Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 325

FEBRUARY, 19311
GENERAL VIEW
2. Throughout the present work I shall call these Aryan languages the Indo-Aryan Vernaculars '(IAV.), it being understood that by this term is meant the Tertiary Prakrits or Vernaculars of the present day, and not the ancient Aryan Vernaculars of India, such as the Primary Prakrits (including Vedic Sanskrit), or the Secondary Prakrits, such as Pāli or Prakrit KIT coxýv.1 They have been called 'Gaudian,' a name derived from the Gauda or Gaur tribes of northern Hindöstän, and having no connexion with the other Gauda of Bengal. This word Gauda is often opposed in Sanskrit writings to Dravida, or south India, and hence there is a certain appropriateness in calling the great rival of the Dravidian tongues by the name of Gaudian'; but the term has not found general acceptance, and is liable to misconstruction owing to the twofold meaning of the word 'Gauda.' It has therefore been considered advisable to adopt, instead of this very convenient word, the somewhat unwieldy periphrasis of 'Indo-Aryan Vernaculars.'s
1 The terms Primary.' 'Secondary,' and 'Tertiary' Prakrits are explained later on. 3 E.g., by Hoernlo in his Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Languages.
: The term Indo-Aryan distinguishes those Aryans who settled in India from those Aryans who settled in Porsia and elsewhere, just as 'Aryo-Indian' signifies those inhabitants of India who are Aryans, 8a distinguished from other Indian races, Dravidians, Mundās, and so on. Gaudian,' meaning non-Dravidian, therefore connotes the same idos az 'Aryo-Indian.' These two words refer to the people and their language from the point of view of India, whilo 'Indo-Aryan ' looks at them from the wider aspect of European athnology and philology. Soe Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Ed. (1910), s.v. Indo-European Languages.
3. According to the Census of 1921, the population of India, excluding Burma, may be taken as about 305 millions. Of these, about 230 millions speak Indo-Aryan vernaculars, 84 millions Dravidian, and the rest other languages. According to the Linguistic Survey of India, the total number of speakers of the Indo-Aryan vernaculars is about 226 millions. The difference is mainly due to the fact that the Survey is based on the figures of earlier cenBuses. Further, and more important, differences in the figures given for the separate languages are explained by differences in classification, and in such cases it may be taken that the Survey figures are the more correct, although, necessarily, not absolutely accurato for 1921.
Survey
These IAVs. fall, as we shall see, into three main divisions, the grouping of which is based on linguistic considerations, and also coincides with the geographical distribution of the various languages. These divisions are -
Number of Speakers. According According to Census to Linguistic
of 1921. A. The Midland Language
1. Hindi (H.) .. .. .. .. .. 41,210,916 38,013,928 B. Intermediate Languages (a) More nearly related to the Midland Language: 2. Panjabi (P.) ..
12,762,639 3. Rajasthāni (R.) .. .. .. .. .. 12,893,834 17,561,326 4. Gujarati ? (G.) . . .
11,407,609 13,336,336 6. Eastern Pahari, Khas Kurā, or Naipāli * (EPh.) 279,716 143,721 6. Central Pahāri (CPh.)..
3,863
1,107,612 7. Western Pahāri (WPh.).. .. .. .. 1,633,916 853,468