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Hindi

Hindi

left Hindi (हिन्दी) is an Indo-European language spoken mainly in North and Central India. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indo-Aryan family, bounded on the northwest and west by Panjābī, Sindhī, and Gujarātī; on the south by Marāthī; on the southeast by Orīya; on the east by Bengālī; and on the north by Nepālī. Hindi also refers to a standardized register of Hindustani that was made one of the official languages of India. The grammatical description in this article concerns standard Hindi. Hindi is often contrasted with Urdu, another standardized form of Hindustani that is the official language of Pakistan and some states in India. The primary differences between the two are that Standard Hindi is written in Devanāgarī and has been partially purged of its Persian and Arabic vocabulary, which was replaced by words from Sanskrit; while Urdu is written in a variant of the Persian alphabet and draws heavily on Persian and Arabic vocabulary. The term "Urdu" also includes dialects of Hindustani other than the standardized languages.

Area

Hindi is the predominant language in the states and territories of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh. It is spoken and understood in Gujarat, Punjab and Kashmir, states that otherwise have their own native languages. It is also widely spoken in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, all of which are cosmopolitan cities harbouring large communities of people from various parts of India. Local variations of Hindi are counted as minority languages in several countries, including Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Number of Speakers

Hindi in the broader sense is among the more widely spoken languages in the world. According to some estimates, about 500 million people in India and abroad are native speakers of Hindi and the total number of people who understand the language may be as high as 800 million. According to 1991 census^{[http://www.censusindia.net/cendat/language/lang_table5.PDF]} 40.22% of the Indian population can speak Hindi. More than 180 million people in India regard Standard Hindi as their mother tongue, making it the fourth-most spoken language in the world. Another 300 million use it as second language. Outside India, Hindi speakers number 8 million in Nepal, 890,000 in South Africa, 685,000 in Mauritius, 317,000 in the USA^{[http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-29.pdf]}, 233,000 in Yemen, 147,000 in Uganda, 30,000 in Germany, 20,000 in New Zealand and 5,000 in Singapore.

History

Hindi evolved from Sanskrit, by way of the Middle Indo-Aryan prakrit languages and Apabhramsha of the Middle Ages. As a standardised register of Hindustani, Hindi became the official language^{[http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm]} of India on January 26, 1965, although English and 21 other languages are recognised as official languages by the Constitution of India.

Standard Hindi

After independence of India, the Government of India worked on standardizing Hindi, and the following changes took place:
- standardization of Hindi grammar: In 1954, the Government of India set up a Committee to prepare a grammar of Hindi; The committee's report was released in 1958 as "A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi"
- standardization of Hindi spelling
- standardization of Devanagari (Devanāgarī) script by the Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education and Culture to bring about uniformity in writing and to improve the shape of some devanagari characters.
- scientific mode of scribing the Devanagari alphabet
- incorporation of diacritics to express sounds from other languages The popularity of the Urdu and Hindi languages has been helped by Bollywood (the Hindi film industry) where poetry in songs have always been dominated by Urdu. These movies are not only popular in most parts of India but also have an international appeal.

Vocabulary

Standard Hindi derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit. Standard or shuddha ("pure") Hindi is used only in public addresses and radio or TV news, while the everyday spoken language in most areas is one of several varieties of Hindustani, whose vocabulary contains words drawn from Persian through Urdu. In addition, spoken Hindi uses words from English and other languages as well. Vernacular Urdu and Hindi are practically indistinguishable. However, the literary registers differ substantially; in highly formal situations, the languages are barely intelligible to speakers of the other. It bears mention that for centuries past, Sanskrit and Persian had been regarded, to a large extent regardless of their ethnic or religious background, as the languages of the elite.

Dialects

Hindi in the broad sense is a dialect continuum without clear boundaries. For example, both Nepali and Panjabi are sometimes considered to be Hindi (based on the high level of mutual intelligibility for Panjabi and Hindi especially), though they are more often considered to be separate languages. Hindi is often divided into Western Hindi and Eastern Hindi, and these are further divided. Following is a list of principal Hindi dialects; boldface indicates an idiom that often classified as a separate language.
- Hindustani, including standard Hindi (or 'High Hindi') and standard Urdu, as well as regional dialects of Urdu. Standard Hindi is the principal official languages of India, while standard Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Urdu has a rich literary history, being the language of the Mughal court second only to Persian
- Khadiboli or Sarhindi, spoken in western Uttar Pradesh; the dialect that forms the basis for Standard Hindi
- Chhattisgarhi (sometimes spelled "Chattisgarhi"; also known as Lahariya or Khalwahi), spoken mostly in the recently created state of Chhattisgarh
- Bagheli, spoken mostly in the Baghelkhand region of the state of Madhya Pradesh
- Awadhi, spoken mostly in central Uttar Pradesh, the area formerly comprising the kingdom of Awadh or "Oudh"
- Fijian Hindustani, a form of Awadhi spoken by Fijians of Indian descent
- Bihari', mostly spoken in the state of Bihar, which in turn is comprised of several principal dialects:
- Angika,
- Bhojpuri
- Sarnami - a form of Bhojpuri with Awadhi influence spoken by Surinamers of Indian descent
- Maithili, now an official language of Bihar
- Magahi,
- Vajjika,
- Rajasthani, mostly spoken in the state of Rajasthan, and also comprised of several notable (sub)dialects:
- Marwari
- Mewati or "Mewari"
- Jaipuri
- Braj Bhasha, in a vaguely defined region of north central India, centered on Delhi
- Bundeli, mostly spoken in the Bundelkhand region and the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh
- Hariyanvi, Bangaru or Jatu, mostly spoken in the state of Haryana
- Kanauji, mostly spoken in Kanauj, Uttar Pradesh
- The Eastern Hindi dialect centered on the Hindu holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, with a strong influence on the Sanskritized learned vocabulary of standard Hindi
- Bambaiya Hindi, the dialect of the city of Bombay (Mumbai); the basis for the language of the popular Bollywood films These dialects demonstrate a variety of influences including the adjacent Iranian, Dravidian, and Tibeto-Burman language families. Bollywood dialects: Hindi movies often use dialects to highlight the regional character of some of the roles. Some of the dialects used include
- Bhojpuri: Movie "Ganga-Jamuna"
- Bhopali: Spoken by Soorma Bhopali in "Sholay"
- "Madrasi" Hindi: Spoken by Mehmud in "Padosan"
- Rajasthani: Movie "Paheli"
- Bambaiya Hindi: used in numerous movies Needless to say, dialects used in movies are not always pure.

Sounds

There are 11 vowels and 35 consonants in Standard Hindī. They are shown below:

Vowels

Bambaiya Hindi The vowel occurs in English loans and is represented by ऐ, which was originally used in Sanskrit for the 'ai' or 'əi' diphthong. But today in Khariboli, the Standard dialect, the vowel stands for in almost all Hindi words. The other ten vowels have phonemic nasal counterparts. The vowel sequences and , both oral and nasal, also occur. Note that the short 'a', often seen at the end of masculine Sanskritized words as well as elsewhere, which makes the non-Hindi speakers to pronounce it as short or long 'a', the back vowel, is actually the neutral vowel schwa 'ə'. The short vowel 'e' as in English 'set' also occurs at some places in urban Hindi in place of schwa, like "rehnā" (रहना. to live), but there is no diacritic to mark it.

Consonants

Hindi has a large consonant system, with about 38 distinct consonant phonemes. An exact number cannot be given, since the regional varieties of Hindi differ in the details of their consonant repertoire. To what extent certain sounds that appear only in foreign words should be considered part of Standard Hindi is also a matter of debate. The traditional core of the consonant system, inherited from Sanskrit, consists of a matrix of 25 plosives and 8 sonorants and fricatives. The system is filled out by 7 sounds that originated in Persian, but are now considered Hindi sounds. The 25 plosives occur in five groups, with each group sharing the same position of articulation. These positions in their traditional order are: velar, retroflex, palatal, dental, and bilabial. In each position, there are five varieties of consonant, with four oral stops and one nasal stop. An oral stop may be voiced, aspirated, both, or neither. This four-way opposition is the hardest aspect of Hindi pronunciation for a speaker of English. The voiced, unaspirated consonants are the easiest for English-speakers to pronounce. The initial sounds of "get", "jet", "debt", and "bet" are perfect examples of the velar, palatal, dental, and bilabial positions, respectively. The apico-domal or retroflex position is the hardest for an English speaker: the apex of the tongue must be curled backward and brought into contact with the dome of the palate, well behind the gum-line. In casual Hindi, however, bringing the tongue slightly above the alveolar ridge will also do. The voiceless, unaspirated consonants are similar to those in French or in English words like "skin", "spin", and "stand". Aspirated voiceless consonants are similar to those in the English words "pat", "cat", "chat", and "tap" (though they are typically more heavily aspirated than in English). The voiced, aspirated consonants are the hardest to pronounce, but can be approximated by following the unaspirated version with an audible "h" sound. The nasal sounds are the same as in English. The 4 resonants are y, r, l, and v. These are similar to English, except that r is a tap as in Spanish, not an approximant, and v is usually between English "v" and "w", though it may vary as either of those English sounds. The native fricatives of Hindi are s and sh, which are pronounced as in English. There is also a breathy voice which is generally considered a fricative as well, and it is more or less like English "h" in "home". There is a fourth fricative in the orthography, written ष, which is sometimes transcribed as "ssa" or "sha2". It was originally pronounced as in Sanskrit, and still is to some extent, but in many modern Hindi speakers it has merged with .

Borrowed Sounds

The khutma or Nukta, a dot placed below various consonant letters, indicates Persian and English sounds that are not present in Sanskrit. The sounds f, z, rd, and rdh are found only in loanwords. The first two are as in English. The latter two are retroflex taps, and never begin a word. The additional sounds //, //, and // may be found in some loanwords. Some of the borrowed sounds are difficult for Hindi speakers to pronounce and many Hindi speakers will simply ignore the dot and pronounce the word as if it wasn't there.

Writing system

The Devanagari script represents the sounds of spoken Hindi very closely, so that a person who knows the Devanagari letters can sound out a written Hindī text comprehensibly, even without knowing what the words mean.
- The anuswara (dot placed above a vowel) may represent one of these consonants: rda, nda, na, ma. These are pronounced after the vowel. This style is deprecated.
- The visarga (:) placed after a vowel represents ha.
- The anuswara (.) and visarga (:) are often included in list of vowel letters, but according to the standardized form of Hindi, they are consonants.
- A chandra-bindu sign is placed above a vowel to indicate nasalized vowel (anunasika).
- An ardha chandra-bindu placed above the vowel aa indicates 'o' sound of English (as in "office", "college"). Some people also use this sign, placed above a, to indicate 'e' (as in "bet") sound of English.

Grammar

Hindi grammar can be very complex and is different in many ways from what English speakers are used to. A simple and obvious difference is that for expressing relationship of nouns, Hindi uses postpositions where English would use a preposition. Other differences include gender, honorifics, interrogatives, word order, use of cases, and different tenses. While being complicated, Hindi grammar is fairly regular, with irregularities being relatively limited. Despite differences in vocabulary and writing, Hindi grammar is nearly identical with Urdu. The concept of punctuation having been entirely unknown before the advent of the Europeans, Hindi punctuation uses western conventions for commas, exclamation points, and question marks. Periods are sometimes used to end a sentence, though the traditional "full stop" (a vertical line) is more generally used. Nouns in Hindi have gender, and are either masculine or feminine. There are no overall rules for whether a word will be masculine or feminine so they simply need to be memorized. Adjectives and verbs agree in gender and number with nouns, so proper use of gender is required for conversation. Many masculine nouns end in a long aa (आ) sound and many feminine nouns end in a long ii (ई) sound, though many nouns will have neither of those endings and exceptions occur even for common words. All inanimate objects are either male or female; again, there is neither a neuter gender nor any rule that governs the established "sex" of inanimates Besides the standard interrogative terms of who, what, why, when, where, how, how many, what type, etc, the Hindi word kyaa (क्या), which can also mean "what", can be used as a generic interrogative often placed at the beginning of a sentence to turn a statement into a question. This makes it clear when a question is being asked. Questions can also be formed simply by modifying intonation, exactly as English some questions are. Hindi has three levels of honorifics, or politeness. As reflected in the personal pronoun "you", aap (आप) is the most formal and respectful; tum (तुम) is mid level and usual; and tu (तू) is very informal, verging on the impolite. "Aap" is grammatically plural like the English "you"; adjective and verb agreement follows that. Imperatives (commands or suggestions) typically have four levels, the first three corresponding to the three levels of honorifics, and the last expressing an additional level of politeness akin to "would you be so kind as to..." that might be used in English. The "tu" imperative is simply the verb stem formed by removing the infinitive particle "na". The "tum" imperative is formed by adding "o" to the verb stem, and the "aap" imperative is formed by adding "ie" or "iye" to the stem. The additional form adds "gaa" to the "aap" form. Because imperatives can already include politeness, the word "kripaya", which can be translated as "please", is much less common than in spoken English; it is generally only used in writing, and its use in common speech is usually intended as mockery.

Word order

The standard word order in Hindi is, in general, Subject Object Verb, but where different emphasis or more complex structure is needed, this rule is very easily set aside. More specifically, the standard order is 1) Subject 2) Adverbs (in their standard order) 3) Indirect object and any of its adjectives 4) Direct object and any of its adjectives 5) Negation term or interrogative, if any, and finally the 6) Verb and any auxiliary verbs. (Snell, p93) The standard order can be modified in various ways to impart emphasis on particular parts of the sentence. Negation is formed by adding the word "nahiin" ("no"), in the appropriate place in the sentence, or by utilizing the particle "na" in some cases.

Common tenses and aspect

Some of the most common verb tenses include the present imperfect, present continuous, past imperfect, past continuous, past perfect, and future. Present imperfect is used for habitual actions or states of being. The present continuous is used for ongoing actions, while the past continuous reflects actions that were occurring at a particular time. The past imperfect is used for past habitual actions or conditions, while the past perfect reflects completed actions and has three forms including simple past perfect and two forms akin to where English would use have or had [done]. See also: Grammatical aspect.

Case

Nouns in Hindi have two cases, the direct and the oblique. The direct case is the standard form of the noun as found in the dictionary; the oblique is the form that is used along with postpositions, such as in "in the room". For example, the direct form of the word "room" is "kamraa"; in the oblique, it is "kamrey". So "in the room" is "kamrey maen". Pronouns also change in the oblique in similar fashion, and some interrogatives have oblique forms.

Literature

Main article: Hindi literature The beginnings of Hindi literature can be traced to the Prakrits of classical Sanskrit plays. Tulasidas's Ramacharitamanas attained wide popularity. Modern litterateurs include Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Maithili Sharan Gupta, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Mahadevi Varma, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana 'Ajneya' and Munshi Premchand.

Common difficulties faced in learning Hindi

- the phonetic mechanism of some sounds peculiar to Hindi (eg. rda, dha etc) The distinction between aspirated and unaspirated consonants will be difficult for English speakers. In addition, the distinction between dental and alveoloar (or retroflex) consonants will also pose problems. English speakers will find that they need to carefully distinguish between four different d-sounds and four different t-sounds.
- Even pronunciation of vowels: In English, unstressed vowels tend to have a "schwa" quality. The pronunciation of such vowels in English is changed to an "uh" sound; this is called reducing a vowel sound. The second syllable of "unify" is pronounced "uh" not "ee." The same for the unstressed second syllabe of "person" which is also pronounced "uh" rather than "oh." In Hindi, English-speakers must constantly be careful not to reduce these vowels.
- In this respect, probably the most important mistake would be for English speakers to reduce final "ah" sounds to "uh." This can be especially important because an English pronunciation will lead to misunderstandings about grammar and gender. In Hindi, "vo bolta hai" is "he talks" whereas "vo bolti hai" is "she talks." A typical English pronunciation in the first sentence would be "vo boltuh hai," which will be understood as "she talks" by most Hindi-native speakers.
- The 'a' ending of many Sanskrit and Sanskrit borrowed gender-masculine words, due to Romanization, is highly confused by non-native speakers. It should never be pronounced as long back vowel "ā", but as the neutral schwa "ə". In Sanskrit, the so-written "Shiva (शिव)" should be pronounced as "Shivə" and never "Shivā", as the latter stands for the the feminine derivative of "Shiva" (compare Phillip-Phillipa), and could be understood to refer to Parvati, the wife of Shiva. In Hindi, the ending 'ə' of such masculine words is altogether dropped, or pronounced very feebly if the penultimate consonant is a cluster of two or more consonants. eg. In Hindi, "Shiva" is "Shiv", "Krishna" is usually "Krishn", "dharma" is "dhərm", "karma" is "kərm", "VaruNa" is "VəruN", etc. There are exceptions, of course, if the devanagari script itself dictates the additional diacritical mark for the vowel "ā" at the end of certain masculine words, like Brahmā (ब्रह्मा).
- the Verbal concordance; Hindi exhibits split ergativity; see Ergative-absolutive language for an example.
- Postpositions (ne)
- Relative-correlative constructions. In English interrogative and relative pronouns are the same word. In "Who are you?" the word "who" is an interrogative, or question, pronoun. In "My friend who lives in Chicago can speak Hindi," the word "who" is not an interrogative, or question, pronoun. It is a relative, or linking, pronoun. We find this pattern with other words: where, when, why, etc. are used both to ask questions and to link words. In Hindi, there are different words for each. The interrogative pronoun tends to start with the "k" sound:" kab = when?, kahaaN = where?, kitna = how much? The relative pronouns are usually very similar but start with "j" sounds: jab = when, jahaaN = where, jitna = how much. Hindi uses these j-sound pronouns where English uses relative pronouns and clauses. In English we say, "I study where she studies" but in Hindi we say this differently. "jahaaN vo padhti hai (she studies) vahaaN main padhta hoon (I study)." Here "jahaaN" means "where" and "vahaaN" means there.
- Honorifics. For many English speakers, the fact that Hindi uses a three-part system of honorifics in the second person pronoun ("you") is deeply mystifying. It shouldn't be. The more formal pronouns are used in situations in which it's proper to express a degree of social respect. The less formal pronouns depart from this and indicate, on the one hand, intimacy, or on the other, an absence of social respect. The most formal is "aap" and is the safest for foreigners to use in all situations. It is used in situations that range from deeply respectful to the merely businesslike. When first meeting adults, whether at the bank, hotel or a restaurant, we should use "aap." The more intimate "tum" would be acceptable in talking with children or with adults with whom one is on more intimate terms. The safest thing with adults is wait and see what pronoun they use with you. They will almost certainly start off with "aap," but might, over time, start to use "tum" if your relationship becomes more like that of close friends. If your Hindi is too weak to determine whether they are using "aap" or "tum," then by all means, you should use "aap." Many grammars say that foreigners will rarely have the chance to use "tum" with Indian colleagues, but that is true only if one behaves like a "memsahib" or "sahib." The most intimate pronoun is "tu", which is only used in situations where there is a total absence of human formality: it is used in addressing servants, very close friends and younger siblings. The use of "tu" with another adult may express the intimacy of lovers (but even here "tum" is safer) or extraordinary anger. What's the connection? All of these situations involve the lack of social respect.
- Direct and Oblique inflections
- Optative and Conditional moods
- Compound verbs

References

- Snell, Rupert Teach yourself Hindi: A complete guide for beginners. Lincolnwood, IL : NTC Publishing Group, 1992. ISBN 0844238635
- Taj, Afroz (2002) http://www.ncsu.edu/project/hindi_lessons/ A door into Hindi. Retrieved November 8, 2005.

External links

- [http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/06/free-software-tools-and-fonts-cd.html Request free Hindi Fonts and Devanagari Tools CD from Indian Government]
- [http://www.it-c.dk/people/pfw/hindi/ A short introduction to Hindi grammar]
- [http://hi.wiktionary.org Hindi Wiktionary]
- [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=HND Ethnologue on Hindi]
- [http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/_hindi Generator for Hindi typographical filler text]
- [http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/hindilinks.html Hindi Language Resources]
- [http://sanskrit.gde.to/hindi Hindi documents and dictionary]
- [http://ltrc.iiit.net/showfile.php?filename=downloads/ International Institute of Information Technologies IIIT], online and downloadable dictionaries cross referenced in English for Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu languages. Includes Classical Hindi Literature, writings of Meera, Suradas, Tulasidas, Premchand, Rahim et cetera.
- [http://www.aczone.com/itrans/online/ Online Itrans] to generate Hindi/Devanagari output.
- [http://www.goidirectory.nic.in Government of India website]
- [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf Official Unicode Chart for Hindi (PDF)]
- [http://www.bhashaindia.com Website of Microsoft to Provide Solutions for Hindi Language on net]
- [http://www.iit.edu/~laksvij/language/hindi.html Romanized to Unicode Hindi transliterator]
- [http://www.wordanywhere.com Hindi Dictionary]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Hindi-english/ Hindi English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition Category:Languages of India Category:Hindi ko:힌디어 ja:ヒンディー語 simple:Hindi

Indo-European language

The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects, including most of the major language families of Europe, as well as many languages of Southwest and South Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. Contemporary languages in this superfamily include Bengali, English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish (each with more than 100 million native speakers), as well as numerous smaller national or minority languages. The Indo-European is the largest widely accepted family of languages in the world today, spoken by approximately 3 billion native speakers. (The second most common family of tongues being Sino-Tibetan)

Classification

The various subgroups of the Indo-European family include (in historical order of their first attestation):
- Anatolian languages — earliest attested branch, from the 18th century BC; extinct, most notable was the language of the Hittites.
- Indo-Iranian languages, descending from a common ancestor, Proto-Indo-Iranian
- Indo-Aryan, including Sanskrit, attested from the 2nd millennium BC
- Iranian languages, attested from roughly 1000 BC, including Avestan and Persian.
- Greek language — fragmentary records in Mycenaean from the 14th century BC; Homer dates to the 8th century BC. See History of the Greek language.
- Italic languages — including Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages, attested from the 1st millennium BC.
- Celtic languages — Gaulish inscriptions date as early as the 6th century BC; Old Irish texts from the 6th century AD.
- Germanic languages (including English) — earliest testimonies in runic inscriptions from around the 2nd century, earliest coherent texts in Gothic, 4th century.
- Armenian language — attested from the 5th century.
- Tocharian languages — extinct tongues of the Tocharians, extant in two dialects, attested from roughly the 6th century.
- Balto-Slavic languages, believed by many Indo-Europeanists to derive from a common proto-language later than Proto-Indo-European, while others are skeptical and think that Baltic and Slavic are no more closely related than any other two branches of Indo-European.
- Slavic languages — attested from the 9th century, earliest texts in Old Church Slavonic.
- Baltic languages — attested from the 14th century, and, for languages attested that late, they retain unusually many archaic features attributed to Proto-Indo-European.
- Albanian language — attested from the 15th century (1462); relations with Illyrian, Dacian, or Thracian proposed. In addition to the classical ten branches listed above, there are several extinct languages, about which very little is known:
- Illyrian languages — possibly related to Messapian or Venetic; relation to Albanian also proposed.
- Venetic language — close to Italic.
- Liburnian language — apparently grouped with Venetic.
- Messapian language — not conclusively deciphered.
- Phrygian language — language of ancient Phrygia, possibly close to Greek, Thracian, or Armenian.
- Paionian language — extinct language once spoken north of Macedon.
- Thracian language — possibly close to Dacian.
- Dacian language — possibly close to Thracian and Albanian.
- Ancient Macedonian language — probably related to Greek, others propose relation to Ilyrian, Thracian or Phrygian.
- Ligurian language — possibly not Indo-European; possibly close to or part of Celtic There were no doubt other Indo-European languages which are now lost without a trace. The fragmentary Raetian language cannot be classified with any certainty. Further subfamilies have been suggested, among them Italo-Celtic and Graeco-Aryan. Neither of these is widely accepted. Indo-Hittite refers to the hypothesis that there is a significant separation between Anatolian and all the remaining groups.

Satem and Centum languages

Indo-Hittite/Srubna cultures).]] The Indo-European sub-branches are often classified in a Satem and a Centum group. This is based on the varying treatments of the three original velar rows. Satem languages lost the distinction between labiovelar and pure velar sounds, and at the same time assibilated the palatal velars. The centum languages, on the other hand, lost the distinction between palatal velars and pure velars. Thus, geographically, the "eastern" languages are Satem (Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic, but not including Tocharian and Anatolian), and the "western" languages are Centum (Germanic, Italic, Celtic). The Satem-Centum isogloss runs right between the Greek (Centum) and Armenian (Satem) languages (thought to be related by a number of scholars), with Greek exhibiting some marginal Satem features. Some scholars think that there may be some languages that classify neither as Satem nor as Centum (Anatolian, Tocharian, and possibly Albanian). It should be noted that the grouping does not imply a claim of monophyly: there never was a "proto-Centum" or a "proto-Satem", but the sound changes spread by areal contact among already distinct post-PIE languages (say, during the 3rd millennium BC).

Suggested superfamilies

Some linguists propose that Indo-European languages are part of a hypothetical Nostratic language superfamily, and attempt to relate Indo-European to other language families, such as South Caucasian languages, Altaic languages, Uralic languages, Dravidian languages, Afro-Asiatic languages. This theory is controversial, as is the similar Eurasiatic theory of Joseph Greenberg, and the Proto-Pontic of John Colarusso.

History

See also: Proto-Indo-European, Historical linguistics, Glottochronology. The possibility of common origin for some of these languages was first proposed by Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn in 1647, proposing their derivation from "Scythian". However, the suggestions of van Boxhorn did not become widely known and were not pursued. The hypothesis was again proposed by Sir William Jones, who noticed similarities between four of the oldest languages known in his time, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Persian. Systematic comparison of these and other old languages conducted by Franz Bopp supported this theory, and Bopp's Comparative Grammar, appearing between 1833 and 1852 is considered the starting point of Indo-European studies as an academic discipline. The common ancestral (reconstructed) language is called Proto-Indo-European (PIE). There is disagreement as to the original geographic location (the so-called "Urheimat" or "original homeland") from where it originated. There are two main candidates today: # the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (see Kurgan) # Anatolia (see Colin Renfrew). Proponents of the Kurgan hypothesis tend to date the proto-language to ca. 4000 BC, while proponents of Anatolian origin usually date it several millennia earlier, associating the spread of Indo-European languages with the Neolithic spread of farming (see Indo-Hittite).

Kurgan hypothesis

The Kurgan hypothesis was originally suggested by Marija Gimbutas in the 1950s. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, early PIE was spoken in the chalcolithic steppe cultures of the 5th millennium BC between the Black Sea and the Volga. Timeline
- 4500–4000: Early PIE. Sredny Stog, Dnieper-Donets and Sarama cultures, domestication of the horse.
- 4000–3500: The Yamna culture, the prototypical kurgan builders, emerges in the steppe, and the Maykop culture in the northern Caucasus. Indo-Hittite models postulate the separation of Proto-Anatolian before this time.
- 3500–3000: Middle PIE. The Yamna culture is at its peak, representing the classical reconstructed Proto-Indo-European society, with stone idols, early two-wheeled proto-chariots, predominantly practicing animal husbandry, but also with permanent settlements and hillforts, subsisting on agriculture and fishing, along rivers. Contact of the Yamna culture with late Neolithic Europe cultures results in the "kurganized" Globular Amphora and Baden cultures. The Maykop culture shows the earliest evidence of the beginning Bronze Age, and bronze weapons and artefacts are introduced to Yamna territory. Probable early Satemization.
- 3000–2500: Late PIE. The Yamna culture extends over the entire Pontic steppe. The Corded Ware culture extends from the Rhine to the Volga, corresponding to the latest phase of Indo-European unity, the vast "kurganized" area disintegrating into various independent languages and cultures, still in loose contact enabling the spread of technology and early loans between the groups, except for the Anatolian and Tocharian branches, which are already isolated from these processes. The Centum-Satem break is probably complete, but the phonetic trends of Satemization remain active.
- 2500–2000: The breakup into the proto-languages of the attested dialects is complete. Proto-Greek is spoken in the Balkans, Proto-Indo-Iranian north of the Caspian in the Sintashta-Petrovka culture. The Bronze Age reaches Central Europe with the Beaker culture, likely composed of various Centum dialects. Proto-Balto-Slavic (or alternatively, Proto-Slavic and Proto-Baltic communities in close contact) develops in north-eastern Europe. The Tarim mummies possibly correspond to proto-Tocharians.
- 2000–1500: The chariot is invented, leading to the split and rapid spread of Iranian and Indo-Aryan from the Andronovo culture and the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex over much of Central Asia, Northern India, Iran and Eastern Anatolia. Proto-Anatolian is split into Hittite and Luwian. The pre-Proto-Celtic Unetice culture has an active metal industry (Nebra skydisk).
- 1500–1000: The Nordic Bronze Age develops (pre-)Proto-Germanic, and the (pre-)Proto-Celtic Urnfield and Hallstatt cultures emerge in Central Europe, introducing the Iron Age. Proto-Italic migration into the Italian peninsula. Redaction of the Rigveda and rise of the Vedic civilization in the Punjab. Flourishing and decline of the Hittite Empire. The Mycenaean civilization gives way to the Greek Dark Ages.
- 1000 BC–500 BC: The Celtic languages spread over Central and Western Europe. Northern Europe enters the Pre-Roman Iron Age, the formative phase of Proto Germanic. Homer initiates Greek literature and early Classical Antiquity. The Vedic Civilization gives way to the Mahajanapadas. Zoroaster composes the Gathas, rise of the Achaemenid Empire, replacing the Elamites and Babylonia. The Cimmerians (Srubna culture) are replaced by Scythians in the Pontic steppe. Armenians succeed the Urartu culture. Separation of Proto-Italic into Osco-Umbrian and Latin-Faliscan, and foundation of Rome. Genesis of the Greek and Old Italic alphabets. A variety of Paleo-Balkan languages are spoken in Southern Europe. The Anatolian languages are extinct.

Competing hypotheses

Colin Renfrew in 1987 suggested that the spread of Indo-European was associated with the Neolithic revolution, spreading peacefully into Europe from Asia Minor from around 7000 BC with the advance of farming (wave of advance). Accordingly, all of Neolithic Europe would have been Indo-European speaking, and the Kurgan migrations would at best have replaced Indo-European dialects with other Indo-European dialects. Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov in 1984 placed the Indo-European homeland on Lake Urmia. They suggested that Armenian was the language which stayed in the Indo-European cradle while other Indo-European languages left the homeland. They are also the originators of the Glottalic theory. Some people have pointed to the Black Sea deluge theory, dating the genesis of the Sea of Azov to ca. 5600 BC, as a direct cause of the Indo-European expansion. This event occurred in still clearly Neolithic times and is rather too early to fit with Kurgan archaeology. It may still be imagined as an event in the remote past of the Sredny Stog culture, and the people living on the land now beneath the Sea of Azov as possible pre-Proto-Indo-Europeans. Other theories exist, often with a nationalistic flavour, sometimes bordering on national mysticism, typically positing the development in situ of the proponents' respective homes. One prominent example of such are the Indian theories that derive Vedic Sanskrit from the Indus valley civilization, postulating that Vedic Sanskrit is essentially identical to Proto-Indo-European, and that all other dialects must ultimately trace back to the early Indus valley civilization of ca. 3000 BC. This theory is not widely accepted by scholars. See Indo-Aryan migration for a discussion. Another example may be the Paleolithic Continuity Theory proposed by Italian theorists that derives Indo-European from the European Paleolithic cultures.

References

-
- August Schleicher, A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages (1861/62).
- Leszek Bednarczuk (red.), Języki indoeuropejskie. PWN. Warszawa. 1986 (in Polish).

External links

- [http://www.HJHolm.de Slide-show of subgrouping roughly agreeing with the figures of the article.]
- [http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/indoeuropean.html The Evolution of the Indo-European Languages, by Dr. C. George Boeree].
- [http://www.bartleby.com/61/IEroots.html Indo-European Roots, from the American Heritage Dictionary].
- [http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/iedocctr/ie.html Indo-European Documentation Center] at the University of Texas
- [http://www.grsampson.net/Q_PIE.html Say something in Proto-Indo-European] (by Geoffrey Sampson)
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90017 IE language family overview (SIL)]
- [http://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/psych/research/Evolution/Gray&Atkinson2003.pdf Gray & Atkinson, article on PIE Phylogeny]
- [http://www.geocities.com/protoillyrian Indo-European Root/lemmas] (by Andi Zeneli)
- [http://www.indoeuropean.nl The Indo-European Database]
- [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/17084 Discussion on proto-Satem]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/6507/chronicle120.html The Early History of Indo-European Languages]
- ja:インド・ヨーロッパ語族 ko:인도유럽어족 th:ภาษากลุ่มอินโด-ยูโรเปียน

North India

North India is a geographic and linguistic-cultural region of India. In traditional Indian geography, India is divided into three major cultural zones: North, South and East. The Vindhya mountains, in particular the line marked by the Narmada River and the Mahanadi River marks the southern boundary of north India. The line made by the Son river and the Kosi river marks its eastern border. The dominant feature geographic feature of North India is the Indo-Gangetic Plain. However, the socio-cultural boundaries of north India have actually surpassed these traditional boundaries. As a linguistic-cultural and political region, North India consists of thirteen Indian states: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,[orissa], Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. North India remains primarily rural, but its vast population has ensured that it has always supported very large cities: apart from the great metropolis of Delhi, the cities of Lucknow, Patna, Kanpur, Allahabad, Meerut, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Bhopal and Indore would rank with the most populous cities of Europe.

People

Anthropologists often associate regional affinities with racial differences. So called "Dravidian" states usually have people with darker skin. People in the states of Eastern Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and other Northeastern Indians states tend to look more "Mongoloid" than "Caucasoid". North India shows a stronger Aryan influence. Indeed, the languages of North India are preponderantly Indo-Aryan, and it is in this region that Sanskrit and the various Prakrits are thought to have first found a home in India. Also, although skin colour in all parts of India varies by caste rather than region, it is generally speaking the case that inhabitants of the north Indian states have lighter skin than those of their caste counterparts in southern or eastern India. These phenotypic variations are indubitably due to the ingress, across many millenia and in every era, of Central Asian invaders (including "Indo-Greeks", "Indo-Parthians", Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas or Huns, and Turks) into the Indo-Gangetic plain. North India shows a fuller range of Caste (varna, literally:"colour")variation than does South India – there are proportionately more kshatriya and vaishya castes than is generally the case in most areas of South India. In terms of religion, North India is generally speaking a stronghold of Vaishnava sects of Hinduism; Shaktism and Shaivism have a strong minority following in North India. Having been ruled for nearly eight centuries by muslim invaders from central asia, north India is the main centre of Islam in India. North India is, on the whole, poorer and less literate than South India. There is also a generally higher level of inequality between males and females on all social indices. The four BIMARU states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, collectively have the highest population growth rates in India, as well as lower than average literacy rates and economic growth rates than India as a whole.

Traditional economy

The economy of this region is predominantly agrarian; culturally, socially and historically the country has always been defined by its village societies. It is therefore proper to devote space to a detailing of the north Indian socio-agrarian structure. North India largely retains a feudal agricultural setup, with a preponderence of tenant farmers as against Southern India or Eastern India, where extensive land reforms and land redistribution policies over the second half of the 20th century put in place an equally bad system of small, fragmented land holdings being farmed by their owners, who are actually almost as impoverished as the tenant farmers of north India. Some of these differences stem from the later Mughal emperors' practice of relying on zamindars, or 'hereditary tax farmers', who collected taxes from rural communities in return for a percentage of the proceeds, and were granted certain administrative powers. The Zamindari system was never as prevalent in the south, as Mughal rule did not extend to much of the South. The British administrators of the Bengal Presidency (Eastern India) inherited and expanded upon the Zamindari system, while the Madras Presidency which governed much of south India, relied on panchayats, or village councils, for rural administration and tax collection. Although the zamindari system was formally abolished after India's independence, a rural economy dominated by landlords is still prevalent across much of northern India. Tensions between landlords and their tenant farmers are widespread in northern India, notably in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh; these tensions have given rise to landlord-tenant strife in several northern states, and has fueled Naxalite movements.

Central India

The geography of India is extremely diverse, with landscape ranging from snow-capped mountain ranges to deserts, plains, hills and plateaus. Climate ranges from equatorial in the far south, to tundra in the Himalayan altitudes. India comprises most of the Indian subcontinent and has a long coastline of over 7,000 km (4,300 miles), most of which lies on a peninsula that protrudes into the Indian Ocean. India is bounded in the west by the Arabian Sea and in the east by the Bay of Bengal. The fertile Indo-Gangetic plain occupies most of northern, central and eastern India, while the Deccan Plateau occupies most of southern India. To the west of the country is the Thar Desert, which consists of a mix of rocky and sandy desert. India's east and northeastern border consists of the high Himalayan range. The highest point in India is disputed due to a territorial dispute with Pakistan; according to India's claim, the highest point (located in the disputed Kashmir territory) is K2, at 8,611 m (28,251 feet). The highest point in undisputed Indian territory is Kanchenjunga, at 8,598 m (28,208 feet). India is bordered by Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are island nations to the south of India. Politically, India is divided into 28 states, six federally administered union territories and a national capital territory. The political divisions generally follow linguistic and ethnic boundaries rather than geographic transitions.

Location and extent

national capital territory India lies to the north of the equator between 8 degree 4 minutes and 37 degree 6 minutes north latitude and 68 degrees 7 minutes and 97 degrees 25 minutes east longitude. It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total land area of 3,287,263 km² (1,269,219 square miles). India measures 3,214 km (1,997 miles) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 miles) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 miles) and a coastline of 7,516.5 km (4,670.5 miles). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea are parts of India. India is bounded on the southwest by the Arabian Sea and on the southeast by the Bay of Bengal. On the north, northeast, and northwest are the Himalayans. Kanyakumari constitutes the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, which narrows before ending into the Indian Ocean.

Political geography

India is divided into 28 states (which are further subdivided into districts), six union territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, while Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the union government. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is claimed by India but disputed by Pakistan and China, who administer parts of the territory. The state of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China but administered by India.

Geographical regions

India is divided into seven geographic regions. They are #The northern mountains including the Himalayas and the northeast mountain ranges. #Indo-Gangetic plains #Thar Desert #Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau #East Coast #West Coast #Bordering seas and islands

Mountains

Himalaya A great arc of mountains, composed of the Himalaya, Hindu Kush, and Patkai ranges, define the Indian subcontinent. These mountains were formed by the ongoing tectonic collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate which started some 50 million years ago. These mountain ranges are home to some of the tallest mountains in the world and provide a natural barrier against the cold polar winds. They also facilitate the monsoons that drive climate in India. The numerous rivers that originate in these mountains provide water to the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains. These mountains are recognised by biogeographers as the boundary between two of the earth's great ecozones; the temperate Palearctic that covers most of Eurasia, and the tropical and subtropical Indomalaya ecozone that includes the Indian subcontinent and extend into Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Historically, these ranges have served as barriers to invaders. India has seven major mountain ranges having peaks of over 1,000 m (3,300 feet). The Himalayas are the only mountain ranges to have snow-capped peaks. These ranges are: #Aravalli #Eastern Ghats #Himalayas #Patkai #Vindhyas #Sahyadri or Western Ghats #Satpuras Satpura The Himalaya mountain range is the world's highest mountain range. They form India's north-eastern border, separating it from the rest of Asia. The Himalayas are one of the world's youngest mountain ranges, and extend almost uninterrupted for a distance of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), covering an area of 500,000 km² (193,000 square miles). Satpura The Himalayas extend from the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the west to the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the east. These states along with Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and Sikkim lie mostly in the Himalayan region. Some of the Himalayan peaks range over 7,000 m (23,000 feet) and the snow line ranges between 6,000 m (19,600 feet) in Sikkim to around 3,000 m (9,850 feet) in Kashmir. Kanchenjunga, which lies in Sikkim, is the highest point in the country's territory (undisputed). Most peaks in the Himalayas remain snowbound throughout the year. The Shiwalik, or lower Himalaya, consists of smaller hills towards the Indian side. Most of the rock formations are young and highly unstable, with landslides being a regular phenomenon during the rainy season. Many of India's hill stations are located on this range. The climate varies from sub tropical in the foothills to tundra at the higher elevations of these mountain ranges. The mountains on India's eastern border with Myanmar are called as the Patkai or the Purvachal. They were created by the same tectonic processes that resulted in the formation of the Himalaya. The features of the Patkai ranges are conical peaks, steep slopes and deep valleys. The Patkai ranges are not as rugged or tall as the Himalayas. There are three hill ranges that come under the Patkai: The Patkai-Bum, the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia, and the Lushai hills. The Garo-Khasi range is in the Indian state of Meghalaya. The climate ranges from temperate to alpine due to altitude. Cherrapunji, which lies on the windward side of these hills, has the distinction of being the wettest place in the world, receiving the highest annual rainfall . windward The Vindhya range runs across most of central India, covering a distance of 1,050 km (652 miles). The average elevation of these hills is 300 m (1,000 feet). They are believed to have been formed by the wastes created due to the weathering of the ancient Aravalli mountains. It geographically separates northern India from southern India. The western end of the range lies in eastern Gujarat, near its border with the state of Madhya Pradesh, and the range runs east and north nearly to the Ganges River at Mirzapur. The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. It begins in eastern Gujarat near the Arabian Sea coast, then runs east through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and ends in the state of Chhattisgarh. It extends for a distance of 900 km with many of its peaks rising above 1000 m (3,300 feet). It is angular in shape, with its vertex at Ratnapuri and the two sides being parallel to the Tapti and Narmada river. It runs parallel to the Vindhya Range, which lies to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide the Indo-Gangetic plain of northern India from the Deccan Plateau lying in the south. The Narmada runs in the depression between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, and drains the northern slope of the Satpura range, running west towards the Arabian Sea. Vindhya Range The Aravalli Range is a range of mountains, running from northeast to southwest across Rajasthan in western India, extending approximately 500 km (310 miles). The northern end of the range continues as isolated hills and rocky ridges into Haryana, ending near Delhi. The highest peak is Mount Abu, rising to 1,722 m (5,653 feet), lying near the southwestern extremity of the range, close to the border with Gujarat. The city of Ajmer with its lake lies on the southern slope of the range in Rajasthan. The Aravalli Range is the eroded stub of an ancient folded mountain system that was once snow-capped. The range rose in a Precambrian event called the Aravalli-Delhi orogen. The range joins two of the ancient segments that make up the Indian craton, the Marwar segment to the northwest of the range, and the Bundelkhand segment to the southeast. Marwar The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains run along the western edge of India's Deccan Plateau, and separate the Deccan plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The range starts south of the Tapti River near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and runs approximately 1,600 km (1,000 miles) through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, almost to the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. The average elevation is around 1,000 m with the higher peaks occurring in the northern section of the range in Maharashtra. Two of the notable peaks lying in the western ghats are Kalsubai 1,646 m (5,427 feet) and Mahabaleshwar 1,438 m (4,710 feet). The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains, which have been eroded and cut through by the four major rivers of southern India, the Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri. These mountain ranges extend from West Bengal in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south. They run parallel to the Bay of Bengal and are not as tall as the Western Ghats, though some of its peaks are over 1000 m in height. The Eastern and Western Ghats meet at the Nilgiri knot in Tamil Nadu. The Anai Mudi in the Cardamom Hills at 2,695 m (8,841 feet) in Kerala is the highest peak in the Western Ghats. The Nilgiris are considered to be a part of the Western Ghats.

Indo-Gangetic plain

Cardamom Hills Cardamom Hills The Indo-Gangetic plains are large floodplains of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems. They run parallel to the Himalaya mountains, from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east, draining the states of Punjab, Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The plains encompass an area of 700,000 km² (270,000 mile²) and vary in width through their length by several hundred kilometres. Major rivers that form a part of this system are the Ganga (Ganges) and Indus River along with their tributaries; Beas, Yamuna, Gomti, Ravi, Chambal, Sutlej and Chenab. The Indo-Gangetic belt is the world's most extensive expanse of uninterrupted alluvium formed by the deposition of silt by the numerous rivers. The plains are flat and mostly treeless, making it conducive for irrigation through canals. The area is also rich in ground water sources. The plains are one of the world's most intensely farmed area in the world. Crops grown on the Indo-Gangetic Plain are primarily rice and wheat, grown in rotation. Other crops include maize, sugarcane and cotton. Also known as the Great Plains, the Indo-Gangetic plains rank among the world's most densely populated areas.

Thar Desert

cotton The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is a hot desert that forms a significant portion of western India. Spread over four states in India – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat it covers an area of 208,110 km² (80,350 mile²). The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert. Most of the Thar Desert is situated in Rajasthan, covering 61 percent of its geographic area. Most of the desert is rocky, with a small part of the extreme west of the desert being sandy. The origin of the Thar Desert is uncertain. Some geologists consider it to be 4,000 to 10,000 years old, whereas others state that aridity began in this region much earlier. The area is characterised by extreme temperatures of above 45 °C (113 °F) in summer to below freezing in winters. Rainfall is precarious and erratic, ranging from below 120 mm (4.72 in) in the extreme west to 375 mm (14.75 in) eastward. The lack of rainfall is mainly due to the unique position of the desert with respect to the Aravalli range. The desert lies in the rain shadow area of the Bay of Bengal arm of the southwest monsoon. The parallel nature of the range to the Arabian Sea arm also means that the desert does not receive much rainfall. The desert can be divided into two regions, the great Desert and the little desert. The great Desert extends northwards from the edge of the Rann of Kutch region of Gujarat. The little desert extends from the River Luni between the towns of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, up to the northern areas. The soils of the arid region are generally sandy to sandy-loam in texture. The consistency and depth vary according to the topographical features. The low-lying loams are heavier and may have a hard pan of clay, calcium carbonate or gypsum. Due to the low population density, the effect of the population on the environment is relatively less compared to the rest of India.

Highlands

The Central Highlands are composed of three main plateaus – the Malwa Plateau in the west, the Deccan Plateau in the south, (covering most of the Indian peninsula); and the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand towards the east. Jharkhand The Deccan plateau is a large triangular plateau, bounded by the Vindhyas to the north and flanked by the Eastern and Western Ghats. The Deccan covers a total area of 1.9 million km² (735,000 mile²). It is mostly flat, with elevations ranging from 300 to 600 m (1,000 to 2,000 feet) . The name Deccan comes from the Sanskrit word dakshina, which means "the south". The plateau slopes gently from west to east and gives rise to several peninsular rivers such as the Godavari, the Krishna, the Kaveri and the Narmada. This region is mostly semi-arid as it lies on the leeward side of both Ghats. Much of the Deccan is covered by thorn scrub forest scattered with small regions of deciduous broadleaf forest. Climate ranges from hot summers to mild winters. The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Orissa, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. The total area of Chota Nagpur Plateau is approximately 65,000 km² (25,000 mile²). The Chota Nagpur Plateau is made up of three smaller plateaus, the Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Kodarma plateaus. The Ranchi plateau is the largest of the plateaus, with an average elevation of 700 m (2,300 feet). Much of the plateau is forested, covered by the Chota Nagpur dry deciduous forests. The plateau is famous for its vast reserves of ores and coal. Besides the Great Indian peninsula, the Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat is another large peninsula of India.

East coast

The Eastern Coastal Plain is a wide stretch of land lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the north. Deltas of many of India's rivers form a major portion of these plains. The Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri and Krishna rivers drain these plains. The region receives both the Northeast and Southwest monsoon rains with its annual rainfall averaging between 1,000 mm (40 in) and 3,000 mm (120 in). The width of the plains varies between 100 to 130 km (62 to 80 miles) . The plains are divided into seven regions: The Mahanadi delta; the southern Andhra Pradesh plain; the Krishna Godavari deltas; the Kanyakumari coast; Coromandel Coast and sandy littoral.

West coast

littoral The Western Coastal Plain is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The strip begins in Gujarat in the north and extends across the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. The plains are narrow, and range from 50 to 100 km (30 to 60 miles) in width. Small rivers and numerous backwaters inundate the region. The rivers, which originate in the Western Ghats, are fast flowing and are mostly perennial. The fast flowing nature of the rivers results in the formation of estuaries rather than deltas. Major rivers flowing into the sea are the Tapi, Narmada, Mandovi and Zuari. The coast is divided into two regions. The northern region of Maharashtra and Goa is known as the Konkan Coast and the southern coastline of Kerala is known as the Malabar Coast. Vegetation in this region is mostly deciduous. The Malabar Coast has its own unique ecoregion known as the Malabar Coast moist forests.

Islands

India has two major offshore island possessions: the Lakshadweep islands and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Both these island groups are administered by the Union government of India as Union Territories. The Lakshadweep islands lie 200 to 300 km (124 to 186 miles) off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. It consists of twelve coral atolls, three coral reefs, and five banks. Ten of these islands are inhabited. The Andaman and Nicobar island chain lies in the Bay of Bengal near the Myanmar coast. It is located 950 km (590 miles) from Kolkata (Calcutta) and 193 km (120 miles) from Cape Negrais in Myanmar. The territory consists of two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. The Andaman islands consist of 204 islands having a total length of 352 km (220 miles). The Nicobar Islands, which lie south of the Andamans, consists of twenty-two islands with a total area of 1,841 km² (710 mile²). The highest point is Mount Thullier at 642 m (2,140 feet). Indira Point, India's southernmost land point is situated in the Nicobar islands, and lies just 189 km (117 miles) from the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southeast. Significant islands just off the Indian coast include Diu, a former Portuguese exclave; Majuli, Asia's largest freshwater island; Salcette Island, India's most populous island, on which Mumbai (Bombay) city is located; Elephanta in Bombay Harbour; and Sriharikota barrier island in Andhra Pradesh.

Rivers

barrier island All major rivers of India originate from one of the three main watersheds. They are: #The Himalaya and the Karakoram ranges #Vindhya and Satpura range in central India #Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India The Himalayan river networks are snow-fed and have a continuous flow throughout the year. The other two networks are dependant on the monsoons and shrink into rivulets during the dry season. Twelve of India's rivers are classified as major, with the total catchment area exceeding 2,528,000 km² (976,000 mile²). Karakoram in northern West Bengal.]] Himalayan rivers or the northern rivers that flow westward into Pakistan are the Indus, Beas, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Jhelum. The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghana system has the largest catchment area of 1,100,000 km² (424,700 mile²). The river Ganga originates at the Gangotri Glacier in Uttaranchal. It flows in a south easterly direction, draining into Bangladesh. The Yamuna and Gomti rivers also arise in the Western Himalayas and join the Ganga river in the plains. The Brahmaputra, another tributary of the Ganga originates in Tibet and enters India in the far eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. It then proceeds westwards, unifying with the Ganga in Bangladesh. Arunachal Pradesh The Chambal, another tributary of the Ganga originates from the Vindhya-Satpura watershed. The river flows eastward. Westward flowing rivers from this watershed are the Narmada (also called Nerbudda) and Tapti (also spelt Tapi) rivers which drain into the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. The river network that flows from east to west constitutes 10 percent of the total outflow. The Western Ghats are the source of all Deccan rivers. Major rivers in the Deccan include the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri River (also spelt Cauvery), all draining into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers constitute 20 percent of India's total outflow.

Bodies of water

Bay of Bengal Major gulfs include the Gulf of Cambay, Gulf of Kutch and the Gulf of Mannar. Straits include the Palk Strait which separates India from Sri Lanka and the Ten Degree Channel, separating the Andamans from the Nicobar Islands. Important capes include the Cape Comorin, the southern tip of mainland India, Indira Point, the southernmost location of India, Rama's Bridge and Point Calimere. Smaller seas include the Laccadive Sea and the Andaman Sea. There are four coral reefs in India and are located in; the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep and Gulf of Kutch. Important lakes include Chilka Lake, the country's largest salt-water lake in Orissa; Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh; Loktak Lake in Manipur, Dal Lake in Kashmir, Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, and the Sasthamkotta Lake in Kerala.

Wetlands

India's wetland ecosystem is widely distributed from the cold and arid; from ones in the Ladakh region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the ones in the wet and humid climate of peninsula India. Most of the wetlands are directly or indirectly linked to India's river networks. The Indian government has identified a total of 22 wetlands for conservation. Among the protected wetlands are the tropical mangrove forests in peninsular India and the salt mudflats in western India. Mangrove forests occur all along the Indian coastline, in sheltered estuaries, creeks, backwaters, salt marshes and mud flats. The mangrove area covers a total of 6,740 km² (2,600 mile²) which comprises 7 percent of the world's total mangrove cover. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands; the Sundarbans; Gulf of Kutch; deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna; and parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala have large mangrove covers. Most of the identified wetlands adjoin or are parts of sanctuaries, national parks and are thus protected.

The Sundarbans

Gulf of Kutch The Sundarbans delta is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It lies at the mouth of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Bangladeshi and Indian portions of the jungle are listed in the UNESCO world heritage list separately as the Sundarbans and Sundarbans National Park respectively, though they are parts of the same forest. The Sundarbans are intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna. The most famous among these is the Bengal Tiger, but numerous species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes also inhabit it. It is estimated that there are now 400 Bengal tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area.

Rann of Kutch

The Rann of Kutch is a marshy region located in the Gujarat state of India, which borders the Sindh region of Pakistan. The name Rann comes from the Hindi word ran meaning "salt marsh." It occupies a total area of 27,900 km² (10,800 mile²). The region was originally a part of the Arabian Sea. Geologic forces, most likely by earthquakes, resulted in the damming up of the region, turning it into a large salt-water lagoon. This area gradually filled with silt thus turning it into a seasonal salt marsh. During the monsoons, the area turns into a shallow marsh, often flooding to knee-depth height. After the monsoons, the region turns dry and becomes parched.

Climate

India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert. The Himalayas, along with the Hindu Kush mountains in Pakistan, provide a barrier to the cold winds from central Asia. This keeps most of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations in similar latitudes. The Thar Desert is responsible for attracting the moisture laden monsoon winds that provide most of India's rainfall. It is difficult to generalise India's climate. India's huge size sees climatic conditions in Kashmir having little relation to that in the extreme south. In addition to this, the varied topography of the land sees many regions having their own microclimates. Climate in India ranges from tropical in the south to a temperate climate in the north. Parts of India in the Himalayas have a polar climate. Meteorologists divide the year into four main seasons for most of the country: monsoon, summer, winter and withdrawal of the monsoons. Parts of India that lie in the Himalayan region see five seasons: spring, summer, monsoons, autumn and winter. Sustained snowfalls occur only in the elevated sections. polar climate Summer lasts between March and June in most parts of India. Temperatures exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during the day. The coastal regions exceed 30 °C (86 °F) coupled with high levels of humidity. In the Thar desert area temperatures can exceed 45 °C (113 °F). Summer is followed by the southwest monsoon rains that provide most of India its rainfall. The rain-bearing clouds are attracted to the low-pressure system created by the Thar Desert. The official date for the arrival of the monsoon is 1 June, when the monsoon crosses the Kerala coast. The southwest monsoon splits into two arms, the Bay of Bengal arm and the Arabian Sea arm. The Bay of Bengal arm moves north-wards crossing northeast India in early June. It then progresses eastwards, crossing Delhi by June 29. The Arabian Sea arm moves north-wards and deposits much of its rain on the windward side of Western Ghats. By early July, most of India receives rain from the monsoons. The monsoons start retreating by August from northern India and by October from Kerala. This short period after the retreat is known as the retreat of the monsoons and is characterised by still weather. By November, winter starts setting in the northern areas. Winters start in November in northern India and late December in southern India. Winters in peninsula India see mild to warm days and cool nights. Further north the temperature is cooler. Temperatures in some parts of the Indian plains sometimes fall below freezing. Most of northern India is plagued by fog during this season. The highest temperature recoded in India was 50.6 °C (123.08 °F) in Alwar in 1955. The lowest was −45 °C (−49 °F) in Kashmir. Recent claims of temperatures touching 55 °C (131 °F) in Orissa have been met with some scepticism by the Indian Meteorological Department, largely on the method of recording of such data.

Geology

Indian Meteorological Department India has a varied geology spanning the entire spectrum of the geological time period. India's geological features are classified based on their era of formation. The Pre-Cambrian period formations of Cudappah and Vindhyan systems are spread out over the eastern and southern states. A small part of this period is spread over western and central India. The Paleozoic Era formations from the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian system are found in the Western Himalaya region in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The Mesozoic Era Deccan Traps formation is seen over most of the northern Deccan. Geologists believe that the Deccan Traps were the result of sub-aerial volcanic activity. The Trap soil is black in colour and conducive to agriculture. The Carboniferous system, Permian System, Triassic and Jurassic systems are seen in the western Himalayas. The Jurassic system is also seen in Rajasthan. Tertiary Period imprints are seen in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, parts of Arunachal Pradesh and along the Himalayan belt. The Cretaceous system is seen in central India in the Vindhyas and part of the Indo-Gangetic plains. The Gondowana system is also seen in the Narmada River area in the Vindhyas and Satpuras. The Eocene system is seen in the western Himalayas and Assam. Oligocene formations are seen in Kutch and in Assam. The Pleistocene system is found over central India. It is rich in minerals such as lignite, iron ore, manganese and aluminium. The Andaman and Nicobar Island groups are thought to have been formed in this era by volcanoes. The Himalayas are a result of the convergence and deformation of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian Plates. Their continued convergence raises the height of the Himalayas by 1 cm each year.

Natural disasters

Pleistocene India is prone to several natural disasters, responsible for huge losses in life and property. Natural disasters in India include droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe cyclones; and earthquakes. Floods are the most common natural disaster in India. During the monsoon season, heavy rainfall may cause rivers to distend their banks, often flooding the surrounding areas. The Brahmaputra River is prone to perennial flooding during the monsoon season. Floods are responsible for a number of deaths and property loss in many parts of India. With the exception of a few states, almost all of India is prone to flooding. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the monsoon as a source of water. In some parts of India, the failure of the monsoons results in water deficiency in the region causing extensive crop losses. Drought prone regions include south Maharashtra, north Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat and Rajasthan. In the past, failure of monsoons has led to famines causing great damage. Tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface are responsible for yearly earthquakes along the Himalayan belt and in northeast India. This region is classified as a Zone V, indicating that it is a very high-risk area. Parts of western India, around the Kutch region in Gujarat and Koyna in Maharashtra, are classified as a Zone IV region (high risk). Other areas have a moderate to low risk chance of an earthquake occurring. Cyclones are another natural disaster, affecting thousands living in the coastal regions. Cyclones are severe and bring with them heavy rains that cut off supplies and relief to the affected areas. On 2004-12-26, a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and India's east coast resulting in the loss of over ten thousand individuals. Until then India was thought to have negligible activity related to tsunamis, though there is historical anecdotal evidence of its occurrence in the past. India has one active volcano: the Barren Island volcano which last erupted in May 2005. There is also a dormant volcano called the Narcondum and a Mud volcano at Baratang. All these volcanoes lie in the Andaman Islands. Landslides are common in the Lower Himalaya owing to labile rock formations due to the young age of the hills. Parts of the Western Ghats also suffer from low intensity landslides. Avalanches occur in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. During the summer months, dust storms cause immense property damage in northern India. These storms bring with it large amounts of dust from arid regions. Hailstones are common in parts of India, and cause severe damage to the standing crops.

Natural resources

India is particularly rich in a variety of natural resources. Along with 56 percent arable land, it has significant sources of Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), Iron ore, Manganese, Mica, Bauxite, Titanium ore, Chromite,