Editing Magahi language (section)

{{short description|Indo-Aryan language spoken in India}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Magadhi language|Magadhi Prakrit}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Magahi
| altname          = Magadhi
| nativename       = {{hlist|
 | {{nowrap|मगही}}
}}
| image            = Magahi language.svg
| imagecaption     = The word "Magahi" written in Devanagari script
| imagealt         = Magahi
| states           = [[India]] and [[Nepal]]
| region           = [[Magadha (region)|Magadha]] (southern [[Bihar]], northern [[Jharkhand]], and northwestern [[West Bengal]]),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_mag_detail-1/mode/2up|title=Magahi or Magadhi|last=Grierson|first=G.A.|website=Internet Archive|year=1927}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/magahi.htm|title=Magahi|website=Omniglot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.longdom.org/articles/magahi-and-magadh-language-and-people.pdf|title=Magahi and Magadh: Language and the People|last=Atreya|first=Lata|website=Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences}}</ref> [[Terai]] region of Eastern [[Nepal]]
| ethnicity        = [[Magahi people|Magahi]]
| speakers         = 12.7&nbsp;million
| date             = 2011 census
| speakers2        = (additional speakers counted under Hindi)
| ref              = <ref name="ethnologue.com">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mag|title=Magahi|website=ethnologue}}</ref><ref name="census2011">{{cite web |date=2011 |title=Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues - 2011 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/42458/download/46089/C-16_25062018.pdf |work=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |page=6 |access-date=22 September 2024}}</ref>
| minority         = {{IND}}
* [[Jharkhand]]{{efn|additional official language of Jharkhand}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prabhatkhabar.com/news/ranchi/jharkhand-raghubar-das-cabinet-decision-maithili-bhojpuri-angika-magahi-second-language/1135878.html |title=झारखंड : रघुवर कैबिनेट से मगही, भोजपुरी, मैथिली व अंगिका को द्वितीय भाषा का दर्जा |website= [[Prabhat Khabar]]|date=21 March 2018 |access-date=17 November 2018 |language=hi}}</ref>
| ancestor         = [[Magadhi Prakrit]]
| ancestor2        = Magadhan [[Apabhraṃśa]]
| ancestor3        = [[Abahattha]]
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4             = [[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern Zone (Magadhan)]]
| fam5             = [[Bihari languages|Bihari]]
| dia1             = Southern Magahi
| dia2             = Northern Magahi
| dia3             = Central Magahi
| script           = [[Devanagari]] (official) <br/>[[Kaithi]] (formerly)
| iso2             = mag
| iso3             = mag
| glotto           = maga1260
| glottorefname    = Magahi
| map              = Distribution of Magahi language.png
| mapcaption       = {{align|center|Magahi speaking region}}
}}

'''Magahi''' ({{Script|Kthi|𑂧𑂏𑂯𑂲}}), also known as '''Magadhi''' ({{Script|Kthi|𑂧𑂏𑂡𑂲}}), is an [[Indo-Aryan language]] spoken in [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]] and [[West Bengal]] states of [[East India|eastern India]],<ref name="Magahi01">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3N81Di9EN8C&q=magahi+people&pg=PA6 | title=Magahī Phonology: A Descriptive Study | access-date=4 November 2018| pages=6| isbn=9788180695254 | last1=Prasad | first1=Saryoo | year=2008 | publisher=Concept Publishing Company }}</ref><ref name="Magahi02">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SylBHS8IJAUC&q=magahi+people&pg=PA91 | title=Language, Religion and Politics in North India | access-date=4 November 2018| pages=93| isbn=9780595343942 | last1=Brass | first1=Paul R. | year=2005 | publisher=iUniverse }}</ref> and in the [[Terai]] region of [[Nepal]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mag |chapter=Magahi |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|editor-last=Eberhard|editor-first=David M.|editor-last2= Simons|editor-first2=Gary F.|editor-last3=Fennig|editor-first3=Charles D.|date=2021|publisher=SIL International|location= Dallas, Texas|edition=Twenty-fourth|access-date=2 January 2025|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Magadhi Prakrit]] was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name derives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Nl73WC1JA8d6KVybBycNlM/How-a-Bihari-lost-his-mother-tongue-to-Hindi.html|title=How a Bihari lost his mother tongue to Hindi|date=22 September 2017}}</ref>

It has a very rich and old tradition of folk songs and stories. It is spoken in approximately twelve districts of [[Bihar]] ([[Gaya district|Gaya]], [[Bhagalpur district|Nalnda]], [[Patna district|Patna]], [[Jehanabad district|Jehanabad]], [[Aurangabad district, Bihar|Aurangabad]], [[Nalanda district|Nalanda]], [[Sheikhpura district|Sheikhpura]], [[Nawada district|Nawada]], [[Lakhisarai district|Lakhisarai]], [[Arwal district|Arwal]], [[Jamui district|Jamui]] and in some parts of Banka), twelve districts of [[Jharkhand]] ([[Hazaribagh district|Hazaribag]], [[Palamu district|Palamu]], [[Chatra district|Chatra]], [[Koderma district|Koderma]], [[Jamtara district|Jamtara]], [[Bokaro district|Bokaro]], [[Dhanbad district|Dhanbad]], [[Giridih district|Giridih]], Deoghar, Garhwa, Latehar, Chatra) and in [[West Bengal]]'s [[Malda district]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&q=angika+in+west+bengal&pg=PA481|title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set|last=Frawley|first=William|access-date=8 November 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=9780195139778|language=en|date=May 2003}}</ref> 

Magahi derived from the ancient [[Magadhi Prakrit]], which was created in the ancient kingdom of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], the core of which was the area south of the [[Ganges]] and east of [[Son River]].

Though the number of speakers in Magahi is about 12.7&nbsp;million, it has not been constitutionally recognised in India. In Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters.<ref name="diehardindian.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.diehardindian.com/demogrph/moredemo/histlang.htm |title=History of Indian Languages |publisher=Diehardindian.com |access-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226234832/http://www.diehardindian.com/demogrph/moredemo/histlang.htm |archive-date=26 February 2012 }}</ref> Magahi was legally absorbed under Hindi in the 1961 Census.<ref name="books.google.co.in">{{cite conference
  | last = Verma
  | first = Mahandra K.
  | title = Language Endangerment and Indian languages : An exploration and a critique
  | year = 2001
 | book-title = Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia
  | isbn = 9788120817654
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tcfJY7kANo8C&q=awadhi+and+magahi+languages&pg=PA5
  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Magahi Folklore and Folk Tales |first=Sheela |last=Verma |publisher=Manohar |date=2008 |page=31 |isbn=9788173048043 |quote=Aryani (1965), on the basis of several data, estimated the number of Magahi speakers at approximately 9,900,000 for 1951. Surprisingly enough, the 1971 census figures show only 6,638,495 speakers for Magahi. This discrepancy can be understood in the context of the socio-linguistic phenomenon of educated urban speakers naming their language of schooling, Hindi, as their mother-tongue. Obviously, the number of Magahi speakers did not really decline between 1951 and 1971 but was simply swallowed up by the census figures for Hindi.}}</ref>