Kurukh language

Infobox Language
name=Kurukh
nativename=कुरुख़
states=India, Bangladesh
speakers=2,053,000 (SIL 1997)
script=Devanagari script
iso2=kru
iso3=kru
familycolor=Dravidian
fam2=Northern Dravidian

Kurukh (Devnagri: कुरुख़), also called Kurux, Kuṛux or Kuruḵẖ, is a Dravidian language spoken by the Oraon (or "Kurukh") tribe, a tribal (Adivasi) people of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, India, as well as in northern Bangladesh. It is most closely related to Brahui and Malto (Paharia). It is also known as the Oraon.

Classification

Kurux is one of the Dravidian family of languages. [cite book
last=Fairservis
first=Walter Ashlin
title=The Harappan Civilization and Its Writing: A Model for the Decipherment of the Indus Script
publisher=Brill Academic Publishers
series = Asian Studies
year=1997
isbn=978-9004090668
pages=16] [cite book
last=Stassen
first=Leon
title=Intransitive Predication
publisher=Oxford University Press
series = Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory
year=1997
isbn=978-0199258932
pages=220] It is further classified into the Northern Dravidian family. It is closely related to the Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag Paharia languages (which are sometimes together referred to as the Malto language) but should not be confused with Nepali Kurux.

Kurukh is written in the Devanagari script, a script used to write Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, and other Indo-Aryan languages.

peakers

It is spoken by 2,053,000 people from the Oraon and Kisan tribes, 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. [Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine. "Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Page 9.]

Literature

The Bible was translated into Kurux in 2000. Nowadays a lot of literature is being written in Kurukh Language. The Language is being taught in various colleges and universities like Ranchi University, Sidho Kanho University. Magazines are being published in Kurukh from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam where a sizable number of Kurukh (Oraon) live. Few magazines like "NAM KURKHAT, SINGI DAI, JHARKHAND DHARA" publish articles in the language. Kurukh books are being published from Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh ,Madhya Pradesh (SARNA)and West Bengal. The Govt. of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh has introduced Kurukh language in Schools where Kurukhars or Oraon students are in majority in School.

Alternative names and dialects

Kurux has a number of alternative names, some are: Uraon, Kurukh, Kunrukh, Kunna, Urang, Morva, and Birhor. There are also two dialects, Oraon and Kisan, that have 73% intelligibility between them. Oraon is currently being standardized, Kisan is not.

References

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kru Ethnologue report for Kurux]