Angika language

language
name=Angika
nativename=अङ्गिका, अंगिका
familycolor=Indo-European
states=India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia
region=Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Surat
speakers=740,892 (of whom approx. 725,000 in India, 15,892 in Nepal) (SIL)
50 million (30 million in India) (Indian survey)
familycolor=Indo-European
fam2=Indo-Iranian
fam3=Indo-Aryan
fam4=Eastern Group
fam5=Bihari
iso1=bh (Bihari
iso2= [http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php anp]
iso3=anp|notice=Indic

Angika (Dev. अङ्गिका or अंगिका) is a language of the Anga region of India, a 58,000 km² area that falls within the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Angika is spoken by more than 30 million of the Indian population, and around 50 million worldwide. Angika is also spoken in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Durgapur, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and other parts of the country. Angika is also spoken in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. Besides this, a sizeable Angika speaking population exists in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

Angika is closely related to Bengali, Oriya, and Assamese. It is grouped in with the Bihari languages (including Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili and Vajjika). Angika is highly intelligible with other Bihari languages.

It may be correlated with the Cham Language of Combodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and China. As Cham is the language of the Cham people of Southeast Asia, and formerly the language of Champa in central Vietnam. Champa is one of the oldest colonies of Southeast Asia which had been established by the inhabitants of Anga Mahajanapada of Ancient India around 2000 years ago.

The first poet of Hindi literature, Saraha, was also the first poet of the Angika language and literature. Saraha belongs to the 8th century, and is the first poet whose poetry is available in written form.

There exists an independent web portal for the Angika language, [http://www.angika.com angika.com] .There is also a search engine in the Angika language, Google Angika.

Angika was called as Chikka-Chiki by George GA Grierson in one of the Linugistic Survey of India.

Angika is written in the Anga Lipi, Kaithi and Devanagari scripts.

Various alternate names for the language are used:
*Anga,
*Aangi,
*Angikar,
*Chhika-Chhiki,
*Bhagalpuri,
*Apbhramsa,
*Bihari. Dialects of Angika iclude:
*Deshi,
*Dakhnaha,
*Mungeria,
*Devgharia,
*Gidhhoria,
*Dharampuria.

Demography

;Southern Bihar:Bhagalpur District, Munger District, Banka District, Lakhisarai District, Jamui District and Sheikhpura District.;Northern Bihar:Katihar District, Purnia District, Khagaria District, Begusarai District, Saharsa District, Madhepura District, Araria District, Kishanganj District and Supaul District.;Jharkhand:Sahebganj District, Godda District, Dumka District, Deoghar District, Pakur District and Giridih District.;West Bengal:Malda District.;Nepal:Angika is also spoken in Tarai region of Nepal.;Other South-East Asian countries:Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and others: all well established.;Elsewhere:A large number of Angika speakers have migrated to the Persian Gulf, the United Kingdom , the United States and other countries. Also a substantial portion of the Angika-speaking population has settled elsewhere in India, mainly in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Baroda, Surat, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur and Bokaro.

Angika Cinema

The first Angika language film released on 27th April,2007 in Laxmi Talkies, Khagaria, Bihar. The name of this film is "Khagaria Vali Bhouji". The Songs of this first ever released Angika language film are melodious. The first ever completed feature film of Angika Language, however, is "Khissa Chando Bihula Bishari Ke", Which is still to be released. Currently a new Angika film,"Ang Putra" is being picturised.

Angika Literature

Saraha is the first poet of Angika language whose poetries are available in written form.These poems were written by him in 800 A.D. The Sarah's famous "Doha Kosha" is written in Angika Language. He has written 36 books in Angika. Sarah is also considered as the first poet of Hindi language whose poetry is available in written forms.Mr. Suman Soorow, Dr. Permanand Pandey, Dr. Amrendra, Dr. Naresh Pandey Chakore, Mr. Kundan Amitabh, Dr. Abhaykant Choudhary, Mr. Chandraprakash Jagpriya are among prominent scholars of Angika Language who have contributed lots in Angika Literature. Hundreds of standard literary books are available in angika language.

External links

* [http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsdeb/ls13/ses12/180203.html Parliamentary proceedings stating that Angika has 30 million (3 crore) speakers in Bihar and Jharkhand]
* [http://www.google.com/intl/bh/ Google Search Engine in Angika Language]
* [http://www.angika.com Angika.com]
* [http://www.srijangatha.com/december06/apnibaat.dec06.htm Srijangatha]
* [http://www.angika.com Angika Cinema]