Editing Bundeli language

{{Short description|Indo-Aryan language spoken in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox Language
| name             = Bundeli
| nativename       = बुन्देली
| states           = [[India]]
| region           = [[Bundelkhand]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|5.6|2}} million
| speakers2        = Census results conflate some speakers with Hindi.
| date             = 2011
| ref              = <ref>{{cite web|title=Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength - 2011|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf|publisher=[[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India]]|date=29 June 2018}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
| fam4             = [[List of Central Indo-Aryan languages|Central]]
| fam5             = [[Western Hindi languages|Western Hindi]]
| script           = [[Devanagari]]
| nation           = None
| iso3             = bns
| glotto           = bund1253
| glottorefname    = Bundeli
| map              = Bundeli_langauge_map.png
| image            = Bundeli language.svg
| imagecaption     = The word "Bundeli" written in Devanagari script
}}
'''Bundeli''' ([[Devanagari]]: बुन्देली/बुंदेली)  or '''Bundelkhandi''' is an [[Indo-Aryan language]]  spoken in the [[Bundelkhand]] region of central [[India]]. It belongs to the Central Indo-Aryan languages and is part of the [[Western Hindi]] subgroup.

==Classification==
A descendant of the [[Sauraseni]] [[Apabhramsa language|Apabhramsha]] language, Bundeli was classified under [[Western Hindi]] by [[George Abraham Grierson]] in his [[Linguistic Survey of India]].<ref>{{Linguistic Survey of India|9|1}}</ref> Bundeli is also closely related to [[Braj Bhasha]], which was the foremost literary language in north-central India until the nineteenth century.

Like many other [[Indo-Aryan languages]], Bundeli has often been subject to a designation as a [[dialect]], instead of a [[language]]. Furthermore, as is the case with other [[Hindi languages]], Bundeli speakers have been conflated with those of [[Hindi|Standard Hindi]] in censuses.

Grierson divided Bundeli into four dialect groups:<ref>{{Linguistic Survey of India|9}}</ref>

* Standard Bundeli, Bundeli, language of [[Tikamgarh]], [[Lalitpur, India|Lalitpur]] etc.
* Northeaster Bundeli (closely related to [[Bagheli]])
* Northwester Bundeli (similar to [[Braj Bhasha]])
* Southern Bundeli (mixed or broken Bundeli with slight influences from [[Marathi language|Marathi]])

==Geographical distribution==
The [[Bundelkhand]] region comprises regions of [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]]. Bundeli is spoken in the [[Banda district (India)|Banda]], [[Hamirpur district, Uttar Pradesh|Hamirpur]], [[Jalaun district|Jalaun]], [[Jhansi district|Jhansi]], [[Lalitpur District, India|Lalitpur]], [[Chitrakoot district|Chitrakoot]], [[Mahoba district|Mahoba]], [[Datia district|Datia]], [[Chhatarpur district|Chhatarpur]], [[Panna district|Panna]], [[Tikamgarh district|Tikamgarh]], [[Sagar district|Sagar]], [[Damoh District|Damoh]], [[Niwari District|Niwari]] districts.
[[File:Lokgeet in Bundeli 01.webm|thumb|Traditional [[Folk music]] (Lokgeet) in Bundeli]]

==History==
Early examples of Bundelkhandi literature are the verses of the [[Alha-Khand]] epic. It is still preserved by bards in the Banaphari region. The epic is about heroes who lived in the 12th century CE. Formal literary works in Bundeli dates from the reign of Emperor [[Akbar]]. Notable figures are the poet [[Kesab Das]] of the 16th century, while [[Padmakar|Padmakar Bhatt]] and Prajnes wrote several works during the 19th century. Prannath and Lal Kabi, produced many works in Bundeli language at the court of [[Chhatrasal]] of Panna.<ref>{{cite web |title=LSI Vol-9 part-1 |publisher=dsal |page=89 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/lsi/lsi.php?volume=9-1&pages=843#page/107/mode/1up}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|last1=Boehm|first1=Ed|title=A Sociolinguistic Profile of Bundeli|date=2015|publisher=SIL International|url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/97/05/84/97058446415136540756726069269245317313/silesr2015_015.pdf}}

==External links==
*{{Facebook|BundeliBhasha}}
*Bundelkhand NEWS [http://www.bundelkhandnews.com/]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233934/http://www.bundelkhanddarshan.com/learn-bundelkhandi.html Learn Bundelkhandi on Bundelkhanddarshan.com]
* [http://www.bundelhkand.com www.bundelkhand.com] {{Dead link|date=June 2013}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091130175756/http://bundelkhandinfo.org/people/language/language_dialects.html BundelkhandInfo.org]

{{Hindi topics}}
{{Central Indo-Aryan languages}}
{{Languages of India}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Central Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Languages of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Languages of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Bundelkhand]]
[[Category:Languages written in Devanagari]]
[[Category:Languages listed as Hindi dialects in latest census]]