Fun Facts about the Hindi Language

What language is spoken in India? We'll give you a clue in saying that it isn't Indian. In fact, there are dozens of languages spoken in India, with one of the country's official language being Hindi. For your reading pleasure, here we include 5 fun facts about the Hindi language.

1. Hindi is an Indo-European language

Hindi is the standardized form of a language called Hindustani, as is Urdu. Hindi is derived directly from Hindustani in North India, with a set of standarized grammar rules created in the 19th century. Hindi and Urdu share significant similarities, and both are classed as variants of Hindustani.

2. Hindi is spoken by over 350 million, being one of India’s official languages. Hindi is also spoken in places with a significant exodus of Indians, with speakers in Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Nepal.

3. There are many Hindi loanwords in English, including avatar, bandanna, bungalow, dinghy, guru, jungle, khaki, loot, mantra, nirvana, punch, shampoo, thug, typhoon and yoga.

4. The Hindi alphabet contains only letters having their own independent and distinct sound, meaning that Hindi words are pronounced exactly as they are written.

5. India’s Hindi-speaking regions celebrate Hindi Day annually on September 14th, which commemorates the adoption of Hindi as a co-national language of India in 1965.

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