Marathi and Hindi: Language Similarities and Differences
In India, Hindi and English are the two official languages of the national government. But, the country is very multilingual and has a total of 23 official languages. Marathi is one of these.
As you can see in the table below, Marathi and Hindi belong to the same language family, which is not the case for every language spoken in India. Marathi and Hindi also both use the Devanagari script.
| Language | Language Family | Main Scripts |
|---|---|---|
| Assamese | Indo-Aryan | Assamese |
| Bengali | Indo-Aryan | Bengali |
| Bodo | Sino-Tibetan | Devanagari / Latin |
| Dogri | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| English | Indo-European | Latin |
| Gujarati | Indo-Aryan | Gujarati |
| Hindi | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Kannada | Dravidian | Kannada |
| Kashmiri | Indo-Aryan | Perso-Arabic / Devanagari |
| Konkani | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Maithili | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Malayalam | Dravidian | Malayalam |
| Marathi | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Meitei | Sino-Tibetan | Meitei Mayek |
| Nepali | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Odia | Indo-Aryan | Odia |
| Punjabi | Indo-Aryan | Gurmukhi |
| Sanskrit | Indo-Aryan | Devanagari |
| Santali | Austroasiatic | Ol Chiki |
| Sindhi | Indo-Aryan | Perso-Arabic / Devanagari |
| Tamil | Dravidian | Tamil |
| Telugu | Dravidian | Telugu |
| Urdu | Indo-Aryan | Perso-Arabic |
Marathi and Hindi are related languages. They both belong to the Indo-Aryan language family, which is a branch of the larger Indo-European language family.
Hindi is primarily spoken in northern India, in what’s called the “Hindi Belt”, a region that contains multiple states, as well as the national capital, New Delhi.
Marathi is the official language of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Even if you have never heard of it, you have probably heard of its capital, Mumbai —formerly called Bombay.
The distance between New Delhi and Mumbai is about 720 miles (in a straight line). You can travel from New Delhi to Mumbai by train. When you board the train, you are in a Hindi-speaking region; when you arrive, you are in a Marathi-speaking region.
South of Maharashtra are the states of Karnataka and Telangana, where Dravidian languages (Kannada and Telugu) are spoken. This proximity explains certain shared linguistic features and loanwords between Marathi and Dravidian languages.
Vocabulary comparison
In the table below are 12 basic vocabulary words in Hindi and Marathi. Notice that many of these words are either spelled the same or are quite similar.
| English | Hindi | Marathi |
|---|---|---|
| love | प्रेम (prem) | प्रेम (prem) |
| happiness | आनंद (ānand) | आनंद (ānanda) |
| fruit | फल (phal) | फळ (phaḷa) |
| path | मार्ग (mārg) | मार्ग (mārga) |
| peace | शांति (śānti) | शांतता (śāntatā) |
| fire | आग (aag) | आग (āga) |
| river | नदी (nadī) | नदी (nadī) |
| heart | दिल (dil) | हृदय (hruday) |
| forest | वन (van) | वन (vana) |
| song | गाना (gānā) | गाणे (gāṇe) |
| sleep | नींद (nīnd) | झोप (jhopa) |
| king | राजा (rājā) | राजा (rājā) |
The vocabulary word for “heart” is very different in Marathi compared to Hindi. The Marathi version of this word comes from Sanskrit, while the Hindi version comes from Persian.
We will explain the historical reasons for these Persian loanwords in one of the sections below.
The Hindi word for “sleep” comes from Sanskrit, whereas the Marathi term comes from Kannada (a Dravidian language spoken in the south of India).
Three grammatical genders in Marathi versus two in Hindi
Similar to Latin, Sanskrit has three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). In fact, Sanskrit and Latin are both Indo-European languages that descended from a common ancestor language.
Here there is a difference between Marathi and Hindi. Marathi has the same three grammatical genders as Sanskrit, whereas Hindi has just two (masculine and feminine).
In both Marathi and Hindi, nouns that come from Sanskrit often keep their original grammatical gender, except for those that are neuter in Sanskrit, which usually become masculine in Hindi.
| Sanskrit | Marathi | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| पानीय (pānīya) [neuter] | पाणी (pāṇī) [neuter] | पानी (pānī) [masculine] | water |
| मधु (madhu) [neuter] | मधु (madhu) [neuter] | मधु (madhu) [masculine] | honey |
| ज्ञान (jñāna) [neuter] | ज्ञान (dnyān) [neuter] | ज्ञान (gyān) [masculine] | knowledge |
Inclusive and exclusive pronouns
An interesting difference between Marathi and Hindi is the distinction between inclusive and exclusive “we” pronouns which exists in Marathi —but not in Hindi.
The exclusive form of the pronoun “we” refers to a group that excludes the addressee (the person being talked to). This exclusive pronoun is expressed as “आम्ही” (āmhī) in Marathi.
On the other hand, the inclusive form of “we” is expressed using the term “आपण” (āpaṇ), which includes both the speaker and the addressee along with others.
This feature of Marathi is uncommon among its family of Indo-European languages, but common among the Dravidian languages of southern India. The proximity of Marathi-speaking regions to Dravidian-speaking regions may have led to the assimilation of this feature.
The letter ळ is used in Marathi but not in Hindi
Marathi and Hindi share a common writing system known as the Devanagari script. This script is also used for writing Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. One distinct characteristic of this script is the presence of a horizontal line, known as a shirorekha, which connects the tops of adjacent characters.
One notable distinction between Marathi and Hindi lies in the usage of the letter ळ (pronounced as “ḷa”). While this letter is frequently used in Marathi, it is absent in Hindi.
In contrast to the letter ल (pronounced as “la”) which is common to both Marathi and Hindi, the letter ळ (pronounced as “ḷa”) represents a sound that is found in Marathi but not in Hindi.
| Marathi | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|
| निळे (niḷe) | नीला (nīlā) | blue |
| पिवळा (pivḷā) | पीला (pīlā) | yellow |
| काळा (kāḷā) | काला (kālā) | black |
| फळ (phaḷ) | फल (phal) | fruit |
| पातळ (pātaḷ) | पतला (patlā) | thin |
Persian loanwords
Travelers to India often visit the Taj Mahal (in the city of Agra) and the Red Fort (in the city of Delhi). Those were built during the period of the Mughal Empire.
The Mughals governed the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th century. They came from Central Asia and brought the Persian language with them.
The Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and other constructions from that period are not the things left behind by the Mughal Empire. There are also some Persian loanwords in Marathi and Hindi.
| Hindi | Marathi | Persian | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| शहर (shahar) | शहर (shahar) | شهر (šahr) | city |
| लाल (lāl) | लाल (lāl) | لال (lâl) | red |
| फ़ौलाद (faulād) | पोलाद (polād) | فولاد (fōlād) | steel |
| पुल (pul) | पूल (pūl) | پل (pol) | bridge |
| बीमा (bīmā) | विमा (vimā) | بیمه (bime) | insurance |
| बर्फ़ (barf) | बर्फ (barpha) | برف (barf) | snow |
| मालिक (mālik) | मालक (mālak) | مالک (mâlek) | owner |
| बत्तख़ (battakh) | बदक (badak) | بت (batt) | duck |
| फ़ायदा (fāydā) | फायदा (phāydā) | فایده (fâyede) | benefit |
| नाश्ता (nāśtā) | नाश्ता (nāśtā) | ناشتا (nâštâ) | breakfast |
| लश्कर (laśkar) | लष्कर (laṣkar) | لشکر (laškar) | army |
| बाज़ार (baazaar) | बाजार (baazaar) | بازار (bâzâr) | market |