Historical Development and Sociolinguistic Dynamics of Bundeli Language: Variation, Identity, and Language Shift

Author(s)	Mr. SITESH KUMAR MAURYA
Country	India
Abstract	In this paper, the historical evolution and sociolinguistic dynamics of Bundeli in the region of Bundelkhand are examined, with emphasis on variation, regional identity, and language shift among youth. Although Bundeli is traditionally regarded as part of the Western Hindi group of the Indo-Aryan languages, research reveals that Bundeli has distinct linguistic characteristics and strong links to the cultural tradition of Bundelkhand (Grierson 1903–1928, Jaiswal 1963, Mishra and Bali 2011). Using a qualitative approach grounded in linguistic analysis, cultural studies, and sociolinguistics, the paper concludes that despite the growing dominance of standard Hindi in formal education and socio-economic aspirations, Bundeli continues to serve as a language of locality, intimacy, and cultural heritage (Singh 2020, Wardhaugh & Fuller 2015). Bundeli can be described as ‘uneven maintenance’ rather than ‘language loss’, since symbolic commitment is still preserved despite restricted domains and language shift among the younger generation (Labov 1972, Trudgill 2000).
Keywords	Bundeli, Sociolinguistics, Historical linguistics, Language shift, Regional identity, Dialect variation
Field	Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-05-21
DOI	https://doi.org/10.63363/aijfr.2026.v07i03.5924

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