South Asian languages refer to the linguistics family that encompasses numerous languages spoken primarily in the southern region of Asia. This diverse language group consists of a wide range of languages that share various similarities and differences in terms of structure, vocabulary, and phonetics.
South Asian languages are predominantly spoken in countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, where they hold official status or serve as major regional languages. Each country within this region usually has its own national language, such as Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Tamil, or Nepali, but there are also numerous regional languages spoken within each country, showcasing the linguistic richness of the region.
This language family encompasses both Indo-Aryan languages, which represent the majority of the South Asian languages and are mainly spoken in northern and central India, as well as Dravidian languages, which are spoken primarily in southern India, Sri Lanka, and certain regions of Pakistan. Other language families found in South Asia include Tibeto-Burman languages, Austroasiatic languages, and even some languages from Indo-Iranian and Sino-Tibetan families.
South Asian languages have seen substantial influence from various historical empires, regional cultures, and neighboring countries. As a result, they exhibit a wide range of linguistic characteristics, such as different writing systems (Brahmic, Perso-Arabic, and Tamil scripts, among others), distinct grammatical structures, and unique vocabularies. The diversity of South Asian languages reflects the cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity within the region and plays a crucial role in shaping the identities and heritage of the people who speak them.
