HindustaniSometimes referred to as Hindi/UrduThis is one of the examples of "it depends on what you count" when trying to determine which are the most widely spoken languages. If you count Hindi and Urdu as two separate languages, then there are more people who speak Bengali. But the Constitution of India declares Hindi as the official language of the Union speaking those two language and so we use that for Hindustani at this time. Hindustani is the second or third most widely spoken (but not written) language in the world if you lump Hindi and Urdu together and call them Hindustani. The common parts of their origins create an oral dialect that is used as a trade language throughout north India and Pakistan. But the uncommon parts of their heritages are odds when it comes to writing it down. When writing, people over a certain age go back either to Hindi or Urdu which look very different when written. The youngest speakers of Hindustani use the Roman alphabet in order to better use computers, texting and the Internet. We could make that an alternative to either Urdu or Hindi, which we already offer here, were it not for how dead set against that are some older generations there. So we defer to the Constitution of India which declares Hindi as the official language of their Union and we use that. But where it fits on the list of most widely spoken languages depends on what you count. Home |
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