Marathi language

Marathi (मराठी 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[3]. Along with Bengali, Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about AD 1000.

Marathi is estimated to be over 1300 years old, and it is 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'.

History

Four Prakrit vernacular languages were originally derived from Vedic Sanskrit. Further change in the Prakrits led to the Apabhramsha languages. Marathi evolved from Sanskrit through Maharashtri Prakrit and then Maharashtri Apabhramsha. Marathi may thus be described as being a re-Sanskritised, developed form of Maharashtri Apabhramsha.

Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 A.D. and was the official language of the 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 among the 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 have spoken Maharashtri for centuries.

Maharashtri Apabhramsha (also known as Jain Apabhramsha) came into use about 200 years later and remained in use (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. This form of Apabhramsha was re-Sanskritised and eventually became Marathi.

According to the written forms and historical attestations and evidences, Marathi is said to date to the 8th century.