Poll: How many Indian languages can you name?
Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
PRACOVNÍK SERVERU
Mar 18, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many Indian languages can you name?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugalsko
Local time: 10:26
Člen (2007)
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
Only two Mar 18, 2025

Hindi and English...

Claudio Machado Junior
expressisverbis
 
Claudio Machado Junior
Claudio Machado Junior  Identity Verified
Brazílie
Local time: 06:26
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
... Mar 18, 2025

Hindi, Urdu, English.

Maria Laura Curzi
expressisverbis
 
Marjolein Snippe
Marjolein Snippe  Identity Verified
Nizozemsko
Local time: 11:26
angličtina -> nizozemština
+ ...
Good memories Mar 18, 2025

English, Hindi and Gujarati, thanks to a very sweet friend of me I recently got back in touch with. I had completely forgotten about Urdu though.

expressisverbis
 
Emily Scott
Emily Scott  Identity Verified
Velká Británie
Local time: 10:26
Člen (2018)
francouzština -> angličtina
+ ...
6 Mar 18, 2025

Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, English - also thanks to some good friends of mine. According to Wikipedia, there are 424 native languages in India.

Maria Laura Curzi
expressisverbis
 
Ana Cravidao
Ana Cravidao
Local time: 10:26
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
Only two actually Mar 18, 2025

I only know two Indian languages: Hindi (written in those gorgeous signs) and Konkani - spoke in Goa, a former Portuguese colony, because I have friends from this part of India.

expressisverbis
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Dánsko
Local time: 11:26
Člen (2003)
dánština -> angličtina
+ ...
16 apart from English Mar 18, 2025

Marathi, Hindi, Gujerati, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Kannada, Oriya, Odia, Assamese.

My parents spoke Marathi fluently, and my father's great inspiration was Dr William Carey of Serampore. It was not until much later that I appreciated his genius for languages and translation.
Sadly, although I heard it all the time, I never learned Marathi myself, only a few words that ended in the family's private vocabulary, and some lette
... See more
Marathi, Hindi, Gujerati, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Kannada, Oriya, Odia, Assamese.

My parents spoke Marathi fluently, and my father's great inspiration was Dr William Carey of Serampore. It was not until much later that I appreciated his genius for languages and translation.
Sadly, although I heard it all the time, I never learned Marathi myself, only a few words that ended in the family's private vocabulary, and some letters of the Devanagiri alphabet.

My father could take a church service in Hindi or Gujerati without an interpreter (and did so every week in Marathi, of course). He could understand the interpreter more or less in several other languages, but not in Chinese when he was asked to officiate at the wedding of a Chinese couple!
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expressisverbis
Lingua 5B
 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugalsko
Local time: 10:26
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
Hindi vs Urdu Mar 18, 2025

It's really fascinating how Hindi and Urdu, despite having different scripts (Devanagari for Hindi and Nastaliq for Urdu), share so much in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and structure.
And even more fascinating is that this similarity allows native speakers of both languages to communicate easily, especially when spoken. I witnessed this.
If we dive deeper into them, we can find that a lot of words are borrowed from Persian, Arabic, and even Portuguese. The word "chave" in Portugues
... See more
It's really fascinating how Hindi and Urdu, despite having different scripts (Devanagari for Hindi and Nastaliq for Urdu), share so much in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and structure.
And even more fascinating is that this similarity allows native speakers of both languages to communicate easily, especially when spoken. I witnessed this.
If we dive deeper into them, we can find that a lot of words are borrowed from Persian, Arabic, and even Portuguese. The word "chave" in Portuguese (key) is one of them.
Yes, I had the chance to learn a few words in Urdu and get to know the culture.
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Christine Andersen
Claudio Machado Junior
Emily Scott
 
JaneTranslates
JaneTranslates  Identity Verified
Portoriko
Local time: 05:26
španělština -> angličtina
+ ...
Just 5, to my shame. Mar 19, 2025

Hindi, English, Khasi, Urdu, Punjabi. Thanks to a dear friend who grew up in the Khasi Hills.

~Jane


 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
Spojené státy americké
Local time: 04:26
angličtina -> španělština
+ ...
others Mar 19, 2025

Navajo, Zuni, Mescalero Apache, Quechua, Cherokee, Eskimoan, Siouan, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Algonquin, Appalachian, etc.

I actually took a semester of Navajo at the university, years ago. I only remember a few words.


[Edited at 2025-03-19 17:06 GMT]


Baran Keki
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Justin Peterson
Justin Peterson  Identity Verified
Španělsko
Local time: 11:26
španělština -> angličtina
I think they were referring to Indian from India, but, maybe not : ) Mar 19, 2025

MollyRose wrote:

Navajo, Zuni, Mescalero Apache, Quechua, Cherokee, Eskimoan, Siouan, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Algonquin, Appalachian, etc.

I actually took a semester of Navajo at the university, years ago. I only remember a few words.


[Edited at 2025-03-19 17:06 GMT]


expressisverbis
MollyRose
 
Justin Peterson
Justin Peterson  Identity Verified
Španělsko
Local time: 11:26
španělština -> angličtina
My ignorance of India is infinite Mar 19, 2025

Wow. How many are there?

Hindi. That's it. Unless English counts too.

Don't they realize that if they're going to Make India Great Again they need just ONE language? ; ) (Please note tongue in cheek)


 
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Turecko
Local time: 12:26
Člen
angličtina -> turečtina
Indeed Mar 19, 2025

Justin Peterson wrote:
My ignorance of India is infinite

That's because you don't have good, sweet or dear friends.
Btw whatever happened to that Finnish Indian guy that posted in various languages in powwow (that's Indian, right?) threads?


Matthias Brombach
expressisverbis
 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Německo
nizozemština -> němčina
+ ...
German... Mar 19, 2025

...which is one of the numerous Indo-Germanic languages, including Frisian, which goes for certain because of them (= us) being so fond of tea as the Indians. Greetings and Moin!

 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugalsko
Local time: 10:26
angličtina -> portugalština
+ ...
Indigenous languages Mar 19, 2025

MollyRose wrote:

Navajo, Zuni, Mescalero Apache, Quechua, Cherokee, Eskimoan, Siouan, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Algonquin, Appalachian, etc.

I actually took a semester of Navajo at the university, years ago. I only remember a few words.


[Edited at 2025-03-19 17:06 GMT]


Those languages are indigenous languages (from the Americas) rather than languages spoken in India.

It's my understanding that the poll just says "Indian languages" which typically refers to languages spoken in India, like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, etc. but I may be mistaken...


Maria Laura Curzi
 


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Poll: How many Indian languages can you name?






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