Marathi
मराठी Marāṭhī
Marathi written in Devanāgarī and Modi
Pronunciation	[məˈɾaʈʰi]
Spoken in	India
Region	Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu
Native speakers	72 million  (2001)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Southern Indo-Aryan Marathi
Dialects	Varhadi
Writing system	Devanagari (standard), Modi (shorthand script), Latin (social networking and online chat)
Official status
Official language in	India (State of Maharashtra, Union territories of Daman-Diu)[2] and Dadra Nagar Haveli[3]
Regulated by	Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad & various other institutions
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mr
ISO 639-2	mar
ISO 639-3	mar
This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Marathi (IPA: ['mərɑːʈʰiː]; मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. There were 72 million speakers in 2001. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India^[4] and is the fifteenth most spoken language in the world.^[5] Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 1000 AD.^[6] The major dialects of Marathi are called Standard Marathi and Warhadi Marathi.^[7] There are a few other sub-dialects like Ahirani, Dangi, Vadvali, Samavedi, Khandeshi, and Malwani. Standard Marathi is the official language of the State of Maharashtra.

Geographic distribution[link]

Maharashtra, the state in India where the majority of Marathi speakers live.

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, especially in the United States, Israel, Mauritius, and Canada.^[8]

Official status[link]

Marathi is an official language of the Indian state of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu^[2] and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.^[3] 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 twenty-two official languages.^[9]

In addition to all universities in Maharashtra, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Gujarat),^[10] Osmania University (Andhra Pradesh),^[11] Gulbarga university (Karnataka),^[12] Devi Ahilya University of Indore^[13] and Goa University (Panaji)^[14] 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.^[15]

History[link]

The Prakrit vernacular languages, including Maharashtri Prakrit, were originally derived from Sanskrit.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 CE (875 AD) 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 (500 AD). 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.^[16]

Pre-13th century[link]

Earliest forms[link]

The first written attestation of Marathi, a document found in Maharastra, dates from 1012AD. The stone inscription at Akshi Taluka Alibaug District Raigad is the first clearly dated stone inscription. The brief description is as follows. गी सुष संतु | स्वस्ति ओ | पसीमस- मुद्रधिपति | स्री कोंकणा चक्री- वर्ती |स्री केसिदेवराय | महाप्रधा- न भइर्जू सेणुई तसीमीनी काले प्रव्रतमने | सकू संवतु : ९३४ प्रधा- वी संवसरे: अधीकु दीवे सुक्रे बौ- लु | भइर्जूवे तथा बोडणा तथा नऊ कुवली अधोर्यु प्रधानु | महलशु - मीची वआण | लुनया कचली ज It can be transliterated as : gee susha santu |swasti om |pasimasa - mudrdhipati | sri konkana chakri - varti | sri kesidevray |mahapradha - na bhairjoo senui taseemeeni kale pravratamane saku sanvatu :934 pradha- vi savsare : adhiku deeve sukre bau - lu | bhairjoove tatha bodana tatha nau kunvali ardhoyu pradhanu |mahalashu - meechee waaan | lunaya kachlee ja^[17]

Also, an interesting couplet is found in the monk Udyotansuri's Kuvalayamala in the 8th century, referring to a bazaar where the Marhattes speak Didhale (Dile - given), Gahille (Ghetale - taken). The Marathi translation of the Panchatantra is also considered very old.^[18]

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[link]

Yadava[link]

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 (विवेकसिंधु), 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),^[19] 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[link]

Notable examples of Marathi prose are "Līḷācarītra" (लीळाचरीत्र), 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[link]

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (August 2008)

The Mahanubhav sect was followed by the Warkari saint-poet Eknath (1528–1599). Eknath's Bhavarth Ramayana brought the message of the Bhagvat cult^{[clarification needed]} 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[link]

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. Saints like Samartha Ramdas (Dasboth), Sant Namdev (his marathi couplets were even taken to Punjab), Moropant (creator of 'Aryas") and many others created famous literary works in Marathi. There are lot of Bakharis written in Marathi and Modi lipi (shorthand marathi) from this period. But by the late 18th century, the Maratha Empire's influence over a large part of the country was on the decline.

18th century[link]

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[link]

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.

A few popular Marathi language newspapers at a newsstand in Mumbai, 2006

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[link]

Standard Marathi is based on dialects used by academics and the print media.

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.^[16] Historically, the major dialect divisions have been Ahirani, Khandeshi, Varhadi, Zadi Boli, Vadvali, Samavedi and Are Marathi.

Zadi Boli[link]

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[link]

Varhadi, Varhādi or Vaidarbhi is spoken in the Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. In Marathi, the retroflex lateral approximant ḷ [ɭ] 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[link]

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 (Satana), Malegaon, Deola 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[link]

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.

[edit] 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.^[20] 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.^[21] These sub-dialects are together considered by the ISO to be a separate language and is assigned the ISO 639-3 code knn.^[22]

• Agari (Spoken by the Agari community found in Raigad & Thane district of Maharashtra)
• Thakri (Spoken by the Adivasi community found in Raigad district of Maharashtra)
• Koli (Spoken by the Koli community found in Mumbai district of Maharashtra)

Vadvali[link]

Vadvali or Phudagi 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[link]

Samavedi or Kadodi 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^{[clarification needed]} 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[link]

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.

Malvani[link]

Malvani is creole between Marathi and konkani.Though Malvani does not have a unique script, scripts of the other languages native to the regions its speakers inhabit are used. Devanagari is used by most of the speakers. Malvani is very popular language used for newspaper articles and dramas. Most of the people of Sindhudurg district speak Malvani.

Others[link]

• Nagri (Spoken in Central Maharashtra especially in Ahmednagar district)
• Dangii (spoken near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border)
• Judæo-Marathi (spoken by the Bene Israel Jews)
• 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.

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

Sounds[link]

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.

Older aspirated *tsʰ, dzʱ have lost their onset, with *tsʰ merging with /s/ and *dzʱ being typically realized as an aspirated fricative, [zʱ]. This /ts, dz, zʱ/ series is not distinguished in writing from /tʃ, tʃʰ, dʒ, dʒʱ/.

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 अॅ and ऑ. The IPA signs for these are [æ] and [ɒ], 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[link]

Modi script was used to write Marathi

Written Marathi first appeared during the 11th century in the form of inscriptions on stones and copper plates. The Marathi Devanagari alphabet are similar to the Hindi Devanagari alphabet. From the 13th century until the mid-20th century, Marathi was written in the Modi script. Since 1950 it has been written in Devanagari.^[24]

Devanagari[link]

Marathi is usually written in the Devanagari script, an abugida consisting of 36 consonant letters and 16 initial-vowel letters. It is written from left to right. The Devanagari alphabet used to write Marathi is slightly different than the Devanagari alphabets of Hindi and other languages: there are a couple additional letters in the Marathi alphabet, and Western punctuation is used. This Marathi Devanagari alphabet is called Balbodh (बाळबोध).

Modi[link]

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.^[25] Most writing. Currently, due to the availability of Modi fonts and the enthusiasm of the younger speakers, the script is far from disappearing. (See Reference Links).

Latin[link]

Since Devanagri is difficult to type on Latin keyboards and Devanagri not displaying properly on old computers without the proper fonts, the general public usually types Marathi in Latin on social networking sites like facebook and in online chats. Since this is a new trend there is no standardisation of phonetic and spelling rules.

त्याचे - tyache - "his" प्रस्ताव - prastaw - "proposal" विद्या - vidya - "knowledge" म्यान - myan "Sword Cover" त्वरा - twara "immediate/Quick" महत्त्व - mahatwa - "importance" फक्त - fakta - "only" बाहुल्या - baahulya - "dolls"

Consonant clusters[link]

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

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:

• त्याचे - tyāche - "his"
• प्रस्ताव - prastāv - "proposal"
• विद्या - vidyā - "knowledge"
• म्यान - myān "Sword Cover"
• त्वरा - tvarā "immediate/Quick"
• महत्त्व - mahatva - "importance"
• फक्त - phakta - "only"
• बाहुल्या - bāhulyā - "dolls"

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

• कण्हेरी - kaṇherī - "a shrub known for flowers"
• न्हाणे - nhāṇ - "bath"
• म्हणून - mhaṇūn - "because"
• तऱ्हा - taṟhā - "different way of behaving"
• कोल्हा - kolhā - "fox"
• केंव्हा - keṃvhā "when"

Grammar[link]

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.^[26] Sanskrit Grammar used to be referred more till late stages of Marathi Language.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[clarification needed]}

The primary word order of Marathi is SOV (subject–object–verb)^[27] 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[link]

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:^[28]

• 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 - Marathi encyclopedia project
• Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh, Nagpur
• Marathwada Sahitya Parishad, Aurangabad

Outside Maharashtra state[link]

• Gomantak Marathi academy
• Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, Jabalpur
• Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Paraishad, Hyderabad
• Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Karnataka
• Gomantak Sahitya Sewak Mandal, Goa
• Vadodara (Badode Sansthan-Gaikwad State),Gujarat Rajya, Bharat.

{In vadodara there are fifty per cent Marathi language citizens speaking fluent marathi due to Sir Sayajirao Gaikwad's Marathi Medium School}.

Vocabulary[link]

Sharing of linguistic resources with other languages[link]

Marathi neon signboard at Maharashtra Police headquarters in Mumbai

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, Apabhraṃśa 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[link]

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), purṇa (purṇam or complete, full, or full measure of something), ola (olam or damp), karaṇ (karaṇam 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 bhāṇḍa (bhāṇḍam 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 lekhaṇii), "shirt" (sadaraa).

Influence of foreign languages[link]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Forming complex words[link]

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"), ashṭa-bhujaa ("eight-hands", name of a Hindu goddess), and so on. There are different names given to each type of samaas.

Counting[link]

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 ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₂, and ³⁄₄. They are paava, ardhaa, and pauṇa, respectively. For most fractions greater than 1, the prefixes savvaa-, saaḍe-, paavaṇe- are used. There are special names for ³⁄₂ (diiḍ) and ⁵⁄₂ (aḍich).

The powers of ten are as follows:

• 10: daha (Devanagari:दहा)
• 100: shambhar (Devanagari:शंभर) (constructed with number prefix and "-she" suffix)
• 1,000: hajaar (Devanagari:हजार/सहस्र) (or sahastra, a word close to the Sanskrit version)
• 1,00,000: laakh/laksh (Devanagari:लाख/लक्ष)
• 10,00,000: dasha-laksh (Dasha = 10) (Devanagari: दशलक्ष)
• 1,00,00,000: koti (Devanagari:कोटी)
• 10,00,00,000 :dasha-koti (Devanagari: दशकोटी)
• 1,00,00,00,000: abja (Devanagari:अब्ज)
• 10,00,00,00,000 : dasha-abja (Devanagari: दशअब्ज)
• 1,00,00,00,00,000: kharva (Devanagari:खर्व)
• 10,00,00,00,00,00,000: nikharva (Devanagari:निखर्व)
• 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000: 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/एकोणतीस (Thirty minus one). Two digit numbers used before hajaar, etc. are written in the same way.

Marathi on computers and the Internet[link]

Shrilipi, Shivaji, kothare 2,4,6, KF-Kiran^[29] 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.^[30][31]

Voyager Golden Record[link]

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").^[32]

See also[link]

Maharashtra portal

• 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[link]

External links[link]

Marathi language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Find more about Marathi on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Marathi

• 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
• KF-Kiran Fonts

v t e  State of Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai Topics History Geography Economy Tourism Marathi language Culture Marathi people Marathi literature Marathi cinema Maharashtrian cuisine Regions Desh Khandesh Konkan Mumbai Metropolitan Region Marathwada Vidarbha Districts Ahmednagar Akola Amravati Aurangabad Beed Bhandara Buldhana Chandrapur Dhule Gadchiroli Gondia Hingoli Jalgaon Jalna Kolhapur Latur Mumbai (City) Mumbai (Suburban) Nagpur Nanded Nandurbar Nashik Osmanabad Parbhani Pune Raigad Ratnagiri Sangli Satara Sindhudurg Solapur Thane Wardha Washim Yavatmal Million-plus cities in Maharashtra Mumbai Pune Nagpur Thane Pimpri-Chinchwad Nashik Kalyan-Dombivali Navi Mumbai Aurangabad Other cities with municipal corporations Ahmednagar Akola Amravati Bhiwandi Chandrapur Dhule Jalgaon Kolhapur Latur Malegaon Mira-Bhayandar Nanded Parbhani Sangli Solapur Ulhasnagar Vasai-Virar Portal: Maharashtra

v t e Official languages of India Union-level Hindi English State-level Assamese Bengali Bodo Chhattisgarhi Dogri English Garo Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Khasi Kokborok Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri Marathi Mizo Nepali Oriya Punjabi Rajasthani Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Telugu Tamil Urdu

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2012)

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
Ambedkar delivering a speech to a rally at Yeola, Nashik, on 13 October 1935
Born	(1891-04-14)14 April 1891 Mhow, Central Provinces, British India (now in Madhya Pradesh)
Died	6 December 1956(1956-12-06) (aged 65) Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Baba, Baba Saheb, Bodhisatva, Bhima, Mooknayak, Adhunik Buddha
Alma mater	University of Mumbai Columbia University University of London London School of Economics
Organization	Samata Sainik Dal, Independent Labour Party, Scheduled Castes Federation
Title	1st Law Minister of India, Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee
Religion	Buddhism
Spouse	Ramabai Ambedkar (m. 1906) «start: (1906)»"Marriage: Ramabai to B. R. Ambedkar" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/B._R._Ambedkar)[1] Savita Ambedkar (m. 1948) «start: (1948-04-15)»"Marriage: Savita Ambedkar to B. R. Ambedkar" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/B._R._Ambedkar)[2]
Awards	Bharat Ratna

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar ([bʱiːmraːw raːmdʑiː aːmbeːɽkər]; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, orator, economist, teacher, and editor. He was also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution.^[3] Born into a poor Mahar (considered an Untouchable caste) family, Ambedkar campaigned against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna – the categorization of Hindu society into four varnas – and the Hindu caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited with providing a spark for the transformation of hundreds of thousands of Dalits or untouchables to Theravada Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990.

Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first outcastes to obtain a college education in India. Eventually earning law degree and doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar gained a reputation as a scholar and practiced law for a few years, later campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables. He is regarded as a Bodhisattva by some Indian Buddhists, though he never claimed himself to be a Bodhisattva.^[4]

Early life and education[link]

Dr. ‎Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar seen as a young man^[5]

Ambedkar was born in the British-founded town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh).^[6] He was the 14th and last child of Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai.^[7] His family was of Marathi background from the town of Ambavade (Mandangad taluka) in the Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. They belonged to the Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to socio-economic discrimination.^[8] Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and, his father served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment. Having had little formal education in Marathi and English, but encouraging his children to learn and work hard at school.^[9]

Belonging to the Kabir Panth, Ramji Sakpal encouraged his children to read the Hindu classics. He used his position in the army to lobby for his children to study at the government school, as they faced resistance owing to their caste. Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segregated and given little attention or assistance by the teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class. Even if they needed to drink water somebody from a higher caste would have to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if the peon was not available then he had to go without water, Ambedkar states this situation as "No peon, No Water".^[10] Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt, and lived in difficult circumstances. Only three sons – Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao – and two daughters – Manjula and Tulasa – of the Ambedkars would go on to survive them. Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a high school. Bhimrao Sakpal Ambavadekar the surname comes from his native village 'Ambavade' in Ratnagiri District.^[11] His Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname 'Ambedkar' in school records.^[11]

Higher education[link]

Ambedkar's family moved to Bombay in 1902 and he became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School. In 1906 his marriage to a nine-year old girl, Ramabai, was arranged.^[1] In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and in the following year he entered Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to the University of Bombay, becoming the first from his untouchable community to do so. This success provoked celebrations in his community and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by Dada Keluskar, the author and a family friend.^[1] By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government. His wife, by then 19 years old gave birth to his first son, Yashwant, in the same year. Ambedkar had just moved his young family and started work, when he dashed back to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.^[12]

In 1913 he moved to the United States. He had been awarded a Baroda State Scholarship of £11.50 (Sterling) per month for three years under a scheme established by the Gaekwar of Baroda that was designed to provide opportunities for postgraduate education at Columbia University. Soon after arriving there he settled in rooms at Livingston Hall with Naval Bhathena, a Parsi who was to be a lifelong friend. He passed his MA exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology as other subjects of study; he presented a thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. In 1916 he offered another MA thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study. On 9 May, he read his paper Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar conducted by the anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser. In October 1916 he studied for the Bar examination at Gray's Inn, and enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. In June 1917 he was obliged to go back to India as the term of his scholarship from Baroda ended, however he was given permission to return and submit his thesis within four years. He travelled separately from his collection of books, which were lost when the ship on which they were despatched was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine.^[12]

Opposition to untouchability[link]

As Ambedkar was educated by the Baroda State, he was bound to serve that State. He was appointed as Military Secretary to the Gaikwar of Baroda but had to quit within a short time. He described the incident in his autobiography, Waiting for a Visa.^[10]

Thereafter he tried to find ways to make a living for his growing family. He worked as a private tutor, as an accountant, investment consulting business, but it failed when his clients learned that he was an untouchable.^{[citation needed]} In 1918 he became Professor of Political Economy in the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay. Even though he was successful with the students, other professors objected to his sharing the same drinking-water jug that they all used.^[13]

As a leading Indian scholar,^[14] Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electorates and reservations for untouchables and other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj I (1884–1922), Maharaja of Kolhapur. Ambedkar used this journal to criticize orthodox Hindu politicians and a perceived reluctance of the Indian political community to fight caste discrimination. His speech at a Depressed Classes Conference in Kolhapur impressed the local state ruler Shahu IV, who described Ambedkar as the future national leader and shocked orthodox society by dining with Ambedkar. Having resigned from his teaching position, in July he returned to London, relying on his own savings, supplemented by loans from the Maharaja of Kolhapur and his friend Naval Bhathena. He returned to the London School of Economics, and to Gray's Inn to read for the Bar. He lived in poverty, and studied constantly in the British Museum. In 1922, through unremitting hard work, Ambedkar once again overfulfilled all expectations: he completed a thesis for a M.Sc. (Economics) degree at London School of Economics, and was called to the bar, and submitted a PhD thesis in economics to the University of London. Ambedkar established a successful legal practice. Early on his legal career, Ambedkar was engaged in a very important lawsuit which had been filed by some Brahmins against three non-Brahmin leaders: K.B. Bagde, Keshavrao Jedhe and Dinkarrao Javalkar. They were being prosecuted for writing a pamphlet stating that Brahmins had ruined India. On the prosecution side was L. B. Bhopatkar, a lawyer from Poona. Ambedkar argued his case very ably, put up a very eloquent defence and won the case in October 1926. The victory was resounding, both socially and individually for the clients.^[15]