Marathi language Totally Explained

Everything about Marathi Language totally explained

Marathi (Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of what is considered western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India and the 15th most spoken language in world
Marathi is estimated to be over 1300 years old, and it's evolved from Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. Its grammar and syntax derive from Pali and Prakrit. In ancient times, Marathi was called Maharashtri, Marhatti, Mahratti etc.
Peculiar features of Marathi linguistic culture include Marathi drama, with its unique flavour of 'Sangeet Natak' (musical dramas), scholarly discourses called 'Vasant Vyakhyanmala' (Lectures in Spring), Marathi folk dance called 'Lavani', and special editions of magazines for Diwali called 'Diwali anka'.

Geographic distribution

Marathi is primarily spoken in Maharashtra and parts of neighboring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, union-territories of Daman-diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli. The cities of Baroda, Surat, Ahmedabad and entire South Gujarat (Gujarat) Belgaum, Hubli, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Bidar (Karnataka) Indore, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Tanjore (Tamil Nadu) each have sizable Marathi-speaking communities. Marathi is also spoken by Maharashtrian émigrés worldwide, in USA, UAE, South Africa, Singapore, Germany, UK, Australia & New Zealand. and Dadra Nagar haveli. The Constitution of India recognizes Marathi as one of India's 22 official languages.
In addition to all universities in Maharashtra, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Gujarat), Osmania University (Andhra Pradesh), Gulbarga university (Karnataka), Devi Ahilya University of Indore and Goa University (Panaji) all have special departments for higher studies in Marathi linguistics. Recently Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) has announced to start special department for Marathi.

History

Main article: Marathi literature.
   The four Prakrit languages were derived from Vedic Sanskrit. Further change in Prakrits lead to Apabhramsha languages. Marathi evolved from Sanskrit through Maharashtri Prakrit and Maharashtri Apabhramsha. Marathi may thus be described as being a re-Sanskritised and developed form of Maharashtri Apabhramsha.
   Maharashtri Prakrit was in vogue until A.D 875 and official language of Satavahana empire. It had risen to a high literary level and works like Karpurmanjari and Saptashati (150 B.C) were written in it. Maharashtri Prakrit was most popular amongst Prakrit languages and widely spoken in western and southern India. It was spoken from Malwa and Rajputana in north to Krishna and Tungabhadrain south. Today's Marathi and Kannada speaking parts were speaking Maharashtri from centuries.
   Maharashtri Apabhramsha (also known as Jain Apabhramsha) came into use about 200 years later and remained in vogue (by about A.D. 400) for more than a century. Apabhrmasha was used widely in Jain literature and formed an important link in evolution of Marathi. Marathi is believed to be a developed and re-Sanskritised form of this Apabhramsha.
   According to the written forms and historical attestations and evidences, Marathi's birth is said to be in 8th century.
   It is obvious that at 983 A.D, Marathi was one of the distinctly different current languages, widely used by the people of area from North Maharashtra till South Karnataka. The six inscriptions now available dating between A.D. 979—1270 and placed in distant parts like Mysore, Khandesh and Mumbai are an index of the large area over which Marathi was spoken.
   It is because the language was spoken so widely that the deeds of charitable gifts like the one at Patan recording the maintenance grants given by King Soidev to Changdev's University and the imperial mandates expected to be obeyed by all, like the Edict of King Aparaditya, of A.D. 1183, were inscribed in Marathi. The Pandharpur inscription (A.D. 1273) of the days of Raja Shiromani Ramdevrao is in flawless Marathi. Marathi was now spoken by all classes and castes.

12th century to 1905

Yadava

Marathi literature began and grew thanks to the rise of the Yadava dynasty of Devgiri, who adopted Marathi as the court language and patronized Marathi learned men, and the rise of two religious sects - Mahanubhav Panth and Warkari Panth. Marathi had attained a venerable place in court life by the time of the Yadava Kings. During the reign of the last three Yadava Kings, a great deal of literature in verse and prose, on astrology, medicine, puranas, vedanta, kings and courtiers were created. Nalopakhyan, Rukmini swayamvar and Shripati's Jyotishratnamala (1039 A.D) are few examples.
The oldest book in prose form in Marathi, Vivekasindhu is written by Mukundaraj, a yogi of Natha Pantha and arch-poet of Marathi. Mukundaraj bases his exposition of the basic tenets of the Hindu philosophy and Yoga Marga on the utterances or teachings of Shankaracharya. Mukundaraj's another work Paramamrita considered the first systematic attempt to explain the Vendantic principles in Marathi language. One of the famous saints of this period is Sant Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296) who wrote Bhavarthadeepika, popularly known as Dnyaneshwari (A.D 1290) and Amritanubhava. He also composed devotional songs called abhangas. Dnyaneshwar gave a higher status to Marathi by bringing the sacred Geeta from Sanskrit to Marathi. Mahanubhav panth and Warkari panth adopted Marathi as the medium for preaching their doctrines of devotion.

Mahanubhav sect

Notable examples of Marathi prose are "Līḷācarītra", events and anecdotes from miracle filled life of Chakradhar Swami of the Mahanubhav sect compiled by his close disciple, Mahimabhatta, in 1238. Mahanubhav sect made Marathi a vehicle for the propagation of religion and culture.

Warkari sect

They were followed by the Warkari saint-poet Eknath ((1528–1599). Eknath's Bhavarth Ramayana brought the message of Bhagvat cult to the people with great power. Mukteswar translated the great epic Mahabharata into Marathi. Social reformers like saint-poet Tukaram transformed Marathi into a rich literary language. A real genius, Saint Tukaram’s(1608-49) poetry contained his wonderful inspirations. He was a radical reformer. Conciseness, clarity, vigor and earnestness were the peculiarities of his poetry
At the same time, the spread of spoken Marathi has increased beyond its regular boundaries due to the increase of its élite, well-educated global Maharashtrian diaspora. Several Marathi mandals have flourished (especially in United states, Europe and Gulf countries) for meetings and cultural events by them.

Dialects

Standard Marathi is based on dialects used by academicians and the print media, and is influenced by educated élite of the Pune region. Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad (MSP) is apex guiding body for literary institutions of Marathi language. From time to time, MSP helps out in discourses over various aspects of Marathi and in laying down precedents by framing rules, whenever required.
Indic scholars distinguish 42 dialects of spoken Marathi. Dialects bordering other major language areas have many properties in common with those languages, further differentiating them from standard spoken Marathi. The bulk of the variation within these dialects is primarily lexical and phonological (for example accent placement and pronunciation). Although the number of dialects is considerable, the degree of intelligibility within these dialects is relatively high. still claim that it's a dialect of Marathi. Warli, Kankon Konkani, Mālvani (spoken in southern Konkan near Malvan), Dangi are some of them. Marathis and Konkanis in Goa have had disagreements over the official language issue.

Wadvali

This dialect may not necessarily be named thus. It was primarily spoken by Wadvals, which essentially means agricultural plot owners, of the Naigaon, Vasai to Dahanu region. Somavamshi Kshatriyas speak this dialect. This language is preserved mostly by the Roman Catholics native to this region, since they're a closely knit community here and have very few relatives outside this region. It was also widely spoken among the Hindus native to this region, but due to external influences, ordinary Marathi is now more popular among the Hindus. There are many songs in this language. Recently a book was published by Nutan Patil containing around 70 songs. The songs are about marriage, pachvi etc. The dialect of the Kolis (fisherfolk) of Vasai and neighbouring Bombay resembles this dialect closely, though they speak with a heavier accent.

Samavedi

Samavedi is spoken in the interiors of Nala Sopara and Virar region to the north of Mumbai in the Vasai Taluka, Thane District of Maharashtra. The name of this language correctly suggests that its origins lie with the Samavedi Brahmins native to this region. Again this language too finds more speakers among the Roman Catholic converts native to this region (who are known as East Indians), but nevertheless is popular among the Samavedi Brahmins. This dialect is very different from the other Marathi dialects spoken in other regions of Maharashtra, but resembles Wadvali very closely. Both Wadvali and Samavedi have relatively higher proportion of words imported from Portuguese as compared to ordinary Marathi, because of direct influence of the Portuguese who colonized this region till 1739.

Are Marathi

Are Marathi, written in Devanagari script as, is another dialect spoken mostly in Andhra Pradesh.

Thanjavur Marathi and Namdev Marathi

Thanjavur Marathi, Namdev Marathi and Bhavsar Marathi are spoken by many Southern Indians. This dialect evolved from the time of occupation of the Marathas in Thanjavur in southern Tamil Nadu. It has speakers in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Others

Dangii (spoken near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border)
Judæo-Marathi (spoken by the Bene Israel Jews)
Kadodii (spoken near Vasai)

Other dialects of Marathi include Karwari (a sub-dialect of Konkani spoken in Karwar), Chitpavani (original dialect spoken by Konkanastha Brahmins but most speak standard Marathi), Kudaalee (dialect spokan in Kudal Taluka of Ratnagiri District), Kunabi of Mahad, Cochin Konkani (spoken in west coast of Kerala), Konkani of Kasargod, Warli of Thane District, Gawdi of Goa (spoken by Gawdi tribes in Goa), Dakshini (Marathwada), Koli (Costal Maharashtra), Deshi (Eastern Konkan Ghats), Goanese, Deccan, Nagpuri, Ikrani and Gowlan.

Devnagari script

Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, an alphasyllabary or abugida consisting of 16 vowel letters and 36 consonant letters making a total of 52 letters. It is written from left to right. Devnagari used to write Marathi is slightly different than that of Hindi or other languages. Marathi Devnagari script is called as Balbodh script.

Modi script

Marathi was written in Modi script-- a cursive script designed for minimising the lifting of pen from paper while writing. Most writings of Maratha empire are in Modi script. However, Persian-based scripts were also used for court documentation. With the advent of large-scale printing, Modi script fell into disuse, as it proved very difficult for type-setting. Currently due to availability of Modi fonts and the enthusiasm of the young generation the script is far from being vanished. (See Reference Links).

Consonant clusters

In Marathi, the consonants by default come with a schwa. Therefore, will be 'təyāce', not 'tyāce'. To form 'tyāce', you'll have to add +, giving .
When two or more consecutive consonants are followed by a vowel then a jodakshar (consonant cluster) is formed. Some examples of consonant clusters are shown below:

- tyāce - "his"

- prastāv-"proposal"

- vidyā - "knowledge"

- myān

- tvarā

- mahattva - "importance"

- "only"

, nh, and mh) and liquid aspirates (rh, ṟh, lh, and vh). Some examples are given below.

- kaṇherī - "a shrub known for flowers"

- nhāṇ - "bath"

- mhaṇūn - "because"

- taṟhā - "different way of behaving"

- kolhā - "fox"

- keṃvhā "when"

Grammar

Marathi grammar shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc. The first modern book exclusively on Marathi Grammar was printed in 1805 by William Kerry. Sanskrit Grammar used to be referred more till late stages of Marathi Language.
The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and above mentioned rules give special status to 'Tatsam' (Without Change) words adapted from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for 'Tatsam' words be followed as of Sanskrit grammar. While this supports Marathi Language with a larger treasure of Sanskrit words to cope with demands of new technical words whenever needed; maintains influence over Marathi.
An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, that's common to the Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.
Unlike its related languages, Marathi preserves all three grammatical genders (Linga) from Sanskrit, masculine, feminine and neuter. Marathi contains three grammatical voices (prayog) i.e Kartari, Karmani and Bhave. Detailed analysis of grammatical aspects of Marathi language are covered in Marathi grammar.

Marathi organisations

Many government and semi-government organisations exist which work for regulation, promotion and enrichment of Marathi language. These are either initiated or funded by Government of Maharashtra. Few prominent Marathi organisations are given below:

Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal (Central confederation of all Marathi organisations)

Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh

Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, Pune

Marathi Vishwakosh (encyclopedia) project

Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh, Nagpur

Marathwada Sahitya Parishad, Aurangabad

Outside Maharashtra state

Gomantak Marathi academy

Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, Jabalpur

Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Paraishad, Hyderabad

Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Karnataka

Vocabulary

Sharing of linguistic resources with other languages

Over a period of many centuries Marathi language and people came into contact with many other languages and dialects. The primary influence of Prakrit, Maharashtri, Apbhramsha and Sanskrit is understandable.
   Day-to-day Marathi includes a higher number of Sanskrit-derived (tatsam) words than sister languages like Hindi. Some Sanskrit words that are common in day-to-day spoken Marathi include nantar (from nantaram or after), purṇa (purṇam or complete, full, or full measure of something), anna (annam or food), karaṇ (karaṇam or cause) kadāchit (kadāchit or perhaps) satat (satatam or always), abhyās (abhyāsam or study), vichitra (vichitram or strange), svatah (svatah or himself/herself), prayatna (prayatnam or effort), bhiti (from bhiti, or fear) and vishesh (vishesham or special), amongst others.
   Marathi has also shared directions, vocabulary and grammar with languages like Indian Dravidian languages, and a few foreign languages like Persian, Arabic, English and a little from Portuguese.
   While recent genome studies suggest some amount of political and trade relations between the Indian subcontinent and East Africa, Middle East, Central Asia over a millennium, these studies are still not conclusive about exact effect on linguistcs.

Influence of foreign languages

Usage of punctuation marks was one of the major contributions to Indic script by foreign languages. Previously, due to Sanskritised poetry, textual punctuation requirements of many texts may have been less.

Word formation and origin

Marathi has taken words from and given words to Sanskrit, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, and Portuguese. At least 50% of the words in Marathi are either taken or derived from Sansrit.

Adakitta "nutcracker" directly borrowed from Kannada

Khurchii "chair" is derived from Arabic kursi

Jaahiraat "advertisement" is derived from Persian zaahiraat See Note 1

Shiphaaras "recommendation" is derived from Persian sifarish

Marjii "wish" is derived from Persian "marzi"

Batataa "potato", is derived from Portuguese

Ananas "pineapple", is derived from Portuguese See Note 2

Niga "looking after" is derived from Persian nîgâh "sight-vision"

Hajeri Attendance from Hajiri Urdu A lot of English words are commonly used in conversation, and are considered to be totally assimilated into the Marathi vocabulary. These include "pen" (native Marathi lekhaṇii), "shirt" (sadaraa).
Many Marathi words are very close to English. It is interesting to have a look at the similarity.

Navy compared to Nau

Dew compared to Dav

Tree compared to Taru

path compared to patha

Forming complex words

Marathi uses many morphological processes to join words together, forming complex words. These processes are traditionally referred to as sandhi (from Sanskrit, "combination"). For example, ati + uttam gives the word atyuttam.
Another method of combining words is referred to as samaas (from Sanskrit, "margin"). There are no reliable rules to follow to make a samaas. When the second word starts with a consonant, a sandhi can not be formed, but a samaas can be formed. For example, miith-bhaakar ("salt-bread"), udyog-patii ("businessman"), ashṭa-bhujaa ("eight-hands", name of a Hindu goddess), and so on. There are different names given to each type of samaas.

Counting

Like many other languages, Marathi uses distinct names for the numbers 1 to 20 and each multiple of 10, and composite ones for those greater than 20.
As with other Indic languages, there are distinct names for the fractions,, and . They are paava, ardhaa, and pauṇa, respectively. For most fractions greater than 1, the prefixes savvaa-, saaḍe-, paavaṇe- are used. There are special names for (diiḍ) and (aḍich).
The powers of ten are as follows:

100: shambhar (also constructed with number prefix and "-she" suffix)

1,000: hazaar (or sahasra, a word close to the Sanskrit version)

100,000: laakh (or laksha)

10,000,000: koti

1,000,000,000: abja

10,000,000,000: kharva

100,000,000,000: nikharva

100,000,000,000,000,000: parardha A positive integer is read by breaking it up from the tens digit leftwards, into parts each containing two digits, the only exception being the hundreds place containing only one digit instead of two. For example, 1,234,567 is read as 12 laakh 34 hazaar 5 she 67.

Example short phrases

Words/phrases	Transliteration	Meaning
	Namaskār.	Hi/Hello.
	Tumhī kase āhāt?	How do you do?
	Tū kasā āhes?	How are you? (to a male)
	Tū kaśī āhes?	How are you? (to a female)
	Āpaṇ kase āhāt?	How are you? (formal)
	Tumhālā bheṭūn ānand jhālā.	Pleased to meet you.
	Punhā bheṭū.	Goodbye. (Lit.: "We will meet again.")
	Dhanyavād.	Thank you.
	Ho.	Yes.
	Nāhī.	No.
	Nako.	No, thank you.
	Kitī?	How much?/How many?
	Kuthe?	Where?
	Kase?	How?
	Kevha?	When?
	Kon?	Who?
	Kaay?	What?
	Śhubh Ratri.	Good night.

Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

An annual gathering of all marathi poets, writers and critics happens at various places across the country. In 2008 it's happening at Sangli in Maharashtra. The purpose of these gatherings is to enrich Marathi literature by making knowledge sharing and throwing innovative ideas. This also gives the people in that region an opportunity to meet and interact with their favourite writers.

Marathi on computers and internet

Marathi was weak on computers and the internet like other Indian languages. But recently, with the introduction of language localisation projects and new technologies, various software and internet applications have been introduced. Shrilipi, Shivaji, Kiran fonts were used prior to introduction of Unicode standard for Devanagari script. Various Marathi typing software (Baraha

is widely used) and display interface packages are now available on both Windows and Linux. Many Marathi websites including prominent Marathi newspapers have become popular especially with Maharashtrians outside India. Online projects like Marathi wikipedia

, Marathi blogroll

and Marathi blogs have gained immense popularity. See more notable websites in external links section.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Marathi Language'.

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