The Typological Characteristics of Maithili

Abstract

Typological studies have always been fascinating the linguists as it paves the way not only for the proper classification of a language but also in defining and re-defining several language universals. Sometimes, this study becomes the main cause of the establishment of a new language universal. Indian languages have always been showing some of the unique features which make these languages distinct from many other languages of the world. The similarities among the Indian languages are found due to long area contact and sharing of features. Maithili is an Indo-Aryan and a scheduled language of India. It is spoken in the north-eastern part of the Bihar state of India and in the tarai region of Nepal. It is the 16^th most spoken language of India and the 40^th most spoken language of the world. The present paper takes into account some of the major typological features of Maithili languages in order to test its similarities and dissimilarities with other Indian languages. Some of the discussed features in this paper include the basic word order, the position of adjective, auxiliary verb, main verb, adverb, direct and indirect objects, interrogation, negation, anaphora, reduplication and echo-formation, etc. At the same time, this paper also makes a comparative study of Maithili with the other South-Asian languages. Finally, it also discusses some of the unique features of Maithili which requires further investigation.