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Bagheli

Bagheli is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Baghelkhand region of central India, primarily in Madhya Pradesh and in parts of neighboring states such as Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. It belongs to the Hindi-Urdu language continuum and is often classified by linguists as part of the Central Indo-Aryan group; some scholars treat Bagheli as a distinct language, while others consider it a dialect of Hindi. The status as a separate language versus a dialect is often influenced by sociolinguistic and regional factors.

Geographically, Bagheli speakers are concentrated in districts of eastern Madhya Pradesh, including areas around Sidhi, Shahdol,

Linguistically, Bagheli shares core features with related Central Indo-Aryan languages, including a typical subject–object–verb sentence structure

The writing system for Bagheli is usually Devanagari, though historical and regional texts have used other

There is no official national status for Bagheli in India. It is primarily used in everyday communication

and
surrounding
locales,
with
smaller
communities
beyond
these
zones.
Estimates
of
speaker
numbers
vary,
but
Bagheli
is
regarded
as
one
of
the
larger
regional
languages
of
central
India,
spoken
by
several
million
native
speakers.
and
an
inflectional
system
for
nouns
and
verbs.
Its
phonology
includes
a
set
of
consonants
and
vowels
common
to
Indo-Aryan
languages,
with
distinctions
such
as
aspirated
versus
unaspirated
stops
and
a
range
of
retroflex
sounds.
The
vocabulary
draws
from
Sanskrit
and
Prakrit
roots,
while
also
reflecting
contact
with
neighboring
languages
such
as
Bundeli,
Awadhi,
and
mainstream
Hindi.
scripts.
Bagheli
has
a
tradition
of
oral
literature,
including
folk
songs
and
proverbs,
and
has
a
growing
body
of
written
literature,
journalism,
and
media
in
the
language.
and
cultural
expression,
with
regional
efforts
in
education,
media,
and
literature
aimed
at
promoting
its
use
and
preservation
within
the
broader
multilingual
landscape
of
central
India.