Munda languages
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Munda Languages are spoken in north east India. Mundari and Kolh are famous languages of this group. Munda languages are spoken by about 9,000,000 people in east-central and central India. Most linguists classify the Munda languages together with the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia into the Austroasiatic language family. The origins of the Munda languages are not firmly established; it is generally thought that the Munda languages are autochthonous languages of eastern India.
Elements of the Munda languages influenced other Indian languages like Sanskrit and the Dravidian languages. Some scholars divide the languages into two subfamilies: the North Munda (spoken in the Chota Nagpur Plateau of Jharkhand, Bengal, and Orissa) including Korku, Santhali, Mundari, Bhumij, and Ho; and the South Munda (spoken in central Orissa and along the border between Andhra Pradesh and Orissa). The latter family is further split into Central Munda, including Kharia and Juang, and Koraput Munda, including Gutob, Remo, Sora (Savara), Juray, and Gorum. The classification of these languages is controversial.
North Munda (of which Santhali is the chief language) is the more important of the two groups; its languages are spoken by about nine-tenths of Munda speakers. After Santhali, the Mundari and Ho languages rank next in number of speakers, followed by Korku and Sora. The remaining Munda languages are spoken by small, isolated groups of people and are little known.
Characteristics of the Munda languages include three numbers (singular, dual, and plural), two gender classes (animate and inanimate) for nouns, and the use of either suffixes or auxiliaries for indicating the tenses of verb forms. In Munda sound systems, consonant sequences are infrequent, except in the middle of a word. Except in Korku, where syllables show a distinction between high and low tone, accent is predictable in the Munda languages.
Munda languages
- North Munda languages
- Kherwari languages
- Agaria language
- Bijori language
- Koraku language
- Mundari languages
- Santali languages
- Korku language
- Kherwari languages
- South Munda languages
- Kharia-Juang languages
- Koraput Munda languages
- Gutob-Remo-Geta languages
- Sora-Juray-Gorum languages