Hindi :

Hindi (Devanāgarī: हिन्दी or हिंदी, IAST: Hindī, IPA: [ˈɦɪndiː] ) is the name given to various Indo-Aryan languages, dialects, and language registers spoken in northern and central India, Pakistan, Fiji, Mauritius, and Suriname. Standard Hindi is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, one of the official language of the Indian Union Government and that of many states in India.

In the broadest sense of the word, "Hindi" refers to the Hindi languages, a culturally defined part of a dialect continuum that covers the "Hindi belt" of northern India. It includes Bhojpuri, an important language not only of India but of Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Mauritius, where it is called Hindi or Hindustani; and Awadhi, a medieval literary standard in India and the Hindi of Fiji. Rajasthani has been seen variously as a dialect of Hindi and as a separate language, though the lack of a dominant Rajasthani dialect as the basis for standardization has impeded its recognition as a language. Two other traditional varieties of Hindi, Chhattisgarhi and Dogri (a variety of Pahari), have recently been accorded status as official languages of their respective states, and so at times considered languages separate from Hindi. Despite the fact that it is in many ways indistinguishable from local Hindi, Urdu, as the principal language of India's large Muslim population and an official language of Pakistan, is often excluded from the purview of the label "Hindi" in India and Pakistan, though the language of Muslims may be included as Hindi or Hindustani in other countries where the language is spoken. As the official language of a separate country, Nepali has always been excluded from this conception of Hindi, despite the fact that it is one of the Pahari languages which are otherwise included.

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