Mundari language

Mundari
ମୁଣ୍ଡା, মুন্ডা, मुंडारि
Native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal
Ethnicity Munda
Native speakers
 1,128,228 (2011 census)[1]
Austroasiatic
Dialects
  • Bhumij
Mundari Bani, Devanagari, Eastern Nagari script, Oriya script, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 unr – inclusive code
Individual code:
unx – Kili (called "Munda" in the census)
Glottolog mund1320[2]

Mundari (Muɳɖa) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken by the Munda people in eastern India (primarily Assam and Jharkhand), Bangladesh, and Nepal. It is closely related to Santali and Ho. Mundari Bani, a script specifically to write Mundari, was invented by Rohidas Singh Nag.[3][4] It has also been written in Devanagari, Odia, Eastern Nagari, and Latin.

Dialects

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.

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. [5]

Phonology

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

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 iu
Mid eo
Open a

Consonants

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 pt̪ʈt͡ɕk ʔ
aspirated (pʰ)(t̪ʰ)(ʈʰ)(t͡ɕʰ)(kʰ)
voiced bd̪ɖd͡ʑg
Fricative s̪ h
Nasal m n̪ ɳ ɲ ŋ
Approximant w l ɽ j
Trill r

Counting

MundariTransliterationTranslation
मिसाMissa Once
बरसाBirsaTwice
अपिसाApisaThrice
उपनुसाUpnisafour times
मोंड़ेसाMondesaFive times
तुरिसाTurisaSix times
ए'साEh saSeven times
इरलसाErklsaEight Times
अरे-साAre saNine times
गेलसाGelsaTen times

Relations

MundariTransliterationTranslation
ऐंन्गाEngaMother
आपूमApumFather
हग्गाHaggaBrother
मिस्सीMissiSister
गुयाGuyaSister/brother of sister/brother in law
गतिंगGatinFriend

Verb

MundariTransliterationTranslation
रिकाएआ-करेगाRikā'ē'āDoes
ओलेआOl'ē'āWrite
जगरेआJagor'ē'ā Talk
पढ़वएआPadv'ē'āRead
लेलेआLel'ē'āLook/ See
सेनेआSen'ē'āCome along with
नमेआNem'ē'āFound
निरेआ Nir'ē'āRun
सबेआSab'ē'āHold
लेका एआLeka'ē'āCount
मुकाएआMuka'ē'āMeasure
रिका एआRika'ē'āCut

Samples

MundariTransliterationTranslation
सिंग बोंगा मरांग बोंगा ।Sing bonga marang bongaSun is almighty.
अमा नुतुम चिना ?Amā nutum chénāWhat is your name?
अायं नुतुम रिमिल तना ।A̔iy lutum Rimil tanā.My name is Rimil.
अम कोते सेनो तना?Am kōtēm sēnō tanāWhere are you going?
नेते हुजू मेंNētē hijū mēCome here.
अम चिल्का मेना ?Am chilkā mēnāmeHow are you?
आलोम नाक खुजाओ मेंĀlama nāka khujā'ō maiṁDon't scratch your nose.
जागर लाई पैसा लॉगो।Jāgar natin paisā lagawaTalking costs money.
अम सिनेमा लाई सेनो तना चि का ?Ām cinēmā lel sēnō tanā cī .Will you go to Cinema?
अम चिकम चिका ताना ?Am kanam cekā tānā?What are you doing?
एमके चिकना मेना ?Ēmakē cikanā mēnā?you have any problem
अम कोते ते हिजु ताना ?Ām kōtēm senoh tānā?Where did you go?
अम कोते ते हिजु ताना ?Koteyam hijuh tan Where are you coming from?
थड़ीआThaṛī'āUtensils.
बहाBaāFlower.
हइः Hai Fish
हइःपसे Hai pase Fishing

References

  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 2018-07-07.
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Mundari". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  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. ↑ "Keeping Munda in mind - Pune Mirror -". punemirror.in. 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.

Further reading

  • Evans, Nicholas & Toshki Osada. 2005a. Mundari: the myth of a language without word classes. In Linguistic Typology 9.3, pp. 351–390.
  • Evans, Nicholas & Toshki Osada. 2005b. Mundari and argumentation in word-class analysis. In Linguistic Typology 9.3, pp. 442–457
  • Hengeveld, Kees & Jan Rijkhoff. 2005. Mundari as a flexible language. In Linguistic Typology 9.3, pp. 406–431.
  • Newberry, J. (2000). North Munda dialects: Mundari, Santali, Bhumia. Victoria, B.C.: J. Newberry. ISBN 0-921599-68-4

Texts

  • Johann Hoffmann (1903). Mundari grammar. Bengal Secretariat Press. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  • J. C. Whitley (1873). A Mundári Primer. Bengal Secretariat Press. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  • Carl Gustav R.E. Alfred Nottrott (1882). Grammatik der Kolh-Sprache. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  • Four gospels in Mundari. Bible Society. 1881. Retrieved 25 August 2012.


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