Belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family, Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in India. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Hindi are Punjabi, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Dogri, and Marwari. Note that Urdu is not included because it is a dialect of Hindi.
- Punjabi (88.8)
Punjabi is spoken predominantly in the Indian state of Punjab and the Pakistani province of Punjab. Despite regional variations and cultural influences, Punjabi and Hindi exhibit significant lexical and grammatical similarities. Speakers of Punjabi often find it relatively easy to comprehend Hindi, and vice versa, facilitating communication and cultural exchange between these communities. - Magahi (87.0)
Magahi, primarily spoken in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, shares a strong linguistic affinity with Hindi. Since it descended from the Prakrits and Sanskrit, Magahi preserves grammatical structures and vocabulary reminiscent of Hindi. Despite regional dialectal variations, the core features of Magahi align closely with Standard Hindi, allowing some mutual intelligibility between speakers of both languages. - Bhojpuri (83.3)
Bhojpuri, spoken predominantly in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, bears a close resemblance to Hindi. With roots in Sanskrit and Prakrits, Bhojpuri retains significant overlap in grammar and vocabulary with Hindi. While possessing its own distinct phonological features and literary tradition, Bhojpuri remains easily understandable to Hindi speakers. - Dogri (83.3)
Dogri, primarily spoken in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, shares a linguistic kinship with Hindi, albeit with regional variations influenced by neighboring languages like Punjabi and Kashmiri. Dogri maintains structural similarities with Hindi in its grammar and vocabulary. Despite these influences, mutual intelligibility between Dogri and Hindi speakers remains relatively high. - Marwari (82.9)
Predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Marwari shares a close linguistic relationship with Hindi, stemming from their common ancestry. Retaining many archaic features of Old Hindi and Sanskrit, Marwari exhibits significant lexical and grammatical similarities with Hindi. Despite regional dialectal variations, Marwari remains easily comprehensible to Hindi speakers.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)
