LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 26:2 February 2026
ISSN 1930-2940

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A Comparative Phonological Study of Bihari Languages

Vinod Kumar

Abstract

The major Bihari languages, Maithili, Magahi, and Bhojpuri, represent an important cluster of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. They have significant speaker populations and rich linguistic features. Despite their shared historical origins in the Magadhi group of Middle Indo-Aryan, these three languages exhibit distinct phonological characteristics while maintaining substantial similarities. This study presents a comparative phonological analysis of the three major Bihari languages, examining their vowel systems, consonant inventories, diphthongs, and distinctive phonological features based on contemporary linguistic data. The study reveals how these languages have evolved from their common ancestor while maintaining contact-induced similarities and developing innovative features that set them apart from neighbouring language groups.

Keywords:Bihari languages, Maithili, Magahi, Bhojpuri, comparative phonology, Eastern Indo-Aryan languages

Introduction

The Bihari languages hold a significant place in the linguistic landscape of South Asia. Their combined speaker population exceeds 40 million people, primarily distributed across Bihar, Jharkhand, and neighbouring regions of Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Historically, these languages have been recognised as part of the Magadhi branch of Middle Indo-Aryan languages (Grierson, 1883-1887). This view has generally been subscribed to by many scholars, including Chatterji (1926) and Katre (1968). However, their exact classification within the New Indo-Aryan language family has been subject to scholarly debate (Cardona, 1974; Jeffers, 1976). The term “Bihari,” although traditionally used to refer to these three primary languages, has often caused confusion, as it was initially employed by Grierson (1883-1887) in his seminal work, Seven Grammars of the Dialects and Subdialects of the Bihari Language (Grierson, 2005).

Unlike the varieties of Hindi, which exhibit considerable mutual intelligibility and are often regarded as varieties of a single language, the Bihari languages demonstrate sufficient phonological, morphological, and lexical divergence to warrant recognition as distinct languages. However, they share sufficient syntactical and lexical similarities to indicate recent common ancestry and continued linguistic contact. The study of their phonological systems provides valuable insights into both diachronic language change and synchronic language variation in the eastern Indo-Aryan region.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Vinod Kumar
Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology & Research
Hyderabad
vinodkrz100@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-0706-1346

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