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Maithili language

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Maithili
मैथिली • মৈথিনী
The word "Maithili" written in Devanagari script
Pronunciation[ˈməi̯tʰɪliː]
Native toIndia and Nepal
RegionMithila
EthnicityMaithil
Native speakers
34.7 million (2000–2001)
Early forms
Dialects
Official status
Official language in
Regulated bySahitya Akademi, Maithili Academy, Maithili - Bhojpuri Academy, Delhi, Nepal Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-2mai
ISO 639-3mai
Glottologmait1250
Maithili-speaking region of India and Nepal

Maithili (/ˈmtɪli/ MY-til-ee,[2] Maithili: [ˈməi̯tʰɪliː]) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of India and Nepal. It is native to the Mithila region, which encompasses parts of the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as the Nepal's Koshi and Madhesh Provinces. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.[3][4][5] It is the second most commonly spoken language of Nepal.[6][7][8] It is also one of the fourteen provincial official languages of Nepal.[9]

It is spoken by 34.7 million people. Of those, 2.8 million are Nepalese people.[10] The language is predominantly written in Devanagari, but the historical Tirhuta and Kaithi scripts retained some use until today.[11]

Official status

[edit]

In 2003, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a recognised Indian language, which allows it to be used in education, government, and other official contexts in India.[3] The Maithili language is included as an optional paper in the UPSC Exam. In March 2018, Maithili received the second official language status in the Indian state of Jharkhand.[12]

Gopal Jee Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the first Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha who speaks in the Maithili language in the Parliament of India.[13] He is currently the MP for Darbhanga.[14]

The Nepalese Languages Commission has made Maithili an official Nepalese language used for administration in Koshi province and Madhesh Province.[9]

On 26 November 2024, during the occasion of the Constitution Day, Maithili version of the Indian constitution was launched by the President of India Droupadi Murmu.[15]

Distribution

[edit]

In India, it is mainly spoken in Darbhanga, Tirhut, Kosi, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Munger divisions of Bihar & in Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand.[16][17]

In Nepal, Maithili is spoken in Madhesh Province and Koshi Province.[18][19]

Darbhanga, Madhubani, and Janakpur constitutes important cultural and linguistic centers of Maithili language.[10]

Classification

[edit]

In 1870s, Beames considered Maithili a dialect of a Bengali. Hoernlé initially treated it as a dialect of Eastern Hindi, but after comparing it with the Gaudian languages, recognised that it shows more similarities with the Bengali language than with Hindi. Grierson recognised it as a distinct language, grouped under 'Bihari' and published its first grammar in 1881.[20][21]

Chatterji grouped Maithili with the Magadhi Prakrit.[22]

Dialects

[edit]

Maithili varies greatly in dialects.[23]

  • Several other dialects of Maithili are spoken in India and Nepal, including Dehati, Deshi, Kisan, Bantar, Barmeli, Musar, Tati and Jolaha. All the dialects are intelligible to native Maithili speakers.[18]

Origin and history

[edit]

The name Maithili is derived from the word Mithila, an ancient kingdom of which King Janaka was the ruler (see Ramayana). Maithili is also one of the names of Sita, the wife of King Rama and daughter of King Janaka. Scholars in Mithila used Sanskrit for their literary work and Maithili was the language of the common folk (Abahattha).

The beginning of Maithili language and literature can be traced back to the 'Charyapadas', a form of Buddhist mystical verses, composed during the period of 700-1300 AD. These padas were written in Sandhya bhasa by several Siddhas who belonged to Vajrayana Buddhism and were scattered throughout the territory of Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Several of the Siddhas were from the Mithila region such as Kanhapa, Sarhapa etc. Prominent scholars like Rahul Sankrityanan, Subhadra Jha and Jayakant Mishra provided evidence and proved that the language of Charyapada is ancient Maithili or proto Maithili.[33] Apart from Charyapadas, there has been a rich tradition of folk culture, folk songs and which were popular among the common folks of the Mithila region.[34]

After the fall of Pala rule, disappearance of Buddhism, establishment of Karnāta kings and patronage of Maithili under Harisimhadeva (1226–1324) of Karnāta dynasty dates back to the 14th century (around 1327 AD). Jyotirishwar Thakur (1280–1340) wrote a unique work Varnaratnākara in Maithili prose.[35] The Varna Ratnākara is the earliest known prose text, written by Jyotirishwar Thakur in Mithilaksar script,[21] and is the first prose work not only in Maithili but in any modern Indian language.[36]

In 1324, Ghyasuddin Tughluq, the emperor of Delhi invaded Mithila, defeated Harisimhadeva, entrusted Mithila to his family priest and a great Military Scholar Kameshvar Jha, a Maithil Brahmin of the Oinwar dynasty. But the disturbed era did not produce any literature in Maithili until Vidyapati Thakur (1360 to 1450), who was an epoch-making poet under the patronage of king Shiva Singh and his queen Lakhima Devi. He produced over 1,000 immortal songs in Maithili on the theme of love of Radha and Krishna and the domestic life of Shiva and Parvati as well as on the subject of suffering of migrant labourers of Morang and their families; besides, he wrote a number of treaties in Sanskrit. His love-songs spread far and wide in no time and enchanted saints, poets and youth. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw the divine light of love behind these songs, and soon these songs became themes of Vaisnava sect of Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore, out of curiosity, imitated these songs under the pseudonym Bhanusimha. Vidyapati influenced the religious literature of Asama, Bengal, Utkala and gave birth to a new Brajabuli /Brajavali language.[37][38]

The earliest reference to Maithili or Tirhutiya is in Amaduzzi's preface to Beligatti's Alphabetum Brammhanicum, published in 1771.[39] This contains a list of Indian languages among which is 'Tourutiana.' Colebrooke's essay on the Sanskrit and Prakrit languages, written in 1801, was the first to describe Maithili as a distinct dialect.[40]

Many devotional songs were written by Vaisnava saints, including in the mid-17th century, Vidyapati and Govindadas. Mapati Upadhyaya wrote a drama titled Pārijātaharaṇa in Maithili. Professional troupes, mostly from dalit classes known as Kirtanias, the singers of bhajan or devotional songs, started to perform this drama in public gatherings and the courts of the nobles. Lochana (c. 1575 – c. 1660) wrote Rāgatarangni, a significant treatise on the science of music, describing the rāgas, tālas, and lyrics prevalent in Mithila.[41]

During the Malla dynasty's rule Maithili spread far and wide throughout Nepal from the 16th to the 17th century.[42][43] During this period, at least seventy Maithili dramas were produced. In the drama Harishchandranrityam by Siddhinarayanadeva (1620–57), some characters speak pure colloquial Maithili, while others speak Bengali, Sanskrit or Prakrit.[44] One notable Malla King who patronised Maithili was Bhupatindra Malla who composed 26 plays in the Maithili language during his lifetime.[45]

After the demise of Maheshwar Singh, the ruler of Darbhanga Raj, in 1860, the Raj was taken over by the British Government as regent. The Darbhanga Raj returned to his successor, Maharaj Lakshmishvar Singh, in 1898. The Zamindari Raj had a lackadaisical approach toward Maithili. The use of Maithili language was revived through personal efforts of MM Parameshvar Mishra, Chanda Jha, Munshi Raghunandan Das and others.[46][47]

Publication of Maithil Hita Sadhana (1905), Mithila Moda (1906), and Mithila Mihir (1908) further encouraged writers. The first social organisation, Maithil Mahasabha,[48] was established in 1910 for the development of Mithila and Maithili. It blocked its membership for people outside of the Maithil Brahmin and Karna Kayastha castes. Maithil Mahasabha campaigned for the official recognition of Maithili as a regional language. Calcutta University recognised Maithili in 1917, and other universities followed suit.[49]

Babu Bhola Lal Das wrote Maithili Grammar (Maithili Vyakaran). He edited a book Gadya Kusumanjali and edited a journal Maithili.[50] In 1965, Maithili was officially accepted by Sahitya Academy, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of Indian literature.[51][52]

In 2002, Maithili was recognised on the VIII schedule of the Indian Constitution as a major Indian language; Maithili is now one of the twenty-two Scheduled languages of India.[53]

The publishing of Maithili books in Mithilakshar script was started by Acharya Ramlochan Saran.[54][55]

Phonology

[edit]

Vowels

[edit]
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close ɪ ⟨इ⟩ ⟨ई⟩ ʊ ⟨उ⟩ ⟨ऊ⟩
Mid e ⟨ऎ⟩ ⟨ए⟩ ə~ɐ ⟨अ⟩ əː ⟨अऽ⟩ o ⟨ऒ⟩ ⟨ओ⟩
Open æ~ɛ ⟨ऍ⟩ a ⟨ॴ⟩ ⟨आ⟩ ɔ ⟨अ꣱⟩
Diphthongs əɪ̯ ⟨ऐ⟩ əe̯ ⟨ꣾ⟩ əʊ̯ ⟨औ⟩ əo̯ ⟨ॵ⟩
  • All vowels have nasal counterparts, represented by "~" in IPA and ँ on the vowels, like आँ ãː .
  • All vowel sounds are realised as nasal when occurring before or after a nasal consonant.[56]
  • Sounds eː and oː are often replaced by diphthongs əɪ̯ and əʊ̯.[citation needed]
  • ɔ is replaced by ə in northern dialects and by o in southernmost dialects.
  • There are three short vowels that were described by Grierson, but are not counted by modern grammarians. But they could be understood as syllable break: ॳ /ɘ̆/, इ /ɪ̆/, उ /ʊ̆/ . Or as syllable break ऺ in Devanagari and "." in IPA.
  • ꣾ is a Unicode letter in Devanagari, (IPA /əe̯/) which is not supported currently on several browsers and operating systems, along with its mātrā (vowel sign).

The following diphthongs are present:[57]

अय़(ꣾ) /əe̯/ ~ /ɛː/ - अय़सन (ꣾ सन) /əe̯sən/ ~ /ɛːsɐn/ 'like this'
अव़(ॵ) /əo̯/ ~ /ɔː/- चव़मुख(चॏमुख) /tɕəo̯mʊkʰ/ ~ /tɕɔːmʊkʰ/ 'four faced'
अयॆ /əe̯/ - अयॆलाः /əe̯laːh/ 'came'
अवॊ (अऒ) /əo̯/ - अवॊताः /əo̯taːh/ 'will come'
आइ /aːi̯/ - आइ /aːi̯/ 'today'
आउ /aːu̯/ - आउ /aːu̯/ 'come please'
आयॆ (आऎ) /aːe̯/ - आयॆल /aːe̯l/ 'came'
आवॊ (आऒ) /aːo̯/ - आवॊब /aːo̯b/ 'will come'
यु (इउ) /iu̯/ - घ्यु /ɡʱiu̯/ 'ghee'
यॆ (इऎ) /ie̯/ - यॆः /ie̯h/ 'only this'
यॊ (इऒ) /io̯/ - कह्यो /kəhio̯/ 'any day'
वि (उइ) /ui̯/ - द्वि /dui̯/ 'two'
वॆ (उऎ) /ue̯/ - वॆ: /ue̯h/ 'only that'

A peculiar type of phonetic change is recently taking place in Maithili by way of epenthesis, i.e. backward transposition of final /i/ and /u/ in all sort of words.[57] Thus:

Standard Colloquial - Common Pronunciation

अछि /ətɕʰi/ - अइछ /əitɕʰ/ 'is'
रवि /rəbi/ - रइब /rəib/ 'Sunday'
मधु /mədʱu/ - मउध /məudʱ/ 'honey'
बालु /ba:lu/ - बाउल /ba:ul/ 'sand'

Consonants

[edit]

Maithili has four classes of stops, one class of affricate, which is generally treated as a stop series, related nasals, fricatives and approximant.

Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨म⟩ n ⟨न⟩ ɳ ⟨ण⟩ (ɲ) ⟨ञ⟩ ŋ ⟨ङ⟩
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless unaspirated p ⟨प⟩ t ⟨त⟩ ʈ ⟨ट⟩ ⟨च⟩ k ⟨क⟩
aspirated ⟨फ⟩ ⟨थ⟩ ʈʰ ⟨ठ⟩ tɕʰ ⟨छ⟩ ⟨ख⟩
voiced unaspirated b ⟨ब⟩ d ⟨द⟩ ɖ ⟨ड⟩ ⟨ज⟩ ɡ ⟨ग⟩
aspirated ⟨भ⟩ ⟨ध⟩ ɖʱ ⟨ढ⟩ dʑʱ ⟨झ⟩ ɡʱ ⟨घ⟩
Fricative voiceless (ɸ~f) ⟨फ़⟩ s ⟨स⟩ (ʂ) ⟨ष⟩ (ɕ) ⟨श⟩ (x) ⟨ख़⟩ -(h)* ⟨ः⟩
voiced (z) ⟨ज़⟩ (ʑ) ⟨झ़⟩ ɦ ⟨ह⟩
Rhotic unaspirated ɾ~r ⟨र⟩ (ɽ) ⟨ड़⟩
aspirated (ɽʱ) ⟨ढ़⟩
Lateral l ⟨ल⟩
Approximant (ʋ~w) ⟨व⟩ (j) ⟨य⟩
  • Fricative sounds [ʂ, ɕ] only occur marginally, and are typically pronounced as a dental fricative /s/ in most styles of pronunciation. [h] ः is always added after a vowel.

Stops

[edit]

There are four series of stops- bilabials, coronals, retroflex and velar, along with an affricate series. All of them show the four way contrast like most of the modern Indo-Aryan languages:

Apart from the retroflex series, all the rest four series show full phonological contrast in all positions. The retroflex tenius /ʈ/ and /ʈʰ/ show full contrast in all positions. /ɖ/ and /ɖʱ/ show phonological contrast mainly word-initially.[58] Both are defective phonemes, occurring intervocalically and word finally only if preceded by a nasal consonant. Word finally and postvocalically, /ɖʱ/ surfaces as [ɽʱ~rʱ].[59] Non-initially, both are interchangeable with [ɽ~ɾ] and [ɽʱ~rʱ] respectively.[58]

Fricatives

[edit]

/s/ and /ɦ/ are most common fricatives. They show full phonological opposition. [ɕ], which is present in tatsama words, is replaced by /s/ most of the times, when independent, and prevocalic [ʂ] is replaced by /kʰ/, [x][58] or /s/. [ɕ] occurs before /tɕ/ and [ʂ] before /ʈ/. [x] and [f] occurs in Perso-Arabic loanwords, generally replaced by /kʰ/ and /pʰ/ respectively. [x] and [ɸ] also occurs in Sanskrit words (jihvamuliya and upadhmaniya), which is peculiar to Maithili.

Sonorants

[edit]

/m/ and /n/ are present in all phonological positions. /ŋ/ occurs only non-initially and is followed by a homorganic stop, which may be deleted if voiced, which leads to the independent presence of /ŋ/. /ɳ/ occurs non-initially, followed by a homorganic stop, and is independent only in tatsama words, which is often replaced with /n/. [ɲ] occurs only non-initially and is followed by a homorganic stop always. It is the only nasal which does not occur independently.

  • In most styles of pronunciation, the retroflex flap [ɽ] occurs marginally. It is usually pronounced as an alveolar tap [ɾ] sound, and is often interchanged with /r/.[58]
  • Approximant sounds [ʋ, w, j] and fricative sounds [ɸ, f, z, ɕ, ʑ, ʂ, x], mainly occur in words that are borrowed from Sanskrit or in words of Perso-Arabic origin. The conjunct ष्प (IAST ṣp) is pronounced [ɸp] in Maithili e.g. पुष्प [puɸp(ə)]. The conjunct ह्य (IAST hy) is pronounced [ɦʑ] as in ग्रऻह्य (grahya) [graɦʑə].[58]

There are four non-syllabic vowels in Maithili- i̯, u̯, e̯, o̯ written in Devanagari as य़, व़, य़ॆ, व़ॊ. Most of the times, these are written without nukta.

Morphology

[edit]

Nouns

[edit]

An example declension:

Case name Singular Inflection Plural Inflection
Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter
Nominative -इ ɪ -आ/अ꣱ aː/ɔ -इन ɪn -अन, -अनि

ən, ənɪ̆

-अन, -अनि

ən, ənɪ̆

Accusative

(Indefinite)

-ई iː -ई iː -आ aː
Instrumental Postposition used
-एँ ẽː Postposition used -अन्हि

ənʰɪ̆

Dative Postposition used
-इल ɪlə -अल ələ No forms
Ergative -इएँ ɪẽː -एँ ẽː
Ablative -इतः ɪtəh -अतः

ətəh

Genitive -इक ɪk, इर ɪr -अक ək, -अर ər -ईंक ĩːk -आँँक

ãːk

Locative Postposition used -ए eː Postposition used -आँ

ãː

Vocative -इ ɪ/ई iː -आ/अऽ aː/əː -इन ɪn -अन, -अनि

ən, ənɪ̆

Adjectives

[edit]

The difference between adjectives and nouns is very minute in Maithili. However, there are marked adjectives there in Maithili.

Masculine Feminine Neuter
Definite -का/क꣱ kaː/kɔ -कि/कि kɪ/kɪ̆ का/कऽ kaː/kəː
Indefinite -आ/अ꣱ aː/ɔ -इ/इ ɪ/ɪ̆ अ/अऽ ᵊ/əː

Pronouns

[edit]

Pronouns in Maithili are declined in similar way to nominals, though in most pronouns the genitive case has a different form. The lower forms below are accusative and postpositional. The plurals are formed periphrastically.

Person First Grade Honour Honorofic High Honorofic
First Person हम ɦəm

अपना ɐpᵊnaː (Inclusive)

हमरा ɦəmᵊraː

अपना ɐpᵊnaː (Inclusive)

Second Person तोँह tõːɦᵊ अहाँ ɐɦãː अपने ɐpᵊneː
तोँहरा tõːɦᵊraː
Third Person Proximate ई iː ए eː
ऎकरा ekᵊraː हिनका ɦɪnᵊkaː
ए eː (Neuter)
ऎहि, ऍ, अथि eɦɪ, æ, ɐtʰɪ (Neuter)
Non-Proximate ऊ, वा uː, ʋaː ओ oː
ऒकरा okᵊraː हुनका ɦʊnᵊkaː
ऒ o (Neuter)
ऒहि, ॵ oɦɪ, əʊ (Neuter)

Orthography

[edit]
Consonants in Tirhuta script

Beginning in the 14th century, the language was written in the Tirhuta script (also known as Mithilakshara or Maithili), which is related to the Bengali-Assamese script.[60] By the early 20th century, this script was largely associated with the Mithila Brahmans, with most others using Kaithi, and Devanagari spreading under the influence of the scholars at Banaras.[61] Throughout the course of the century, Devanagari grew in use eventually replacing the other two, and has since remained the dominant script for Maithili.[62][60][61] Tirhuta retained some specific uses (on signage in north Bihar as well as in religious texts, genealogical records and letters), and has seen a resurgence of interest in the 21st century.[60]

The Tirhuta and Kaithi scripts are both currently included in Unicode.

Consonants
Devanagari Tirhuta Transcription
Image Text IAST IPA
𑒏 ka /kə/
𑒐 kha /kʰə/
𑒑 ga /gə/
𑒒 gha /gʱə/
𑒓 ṅa /ŋə/
𑒔 ca /t͡ɕə/
𑒕 cha /t͡ɕʰə/
𑒖 ja /d͡ʑə/
𑒗 jha /d͡ʑʱə/
𑒘 ña (/ɲə/) /nə/
𑒙 ṭa /ʈə/
𑒚 ṭha /ʈʰə/
𑒛 ḍa /ɖə/
𑒜 ḍha /ɖʱə/
𑒝 ṇa /ɳə/ or /nə/
𑒞 ta /t̪ə/
𑒟 tha /t̪ʰə/
𑒠 da /d̪ə/
𑒡 dha /d̪ʱə/
𑒢 na /nə/
𑒣 pa /pə/
𑒤 pha /pʰə/
𑒥 ba /bə/
𑒦 bha /bʱə/
𑒧 ma /mə/
𑒨 ya (/jə/) /d͡ʑə/ or /e̯/
𑒩 ra /rə/
𑒪 la /lə/
𑒫 va (/ʋə/) or /bə/ /o̯/
𑒬 śa (/ɕə/) /sə/
𑒭 ṣa /ʂə/ or /sə/ or /kʰə/
𑒮 sa /sə/
𑒯 ha /ɦə/
Vowels[63][64]
Devanagari Tirhuta Devanagari Tirhuta Transcription
Independent Dependent
Phonetic Traditional Image Text Phonetic Traditional Image Text Romanisation IPA
𑒁 [a] [b] a[c]/∅[d] /ə/ or /ɐ/ or /ə̆/[c] or ∅[d]
अ꣱/अ/अ' अऽ[e] ◌꣱/◌/◌' ◌'[f]/ ◌ऽ[e] å /ɔ/ ~/ʌ/
𑒂  𑒰 a/ă /a/
ā /аː/
𑒃 ि  𑒱 і /ɪ/
not possible in initial position or independent (after vowel) ि'[g] ि ĭ/i /ɪ̆/
𑒄  𑒲 ī /іː/
𑒅  𑒳 u /ʊ/
not possible in initial position (after vowel) ु'[h] ŭ/u /ʊ̆/
𑒆  𑒴 ū /uː/
𑒇  𑒵 /r̩/ or /rɪ/
𑒈  𑒶 /r̩ː/ or /riː/
𑒉  𑒷 /l̩/ or /lɪ/
ऍ/ऐ [i] ॅ/ै æ/ê /æ/ ~/ɛ/[i]
 𑒺 e /е/
𑒋  𑒹 ē /еː/
𑒌 ◌ꣿ  𑒻 ai /ai/
āі /аːі/
 𑒽 о /о/
𑒍  𑒼 ō /оː/
𑒎  𑒾 au /au/
āu /aːu/

Literature

[edit]

Sample Text

[edit]

The following sample text is Maithili translation of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Maithili in the Tirhuta alphabet

𑒁𑒢𑒳𑒔𑓂𑒕𑒹𑒠 𑓑: 𑒮𑒦 𑒧𑒰𑒢𑒫 𑒖𑒢𑓂𑒧𑒞𑓁 𑒮𑓂𑒫𑒞𑒢𑓂𑒞𑓂𑒩 𑒁𑒕𑒱 𑒞𑒟𑒰 𑒑𑒩𑒱𑒧𑒰 𑒂 𑒁𑒡𑒱𑒏𑒰𑒩𑒧𑒹 𑒮𑒧𑒰𑒢 𑒁𑒕𑒱। 𑒮𑒦𑒏𑒹𑒿 𑒁𑒣𑒢–𑒁𑒣𑒢 𑒥𑒳𑒠𑓂𑒡𑒱 𑒂 𑒫𑒱𑒫𑒹𑒏 𑒕𑒻𑒏 𑒂𑒍𑒩 𑒮𑒦𑒏𑒹𑒿 𑒋𑒏 𑒠𑒼𑒮𑒩𑒏 𑒣𑓂𑒩𑒞𑒱 𑒮𑒾𑒯𑒰𑒩𑓂𑒠𑒣𑒴𑒩𑓂𑒝 𑒫𑓂𑒨𑒫𑒯𑒰𑒩 𑒏𑒩𑒥𑒰𑒏 𑒔𑒰𑒯𑒲।

Maithili in the Devanagari alphabet

अनुच्छेद १: सभ मानव जन्मतः स्वतन्त्र अछि तथा गरिमा आ अधिकारमे समान अछि। सभकेँ अपन–अपन बुद्धि आ विवेक छैक आओर सभकेँ एक दोसरक प्रति सौहार्दपूर्ण व्यवहार करबाक चाही।

Maithili in IAST

Anuccheda Eka: Sabha mānaba janmataha svatantra achi tathā garimā ā adhikārme samāna achi. Sabhkẽ apana-apana buddhi ā bibeka chaika āora sabhkẽ eka dosarāka prati sauhardapurna byabahāra karabāka cāhī.

Translation

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They possess conscience and reason. Therefore, everyone should act in a spirit of brotherhood towards each other.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Grierson and Hoernle used ◌॰ for pronounced schwa, and ◌• for the absent schwa in some of his works.
  2. ^ Sometimes ◌' or even ◌ऽ is used for word final pronounced schwa, however not all of them are treated same, often only used to avoid confusion.
  3. ^ a b The notation a can be used for non-final weak schwa, Maithili weakens the non-final schwa, instead of deleting it (pronounced as /ə̆/). Grierson also used a for the purpose, but sometimes used apostrophe (') also for the purpose.
  4. ^ a b Final schwa is deleted in Maithili, though written in native scripts.
  5. ^ a b In older texts, ◌꣱ or ः are used, not in current use though.
  6. ^ ◌' is used only word finally.
  7. ^ Grierson used ि् .
  8. ^ Grierson used ु् .
  9. ^ a b Occurrence of æ~ɛ is a recent phenomenon.

Citations

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  1. ^ "झारखंड : रघुवर सरकार कैबिनेट से मगही, भोजपुरी, मैथिली व अंगिका को द्वितीय भाषा का दर्जा". Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Maithili". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ a b "Constitutional provisions relating to Eighth Schedule" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  4. ^ "मैथिली लिपि को बढ़ावा देने के लिए विशेषज्ञों की जल्द ही बैठक बुला सकते हैं प्रकाश जावड़ेकर" [Prakash Javadekar likely to call meeting of experts to promote Maithili script]. NDTV News (in Hindi). 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  5. ^ "मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा". Hindustan. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  6. ^ National Statistics Office (2023), p. 32.
  7. ^ "Nepal languages". Ethnologue. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  8. ^ Sah, K. K. (2013). "Some perspectives on Maithili". Nepalese Linguistics (28): 179–188.
  9. ^ a b Language Commission (2021). सरकारी कामकाजको भाषाका आधारहरूको निर्धारण तथा भाषासम्बन्धी सिफारिसहरू (पञ्चवर्षीय प्रतिवेदन- साराांश) २०७८ [Determination of language bases of government work and language recommendations (five-year report - summary) 2078] (PDF) (Report) (in Nepali). Government of Nepal. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ^ a b Lewis, M. P. (ed.) (2009). Maithili Archived 2013-09-22 at the Wayback Machine Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
  11. ^ "Domain of the scripts of Maithili language *13.3*".
  12. ^ "झारखंड : रघुवर कैबिनेट से मगही, भोजपुरी, मैथिली व अंगिका को द्वितीय भाषा का दर्जा" [Jharkhand: Raghuvar Cabinet gives second language status to Magahi, Bhojpuri, Maithili and Angika]. Prabhat Khabar (in Hindi). 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  13. ^ The Hindu Net Desk (18 November 2019). "Parliament proceedings updates: Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill under consideration in Lok Sabha". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Darbhanga Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 Live Updates: Bihar Lok Sabha Election (Polls) Results 2019, Winner, Runner-Up". 2 September 2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  15. ^ "President Murmu releases Maithili and Sanskrit versions of Constitution". National Herald. PTI. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  16. ^ "बिहार में मैथिली भाषा आजकल सुर्खियों में क्यों है? त्रेता युग से अब तक मैथिली का सफर" [Why is Maithili language in the news these days in Bihar? Maithili's journey from Treta Yuga till now]. NBT. 2021.
  17. ^ "मैथिली को भी मिलेगा दूसरी राजभाषा का दर्जा". Hindustan (in Hindi). 6 March 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  18. ^ a b Lewis, M. P., ed. (2009). "Maithili". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Sixteenth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  19. ^ National Statistics Office (2023), pp. 210, 212, 218–220.
  20. ^ Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1–5. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
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  23. ^ Brass, P. R. (2005). Language, Religion, and Politics in North India. iUniverse, Lincoln, NE.
  24. ^ Yadav, R. (1992). "The Use of the Mother Tongue in Primary Education: The Nepalese Context" (PDF). Contributions to Nepalese Studies. 19 (2): 178–190. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  25. ^ Choudhary, P.K. (2013). "Causes and Effects of Super-stratum Language Influence, with Reference to Maithili". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 41 (3/4): 378–391.
  26. ^ "Bajjika a major dialect of Maithili Language".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ "Nepal Language census 2021" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Simons, G. F.; Fennig, C. D., eds. (2018). "Maithili. Ethnologue: Languages of the World". Dallas: SIL International. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  29. ^ Ray, K. K. (2009). Reduplication in Thenthi Dialect of Maithili Language. Nepalese Linguistics 24: 285–290.
  30. ^ "Population By Mother Tongue". Census of India. 2011.
  31. ^ "language | Munger District, Government of Bihar | India". Munger. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Languages spoken in Jharkhand, census 2011**".
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  34. ^ "Madhubani Paintings: People's Living Cultural Heritage". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  35. ^ Chatterji, S. K. (1940). Varna Ratnakara Of Jyotirisvara Kavisekharacarya.
  36. ^ Reading Asia : new research in Asian studies. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. 2001. ISBN 0700713719. OCLC 48560711.
  37. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, A. D.; Majumdar, A. K., eds. (1960). The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. VI: The Delhi Sultanate. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 515. During the sixteenth century, a form of an artificial literary language became established ... It was the Brajabulī dialect ... Brajabulī is practically the Maithilī speech as current in Mithilā, modified in its forms to look like Bengali.
  38. ^ Morshed, Abul Kalam Manjoor (2012). "Brajabuli". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
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Further reading

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