---
lang: en
type: Language
record_kind: entity-profile
title: Marathi
description: Marathi is a western Indo-Aryan language and the official language of Maharashtra, with a literary tradition dating to the 12th-century saint-poets. It preserves three-gender agreement and ergative patterns shared with Hindi.
llms_summary: "Marathi. Language. Grammatical Typology SOV, Split-ergative. L1 Native Speakers 83000000 (83M). Language Family Indo-European / Indo-Iranian / Indo-Aryan. Language Vitality Index 9/10 (National) scale. Number of Countries 1 countries. Standard Script Devanagari (Marathi). Total Speakers 99000000 (99M). UNESCO Risk Category Safe. Web Domain Share (%) 0.1 %. Writing System Complexity Level 4 (Abugida) level. Linguistics & Culture. Marathi is a western Indo-Aryan language and the official language of Maharashtra, with a literary tradition dating to the 12th-century saint-poets. It preserves three-gender agreement and ergative patterns shared with Hindi.  canonical profile on Structured Pages"
canonical: "https://structuredpages.com/marathi/"
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primary_image: "https://structuredpages.com/images/languages/marathi/marathi.webp"
site: structured-pages
slug: marathi
date_created: 2026-09-11
date_modified: 2026-09-11
license: All rights reserved
entities:
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    slug: marathi
    name: Marathi
    type: Language
    profile_url: "https://structuredpages.com/marathi/index.md"
---
# Marathi

Marathi is a western Indo-Aryan language and the official language of Maharashtra, with a literary tradition dating to the 12th-century saint-poets. It preserves three-gender agreement and ergative patterns shared with Hindi.

*Last updated: 2026-09-11*

## Record

- **Title**: [Marathi](https://structuredpages.com/marathi/index.md)
- **Use case**: Linguistics & Culture
- **CTA**: [See if Structured Pages fits your catalog](mailto:chris62475@gmail.com?subject=Structured%20Pages%20Catalog%20Inquiry)
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### Description

#### Historical Evolution

Marathi emerged from Maharashtri Prakrit, with the Yadava period and Bhakti poets (Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram) establishing literary prestige. The Maratha Empire spread the language across the Deccan; colonial Bombay Presidency integrated English loans. Modern standardization is overseen by Maharashtra government and literary academies.

#### Phonology

Marathi contrasts aspirated/unaspirated stops and retroflex consonants; it includes a distinct set of breathy-voiced murmured consonants in some dialects. Vowel nasalization marks some grammatical contrasts. Stress is typically initial or penultimate depending on region.

#### Syntax

Marathi is SOV with postpositions and split ergativity in perfective past. Three grammatical genders and plural agreement persist on verbs and adjectives. Honorific pluralization and regional dialect variation (Pune vs Mumbai) influence everyday speech.

### Categories

- language
- indo aryan

### Attributes

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Grammatical Typology | SOV, Split-ergative |
| L1 Native Speakers | 83000000 (83M) |
| Language Family | Indo-European / Indo-Iranian / Indo-Aryan |
| Language Vitality Index | 9/10 (National) scale |
| Number of Countries | 1 countries |
| Standard Script | Devanagari (Marathi) |
| Total Speakers | 99000000 (99M) |
| UNESCO Risk Category | Safe |
| Web Domain Share (%) | 0.1 % |
| Writing System Complexity | Level 4 (Abugida) level |