardhe

'Marathi Vyakaran' (''Marathi Grammar'') - Moreshvar Sakharam More.

'Marathi Vishwakosh, Khand 12 (''Marathi World Encyclopedia, Volume 12''), Maharashtra Rajya Vishwakosh Nirmiti Mandal, Mumbai

'Marathyancha Itihaas' by Dr. Kolarkar, Shrimangesh Publishers, Nagpur

'History of Medieval Hindu India from 600 CE to 1200 CE, by C. V. Vaidya

Marathi Sahitya (Review of the Marathi Literature up to I960) by Kusumavati Deshpande, Maharashtra Information Centre, New Delhi

External links

Elementary conversational Marathi

Marathi phrasebook at Wikitravel

Marathi corner- largest Marathi people community]

भारतीय भाषा ज्योति: मराठी —a textbook for learning Marathi through Hindi from the Central Institute of Indian Languages

; Dictionaries

Molesworth, J. T. (James Thomas). A dictionary, Marathi and English. 2d ed., rev. and enl. Bombay: Printed for government at the Bombay Education Society's press, 1857.

Vaze, Shridhar Ganesh. The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English. Poona: Arya-Bhushan Press, 1911.

Tulpule, Shankar Gopal and Anne Feldhaus. A dictionary of old Marathi. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan, 1999.

Marathi Wordnet

* Category:Culture of Maharashtra Category:Jain languages Category:Languages of India Category:Languages written in Devanagari Category:Southern Indo-Aryan languages Category:SOV languages

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
background	group_or_band
name	Atul Ashok Gogavale,Ajay Ashok Gogavale
birth date	Atul-11 September 1974Ajay-21 August 1976 Pune, Maharashtra, India
occupation	Music Director, Composer, Playback singers
Alias	Ajay Atul
genre	Indian Film Music
years active	2000-present
website	Official Website }}

Ajay and Atul Gogavale () (commonly known as Ajay-Atul) are Indian music composers and directors. In 2008, Ajay-Atul won the Best Music Direction award at the 56th National Film Awards by the Government of India for contributing music to the Marathi film ''Jogwa'' ().

Life

Ajay and Atul were brought up in several villages in western Maharashtra, including Rajgurunagar, Junnar, Shirur. Their father worked for the revenue department, and their family owned some farms. They started their music careers with commercial jingles, ballets & advertisements and went on to compose for plays, private albums and movies.

''Man Udhān Vāryāche'' (मन उधाण वार्‍याचे), ''Malhāravārī'' (मल्हारवारी), ''Kombdī Paḷalī'' (कोम्बडी पळाली) are some of their notable compositions.

Ajay-Atul composed songs and background score for the Marathi film ''Naṭarang'' (नटरंग) (2010). Their composition for Naṭarang was influenced by traditional Marathi folk music forms like ''Lāvaṇī'' (लावणी), ''Phaṭakā'' (फटका) and ''Tamāśā'' (तमाशा)..They recently gave music to hindi film Singham starring Ajay Devgn and directed by Rohit Shetty.

Discography

Films

Hindi ''Aga Bai Arechya'' ''God Gupit'' ''Jatra'' ''Savarkhed: Ek Gaon'' ''Viruddh'' ''Vaah Hindi ''Shock'' ''Restaurant'' ''Zabardast'' ''Bandh Premache'' ''Sade Made Teen'' ''Checkmate (2008 film) ''Tujya Majya Sanasarala Aani Kaay Have'' ''Mumbai Amchich'' ''Uladhaal'' ''Ek Daav Dhobi Pachad'' ''Bedhund'' ''Oxygen: Jiv Gudmartoy'' ''Jogwa'' ''Natarang'' ''Ringa Ringa'' ''Baal Shivba'' - Animation Film ''Atta Ga Baya'' ''Dhating Dhingana'' My Friend PintoSingham (2011 film)Agneepath (2011 film)Bol Bachchan

	Year	Film	Language	Participation	Features/Awards
2004	''Gayab''	|	Music Direction
2004	|	Marathi	Music Direction	Sanskruti Kala Darpan Award,
2005	|	Marathi	Music Direction,Background Score
2005	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2005	|	Marathi	Music Direction	Maharashtra Kala Niketan Puraskar, Maharashtra Times Sanman
2005	|	Hindi	Music Direction
2005	Life Ho Toh Aisi!''	|	Music Direction, Hanuman Chalisa only
2006	|	Telugu	Music Direction
2006	|	Marathi	Background Score
2007	|	Marathi	Music Direction	Maharshtra Times Sanman
2007	|	Marathi	Music Direction	Zee Gaurav Puraskar>Zee Gaurav Award
2007	|	Marathi	Music Direction, Title Song Only
2008	Checkmate'' ||	Marathi	Music Direction
2008	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2008	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2008	|	Marathi	Music Direction	V Shantaram Award
2009	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2009	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2009	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2009	|	Marathi	Music Direction	Sanskruti Kala Darpan, Maharshtra Times Sanman, National Film Award for Best Music Direction
2010	|	Marathi	Music Direction, Background Score	Zee Gaurav Puraskar>Zee Gaurav Award,	V Shantaram, 47th Maharahstra State Film Award
2010	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2010	|		Music Direction - Upcoming
2011	|	Marathi	Music Direction
2011	|	Marathi	Music Direction - Upcoming
2011	|	Hindi	Music Direction	Produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, releasing 1 July 2011
2011	Singham||	Hindi	Music Direction	Hindi remake of the Tamil film 'Singham' , directed by Rohit Shetty
2011	''Agneepath''||	Hindi	Music Direction, Background Score	Upcoming remake of the 1990 film of the same name, produced by Dharma Productions
2012	|	Hindi	Music Direction	Produced by Ajay Devgn and Directed by Rohit Shetty

Albums

Shri Ram MantraVishwavinayakSang Sang Ho TumBedhundMeera KaheinVishwatma (Telugu Devotional Songs)

	Year	Album	Language	Participation
1999	College College	Hindi (audio movie)
2002	|	Sanskrit, Hindi	Music Arrangement
2002	|	Marathi language>Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi	Music Direction
2003	|	Hindi	Music Direction
2003	|	Marathi language>Marathi	Music Direction
2003	|		Music Direction
2006	|	Telugu language>Telugu	Music Direction

Serials/Daily Soaps

Zee Gaurav Geet Eka Peksha Ek Lakh Lakh Chanderi Hasysamrat Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Hafta Band Cricket Club Bhavanjali Kya Baat Hai Misha Amchya Sarkhe Amhich Shriyut Gagadhar Tipre Wadalvaat Bedhund Manachya Lahari

			Sr.No.	Channel	Serial/Track	Special features/Awards
1.	Raja Shivchatrapati	Star Pravah
2.	|	Zee Marathi	Zee Gaurav Puraskar>Zee Gaurav Award
3.	|	Zee Marathi
4.	|	Zee Talkies
5.	|	Zee Marathi
6.	|	Zee Marathi
7.	|	Zee Marathi
8.	|	Zee Marathi
9.	|	Mi Marathi
10.	|	Zee Marathi
11.	|	Zee Marathi
12.	|	Zee Marathi
13.	|	Zee Marathi	Background Score
14.	|	Zee Marathi	Background Score
15.	|	E TV Marathi	Background Score

Plays/Dramas

			Sr.No.	Play/Drama Name	Features/Awards
1.	Sahi Re Sahi	Alpha Gaurav 2003 Award
2.	Lochya Zala Re
3.	Mr. Na. Ma. Deo Mhane
4.	Gopala Re Gopala
5.	Kala Ya Laglya Jiva
6.	Jahale Chatrapati Shivray
7.	Man Udhaan Varyache

Awards

Maharashtra Kala Niketan Award Maharashtra Rajya Natya Vyavsayik Spardha Maharashtra Times SanmanSanskruti Kala Darpan Maharashtra Rajya Natya Vyavsayik Spardha Maharashtra Times Sanman Zee GauravAkhil Bhartiy Marathi Chitrpat Mahamandal AwardsAkhil Bhartiy Marathi Chitrpat Mahamandal Awards Sanskruti Kala DarpanMaharashtra Times Sanman V Shantaram AwardsV Shantaram Awards Late Music Director Shrikant Thackeray Awards Sanskruti Kala DarpanMaharashtra Times Sanman Maharashtracha Favourite Kon? National Film AwardsZee GauravZee GauravSanskruti Kala DarpanMaharashtra Times Sanman Shivgaurav 47th State Film Awards 47th State Film Awards V Shantaram Awards V Shantaram Awards V Shantaram Awards Star Majha "Majha Sanman" Bal Gandharva Awards BIG FM BIG Music Director Award BIG FM BIG Playback Singer Award Maharashtracha Favourite Kon? Maharashtracha Favourite Kon? Marathi International Film and Theater AwardsMarathi International Film and Theater AwardsRam Kadam Kalagaurav Award

	Year	Award	Award Category	Award Details
2003	Alpha Gaurav (Later Zee Gaurav)	Best Music Direction
2004-05	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Savarkhed: Ek Gaon
2004-05	|	Best Music Direction	Play : Lochya Zala Re
2004-05	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Savarkhed: Ek Gaon
2004-05	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Aga Bai Arechya
2007	|	Best Music Direction	Play : Kala Ya Laglya Jiva
2008	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Zabardast
2008	|	Best Music Direction	Filmट : Bandh Premache
2008	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Tujhya Majhya Sansarala Aani Kaay Have
2008	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film : Tujhya Majhya Sansarala Aani Kaay Have
2008	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Tujhya Majhya Sansarala Aani Kaay Have
2009	|	Best Music Direction	Serial : Raja Shivchatrpati
2009	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Uladhaal
2009	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film : Uladhaal ,Song- Morya Morya
2009	|	Best Music Direction	-
2009	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Jogwa
2009	|	Best Music Direction	Film : Jogwa
2009	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film : Uladhaal ,Song- Morya Morya
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Jogwa
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film: Natarang, Song: Khel Mandla
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Influential Personalities	-
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film: Natarang, Song: Khel Mandla
2010	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film: Natarang, Song: Khel Mandla
2010	|	Best Background Score	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Best Music Direction
2010	|	Best Music Direction
2010	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2010	|	Music Direction	-
2010	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film: Natarang, Song: Khel Mandla
2010	|	Best Song	Film: Natarang, Song: Wajle Ki Bara
2011	|	Best Music Direction	Film: Natarang
2011	|	Best Playback Singer- Ajay Gogavale	Film: Natarang, Song: Khel Mandla
2011	|	Music Direction	-

References

Category:Indian composers Category:Living people Category:Musical directors Category:National Film Award winners Category:Marathi-language singers Category:1974 births

mr:अजय अतुल