Marathi language

Marathi
Marathi
Marāṭhī
मराठी, 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, ಮರಾಠಿ
	The word "Marāṭhī" in Devanagari and Modi script
Pronunciation	Marathi: [məˈɾaːʈʰiː] ⓘ; English: /məˈrɑːti/
Native to	India
Region	South, South Central and Western India Maharashtra; Goa; Telangana (north); Karnataka (in the districts of Belagavi, Karwar, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bidar); Gujarat (majorly in Vadodara, and among a small number of population in Surat); Kerala (in the districts of Kasaragod, Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram); Madhya Pradesh (in the districts of Burhanpur, Betul, Chhindwara and Balaghat); Chhattisgarh; Union-territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; Tamil Nadu (in Thanjavur);
Ethnicity	Marathi
Speakers	L1: 83 million (2011); L2: 16 million (2011)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Southern Marathi–Konkani Marathi; ; ; ; ;
Early form	Maharashtri Prakrit
Standard forms	Standard Marathi;
Dialects	Varhadi (major); Zadi Boli; Southern Indian Marathi (Thanjavur Marathi, Kerala Marathi); East Indian Marathi; Judeo-Marathi;
Writing system	Devanagari (official); (Marathi alphabet); Modi (historical); Pallava script (Kannada alphabet); Goykanadi (historical, sometimes); Kadamba (historical); Nagari (historical);
Signed forms	Indian Signing System
Official status
Official language in	India Maharashtra; Goa (additional);
Regulated by	Ministry of Marathi Language and various other institutions
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mr
ISO 639-2	mar
ISO 639-3	Either:; mar – Modern Marathi; omr – Old Marathi
Linguist List	omr Old Marathi
Glottolog	mara1378 Modern Marathi; oldm1244 Old Marathi
Linguasphere	59-AAF-o
	regions where Marathi is the language of the majority or plurality regions where Marathi is the language of a significant minority
	Map of Marathi language in India (district-wise). Darker shades imply a greater percentage of native speakers of Marathi in each district.

Marathi (/məˈrɑːti/; मराठी, 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, Marāṭhī, pronounced [məˈɾaːʈʰiː] ^ⓘ) is a classical Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Gujarat, Karnataka and the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and an additional official language in the state of Goa, where it is used for replies, when requests are received in Marathi.

It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, with 83 million speakers as of 2011. Marathi ranks 13th in the list of languages with most native speakers in the world. Marathi has the third largest number of native speakers in India, after Hindustani and Bengali. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indian languages. The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi Marathi. Marathi was designated as a classical language by the Government of India in October 2024.

Marathi distinguishes inclusive and exclusive forms of 'we' and possesses three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Its phonology contrasts apico-alveolar with alveopalatal affricates and alveolar with retroflex laterals ([l] and [ɭ] (Marathi letters ल and ळ respectively).