Ho language

This article is about the Austroasiatic language of India. For the Tibeto-Burman language also known as Ho of China, Vietnam and Laos, see Hani language.

Ho
𑢹𑣉𑣉 𑣎𑣋𑣜, हो जगर, ହୋ ଜାଗାର, হো জাগার
'Hō jagar' written in Warang Chiti
Pronunciation/hoː d͡ʑagar/
Native toIndia
EthnicityHo people
Native speakers
1,421,418 (2011 census)[1]
Austroasiatic
  • Munda
    • North
      • Kherwarian
        • Mundaric
          • Ho
Warang Chiti, Devanagari, Latin script, Odia script[2]
Official status
Official language in
 India
Language codes
ISO 639-3hoc
Glottologhooo1248
Ho language speaking region
Ho is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[3]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
This article contains Warang Citi characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Warang Citi.

Ho (IPA: [hoː d͡ʑagar], Warang Citi: 𑢹𑣉𑣉 𑣎𑣋𑣜) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken primarily in India by about 2.2 million people (0.202% of India's population) per the 2001 census. It is spoken by the Ho, Munda, Kolha and Kol tribal communities of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam[4] and is written using Warang Citi script. Devanagari, Latin and Odia script are also used,[5] although native speakers are said to prefer Warang Chiti, invented by Lako Bodra.[6]

The name Ho is derived from the native word "𑣙𑣉𑣉" meaning human being.[7]

Ho is closely related to Mundari and Santali. Ho and Mundari are often described as sister languages.[7][8] Ho is closer to the Mayurbhanj dialect of Mundari than the Mundari variety spoken in Jharkhand. While being ethnically and linguistically close, Ho and Mundari speakers form distinct regional identities.

  1. ^ "C-16 POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Scripts of Ho". Scriptsource.org. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. ^ Moseley, Christopher; Nicolas, Alexander, eds. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (PDF) (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Tribals seek official tag for Ho language - OrissaPOST". 27 October 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. ^ "The Warang Chiti Alphabet". Swarthmore.edu. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  6. ^ K David Harrison; Gregory Anderson. "Review of Proposal for Encoding Warang Chiti (Hoorthography) in Unicode" (PDF). Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Ho Web Sketch: Ho writing" (PDF). Livingtongues.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  8. ^ Anderson, Gregory S., ed. (2008). The Munda languages (1. publ. ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32890-6.