Angika

Angika
Angika
अंगिका
	Angika Language speaking areas highlighted.
Native to	India and Nepal
Region	Bihar and Jharkhand (India), Terai (Nepal)[1]
Native speakers	(740,000 cited 1997–2011)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bihari Angika; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Official language in	India Jharkhand[2] (additional);
Language codes
ISO 639-2	anp
ISO 639-3	anp
Glottolog	angi1238

Angika (also known as Thethi , Anga, Angikar or Aangi) is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in some parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as in parts of Nepal.[1]

Angika is closely related to neighboring Indic languages such as Maithili, Bengali, Bhojpuri and Magahi. Historically it was written in a separate script known as 'Anga Lipi'. Later writers shifted to Kaithi Script and eventually to Devanagari Script.

Territory

Angika is mainly spoken in south-eastern Bihar, including Munger, Bhagalpur and Banka districts; and the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand.[3] Its speakers number around 15 million people.[4] Apart from Bihar and Jharkhand states of India, it is also spoken in the Morang district of Nepalese Terai as a minority language. 1.9% people of Morang returned Angika as their mother tongue during the 2011 Nepal census.[5]

Relationship to Maithili

Angika was classified as a dialect of Maithili by George Abraham Grierson in the Linguistic Survey of India (1903).[6] However, the Angika speakers now assert its status as an independent language. When the proponents of the Maithili language in Bihar demanded use of Maithili-medium primary education in the early 20th century, the people of the Angika-speaking region did not support them, and instead favoured Hindi-medium education.[7] In the 1960s and the 1970s, when the Maithili speakers demanded a separate Mithila state, the Angika and Bajjika speakers made counter-demands for recognition of their languages.[8]

Maithili proponents believe that the Government of Bihar and the pro-Hindi Bihar Rashtrabhasha Parishad promoted Angika and Bajjika as distinct languages to weaken the Maithili language movement; many of them still consider Angika to be a dialect of Maithili.[7] People from mainly Maithil Brahmins and Karan Kayasthas castes have supported the Maithili movement, while people from various other castes in the Mithila region have projected Angika and Bajjika as their mother tongues, attempting to break away from the Maithili-based regional identity.[9]

Official status

Angika is not listed in the 8th schedule of the constitution of India.[10]

Angika has the status of "second state language" in the Indian state of Jharkhand since 2018. It shares this status with 15 other languages, including Maithili.[2][11]

References

Angika at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Sudhir Kumar Mishra (22 March 2018). "Bhojpuri, 3 more to get official tag". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018.
Masica 1993, p. 12.
Sevanti Ninan (2007). Headlines From the Heartland: Reinventing the Hindi Public Sphere. SAGE Publications. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7619-3580-3. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018.
2011 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables
Grierson 1903, p. 95.
Mithilesh Kumar Jha 2017, p. 163.
Kathleen Kuiper 2010, p. 57.
Manish Kumar Thakur 2002, p. 208.
"Languages in the Eighth Schedule". Ministry of Home Affairs. 22 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
"Jharkhand gives 2nd language status to Magahi, Angika, Bhojpuri and Maithali". United News of India. 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018.

Bibliography

Masica, Colin P. (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
Grierson, George A. (1903). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. V, Part 2, Indo-Aryan family. Eastern group. Specimens of the Bihārī and Oriyā languages. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. pp. 13, 95.
Kathleen Kuiper, ed. (2010). The Culture of India. Rosen. ISBN 978-1-61530-149-2.
Manish Kumar Thakur (2002). "The politics of minority languages: Some reflections on the Maithili language movement" (PDF). Journal of Social and Economic Development. 4 (2): 199–212.
Mithilesh Kumar Jha (2017). Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India: Making of the Maithili Movement. Oxford University Press India. ISBN 978-0-19-909172-0.
"An Crúbadán - Angika ( anp )". crubadan.org. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
"Angika Dictionary". SIL International. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.

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[e25-1] Angika at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[telegraph_jharkhand_official-2] Sudhir Kumar Mishra (22 March 2018). "Bhojpuri, 3 more to get official tag". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018.

[FOOTNOTEMasica199312-3] Masica 1993, p. 12.

[4] Sevanti Ninan (2007). Headlines From the Heartland: Reinventing the Hindi Public Sphere. SAGE Publications. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7619-3580-3. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018.

[5] 2011 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables

[FOOTNOTEGrierson190395-6] Grierson 1903, p. 95.

[FOOTNOTEMithilesh_Kumar_Jha2017163-7] Mithilesh Kumar Jha 2017, p. 163.

[FOOTNOTEKathleen_Kuiper201057-8] Kathleen Kuiper 2010, p. 57.

[FOOTNOTEManish_Kumar_Thakur2002208-9] Manish Kumar Thakur 2002, p. 208.

[10] "Languages in the Eighth Schedule". Ministry of Home Affairs. 22 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2011.

[11] "Jharkhand gives 2nd language status to Magahi, Angika, Bhojpuri and Maithali". United News of India. 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018.