Koraga language

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Koraga
ಕೊರಗ
Native to India
Ethnicity Koraga
Native speakers
45-50 (2018) [1]
Dravidian
Kannada script, Malayalam script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
kfd   Korra Koraga
vmd   Mudu Koraga
Glottolog kora1289

Koraga (also rendered Koragar, Koragara, Korangi) is a Dravidian language spoken by the Koraga people, a Scheduled tribe people of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, and Kerala in South West India. The dialect spoken by the Koraga tribe in Kerala, Mudu Koraga, is divergent enough to not be intelligible with Korra Koraga. [2]

Contents

Classification

Koraga is a member of the Dravidian family of languages. [3] [4] It is further classified into the Southern Dravidian family. Koraga is a spoken language and generally not written, whenever it is written it makes use of Kannada script. Koraga people are generally conversant in Tulu [5] and Kannada languages and hence use those languages as a medium for producing literature.

Dialects

According to Bhat, there are 4 dialects: [2]

All the speakers who speak Mudu dialect are bilingual with Kannada language and all speaking onti dialect are bilingual with Tulu language. [2] This has resulted a strong influence of Kannada on Mudu koraga and also similar influence of Tulu is seen on onti koraga dialect. [6] Majority of negative forms of onti koraga language are borrowed from Tulu language. [7]

Phonology

Vowels

Vowels [8]
Front Central Back
shortlongshortlongshortlong
High i ɨ u
Mid e o
Low a

Consonants

Consonants [8]
Bilabial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop voiceless p t ʈ c k
voiced b d ɖ ɟ g
Fricative s
Approximant ʋ l j
Rhotic r

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References

  1. "Gondi, Walmiki, Malhar, Korga: Mother tongues India risks losing". Hindustan Times. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Bhat (1971), p. 2.
  3. Fairservis, Walter Ashlin (1997). The Harappan Civilization and Its Writing: A Model for the Decipherment of the Indus Script. Asian Studies. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 16. ISBN   978-90-04-09066-8.
  4. Stassen, Leon (1997). Intransitive Predication. Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory. Oxford University Press. p. 220. ISBN   978-0-19-925893-2.
  5. Bhat (1971), p. 4.
  6. Bhat (1971), pp. 2, 4.
  7. Bhat (1971), p. 45.
  8. 1 2 Krishnamurti (2003), p. 68.

Bibliography