Kui language (India)

Not to be confused with Kui language (Indonesia) or Kuy language.

Kui (also Kandha, Khondi, Khond, Khondo, Kanda, Kodu (Kōdu), Kodulu, Kuinga (Kūinga), Kuy) is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken by the Kandhas, eastern Indian state of Odisha. It is mostly spoken in Odisha, and written in the Odia script. With 941,988 registered native speakers, it figures at rank 29 in the 1991 Indian census.^[3] The Kui language was also referred to as the Kuinga language during the historical period. It is closely related to the Gondi and Kuvi languages.

Kui
Kanda, Kandha, Khond, Khondi, Khondo, Kodu, Kodulu, Kuinga, Kuy
କୁଈ
Pronunciation	[kuɪ]
Native to	India
Region	Odisha
Ethnicity	Khonds, Dal, Sitha Kandha
Native speakers	941,000 (2011 census)[1]
Language family	Dravidian South-Central Gondi–Kui Kuvi–Kui Kui
Writing system	Odia script Odia Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: uki – Kui (standard) dwk – Dawik Kui
Glottolog	kuii1252
ELP	Kui (India)
Languages in Odisha   Kui language
Kui is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2]

Phonology

Consonants^[4]

		Labial	Dental	Retroflex	Palatal/ P.alv	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɳ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	t͡ʃ	k
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Approximant	central	ʋ ~ b			j
	lateral		l
Fricative			s				h
Flap			ɾ	ɽ

Vowels

Kui language has five short vowels and five long vowels.^[5] The vowels are illustrated below in IPA.^[6]

Vowels^[7]

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i	iː			u	uː
Mid	e	eː			o	oː
Low			a	aː