Awadhi language

Awadhi
अवधी
Native to	India, Nepal, Fiji (as Fijian Hindustani)
Region	Awadh and Lower Doab regions in Uttar Pradesh and Nepal and adjacent areas of neighboring states
Ethnicity	Awadhis
Native speakers	38 million (2001) 501,752 in Nepal (2011) Census results conflate most speakers with Hindi.
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Zone (Hindi) Eastern Hindi Awadhi
Writing system	Devanagari, Kaithi, Perso-Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Fiji (as Fiji Hindi) Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-2	awa
ISO 639-3	awa
Glottolog	awad1243

Awadhi (Devanagari: अवधी) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh and Terai belt of Nepal. Awadhi is, sociolinguistically, one of the seven Hindi languages dialect (Haryanvi, Braj, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, Bagheli and Kannauji).

Classification

Awadhi was classified as Eastern Hindi by George Abraham Grierson, who commissioned the Linguistic Survey of India.

Geographical distribution

Awadhi is spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh. The dialect can be found in the following districts:

• Lucknow
• Raebareli
• Sitapur
• Unnao
• Faizabad
• Sultanpur
• Amethi
• Allahabad
• Fatehpur
• Kaushambi
• Pratapgarh
• Barabanki
• Auraiya
• Etawah
• Farrukhabad
• Kannauj
• Kanpur Dehat
• Kanpur Nagar
• Hardoi
• Lakhimpur Kheri

Vocabulary

Kinship

English	Awadhi
Mother	Mahtari / Maai / Amma
Father	Baap / bappa / abba / Babu
Brother	Bhaiya / Bhai / Bhaizan
Sister	Bahin / Didiya / didda / bachchi
Son	Put / Beta / lerka / launda / ladika
Daughter	Bitiya / ladiki / bitti
Grandfather	aaja / baba / babu / Daada (paternal) / Nana (maternal)
Grandmother	aaaji / ajiya / Amma / Daadi (paternal) / Nani (maternal)
Brother-in-law	Devar / Saala=saar / Jeeja=bahnoi
Sister-in-law	Bhauji / Saali=saari / Nanad=nand / Sarhaj
Uncle	Chacha / Kaka (paternal), Phupha (paternal, by marriage) / Mama (maternal), Mausiya (maternal, by marriage)
Aunty	Chachi / Kaki (paternal, by marriage), Bua or Phua (paternal) / Mami or Mayi (maternal, by marriage), Mausi (maternal)

Color

English	Awadhi
Red	Laal
Yellow	Peela or Piyar
Orange	Nevrangi
Green	Hara or Hariyar
Blue	Asmani
Black	Kariya
Brown	Bhura or Bhuwar
Maroon	Katthai
White	Ujar
pink	gulabi

Name of days

English	Awadhi
Monday	Somwaar, sammar
Tuesday	Mangar
Wednesday	Buddh
Thursday	Biphai, zumerat
Friday	Sook, zuma
Saturday	Sanicchar
Sunday	Ittvar, attavar

Interrogatives

English	Awadhi
What	Kaa/ Kya / kaav
Why	Kaahe
Where	Kahan
When	Kab
Who	Ko / Kay
Which	Kaun
How	Kaise
Whom	Kikai or Kaykai
Whose	kikai (normal) or kaykai
What stuff	Kaa chij
Which stuff	Kaun chij

Literature

Important works in Awadhi are the Candayan of Maulana Da’ud, the Padmavat of Malik Mohammad Jaisi (1540 A.D.), the Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa of Tulsidas (1575 A.D.), and Indravati by Nur Muhammad (1757 A.D.).

Popular culture

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachhan has a noted propensity for switching to Awadhi in his many movies and songs like Hori Khele Raghuvira Awadh Mein from Baghban and Ek Rahe Eer Ek Rahe Beer from Bhootnath. Recently in the serial Yudh which aired on Sony Entertainment Television (India), Bachchan spoke parts of his dialogue in Awadhi which were received with critical acclaim. According to the Hindustan Times: "We simply loved Amitabh Bachchan speaking Awadhi on TV! Only an actor of his calibre could transform himself from a high-class English speaking businessman to rattle off the dialogues in Awadhi. He has done it in the past for a few Bollywood and regional films, but not as regularly as one would have liked him, to show off grasp over the language. It was great to see him speak in fluent Awadhi in Wednesday's episode."

See also

• Awadh
• Languages of India
• Languages with official status in India
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• Fijian Hindustani
• Caribbean Hindustani
• Avadhi cinema

External links

• Entry for Awadhi at SIL International