Santali language

Santali
ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ
The word Santali in Ol Chiki script
Native toIndia, Bangladesh, Nepal
EthnicitySantal
Native speakers
7.6 million (2011 census)
Austroasiatic
Dialects
  • Mahali (Mahili)
  • Kamari-Santali
  • Khole
  • Lohari-Santali
  • Manjhi
  • Paharia
Official status
Official language in
Language codes
ISO 639-2sat
ISO 639-3Either:
sat  Santali
mjx  Mahali
Glottologsant1410  Santali
maha1291  Mahali
Distribution of Santali language

Santali (ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ, Pronounced: [santaɽi], সাঁওতালি, ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ, सान्ताली) is a Kherwarian Munda language spoken natively by the Santal people of South Asia. It is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal. It is a recognised regional language of India as per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is spoken by around 7.6 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, making it the third most-spoken Austroasiatic language after Vietnamese and Khmer.