Languages of South Asia
languages of a geographic region
South Asia is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is home to the third most spoken language in the world, Hindi–Urdu; the seventh most spoken language, Bengali; and thirteenth most spoken language, Punjabi. Languages like Bengali, Tamil and Nepali have official/national status in more than one country of this region. The languages in the region mostly comprise Indo-Iranic and Dravidian languages, and further members of other language families like Austroasiatic, and Tibeto-Burman languages.
Geographical distribution
Geolinguistically, the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Munda language groups are predominantly distributed across the Indian subcontinent. The term Indic languages is also used to refer to these languages, though it may be narrowed to refer only to Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. The subcontinent is also home to a few language isolates, like Burushaski, Kusunda, Nihali, and Vedda.
Areally, the influence of the languages extend beyond the subcontinent into other neighbouring Southern Asian as well as East and Southeast Asian regions, and the extended linguistic area is known as Indosphere. Narrowly, the sprachbund of Indic languages and other geopolitically neighbouring languages is known as South Asian languages (which includes Eastern-Iranic and Nuristani languages; Central- and Western- Tibeto-Burman linkages; and Khasic languages).
The Iranian Plateau, located west of the subcontinent, is home to Iranic languages, beginning with Pashto of Pashtunistan and Balochi of Balochistan in the eastern-side of the plateau.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Languages of South Asia” as languages of a geographic region. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as languages of a geographic region. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15609389. The Library of Congress control number is sh89003685. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Languages of South Asia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Languages of South Asia primary sources, Languages of South Asia archive and Languages research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Languages of South Asia”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Languages of South Asia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.