How languages intersect in India

LINGUISTICS As nonHindi speakers have picked up Hindi, native Hindi speakers have a lesser need to know a second language to converse with fellow Indians

If two random Indians meet, there is only a 36% chance that they can talk to and understand each other, a Hindustan Times analysis of 2011 Census data shows, given the large diversity in languages spoken across the country.

This is an average, of course, and the actual proportion depends on where the two people are from.

The probability is a meagre 1.6% if one is from Tamil Nadu and the other from West Bengal, while it is around 95% if one is from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Uttarakhand.

Several factors explain the variation.

The first is the low share of the multilingual population in India. Only one in five Indians is bilingual, meaning they can converse in two languages — and not necessarily be able to read and write in them. Just 7% know three or more languages.

The second is the dominance of the Hindi belt.

For instance, more than 97% of the people in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand can speak Hindi, which is why it is highly likely that random people from the two states can talk to each other.

The case is similar across nine Hindi-dominated north Indian states.

The third is regional diversity. The chance that a random person from the Hindi belt can speak with someone from outside the region is low. For instance, a person from Uttar Pradesh has a 42% probability of being able to talk to someone from Gujarat.

This figure declines as one goes towards the east and south: it is 3% for Tamil Nadu, 14% for

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