The Marathi Language:
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language that has 83 million native speakers. It is the native tongue of the Marathi people of the Indian state of Maharashtra, where it also enjoys official status. The language is also one of the official languages in the Indian state of Goa. After Hindi and Bengali, Marathi is the most spoken language in India. There are two major dialects of Marathi, and they are known as Standard Marathi and Varhadi dialect. The script for writing the language has been derived from the Devanagari alphabet.
Since it is spoken by a significant percentage of the Indian population, Marathi has heavily influenced other languages of the country. Koli, Agri, and Malvani Konkani are some of the languages that have been influenced by different dialects of Marathi. Marathi itself has been influenced by the Sanskrit and Dravidian languages of India. It has shared vocabularies with various foreign languages, including Persian, Arabic, and English. The influence of Romance languages on Marathi has also been observed by linguists.
Some of the oldest literature of Indian languages is in Marathi. According to written records, the language has been around since 600 AD. The fact that the language is still spoken by millions is quite remarkable as many ancient tongues became extinct over time. Today, Marathi is the tenth most spoken language in the world and must be valued by businesses that want to succeed in India.