| Maithili | |
| Nativename: | मैथिली • মৈথিনী |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /mai/ |
| States: | India and Nepal |
| Nation: | |
| Region: | Mithila |
| Ethnicity: | Maithil |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2000–2021 |
| Ref: | e26 |
| Map: | Maithili_map.png |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
| Fam4: | Eastern |
| Fam5: | Bihari |
| Ancestor: | Magadhi Prakrit |
| Ancestor2: | Magadhan Apabhraṃśa |
| Ancestor3: | Abahattha |
| Dia1: | Thēthi |
| Script: | Devanagari and Tirhuta script (the original script of Maithili language) |
| Iso2: | mai |
| Iso3: | mai |
| Glotto: | mait1250 |
| Glottorefname: | Maithili |
| Agency: | Sahitya Akademi, Maithili Academy, Maithili - Bhojpuri Academy, Delhi, Nepal Academy |
Maithili (pronounced as /hi/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of India and Nepal. It is native to the Mithila region, which encompasses parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as the Nepalese Koshi and Madhesh Provinces. It is one of the 22 official languages of India[2] [3] [4] and the second most commonly spoken Nepalese language.[5] [6] It is also one of the fourteen provincial official languages of Nepal.
The language is predominantly written in Devanagari, but the historical Tirhuta and Kaithi scripts retained some use until today.
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. 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.[7]
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.[8] He is currently the MP for Darbhanga.[9]
The Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Maithili be made an official administrative language in Koshi province and Madhesh Province.
In India, Maithili is spoken mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand in the districts of Darbhanga, Saharsa, Samastipur, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Munger, Khagaria, Purnia, Katihar, Kishanganj, Sheohar, Bhagalpur, Madhepura, Araria, Supaul, Vaishali and Deoghar as well as other districts of Santhal Pargana division.[10] [11] Darbhanga, Madhubani, Saharsa and Purnia constitute cultural and linguistic centers.[12]
In Nepal, Maithili is spoken mainly in the Outer Terai districts including Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Sunsari, Siraha, Morang and Saptari Districts. Janakpur is an important linguistic centre of Maithili.
In the 19th century, linguistic scholars considered Maithili as a dialect of a Bihari language along with other languages of Bihar. Hoernlé compared it with the Gaudian languages and recognised that it shows more similarities with the Bengali language than with Hindi. Grierson recognised it as a distinct language and published its first grammar in 1881.[13] [14]
Chatterji grouped Maithili with the Magadhi Prakrit.[15]
Maithili varies greatly in dialects.[16] The standard form of Maithili is Sotipura also called Central Maithili,[17] which is mainly spoken in Darbhanga, Samastipur and Saharsa districts in Bihar, India.[18]
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.[23] 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.[24]
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.[25] The Varna Ratnākara is the earliest known prose text, written by Jyotirishwar Thakur in Mithilaksar script, and is the first prose work not only in Maithili but in any modern Indian language.[26]
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.[27] [28]
The earliest reference to Maithili or Tirhutiya is in Amaduzzi's preface to Beligatti's Alphabetum Brammhanicum, published in 1771.[29] This contains a list of Indian languages amongst 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.[30]
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.[31]
During the Malla dynasty's rule Maithili spread far and wide throughout Nepal from the 16th to the 17th century.[32] [33] 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.[34] One notable Malla King who patronised Maithili was Bhupatindra Malla who composed 26 plays in the Maithili language during his lifetime.[35]
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.[36] [37]
Publication of Maithil Hita Sadhana (1905), Mithila Moda (1906), and Mithila Mihir (1908) further encouraged writers. The first social organisation, Maithil Mahasabha,[38] 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.[39]
Babu Bhola Lal Das wrote Maithili Grammar (Maithili Vyakaran). He edited a book Gadya Kusumanjali and edited a journal Maithili.[40] In 1965, Maithili was officially accepted by Sahitya Academy, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of Indian literature.[41] [42]
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.[43]
The publishing of Maithili books in Mithilakshar script was started by Acharya Ramlochan Saran.[44] [45]
| Front | Central | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Open | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Diphthongs | əɪ̯ əe̯ | əʊ̯ əo̯ | |||||
The following diphthongs are present:[47]
अय़(ꣾ) pronounced as //əe̯/ ~ /ɛː// - अय़सन (ꣾ सन) pronounced as //əe̯sən/ ~ /ɛːsɐn// 'like this'
अव़(ॵ) pronounced as //əo̯/ ~ /ɔː//- चव़मुख(चॏमुख) pronounced as //tɕəo̯mʊkʰ/ ~ /tɕɔːmʊkʰ// 'four faced'
अयॆ pronounced as //əe̯// - अयॆलाः pronounced as //əe̯laːh// 'came'
अवॊ (अऒ) pronounced as //əo̯// - अवॊताः pronounced as //əo̯taːh// 'will come'
आइ pronounced as //aːi̯// - आइ pronounced as //aːi̯// 'today'
आउ pronounced as //aːu̯// - आउ pronounced as //aːu̯// 'come please'
आयॆ (आऎ) pronounced as //aːe̯// - आयॆल pronounced as //aːe̯l// 'came'
आवॊ (आऒ) pronounced as //aːo̯// - आवॊब pronounced as //aːo̯b// 'will come'
यु (इउ) pronounced as //iu̯// - घ्यु pronounced as //ɡʱiu̯// 'ghee'
यॆ (इऎ) pronounced as //ie̯// - यॆः pronounced as //ie̯h// 'only this'
यॊ (इऒ) pronounced as //io̯// - कह्यो pronounced as //kəhio̯// 'any day'
वि (उइ) pronounced as //ui̯// - द्वि pronounced as //dui̯// 'two'
वॆ (उऎ) pronounced as //ue̯// - वॆ: pronounced as //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. Thus:
Standard Colloquial - Common Pronunciation
अछि pronounced as //ətɕʰi// - अइछ pronounced as //əitɕʰ// 'is'
रवि pronounced as //rəbi// - रइब pronounced as //rəib// 'Sunday'
मधु pronounced as //mədʱu// - मउध pronounced as //məudʱ// 'honey'
बालु pronounced as //ba:lu// - बाउल pronounced as //ba:ul// 'sand'
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 | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | unaspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| voiced | unaspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | (pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | -(pronounced as /link/)* | ||
| voiced | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Rhotic | unaspirated | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||||
| aspirated | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | (pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | |||||||
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 pronounced as //ʈ// and pronounced as //ʈʰ// show full contrast in all positions. pronounced as //ɖ// and pronounced as //ɖʱ// show phonological contrast mainly word-initially.[48] Both are defective phonemes, occurring intervocalically and word finally only if preceded by a nasal consonant. Word finally and postvocalically, pronounced as //ɖʱ// surfaces as pronounced as /[ɽʱ~rʱ]/.[49] Non-initially, both are interchangeable with pronounced as /[ɽ~ɾ]/ and pronounced as /[ɽʱ~rʱ]/ respectively.
pronounced as //s// and pronounced as //ɦ// are most common fricatives. They show full phonological opposition. pronounced as /[ɕ]/, which is present in tatsama words, is replaced by pronounced as //s// most of the times, when independent, and prevocalic pronounced as /[ʂ]/ is replaced by pronounced as //kʰ//, pronounced as /[x]/ or pronounced as //s//. pronounced as /[ɕ]/ occurs before pronounced as //tɕ// and pronounced as /[ʂ]/ before pronounced as //ʈ//. pronounced as /[x]/ and pronounced as /[f]/ occurs in Perso-Arabic loanwords, generally replaced by pronounced as //kʰ// and pronounced as //pʰ// respectively. pronounced as /[x]/ and pronounced as /[ɸ]/ also occurs in Sanskrit words (jihvamuliya and upadhmaniya), which is peculiar to Maithili.
pronounced as //m// and pronounced as //n// are present in all phonological positions. pronounced as //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 pronounced as //ŋ//. pronounced as //ɳ// occurs non-initially, followed by a homorganic stop, and is independent only in tatsama words, which is often replaced with pronounced as //n//. pronounced as /[ɲ]/ occurs only non-initially and is followed by a homorganic stop always. It is the only nasal which does not occur independently.
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.
See main article: Maithili grammar.
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, -अनिən, ənɪ̆ | -अन, -अनिən, ənɪ̆ | ||
| Accusative(Indefinite) | -ई iː | -ई iː | -आ aː | ||||
| Instrumental | Postposition used | -एँ ẽː | Postposition used | -अन्हिənʰɪ̆ | |||
| Dative | Postposition used | ||||||
| -इल ɪlə | -अल ələ | No forms | |||||
| Ergative | -इएँ ɪẽː | -एँ ẽː | |||||
| Ablative | -इतः ɪtəh | -अतःətəh | |||||
| Genitive | -इक ɪk, इर ɪr | -अक ək, -अर ər | -ईंक ĩːk | -आँँक ãːk | |||
| Locative | Postposition used | -ए eː | Postposition used | -आँãː | |||
| Vocative | -इ ɪ/ई iː | -आ/अऽ aː/əː | -इन ɪn | -अन, -अनिən, ənɪ̆ | |||
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 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 ɦəmᵊraːअपना 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) | ||||
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. 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.[50] Throughout the course of the century, Devanagari grew in use eventually replacing the other two, and has since remained the dominant script for Maithili.[51] 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.[52]
The Tirhuta and Kaithi scripts are both currently included in Unicode.
| Tirhuta | Transcription | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Text | IPA | |||
| क | ka | /kə/ | |||
| ख | kha | /kʰə/ | |||
| ग | ga | /gə/ | |||
| घ | gha | /gʱə/ | |||
| ङ | ṅa | /ŋə/ | |||
| च | ca | /t͡ɕə/ | |||
| छ | cha | /t͡ɕʰə/ | |||
| ज | ja | /d͡ʑə/ | |||
| झ | jha | /d͡ʑʱə/ | |||
| ञ | ña | (/ɲə/) /nə/ | |||
| ट | ṭa | /ʈə/ | |||
| ठ | ṭha | /ʈʰə/ | |||
| ड | ḍa | /ɖə/ | |||
| ढ | ḍha | /ɖʱə/ | |||
| ण | ṇa | /ɳə/ or /nə/ | |||
| त | ta | /t̪ə/ | |||
| थ | tha | /t̪ʰə/ | |||
| द | da | /d̪ə/ | |||
| ध | dha | /d̪ʱə/ | |||
| न | na | /nə/ | |||
| प | pa | /pə/ | |||
| फ | pha | /pʰə/ | |||
| ब | ba | /bə/ | |||
| भ | bha | /bʱə/ | |||
| म | ma | /mə/ | |||
| य | ya | (/jə/) /d͡ʑə/ or /e̯/ | |||
| र | ra | /rə/ | |||
| ल | la | /lə/ | |||
| व | va | (/ʋə/) or /bə/ /o̯/ | |||
| श | śa | (/ɕə/) /sə/ | |||
| ष | ṣa | /ʂə/ or /sə/ or /kʰə/ | |||
| स | sa | /sə/ | |||
| ह | ha | /ɦə/ | |||
| Tirhuta | Devanagari | Tirhuta | Transcription | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Dependent | ||||||||
| Phonetic | Traditional | Image | Text | Phonetic | Traditional | Image | Text | Romanisation | IPA |
| अ | a/∅ | /ə/ or /ɐ/ or /ə̆/ or ∅ | |||||||
| अ꣱/अऽ/अ' | अऽ | ◌꣱/◌ऽ/◌' | ◌'/ ◌ऽ | å | /ɔ/ ~/ʌ/ | ||||
| ॴ | आ | ऻ | ा | a/ă | /a/ | ||||
| आ | ा | ā | /аː/ | ||||||
| इ | ि | і | /ɪ/ | ||||||
| not possible in initial position or independent (after vowel) | ि' | ि | ĭ/i | /ɪ̆/ | |||||
| ई | ी | ī | /іː/ | ||||||
| उ | ु | u | /ʊ/ | ||||||
| not possible in initial position (after vowel) | ु' | ु | ŭ/u | /ʊ̆/ | |||||
| ऊ | ू | ū | /uː/ | ||||||
| ऋ | ृ | ṛ | /r̩/ or /rɪ/ | ||||||
| ॠ | ॄ | ṝ | /r̩ː/ or /riː/ | ||||||
| ऌ | ॢ | ḷ | /l̩/ or /lɪ/ | ||||||
| ऍ | ऍ/ऐ | ॅ | ॅ/ै | æ/ê | /æ/ ~/ɛ/ | ||||
| ऎ | ए | ॆ | े | e | /е/ | ||||
| ए | े | ē | /еː/ | ||||||
| ꣾ | ऐ | ◌ꣿ | ै | ai | /ai/ | ||||
| ऐ | ै | āі | /аːі/ | ||||||
| ऒ | ओ | ॊ | ो | о | /о/ | ||||
| ओ | ो | ō | /оː/ | ||||||
| ॵ | औ | ॏ | ौ | au | /au/ | ||||
| औ | ौ | āu | /aːu/ | ||||||
See main article: Maithili literature.
The following sample text is Maithili translation of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Maithili in the Tirhuta alphabet
Maithili in the Devanagari alphabet
Maithili in IAST
Translation