Kui (କୁଇ)(also Kandh, Khondi, Khond, Khondo, Kanda, Kodu (Kōdu), Kodulu, Kuinga (Kūinga), Kuy) is a South-Eastern Dravidian language spoken by the Kandhas. It is mostly spoken in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, and written in the

Odia script The Odia script ( or, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷର, Odiā akṣara, translit-std=ISO) is a Brahmic script used to write primarily Odia language and others including Sanskrit and other regional languages. The script has developed over more ...

. With 941,988 registered native speakers, it figures at rank 29 in the 1991

Indian census The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

. The Kui language was also referred to as the Kuinga language during the historical period. It is closely related to the Gondi and

Kuvi Kuvi is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. The language is one of two spoken by the Kandhas, with the other being the closely related and more dominant Kui language. According to the 2011 Indian census, the ...

languages.

Phonology

Vowels

Kui language has five short vowels and five long vowels. The vowels are illustrated below with romanization and IPA alphabet.

References

External links

Kui basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
Agglutinative languages Dravidian languages Endangered languages of India {{Dr-lang-stub