The Indo-Aryan languages are a sub-branch of the Indo-European family,spoken today mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal , Sri Lanka, and the Maldive Islands by at least 640,000,000 persons (est. 1981). Although they are not the only languages spoken in any of these countries, their speakers in all cases constitute majorities. In the past, Indo-Aryan languages (distinguished here from the Nuristani languages extended also into eastern Afghanistan, where isolated remnants may still exist, and at it more remote epoch (theearly centuries of the Christian era) , also into Chinese Turkestan (Sinkiang). [1]
References
- ↑ The Indo Aryan Languages - Cambridge Languages Survey - by Colin P. Masica
