Mundari language

Mundari
Mundari
मुंडारी, মুন্ডারি, ମୁଣ୍ଡାରୀ
	'Mundari' in Mundari Bani script
Native to	India, Bangladesh, Nepal
Ethnicity	Munda, Bhumij
Native speakers	1,661,656 (2011 census)
Language family	Austroasiatic Munda North Kherwarian Mundaric Mundari; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Bhumij; Hasada; Naguri; Tamaria; Kera;
Writing system	Mundari Bani, others: Odia, Devanagari, Bengali, Latin
Official status
Official language in	India Jharkhand (additional);
Language codes
ISO 639-3	unr
Glottolog	mund1320

Mundari Bani (Mundari script)

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. It is closely related to Santali. Mundari Bani,^[2] a script specifically to write Mundari, was invented by Rohidas Singh Nag.^[3]^[4] It has also been written in the Devanagari, Odia, Bengali, and Latin writing systems.

History[edit]

According to linguist Paul Sidwell (2018), Munda languages probably arrived on coast of Odisha from Indochina about 4000–3500 years ago and spread after Indo-Aryan migration to Odisha.^[5]

Geographical distribution[edit]

Mundari is spoken in the Ranchi, Khunti, Seraikela Kharsawan and West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, and in the Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar, Baleshwar, Sundargarh district of Odisha by at least 1.1 million people.^[6] Another 500,000, mainly in Odisha and Assam, are recorded in the census as speaking "Munda," potentially another name for Mundari.

Dialects[edit]

Toshiki Osada (2008:99), citing the Encyclopaedia Mundarica (vol. 1, p. 6), lists the following dialects of Mundari, which are spoken mostly in Jharkhand state.

Hasada ([hasa-daʔ]): east of the Ranchi-Chaibasa Road
Naguri ([naguri]): west of the Ranchi-Chaibasa Road
Tamaria ([tamaɽ-ia]) or Latar: Panchpargana area (Bundu, Tamar, Silli, Baranda, and Rahe)
Kera ([keraʔ]): ethnic Oraon who live in the Ranchi city area

Bhumij, listed in many sources as a separate language, may in fact be a variety of the Latar (Tamaria) dialect of Mundari. It is spoken across Jharkhand state and in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha (Anderson 2008:196). There may be around 50,000 Bhumij speakers, although the census records around 27,000.^[7]

Phonology[edit]

The phonology of Mundari is similar to the surrounding closely related Austroasiatic languages but considerably different from either Indo-Aryan or Dravidian. Perhaps the most foreign phonological influence has been on the vowels. Whereas the branches of Austroasiatic in Southeast Asia are rich in vowel phonemes, Mundari has only five. The consonant inventory of Mundari is similar to other Austroasiatic languages with the exception of retroflex consonants, which seem to appear only in loanwords. (Osada 2008)

Vowels[edit]

Mundari has five vowel phonemes. All vowels have long and short as well as nasalized allophones, but neither length nor nasality are contrastive. All vowels in open monosyllables are quantitatively longer than those in closed syllables, and those following nasal consonants or /ɟ/ are nasalized. Vowels preceding or following /ɳ/ are also nasalized.

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Consonants[edit]

Mundari's consonant inventory consists of 23 basic phonemes. The Naguri and Kera dialects include aspirated stops as additional phonemes, here enclosed in parentheses.

		Labial	Dental	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t̪	ʈ	t͡ɕ	k	ʔ
	aspirated	(pʰ)	(t̪ʰ)	(ʈʰ)	(t͡ɕʰ)	(kʰ)
	voiced	b	d̪	ɖ	d͡ʑ	g
Fricative			s̪				h
Nasal		m	n̪	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant		w	l	ɽ	j
Trill			r

Counting[edit]

Mundari	Transliteration	Translation
मिसा	Missa	Once
बरसा	Birsa	Twice
अपिसा	Apisa	Thrice
उपनुसा	Upnisa	four times
मोंड़ेसा	Mondesa	Five times
तुरिसा	Turisa	Six times
ए'सा	Eh sa	Seven times
इरलसा	Erklsa	Eight Times
अरे-सा	Are sa	Nine times
गेलसा	Gelsa	Ten times
Gel Miyad	...	Eleven
Gel Bariya	...	Twelve
, Apiya	...	Thirteen
, Upuna	...	Fourteen
, Modeya	...	Fifteen
, Turiya	...	Sixteen
, Eya	...	Seventeen
, Iriliya	...	Eighteen
, Areya	...	Nineteen
Mid Hisi	...	Twenty
Hisi Miyad	...	Twenty-one
Mid hisi Gel	...	Thirty
Hisi Gel Miyad	...	Thirty-one
Bar Hisi	...	Forty
Bar Hisi Miyad	...	Forty-one
Bar Hisi Gel	...	Fifty
Aapi Hisi	...	Sixty
Aapi Hisi Gel	...	Seventy
Upun Hisi	...	Eighty
Upun Hisi Gel	...	Ninety
Mid Saaye	...	One hundred
Bar Saaye	...	Two hundred
Mid Hazar	...	One thousand
Mid Lak	...	One lakh

Relations[edit]

Mundari	Transliteration	Translation
ऐंन्गा	Enga	Mother
आपूम	Apum	Father
हग्गा	Hagga	Brother
मिस्सी	Missi	Sister
गुया	Guya	Sister/brother of sister/brother in law
गतिंग	Gatin	Friend
Hon koda	...	Son
Hon Kudi	...	Daughter

Verb[edit]

Mundari	Transliteration	Translation
रिकाएआ	Rikā'ē'ā	Does
ओलेआ	Ol'ē'ā	Write
जगरेआ	Jagor'ē'ā	Talk
पढ़वएआ	Padv'ē'ā	Read
लेलेआ	Lel'ē'ā	Look / see
सेनेआ	Sen'ē'ā	Come along with
नमेआ	Nem'ē'ā	Found
निरेआ	Nir'ē'ā	Run
सबेआ	Sab'ē'ā	Hold
लेका एआ	Leka'ē'ā	Count
मुकाएआ	Muka'ē'ā	Measure
रिका एआ	Rika'ē'ā	Cut
Hedem	...	Sweet
Kete-e	...	Hard
Lebe-e	...	Soft
Singi	...	Sun
Chandu-u	...	Moon
Ipil	...	Stars
Sirma	...	Sky
Ote Dishum	...	Earth
Rimil	...	cloud
Hoyo	...	Air/Wind
Gitil	...	Sands
Dhudi	...	Dust
Losod	...	Muddy
Hodomo	...	Body
Tasad	...	Grass
Daru	...	Tree
Sakam	...	Leaf
Dayir	...	Branches of Tree

Writing system[edit]

Mundari Bani (Mundari Script)

Mandari is also written in native Mundari Bani, invented in the 1980s by Rohidas Singh Nag.

References[edit]

↑ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
↑ "Mundari Bani".
↑ "BMS to intensify agitation on Mundari language". oneindia.com. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
↑ "Adivasi. Volume 52. Number 1&2. June&December 2012". Page 22
↑ Sidwell, Paul. 2018. "Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018". Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, May 22, 2018.
↑ "Mundari". ethnologue.
↑ "Keeping Munda in mind". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

Anderson, Gregory D.S (ed). 2008. The Munda languages. Routledge Language Family Series 3.New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32890-X.
Osada Toshiki. 2008. "Mundari". In Anderson, Gregory D.S (ed). The Munda languages, 99–164. Routledge Language Family Series 3.New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32890-X.

8.https://omniglot.com/writing/mundaribani.htm 9.https://omniglot.com/writing/mundari.htm

External links[edit]

Mundari Bibliography at Department of Linguistics, University of Osnabrueck, Germany
Detailed language map of eastern Nepal, see language #68 in green along eastern border
http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-A6AA-C@view Mundari language in RWAAI Digital Archive

Template:Languages of Nepal

[1] "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

[2] "Mundari Bani".

[3] "BMS to intensify agitation on Mundari language". oneindia.com. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[4] "Adivasi. Volume 52. Number 1&2. June&December 2012". Page 22

[5] Sidwell, Paul. 2018. "Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018". Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, May 22, 2018.

[6] "Mundari". ethnologue.

[7] "Keeping Munda in mind". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]