Kurukh language

Kurukh (/ˈkʊrʊx/ or /ˈkʊrʊk/;^[4] Devanagari: कुँड़ुख़, Kurukh pronunciation: [/kũɽux/]), also Kurux, Oraon or Uranw,^[5] is a North Dravidian language spoken by the Kurukh (Oraon) and Kisan people of East India. It is spoken by about two million people in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Tripura, as well as by 65,000 in northern Bangladesh, 28,600 of a dialect called Uranw in Nepal and about 5,000 in Bhutan. The most closely related language to Kurukh is Malto; together with Brahui, all three languages form the North Dravidian branch of the Dravidian language family. It is marked as being in a "vulnerable" state in UNESCO's list of endangered languages.^[6] The Kisan dialect has 206,100 speakers as of 2011.

Kurukh
Kurux, Oraon, Uraon
कुँड़ुख़, কুড়ুখ্, କୁଡ଼ୁଖ୍
'Kuṛux' or 'Kuṅṛux' in Kurukh Banna alphabet (top) and Tolong Siki alphabet (bottom)
Native to	India, Bangladesh, and Nepal
Region	Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Tripura[1]
Ethnicity	Kurukh Kisan
Native speakers	2.28 million (2002–2011)[2][1][3]
Language family	Dravidian Northern Dravidian Kurukh–Malto Kurukh
Dialects	Oraon Kisan Dhangar
Writing system	Devanagari Odia Kurukh Banna Tolong Siki
Official status
Official language in	India Jharkhand (additional) West Bengal (additional)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kru – Kurux xis – Kisan
Glottolog	kuru1301
ELP	Nepali Kurux

Classification

Kurukh belongs to the Northern Dravidian group of the Dravidian family languages,^[7] and is closely related to Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag Paharia, which are often together referred to as Malto.^[8]

Dravidian language tree

Writing systems

Kurukh Banna script chart for the Kurukh language

Tolong Siki script (bold), next to Devanagari and Latin script

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

In 1991, Basudev Ram Khalkho from Odisha released the Kurukh Banna script. In Sundargarh district of Odisha the Kurukh Banna alphabet is taught and promoted by Kurukh Parha. Fonts have been developed and people are using it widely in books, magazines and other material. The alphabet is also used by Oraon people in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Jharkhand and Assam.^[9]

In 1999, Narayan Oraon, a doctor, invented the alphabetic Tolong Siki script specifically for Kurukh. Many books and magazines have been published in Tolong Siki script, and it saw official recognition by the state of Jharkhand in 2007. The Kurukh Literary Society of India has been instrumental in spreading the Tolong Siki script for Kurukh literature.^[10][11]

For Grignard's and Hahn's classifications,"Tolong Siki is the better fit because it is inherently designed to represent the unique phonetics and phonology of the Kurukh language as identified by these linguists."

Kurukh Bana (Devanagari), though practical, requires significant modifications to achieve the same level of phonetic precision.

If linguistic fidelity is the priority, Tolong Siki aligns better with both Grignard's and Hahn's classifications. However, for widespread adoption, Devanagari can be adapted but will need careful phonetic mapping to respect these classifications.

Geographical distribution

Distribution of Kurukh in India, 2011 census

1. Jharkhand (47.89%)
2. Chhattisgarh (25.99%)
3. West Bengal (8.65%)
4. Odisha (6.84%)
5. Bihar (4.43%)
6. Assam (3.69%)
7. Other (2.51%)

In India, Kurukh language mostly spoken in Raigarh, Surguja, Jashpur of Chhattisgarh, Gumla, Ranchi, Lohardaga, Latehar, simdega of Jharkhand; Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Sambalpur district of Odisha.

It is also spoken in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura states by Kurukh who are mostly Tea-garden workers.^[1]

Speakers

It is spoken by 2,053,000 people from the Oraon and Kisan tribes, with 1,834,000 and 219,000 speakers respectively. The literacy rate is 23% in Oraon and 17% in Kisan. Despite the large number of speakers, the language is considered to be endangered.^[12] The governments of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have introduced the Kurukh language in schools with majority Kurukhar students. Jharkhand and West Bengal both list Kurukh as an official language of their respective states.^[13] Bangladesh also has some speakers.

Phonology

Vowels

Kurukh has five cardinal vowels. Each vowel has long, short nasalized and long nasalized counterparts.^{[14][page needed]}

Kurukh simple vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

Consonants

The table below illustrates the articulation of the consonants.^{[14][page needed]}

Kurukh consonants

			Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			m	n	(ɳ)	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	plain	p	t	ʈ	tʃ	k	ʔ
		aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ
	voiced	plain	b	d	ɖ	dʒ	ɡ
		aspirated	bʱ	dʱ	ɖʱ	dʒʱ	ɡʱ
Fricative				s		(ʃ)	x	h
Rhotic		plain		ɾ	ɽ
		aspirated			ɽʱ
Glide			w	l		j

• Medially voiced aspirates and voiced plosives + /h/ contrast, there are some minimal pairs like /dʱandha:/ "astonishment" and /dʱandʱa:/ "exertion". Clusters of voiced aspirates and /h/ are possible too as in /madʒʱhi:/ "middle" and /madʒʱis/ "zamindar's agent".^[15]
• Of the nasals, /m, n/ are phonemic; [ɳ] only occurs before retroflex plosives; /ŋ/ mostly occurs before other velars but can occur finally with deletion of previous /g/, there are cases where /ŋg/ and /ng/ contrast; /ɲ/ mostly occurs before post alveolars but /j/ can become /ɲ/ around nasal vowels as in /paɲɲa:/ (or /pãjja:/).^[16]

Education

Kurukh languages is taught as a subject in the schools of Jharkhand, Chhattishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam.^[17]

Sample phrases

Phrases	English Translation
Nighai endra naame?	What is your name?
Neen ekase ra'din?	How are you? (Girl)
Neen ekase ra'dai?	How are you? (Boy)
Een korem ra'dan.	I am fine.
Neen ekshan kalalagdin?	Where are you going? (Girl)
Neen ekshan kalalagday?	Where are you going? (Boy)
Endra manja?	What happened?
Ha'an	Yes
Malla	No
Een mokha Lagdan.	I am eating.
Neen mokha.	You eat.
Neen ona.	You drink
Aar mokha lagnar.	They are eating.
Daw makha	Good Night

Sample text

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Devanagari script

होर्मा आलारिन् हक् गहि बारे नू मल्लिन्ता अजादि अरा आण्टें मन्ना गहि हक़् ख़खर्कि रै। आरिन् लुर् अरा जिया गहि दव् बौसा ख़खकि रै अरा तम्है मझि नू मेल्-प्रें गहि बेव्हार् नन्ना चहि।

Latin script

Hōrmā ālārin hak gahi bāre nū mallintā azādi arā aṅṭēm mannā gahi haq xakharki raī. Ārin lur arā jiyā gahi dav bausā xakhakī raī arā tumhē majhi nū mēl-prēm gahi bēvhār nannā nā cahi.

Alternative names and dialects

Kurukh has a number of alternative names such as Uraon, Kurux, Kunrukh, Kunna, Urang, Morva, and Birhor. Two dialects, Oraon and Kisan, have 73% intelligibility between them. Oraon but not Kisan is currently being standardised. Kisan is currently endangered, with a decline rate of 12.3% from 1991 to 2001.^[18]