| Awadhi अवधी avadhī |
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| Spoken in: | India, Nepal, [Mauritius] | |||
| Region: | Uttar Pradesh in India | |||
| Total speakers: | 20 million | |||
| Ranking: | 40 | |||
| Language family: | Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Sauraseni Prakrit Awadhi |
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| Writing system: | Devanagari, Kaithi | |||
| Official status | ||||
| Official language in: | No official status | |||
| Regulated by: | no official regulation | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-1: | Hindi | |||
| ISO 639-2: | awa | |||
| ISO 639-3: | awa | |||
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Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh (Oudh) region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nepal. Awadhi in slightly different forms (influenced by Brij Bhasha or Bundeli) is also spoken in the vatsa country (lower Doab) south of Awadh region which includes Kanpur and Allahabad. Although today it is only considered a dialect of Hindi, before the standardization of Hindi, it was the second most important literary dialect of Hindustani (the first was Braj-Bhasha).Important works in Awadhi are the Raamcharitmaanas of Tulsidaas, the Padmawat of Malik Mohammad Jaisi. Awadhi has originated from Brij Bhasa which is the oldest language of the region. Awadhi is also influenced by Magahi, its language to the east. If Khadi boli is the father of modern Hindi, Awadhi can be called its mother. Because Hindi, or rather 'Hindvi' as it was first known, originated in the Lucknow region by people who migrated from the area around Delhi (this included people like Amir Khusrau, who some claim to be the founder of modern 'Hindi'). Awadhi has had an important influence in the development of Hindi. Awadhi is a different dialect from Bhojpuri and Bihari. The three dialects may have similarities, but they are very different from each other, a fact reiterated by native speakers each time they would watch actors (usually playing servants in films or television serials) goof up on the dialect big time in their unsuccessful attempts to represent an eastern UP immigrant to Bombay. Awadhi is spoken in the following districts:
- Lucknow
- Faizabad
- Barabanki
- Sitapur District
- Lakhimpur Kheri
- Hardoi
- Baharaich
- Gonda
- Sultanpur
- Unnao
- Pratapgarh
- Fatehpur
