Kurukh language
Encyclopedia
Kurukh also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: कुड़ुख़), also called Kurux, Kuṛux or Kuruḵẖ, is a Dravidian language
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
spoken by the Oraon
Oraon
The Oraon उरांव or Kurukh कुड़ुख tribe , also spelled Uraon, Oran, or Oram, are tribal aborigines inhabiting various states across central and eastern India as well as Bangladesh...
and Kisan
Kisan Tribe
Kisan Tribe in Orissa are found in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Keonjhar. They are traditional farmers and food gathering people. They speak the Kurukh language along with Kosli, Hindi and English....
tribal peoples
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
, Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, and West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, as well as in northern Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. It is most closely related to Brahui and Malto (Paharia). It is also known as Oraon.
Classification
Kurukh is one of the DravidianDravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
family of languages, closely related to the Sauria Paharia
Sauria Paharia language
The Sauria Paharia language is spoken in the Bihar and West Bengal states of India, and some pockets of Bangladesh.Most of the speakers are in India with around 110,000...
and Kumarbhag Paharia
Kumarbhag Paharia language
The Kumarbhag Paharia language is spoken in the Jharkhand and West Bengal states of India, and tiny pockets of Orissa state. It is a member of the Northern branch of the Dravidian language family, along with the Kurukh language and the Brahui language spoken in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan...
languages, which are together referred to as Malto
Malto
Malto may refer to either:*The Malto language, a Northern Dravidian language*The Malto people, speakers of the Malto language...
.
Kurukh is written in the Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
script, a script used to write Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, and other Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
. Dr. Narayan Oraon, a medical doctor has invented the Tolong Siki script for Kurukh language. Many books and magazine have been published in Tolong Siki script. The Kurukh Literary Society of India have been instrumental to spread the Tolong Siki script for Kurukh literature.
Speakers
It is spoken by 2,053,000 people from the OraonOraon
The Oraon उरांव or Kurukh कुड़ुख tribe , also spelled Uraon, Oran, or Oram, are tribal aborigines inhabiting various states across central and eastern India as well as Bangladesh...
and Kisan tribe
Kisan Tribe
Kisan Tribe in Orissa are found in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Keonjhar. They are traditional farmers and food gathering people. They speak the Kurukh language along with Kosli, Hindi and English....
s, having 1,834,000 and 219,000 speakers, respectively. The literacy rate is 23% Oraon and 17% Kisan. Despite the large number of speakers, the language is considered at risk for extinction. The governments of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh have introduced the Kurukh language in schools where Kurukhars or Oraon students are in a majority.