Munda languages

Last updated

Munda
Mundaic
Ethnicity Munda peoples
Geographic
distribution
Indian subcontinent
Linguistic classification Austroasiatic
  • Munda
Proto-language Proto-Munda
Subdivisions
ISO 639-2 / 5 mun
Glottolog mund1335
Munda languages map.svg
Map of areas with significant concentration of Munda speakers

The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. [1] [2] [3] Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. [4] They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, which means they are more distantly related to languages such as the Mon and Khmer languages, to Vietnamese, as well as to minority languages in Thailand and Laos and the minority Mangic languages of South China. [5] Bhumij, Ho, Mundari, and Santali are notable Munda languages. [6] [7] [1]

Contents

Grierson's Linguistic Map of India, 1906 LSI map of Munda languages.jpg
Grierson's Linguistic Map of India, 1906

The family is generally divided into two branches: North Munda, spoken in the Chota Nagpur Plateau of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, as well as in parts of Bangladesh and Nepal, and South Munda, spoken in central Odisha and along the border between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. [8] [9] [1]

North Munda, of which Santali is the most widely spoken and recognised as an official language in India, has twice as many speakers as South Munda. After Santali, the Mundari and Ho languages rank next in number of speakers, followed by Korku and Sora. The remaining Munda languages are spoken by small, isolated groups, and are poorly described. [1]

Characteristics of the Munda languages include three grammatical numbers (singular, dual and plural), two genders (animate and inanimate), a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronouns, the use of suffixes or auxiliaries to indicate tense, [10] and partial, total, and complex reduplication, as well as switch-reference. [11] [10] The Munda languages are also polysynthetic and agglutinating. [12] [13] In Munda sound systems, consonant sequences are infrequent except in the middle of a word.

Origin

Present-day distribution of Austroasiatic languages Austroasiatic-en.svg
Present-day distribution of Austroasiatic languages

Many linguists suggest that the Proto-Munda language probably split from proto-Austroasiatic somewhere in Indochina.[ citation needed ] Paul Sidwell (2018) suggests they arrived on the coast of modern-day Odisha about 4000–3500 years ago (c.2000 – c.1500 BCE) and spread after the Indo-Aryan migration to the region. [14] [15]

Rau and Sidwell (2019), [16] [17] along with Blench (2019), [18] suggest that pre-Proto-Munda had arrived in the Mahanadi River Delta around 1,500 BCE from Southeast Asia via a maritime route, rather than overland. The Munda languages then subsequently spread up the Mahanadi watershed. 2021 studies suggest that Munda languages spread as far as Eastern Uttar Pradesh and impacted Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. [19] [20]

Classification

Munda consists of five uncontroversial branches (Korku as an isolate, Remo, Savara, Kherwar, and Kharia-Juang). However, their interrelationship is debated.

Diffloth (1974)

The bipartite Diffloth (1974) classification is widely cited:

Diffloth (2005)

Diffloth (2005) retains Koraput (rejected by Anderson, below) but abandons South Munda and places Kharia–Juang with the northern languages:

Munda 
 Koraput 
 Core   Munda 

KhariaJuang

 North   Munda 

Korku

Kherwarian

Anderson (1999)

Gregory Anderson's 1999 proposal is as follows. [21]

However, in 2001, Anderson split Juang and Kharia apart from the Juang-Kharia branch and also excluded Gtaʔ from his former Gutob–Remo–Gtaʔ branch. Thus, his 2001 proposal includes 5 branches for South Munda.

Anderson (2001)

Anderson (2001) follows Diffloth (1974) apart from rejecting the validity of Koraput. He proposes instead, on the basis of morphological comparisons, that Proto-South Munda split directly into Diffloth's three daughter groups, Kharia–Juang, Sora–Gorum (Savara), and Gutob–Remo–Gtaʼ (Remo). [23]

His South Munda branch contains the following five branches, while the North Munda branch is the same as those of Diffloth (1974) and Anderson (1999).

SoraGorum   Juang Kharia GutobRemo Gtaʔ

Sidwell (2015)

Paul Sidwell (2015:197) [24] considers Munda to consist of 6 coordinate branches, and does not accept South Munda as a unified subgroup.

Distribution

Language nameNumber of speakers (2011)Location
Korwa 28,400 Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
Birjia 25,000 Jharkhand, West Bengal
Mundari (inc. Bhumij)1,600,000 Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar
Asur 7,000 Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha
Ho 1,400,000 Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal
Birhor 2,000 Jharkhand
Santali 7,400,000 Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Assam, Bangladesh, Nepal
Turi 2,000 Jharkhand
Korku 727,000 Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
Kharia 298,000 Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
Juang 30,400 Odisha
Gtaʼ 4,500 Odisha
Bonda 9,000 Odisha
Gutob 10,000 Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Gorum 20 Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Sora 410,000 Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Juray 25,000 Odisha
Lodhi 25,000 Odisha, West Bengal
Koda 47,300 West Bengal, Odisha, Bangladesh
Kol 1,600 West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bangladesh

Reconstruction

The proto-forms have been reconstructed by Sidwell & Rau (2015: 319, 340–363). [25] Proto-Munda reconstruction has since been revised and improved by Rau (2019). [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austroasiatic languages</span> Language family concentrated in Southeast Asia

The Austroasiatic languages are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority populations scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China. Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers. Of the Austroasiatic languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have lengthy, established presences in the historical record. Only two are presently considered to be the national languages of sovereign states: Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand, while the Wa language is a "recognized national language" in the de facto autonomous Wa State within Myanmar. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The remainder of the family's languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santali language</span> Language of South Asia

Santali, also known as Santal or Santhali, is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal by Santals. It is a recognised regional language of India as per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is spoken by around 7.6 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, making it the third most-spoken Austroasiatic language after Vietnamese and Khmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katuic languages</span> Subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family

The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic languages. He notes that Austroasiatic/Mon–Khmer languages are lexically more similar to Katuic and Bahnaric the closer they are geographically. He says this geographic similarity is independent of which branch of the family each language belongs to. He also says Katuic and Bahnaric do not have any shared innovations, so they do not form a single branch of the Austroasiatic family, but form separate branches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kharia language</span> Munda language

The Kharia language is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family, that is primarily spoken by the Kharia people of eastern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monic languages</span> Branch of Austroasiatic languages in Southeast Asia

The Monic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family descended from the Old Monic language of the kingdom of Dvaravati in what is now central Thailand. The Nyahkur people continue directly from that kingdom, whereas the Mon are descendants of those who migrated to Pegu after the 11th century Khmer conquest of Dvaravati.

The Khmuic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken mostly in northern Laos, as well as in neighboring northern Vietnam and southern Yunnan, China. Khmu is the only widely spoken language in the group.

The Pakanic languages constitute a branch of two Austroasiatic languages, Bolyu and Bugan. They are spoken in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of southern China. Mang was formerly included, but is now considered by Paul Sidwell to form its own separate branch within Austroasiatic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sora language</span> Munda language spoken in eastern India

Sora is a south Munda language of the Austroasiatic language of the Sora people, an ethnic group of eastern India, mainly in the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Sora contains very little formal literature but has an abundance of folk tales and traditions. Most of the knowledge passed down from generation to generation is transmitted orally. Like many languages in eastern India, Sora is listed as 'vulnerable to extinction' by UNESCO. Sora speakers are concentrated in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The language is endangered as per as International Mother Language Institute (IMLI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korku language</span> Mundu language spoken in Central India

Korku is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Korku tribe of central India, in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is isolated in the midst of the Gondi people, who are Dravidian, while its closest relatives are in eastern India. It is the westernmost Austroasiatic language.

Norman Herbert Zide was an American linguist and specialist in the Munda languages. Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. He taught Hindi and Urdu at the Department of South Asian Languages & Civilization at the Department of Linguistics for four decades and published several books and articles on the subject. However, his greater fame lies in his contributions to the Munda languages and to Austroasiatic linguistics in general. He has also done considerable work as a translator, especially of poetry. In The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry, he did or assisted in translations of poetry from both North Indian and Austroasiatic languages. His undergraduate education was at Columbia University where he majored in French. In the 1950s he began to do graduate work in South Asian languages and linguistics.

The Juang language is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken primarily by the Juang people of Odisha state, eastern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonda language</span> Mund language spoken in Odisha, India

The Bonda language, also known as Bondo or Remo, is a south Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken in Odisha, formerly known as Southern Odisha, in India. It had 2,568 speakers, all in Odisha, according to the 1951 Census of India, increasing to approximately 9,000 speakers in 2002 according to SIL.

The Gtaʼ language, also known as Gta Asa, Didei or Didayi, is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Didayi people of southernmost Odisha in India.

Mundari (Munɖari) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken by the Munda tribes in eastern Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and northern Rangpur Division of Bangladesh. It is closely related to Santali. Mundari Bani, a script specifically to write Mundari, was invented by Rohidas Singh Nag. It has also been written in the Devanagari, Odia, Bengali, and Latin writing systems.

The Khasi–Palaungic languages are a primary branch of the Austroasiatic language family of Southeast Asia in the classification of Sidwell. This is a departure from Diffloth (2005) classification of Khasi-Khmuic with Khmuic and Mangic (Pakanic) now being separate branches within Austroasiatic family.

Proto-Austroasiatic is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austroasiatic languages. Proto-Mon–Khmer has been reconstructed in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary, while a new Proto-Austroasiatic reconstruction is currently being undertaken by Paul Sidwell.

Gorum, or Parengi, is a nearly-extinct minor Munda language of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munda peoples</span> Ethno-linguistic groups of people found in South Asia

The Munda peoples of eastern and central parts of the Indian subcontinent are any of several Munda speaking ethno-linguistic groups of Austro-asiatic language family, formerly also known as Kolarian, and spoken by about nine million people.

Kolarian is a word first used by George Campbell for Munda languages. He described it as one of the three non-Aryan language families of India, which he made up, along with the Tibeto-Burman and the Dravidian. It is a branch of Austro-asiatic languages spoken in the eastern regions of the subcontinent, and is also known as Munda languages. Its not a single tribal language but a group of tribal family languages. The speakers are called Kolarian tribes.

Proto-Munda is the reconstructed proto-language of the Munda languages of South Asia. It has been reconstructed by Sidwell & Rau (2015). According to Sidwell, the Proto-Munda language split from Proto- Austroasiatic in Indochina and arrived on the coast of Odisha around 4000 – 3500 years ago.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, Gregory D. S. (29 March 2017), "Munda Languages", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.37, ISBN   978-0-19-938465-5
  2. Hock, Hans Henrich; Bashir, Elena, eds. (23 January 2016). The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia. doi:10.1515/9783110423303. ISBN   9783110423303.
  3. "Santhali". Ethnologue. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. Anderson, Gregory D. S. (8 April 2015). The Munda Languages. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN   978-1-317-82886-0.
  5. Bradley (2012) notes, MK in the wider sense including the Munda languages of eastern South Asia is also known as Austroasiatic
  6. Pinnow, Heinz-Jurgen. "A comparative study of the verb in Munda language" (PDF). Sealang.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. Daladier, Anne. "Kinship and Spirit Terms Renewed as Classifiers of "Animate" Nouns and Their Reduced Combining Forms in Austroasiatic". Elanguage. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. Bhattacharya, S. (1975). "Munda studies: A new classification of Munda". Indo-Iranian Journal. 17 (1): 97–101. doi:10.1163/000000075794742852. ISSN   1572-8536. S2CID   162284988.
  9. "Munda languages". The Language Gulper. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  10. 1 2 Kidwai, Ayesha (2008), "Gregory D. S. Anderson the Munda Verb: Typological Perspectives", Annual Review of South Asian Languages and Linguistics, Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM], Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 265–272, doi:10.1515/9783110211504.4.265, ISBN   978-3-11-021150-4
  11. Anderson, Gregory D. S. (7 May 2018), Urdze, Aina (ed.), "Reduplication in the Munda languages", Non-Prototypical Reduplication, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 35–70, doi:10.1515/9783110599329-002, ISBN   978-3-11-059932-9
  12. Donegan, Patricia Jane; Stampe, David. "South-East Asian Features in the Munda Languages". Berkley Linguistics Society.
  13. Anderson, Gregory D. S. (1 January 2014), "5 Overview of the Munda Languages", The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages (2 vols), BRILL, pp. 364–414, doi:10.1163/9789004283572_006, ISBN   978-90-04-28357-2
  14. Sidwell, Paul. 2018. Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018. Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 22 May 2018.
  15. "Sidwell AA studies state of the art 2018.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  16. Rau, Felix; Sidwell, Paul (2019). "The Munda Maritime Hypothesis". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS). 12 (2). hdl:10524/52454. ISSN   1836-6821.
  17. Rau, Felix and Paul Sidwell 2019. "The Maritime Munda Hypothesis." ICAAL 8, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 29–31 August 2019. doi : 10.5281/zenodo.3365316
  18. Blench, Roger. 2019. The Munda maritime dispersal: when, where and what is the evidence?
  19. Ivani, Jessica K; Paudyal, Netra; Peterson, John (2021). Indo-Aryan – a house divided? Evidence for the east–west Indo-Aryan divide and its significance for the study of northern South Asia. Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics, 7(2):287–326. doi : 10.1515/jsall-2021-2029
  20. John Peterson (October 2021). "The spread of Munda in prehistoric South Asia -the view from areal typology To appear in: Volume in Celebration of the Bicentenary of Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University)" . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  21. Anderson, Gregory D.S. (1999). "A new classification of the Munda languages: Evidence from comparative verb morphology." Paper presented at 209th meeting of the American Oriental Society, Baltimore, MD.
  22. Anderson, G.D.S. (2008). ""Gtaʔ" The Munda Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. London: Routledge. pp. 682–763". Routledge Language Family Series (3): 682–763.
  23. Anderson, Gregory D S (2001). A New Classification of South Munda: Evidence from Comparative Verb Morphology. Indian Linguistics. Vol. 62. Poona: Linguistic Society of India. pp. 21–36.
  24. Sidwell, Paul. 2015. "Austroasiatic classification." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages. Leiden: Brill.
  25. Sidwell, Paul and Felix Rau (2015). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages. Leiden: Brill.
  26. Rau, Felix. (2019). Advances in Munda historical phonology. Zenodo. doi : 10.5281/zenodo.3380908
  27. Rau, Felix. (2019). Munda cognate set with proto-Munda reconstructions (Version 0.1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. doi : 10.5281/zenodo.3380874

General references

Further reading

Historical migrations