Dakhini - Hyderabad

Dakhini (also known as Deccani) is classified under the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European language family. Historically developed as a pluricentric variety of Hindustani, it has been profoundly shaped by long-standing contact with Dravidian languages.

Speakers

Precise population figures specifically for the Hyderabad variety of Dakhini are difficult to isolate because official government surveys generally aggregate Dakhini speakers under the broader category of "Urdu." In the Census of India 2011, Urdu speakers nationwide numbered approximately 50.7 million, with Dakhini speakers constituting a significant, though unquantified, proportion of this population in the southern states.

Distribution in India

Dakhini - Hyderabad is primarily spoken in the metropolitan area of Hyderabad and surrounding districts in the state of Telangana. More broadly, related varieties of Dakhini are distributed across the Deccan plateau, including parts of Andhra Pradesh, northern Karnataka (such as Kalaburagi and Bidar), and central Maharashtra.

Major grammatical features

• Phonology: It exhibits a simplified aspirate system compared to Modern Standard Hindi-Urdu, frequently de-aspirating consonants (e.g., standard samajh 'understand' becomes samaj, and bhī 'also' becomes bī). It also reflects distinct intonational patterns and phonetic influences from neighboring Dravidian languages.
• Morphology: Dakhini features unique pronominal forms and case-marking patterns, such as the frequent use of mere ko ('to me' / 'me') instead of the standard mujhe, and unon for the third-person plural/honorific pronoun. Nouns often employ distinct plural markers (like the suffix -āñ or -ā).
• Syntax: The language displays strong syntactic convergence with Dravidian structures. Notably, it uses the conjunctive participle bol ke (literally 'having said') as a quotative marker and complementizer, mirroring the grammatical function of the Telugu particle ani.

Further reading

• Learn more about the history, linguistic structure, and literary heritage of this variety on the Wikipedia search page for Dakhini - Hyderabad.