Penn Language Center

Marathi is an Indo-European language spoken by the Marathi people. It is the offical language of Maharashtra, Goa and is one of the 23 offical languages of India. It is the 14th most spoken language in the world, and in 2001, there were 72 million speakers. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-European, Indic languages, dating from about 1000 AD. The major dialects of Marathi are called Standard Marathi and Warhadi Marathi. There are a few other sub-dialects, such as Ahirani, Dangi, Vadvali, Samavedi, Khandeshi, and Malwani. Standard Marathi is the official language of the State of Maharashtra.