Kurukh language

Kurukh
Kurux, Oraon, Uraon
कुँड़ुख़, কুড়ুখ্, କୁଡ଼ୁଖ୍
'Kuṛux' or 'Kuṅṛux' in Kurukh Banna alphabet (top) and Tolong Siki alphabet (bottom)
'Kuṛux' or 'Kuṅṛux' in Kurukh Banna alphabet (top) and Tolong Siki alphabet (bottom)
Native toIndia, Bangladesh, and Nepal
RegionOdisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Tripura[1]
Ethnicity
Native speakers
2.28 million (2002–2011)[2][1][3]
Dialects
  • Oraon
  • Kisan
  • Dhangar
Devanagari
Kurukh Banna
Tolong Siki
Official status
Official language in
 India
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
kru – Kurux
xis – Kisan
Glottologkuru1301
ELPNepali Kurux

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.

  1. ^ a b "Kurux". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  2. ^ "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 2018-07-07.
  3. ^ "Kurux, Nepali". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  4. ^ "Kurukh". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  5. ^ "Glottolog 4.5 - Nepali Kurux".
  6. ^ Evans, Lisa (15 April 2011). "Endangered Languages: The Full List". The Guardian.