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Maithili

A language of India

ISO 639-3: mai

Population	31,900,000 in India (2000). 40% monolingual. Population total all countries: 34,700,000.
Region	Bihar, Muzaffarpur on west, past Kosi east to west Purnia District, to Munger, Bhagalpur districts south, and Himalayan foothills north; Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai. Many settled abroad. Cultural and linguistic centers are Madhubani and Darbhanga towns. Janakpur also important culturally and religiously. Also in Nepal.
Alternate names	Apabhramsa, Bihari, Maitili, Maitli, Methli, Tirahutia, Tirhuti, Tirhutia
Dialects	Standard Maithili, Southern Standard Maithili, Eastern Maithili (Khotta, Kortha, Kortha Bihari), Western Maithili, Jolaha, Central Colloquial Maithili (Sotipura), Kisan, Dehati, Bajjika, Thetiya. Caste variation more than geographic variation in dialects. Functional intelligibility among all dialects, including those in Nepal. Most similar to Magahi [mag]. Lexical similarity: 91% between Brahmin and non-Brahmin dialects.
Classification	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bihari
Language use	Official language. Used by Brahmin and other high caste or educated Hindus, who influence the culture and language, and other castes. There is a Maithili Academy. Linguistics and literature taught at Patna University and at L. N. Mithila University in Darbhanga. Home, community. Language attitudes influenced by caste, ranging from superiority to resentment. Non-Brahmin speech viewed as inferior. Hindi considered superior, Nepali [nep] generally accepted. Also use Hindi, Nepali [nep], English, Bhojpuri [bho], or Bengali [ben].
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 25%–50%. Literacy rate in L2: 25%–50%. If they can read Nepali or Hindi, they can read Maithili. The educated read Hindi, Nepali, or English books for pleasure. Some literacy work in India. Poetry. Magazines. Newspapers. Radio programs. Films. TV. Dictionary. Grammar.
Writing system	Devanagari script.
Comments	SOV; postpositions; genitives, articles, numerals before noun heads, adjectives before and after noun heads; 1 prefix, 1 suffix; object marked by position; person, gender, animate distinguished, obligatory for subject; transitives; passives; causatives; comparatives; V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC, CVV, CCV, CVCC, CCVCC; nontonal. Peasant agriculturalists: rice. Hindu.

Also spoken in:

Nepal

Language name	Maithili
Population	2,800,000 in Nepal (2001 census), increasing. 489 Kisan.
Region	Narayani zone, Rautahat District; Janakpur zone, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusa districts; Sagarmatha zone, Siraha, Saptari districts; Koshi zone, Sunsari District.
Language maps	Eastern Nepal, reference number 63 Western Nepal, reference number 63
Alternate names	Apabhramsa, Bihari, Maitili, Maitli, Methli, Tirahutia, Tirhuti, Tirhutia
Dialects	Bajjika, Bantar, Barei, Barmeli, Kawar, Kisan, Kyabrat, Makrana, Musar, Sadri, Tati, Dehati, Bajjika.
Language use	Spoken by a wide variety of castes, both ‘high’ and ‘low’. A Maithili Academy in Patna; Bihar Maithili taught at several universities including L. N. Mithila University in Darbhanga, Patna University, and Janakpur campus of Tribhuvan University. Home, village, towns, cities. All ages. Brahmin speech considered standard. Brahmins consider themselves superior, varying from friendly to domineering. Others vary toward Brahmins from friendly to resentment. Hindi and its speakers considered close, culturally similar; Nepali [nep] accepted. Some also use Hindi, Nepali, or English even at home and with other Maithili. Bhojpuri [bho] or Bengali [ben] are used with friends from those groups.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 20%. Literacy rate in L2: 25%–50%. Educated read Hindi, Nepali, or English. If they can read Hindi or Nepali, they can read Maithili.
Comments	Peasant agriculturalists. Hindu, Muslim.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

DAVIS, Alice I., author. 1973. "Maithili sentences."  

DAVIS, Alice I., author. 1984. Basic colloquial Maithili: a Maithili-Nepali-English vocabulary with some structure notes.

DAVIS, Alice, author. Available: 2011; Created: 1973. Textual cohesion in Maithili.

GLOVER, Warren W.; YADAVA, Yogendra P., editors. 1999. Topics in Nepalese linguistics.

HALE, Austin, editor. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal 1: General approach.  

HALE, Austin, editor. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal 3: Texts.  

HALE, Austin, editor. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal 4: Word lists.  

HALE, Austin; WATTERS, David E., editors. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal 2: Clause.  

TRAIL, Ronald L., editor. 1973. Patterns in clause, sentence, and discourse in selected languages of India and Nepal 1: Sentence and discourse.  

TRAIL, Ronald L., editor. 1973. Patterns in clause, sentence, and discourse in selected languages of India and Nepal 2: Clause.  

TRAIL, Ronald L., editor. 1973. Patterns in clause, sentence, and discourse in selected languages of India and Nepal 3: Texts.  

TRAIL, Ronald L., editor. 1973. Patterns in clause, sentence, and discourse in selected languages of India and Nepal 4: Word lists.  

WILLIAMS, Jennifer, author. 1973. "Clause patterns in Maithili."