Gujarati language

Not to be confused with the Paraguayan Guarani language.

Gujarati
Gujarātī
ગુજરાતી
The word "Gujarātī" in Gujarati script
PronunciationGujarati: [ɡudʒəˈɾɑːtiː]
English: /ˌɡʊdʒəˈrɑːti/
Native toIndia
RegionWestern India
EthnicityGujaratis
Native speakers
L1: 57 million (2011 census)[2]
L2: 5.0 million (2011 census)[2]
Early forms
Standard forms
  • Standard Gujarati[4]
Dialects
Inner
    • Amdawadi Gujarati
      Old Standard Ahmedabad
      Standard Broach
      Nāgarī
      Bombay
      Suratī
      Saurashtra
      Anāvla or Bhāṭelā
      Pārsī
      Eastern Broach
      Carotarī
      Pāṭīdār
      Vaḍodarī
      Gāmaḍiā of Ahmedabad, Paṭanī
      Thar and Parkar
      Cutch
      Kāṭhiyāvāḍī
      Musalmān (Vhorāsī, Kharwā and Lisan ud-Dawat)
      Paṭṇulī, Kākarī, and Tārīmukī or Ghisāḍi
      Ghisadi
      Kharwa
      Kakari
      Tarimuki
      Kathiawari
      [5][6][2][7]
Outer
Official status
Official language in
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byGujarat Sahitya Akademi, Government of Gujarat
Language codes
ISO 639-1gu
ISO 639-2guj
ISO 639-3guj
Glottologguja1252
Linguasphere59-AAF-h
Map of the Gujarati language. Light red are regions with significant minorities, dark red a majority or plurality

Gujarati (/ˌɡʊdʒəˈrɑːti/ GUUJ-ə-RAH-tee;[14] Gujarati script: ગુજરાતી, romanized: Gujarātī, pronounced [ɡudʒəˈɾɑːtiː]) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati (c. 1100–1500 CE). In India, it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Union. It is also the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As of 2011, Gujarati is the 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population.[1] It is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.[15]

Gujarati, along with Meitei (alias Manipuri), hold the third place among the fastest growing languages of India, following Hindi (first place) and Kashmiri language (second place), according to the 2011 census of India.[16][17][18][19]

Outside of Gujarat, Gujarati is spoken in many other parts of South Asia by Gujarati migrants, especially in Mumbai and Pakistan (mainly in Karachi).[20] Gujarati is also widely spoken in many countries outside South Asia by the Gujarati diaspora. In North America, Gujarati is one of the fastest-growing and most widely spoken Indian languages in the United States and Canada.[21][22] In Europe, Gujaratis form the second largest of the British South Asian speech communities, and Gujarati is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the UK's capital London.[23] Gujarati is also spoken in Southeast Africa, particularly in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa.[2][24][25] Elsewhere, Gujarati is spoken to a lesser extent in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.[2][26][27]

  1. ^ a b "Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength – 2011" (PDF). Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gujarati at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  3. ^ Ernst Kausen, 2006. Die Klassifikation der indogermanischen Sprachen (Microsoft Word, 133 KB)
  4. ^ A simplified grammar of the Gujarati language by William St. Clair Tisdall (1892)
  5. ^ A simplified grammar of the Gujarati language by William St. Clair Tisdall (1892)
  6. ^ Grierson, G. A. (1908). Linguistic Survey of India, Vol IX: Indo-Aryan Family, Central Group, Part II: Specimens of the Rājasthānī and Gujarātī. Superintendent Government Printing. pp. viii.
  7. ^ Kacchi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  8. ^ A simplified grammar of the Gujarati language by William St. Clair Tisdall (1892)
  9. ^ Grierson, G. A. (1908). Linguistic Survey of India, Vol IX: Indo-Aryan Family, Central Group, Part II: Specimens of the Rājasthānī and Gujarātī. Superintendent Government Printing. pp. viii.
  10. ^ Kacchi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  11. ^ "51st Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions". gov.za. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Language, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  14. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh.
  15. ^ Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin. Asterisks mark the 2010 estimates for the top dozen languages.
  16. ^ "What census data reveals about use of Indian languages". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Hindi Added 100Mn Speakers In A Decade; Kashmiri 2nd Fast Growing Language". 28 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Hindi fastest growing language in India, finds 100 million new speakers".
  19. ^ "Hindi grew rapidly in non-Hindi states even without official mandate". India Today. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  20. ^ Parekh, Rauf (20 January 2017). "Situationer: The future of Gujarati language in Pakistan". Dawn.
  21. ^ Chitnis, Deepak (14 August 2013). "Hindi and Gujarati fastest growing Indian languages in the US". The American Bazaar.
  22. ^ Bhattacharyya, Anirudh (3 August 2017). "Punjabi among top three immigrant languages in Canada". Hindustan Times.
  23. ^ Edwards, Viv. "Gujarati today". BBC. Gujaratis form the second largest of the British South Asian speech communities, with important settlements in Leicester and Coventry in the Midlands, in the northern textile towns and in Greater London.
  24. ^ Barlas, Robert; Yong, Jui Lin (2010). Uganda. Marshall Cavendish. p. 96. ISBN 9780761448594. Of the non-Ugandan languages, Hindi and Gujarati are commonly spoken among members of the Asian Hindu community that migrated to Uganda during the early part of the 20th century.
  25. ^ "Indian South Africans". South African History Online. English is spoken as a first language by most Indian South Africans, although a minority of the Indian South African population, especially the elders, still speak some Indian languages. These languages include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati.
  26. ^ "Gujarati Community in Hong Kong organizes grand reception in the honour of Gujarat CM". Official Portal of Gujarat Government. Addressing the community in Gujarati
  27. ^ "Indians make up over 1 per cent of Australia's population". The Indian Express. 27 June 2014.