Munda Languages

Munda Languages

Munda languages, which belong to the Austroasiatic language group, are spoken by about 9 million people in northern and central India. Friedrich von Max Müller (1823–1900) first clearly distinguished the family from the Dravidian language family. Some scholars divide the languages into two subfamilies: the North Munda (spoken in the Chota Nagpur plateau of Jharkhand, Orissa, and Bengal), including Satali, Korku, Mundari, Bhumij, and Ho; and the South Munda (spoken in central Orissa and along the border between Andhra Pradesh and Orissa). South Munda is further divided into Central Munda, including Kharia and Juang, and Koraput Munda, including Gutob, Remo, Savara, Juray, and Gorum.

North Munda languages, the more important of the two groups, are spoken by about nine-tenths of Munda speakers. Of these, Santali is the chief language. The Mundari and Ho languages rank next in the number of speakers, followed by Korku and Soara. The remaining Munda languages are spoken by small isolated groups and are little known.

General Characteristics

The Munda languages are polysyllabic and differ from other Austroasiatic languages in their word formation and sentence structure. The structure of the Munda languages is quite different from that of any language in the Indo-European group.

Munda Languages article

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