Hindi is a widely spoken language in India and is considered the official language of the country. It is spoken by more than 500 million people worldwide, making it one of the most spoken languages in the world. Due to its popularity and widespread usage, many people are curious about which language is closest to Hindi.
The answer to this question is not straightforward, as Hindi is part of the Indo-Aryan language family, which includes various other languages. However, one language that is considered closest to Hindi is Urdu. Hindi and Urdu share many similarities in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. In fact, they are so similar that some people consider them to be two dialects of the same language.
Urdu and Hindi are both written in the Devanagari script, which is the same script used for Sanskrit and other Indian languages. However, Urdu also uses the Persian script, which is a modified version of the Arabic script. Due to this, Urdu has many loanwords from Arabic and Persian, while Hindi has more loanwords from Sanskrit and other Indian languages.
Another language that is often compared to Hindi is Punjabi. Punjabi is also an Indo-Aryan language and is spoken by more than 100 million people worldwide, primarily in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Punjabi shares many similarities with Hindi, such as the use of the Devanagari script, but it also has many unique features, such as its own script and a distinct vocabulary.
Apart from Urdu and Punjabi, several other languages are also closely related to Hindi, such as Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali. These languages are also part of the Indo-Aryan language family and share many similarities with Hindi in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
In conclusion, Hindi is part of the Indo-Aryan language family, and its closest relatives are Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali. These languages share many similarities with Hindi, such as the use of the Devanagari script and similar vocabulary and grammar. If you are interested in learning Hindi, having knowledge of these related languages can be helpful in understanding the language better.