Introduction

The Angika language is spoken in northeast India. There are about 725,000 speakers who reside in Bihar state: Banka, Bhagalpur, Katihar, and Purnia districts; Jharkhand state: Godda and Sahibganji districts. A total of 745,330 speak Angika.

The language, refered to by the speakers as अंगिका‎ is classified as European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Outer Languages, Eastern, Unclassified. The ISO code is [anp]. Other names some people use for the language are Anga, Angikar, and Chhika-Chhiki. Lexical similarity to Brahmin (81%) and Darbhanga Maithili (87%).

The Angika language is declining in use. Speakers of all ages have been using the language in the home and community. There is literature and media in this language.

Many also use Hindi for trade, government and prayer.

We have decided to publish this dictionary, in order to document the work that has been done so far. Our ambition is to publish early and often.

The Publisher