marathi

Marathi (मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India^[6] and the 15th most spoken language in the world.^[3] Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 1000 AD.^[7]

Marathi is estimated to be over 1300 years old, evolving from Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. Its grammar and syntax derive from Pali^{[citation needed]} and Prakrit. In ancient times, Marathi was called Maharashtri, Marhatti, Mahratti etc.

Peculiar features of Marathi linguistic culture include Marathi drama, with its unique flavour of 'Sangeet Natak' (musical dramas), scholarly discourses called 'Vasant Vyakhyanmala' (Lectures in Spring), Marathi folk dance called 'Lavani', and special editions of magazines for Diwali called 'Diwali anka'.

The Prakrit vernacular languages, including Maharashtri Prakrit, were originally derived from Vedic Sanskrit. Further change led to apabhraṃśa languages like Marathi, which may be described as being a re-Sanskritised, developed form of Maharashtri Apabhraṃśa. However it is believed that Marathi is actually a mongrel language combining the old Dravidian vernacular of the region which would have been close to Kannada and Telugu and the actual Maharashtri Prakrit and Sanskrit. The more recent influence of Persian, Arabic or Urdu has also made this language seem close to mainstream Hindi.

Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 AD and was the official language of the Sātavāhana empire. It had risen to a high literary level, and works like Karpurmanjari and Saptashati (150 BC) were written in it. Maharashtri Prakrit was the most widely used Prakrit language in western and southern India, spoken from Malwa and Rajputana in the north to Krishna and Tungabhadra in the south.^[15] Today's Marathi- and Kannada- speaking parts spoke Maharashtri Prakrit for centuries.^[16]

Maharashtri Apabhraṃśa remained in use for several hundred years until at least 500 AD. Apabhraṃśa was used widely in Jain literature and formed an important link in the evolution of Marathi. This form of Apabhraṃśa was re-Sanskritised and eventually became Marathi.

According to the written forms and historical attestations and evidences, Marathi is said to date to the 8th century.