Awadhi | |
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Avadhī | |
अवधी · 𑂃𑂫𑂡𑂲 | |
![]() The word "Awadhi" written in Devanagari script | |
Pronunciation | [əʋ.d̪ʱi] |
Native to | India and Nepal |
Region | Awadh |
Ethnicity | Awadhis |
Native speakers | 38.5 million in India (2011)[1][2][3] 500,000 in Nepal (2011)[citation needed] |
Early forms | |
Dialects |
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Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | awa |
ISO 639-3 | awa |
Glottolog | awad1243 |
Linguasphere | 59-AAF-ra |
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Awadhi,[a] also known as Audhi,[b] is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh in northern India and in Terai region of western Nepal.[5][6][7] The name Awadh is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, which is regarded as the homeland of the Hindu deity Rama, the earthly avatar of Vishnu. It was, along with Braj, used widely as a literary vehicle before gradually merging and contributing to the development of standardized Hindi in the 19th century. Though distinct from standard Hindi, it continues to be spoken today in its unique form in many districts of central Uttar Pradesh.[8]
It is regarded by the Indian government to be a dialect of Hindi, and the area where Awadhi is spoken to be a part of the Hindi-language area owing to their cultural proximity, meanwhile Standard Hindi also serves as the lingua franca[9] of the region. As a result, Hindi, rather than Awadhi, is used for school instruction as well as administrative and official purposes; and its literature falls within the scope of Hindi literature.[10] Some of the most culturally significant works in Indian literature like the Ramcharitmanas have been written in Awadhi.
Alternative names of Awadhi include Baiswāri (after the subregion of Baiswara),[11] as well as the sometimes ambiguous Pūrbī, literally meaning "eastern", and Kōsalī (named after the ancient Kosala Kingdom).[6]
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