Scheduled languages
Also called: Eighth Schedule languages · Topic: Population of India: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition"
Meaning
Scheduled languages are the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The list began with 14 languages and grew over time:
- Sindhi in 1967;
- Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali in 1992;
- Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali in 2003.
Hindi has the most speakers. Sanskrit, Bodo and Manipuri had the fewest in 2011. Together, the 22 languages cover about 97% of Indians. On the map, language regions blend into each other at the edges instead of having sharp borders.
Example
Konkani, spoken mainly in Goa on the west coast, joined the Eighth Schedule in 1992.
Don't confuse with
- Classical languages: this is a separate status given to languages with ancient, original literature. There are 11 of them as of October 2024 (verify current), such as Tamil and Pali. Pali and Prakrit are classical but not scheduled.
Related concepts
- Linguistic Survey of India
- Census 2011 language data
- Language families of India
- Indo-European language family
- Dravidian language family
- Austric language family
- Sino-Tibetan language family
- Classical language