THANE

Language has played a crucial role in shaping India’s social and political landscape, with pivotal moments such as the States Reorganization Act of 1956, which redrew the country’s states along linguistic lines. Thane, formerly part of the Bombay Presidency, became part of Maharashtra in 1960 with the reorganiaztion of Bombay State. Marathi is the most widely spoken language in the district, as reflected in Census data from 2011.

At the same time, Thane’s linguistic landscape includes several local and community-based varieties shaped by geography and long-standing settlement patterns. Koli, Warli, and Aagari are among the languages spoken by some of the district’s oldest living communities. These varieties reflect localised speech practices, shaped by everyday communication and regional interaction, and continue to play a role in the district’s broader linguistic identity.

According to the 2011 Census of India, the district had a total population of 80,70,032. Marathi was the most widely reported mother tongue, spoken by 49.77% of the population. Hindi followed at 18.73%, while Urdu was reported at 9.86%. Other sizable linguistic communities included speakers of Gujarati (4.26%), Sindhi (2.39%), and Bhojpuri (2.15%).

Languages spoken by smaller segments of the population included Telugu (1.60%), Marwari (1.57%), Malayalam (1.50%), Kannada (1.43%), Tamil (1.20%), Bengali (1.17%), Punjabi (0.62%), and Kokna/Kokni/Kukna (0.51%).

The Warli language is a distinct linguistic variety spoken by the Warli community, an indigenous group primarily found in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Warli people are considered to be one of Maharashtra’s oldest communities, with Smita Patil (2017) describing them as “one of the ancient tribes in Maharashtra.” Historically, Thane district has been a significant population center for the Warlis, with the 2011 Scheduled Tribes Census recording 7,07,494 Warli speakers in the region. Their presence in Thane and Palghar has been long-established, and scholar K.J. Save (1945) noted that Warlis once constituted 48.5% of the district’s aboriginal population and 13% of the total population.

The origin of the term Warli has been a topic of scholarly debate, with multiple linguistic theories offering explanations for its etymology. Dr. Wilson posits that the community was originally known as Varalis, a term meaning “uplanders.” He further suggests that Varal refers to a cultivated plot of land, supporting the idea that the Varalis were historically agriculturalists.

The Warli language is shaped by influences from Marathi, Koli, Kunbi, Konkani, Bhil, Khandeshi, and Gujarati. K.J. Save (1945) observes that the Warlis neither speak pure Marathi nor exclusively Gujarati. He notes that many Warli speakers trace their origins to Namnagar or Nagarhaveli in the Daman territory, and northern Warli varieties retain stronger Gujarati influences.

Save (1945) also documents regional variations within Warli, attributing these differences to geography and varying levels of interaction with surrounding language communities. He identifies three primary forms with them being Daavri, Murade, and Nihiri.

Of these, Save considers Daavri the oldest form, spoken mainly in the northern regions and showing the strongest Gujarati influence. He regards Nihiri as primarily spoken in Thane and closely related to Marathi, with notable Kunbi influence. There is an interesting reason behind why the variation is called Nihiri; it comes from a distinctive variation in the pronunciation of the word ‘no’ where instead of saying ‘nahi’ the speakers of this variety pronounce the word as “nihi.”

Warli features distinctive sound substitutions that set it apart from neighboring languages. Where other languages use “ha” sounds, it is documented that Warli often uses “ya” sounds. Warli speakers tend to use “s” sounds (like in “sun”) where other languages might use “sh” sounds (like in "shine").

Words for "this" and "that" have unique pronunciations in Warli. The Marathi word for this which is ‘jo’ becomes ‘yi’ and that ‘ti’ also becomes ‘yi.’ Where Marathi has "en" sounds at the end, Warli often has "an" sounds. For example, "gold" is "sonen" in Marathi but "sonan" in Warli. Silver is ‘rupen’ in Marathi and ‘rupan’ in Warli.  

The language also shows systematic differences in word structure compared to Marathi. This is shown in the table below:

Some of these patterns likely stem from influences of other language varieties. For instance, Save notes that the pattern of words ending in "a" in Marathi to "o" in Warli is a feature which can also be observed in Konkani.

Warli has its own kinship terminology, that is, words for family members.

Save (1945) suggests that the characteristic pattern of using 's' endings rather than the 'sh' endings is present in many words in Warli and can also be found in Konkani.

Warli, like many languages, changes the form of words depending on their role in a sentence. This is called a case system i.e. a way of marking whether a word is the subject, object, or something else.

• Subject Marking → If a word is the subject (the doer of the action), in Warli, it often ends in ‘u,’ ‘o,’ or ‘a.’
• Object Marking → If a word is the object (the receiver of the action), ‘la’ is often added to it.
• Instrumental Case → If something is being used to do an action, Warli adds ‘an’ (similar to how Marathi adds ‘ne’).

For example:

• If ‘a boy’ (a subject) is doing something, the word for boy might end in 'u' (e.g., Aadheer u gela – "Aadheer went").
• If someone is hitting the boy, "boy" would get ‘la’ added (e.g., Ramu Aadheer la marla – "Ram hit Aadheer").
• If a stick is used to hit, "stick" might take ‘an’ (e.g., Ramu lakdan marla – "Ram hit with a stick").

This system probably helps Warli speakers clarify who is doing what in a sentence, just like Marathi but with slightly different markers.

The Koli community, often considered the ‘oldest living inhabitants of Mumbai and Thane’, speak a distinct variant of Marathi that often reflects their maritime heritage and coastal lifestyle. This variety is characterized by a conversational tone and includes vocabulary and expressions unique to the community’s livelihood.

The linguistic peculiarities of the Koli variety were noted by S.M. Edwardes in The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island (1909), who observed that their Marathi differed from that spoken by Sonars, Prabhus, and others. The distinct features he observes is their use of the sibilant (a speech sound which has a ‘hissing effect’) sounds ‘ha’ in place of ‘sa’, ‘sa’ in place of ‘cha’, and more. He cites, thus, in their pronunciation, the word ‘chammade’ (leather) becomes ‘samde’.

The Koli dialect/language, like most regional varieties, has its own distinct vocabulary. Notably, many words are specifically used by the community that differ from what one might say in other varieties of Marathi. These words, interestingly, are correlated with the local environment and lifestyle of the community. The Kolis live in settlements which they call ‘wadas.’ A word that they usually use to demarcate areas within and outside the wadas is ‘paar.’ Additionally, they use the word ‘aagar valis’ to describe lanes or alleys. In other forms of Marathi or even Konkani, the word ‘वेस’ (Ves) or शीव (Sheev) is typically used for the former and ‘gully’ (गल्ली) for the latter. Both these words differ from other linguistic variations of Marathi when it comes to signifying these features.

An interesting feature of the Koli dialect/language, although not exclusive, is that different sub-communities of Kolis speak in slightly different ways. These variations can be heard in their pronunciations and how they construct their sentences, often depending on where they live or which sub-caste they belong to. One such sub-caste is the Malhar Koli community.

According to the 2011 Census of India, the total population of Malhar Kolis in Thane district stands at 2,30,593, making them one of the most numerically significant indigenous communities in the region. Numerous Koliwadas (traditional settlements inhabited by the Koli community) are found across the district, reflecting their deep-rooted presence in the area. Notably, they often inhabit spaces where other communities, such as the Warlis, live alongside them. For this reason, L.D. Tople in the Languages of Maharashtra (2017) writes that “Malhar Koli (when it comes to their lifestyle and spoken style) is heavily influenced by the Warlis.” Their spoken style is very close to Marathi in many ways, but has its own special pronunciation and sentence structure, as seen in the following phrases:

In the question “कोठे राहतोस?” (kothe rahtos?), “कोठे” (kothe) means ‘where,’ and ‘राहतोस’ (rahtos) consists of two parts:

• राह (rah) is the verb root meaning ‘stay.’
• तोस (tos) is a marker that indicates the question is directed at you (informal, singular).

In the Malhar Koli speech style, the same question is expressed as “कोठं रे राहे?”(kotha re rahe?), and here’s how it differs:

• कोठं (kotha) still means ‘where,’ but with a different ending sound.
• रे (re) is a particle added for emphasis or style, something not used in other forms of Marathi.
• राहे (rahe) is the verb ‘stay,’ but in a different form.

Here, one can see how both the word forms (morphology) and sentence structure (syntax) are different, despite them conveying the same meaning, i.e. the question of “Where do you stay?”

Aagri, also spelt Agri, is a language variety spoken by the Aagri community of Maharashtra. The term Aagar in Marathi refers to the coastal land between the sea and the plains, which is traditionally used for cultivating crops such as rice, fruits, and vegetables, as well as producing salt and fishing. The people engaged in these activities are known as Aagaris. Within the Aagri community, there are two major social groups: the Kunbis, who were originally agriculturalists and cultivators, and the Balutedars, who comprised twelve occupational classes.

The Aagri community has a distinct linguistic heritage with deep historical roots. According to Shankar Sakharam Deshmukh (2017), Aagri is a variant of Prakrit and may have been spoken when Prakrit was the dominant language of communication. Today, Aagri is spoken across the western coast of Maharashtra, from Palghar, Thane, to Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and southern Raigad, as well as in parts of Nashik and Dhule districts.

Aagri shares many similarities with Marathi, but it also has notable variations in pronunciation and vocabulary. One interesting distinction, as noted by Deshmukh, is the way respect or seniority is indicated. In Aagri, the suffix ‘-sa’ is added to certain words when referring to an elderly or respected person. For example, ‘aai’ (mother) becomes ‘aais,’ and ‘dadu’ (grandfather) becomes ‘dadus.’

Aagari also has distinct sound patterns. Unlike Marathi, where speakers are required to twist and roll their tongues to pronounce letters such as ‘ळ’ (ɭə), ‘ण’ (ɳə), ‘ड’ (ɖə) and ‘छ’ (tʃhə), Aagaris have simplified them as ‘ल’ (lə), ‘न’ (nə), ‘र’ (rə) and ‘स’ (sə) respectively for themselves. The table below highlights these differences:

Aagri does not have a distinct neutral gender. Instead, neutral words are treated as masculine. The table below shows examples of this distinction: