Question

Which of the following languages has the highest percentage of speakers in India?

• A. Bengali
• B. Hindi
• C. Telugu
• D. Marathi

Hint:

Rank of most spoken mother tongues in India (Census 2011):
1. Hindi ($43.63\%$)
2. Bengali ($8.03\%$)
3. Marathi ($6.86\%$)
4. Telugu ($6.70\%$)
5. Tamil ($5.70\%$)

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept:
India is a linguistically diverse nation comprising four major language families: Indo-Aryan (Indo-European), Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic (Nishada), and Tibeto-Burman (Kirata).
The Indo-Aryan language family forms the largest group, spoken by nearly three-fourths of the total Indian population.

Step 1: Census Data Analysis of Spoken Languages:
According to the 2011 Census of India:
Hindi is the most widely spoken primary language in India, with approximately $43.63\%$ of the total population reporting it as their mother tongue.
Bengali is the second most spoken language in India, accounting for roughly $8.03\%$ of the national population.
Marathi stands third with approximately $6.86\%$ of speakers.
Telugu ranks fourth among individual languages, accounting for approximately $6.70\%$ of the population.

Step 2: Comparing the Proportions:
The percentage of Hindi speakers substantially exceeds that of any other linguistic group across the subcontinent.
Hence, Hindi constitutes the single largest linguistic group by an extensive margin.
Final Answer:
Therefore, Hindi has the highest percentage of speakers in India.