The Gutob or Bodo Gadaba language is a south Munda language of the

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...

language family of

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, with the greatest concentrations of speakers being found in

Koraput district Koraput is a district of India in southern Odisha, with headquarters at Koraput. The district is located in the Eastern Ghats and is known for its hilly terrain, rich and diverse types of mineral deposits and its tribal culture and traditions. Th ...

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

Visakhapatnam district Visakhapatnam district (formerly known as Vizagapatam district) is one of the six districts in the Uttarandhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, headquartered at Visakhapatnam. It is one of the twenty-six districts in Andhra Prad ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It is also known simply as the Gadaba language, but it is different from the Dravidian Gadaba language. Other names for the Bodo Gadaba language include Gadba, Gutop, Gudwa, Godwa, Gadwa, and Boi Gadaba.

Classification

The Gutob language belongs to the South Munda subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family. It is most closely related to the Bondo language.

Distribution

Gutob is spoken across southern

and adjacent districts of northern

, and is concentrated primarily in Lamptaput block,

, southern

(Griffiths 2008:634). In recent centuries, Gutob speakers have also migrated to the plains of Andhra Pradesh as well as

Rayagada District Rayagada district is a district in southern Odisha, a state in India, which became a separate district in October 1992. Its population consists mainly of tribes, primarily the Khonds and the Soras. In addition to Odia, Kui and Sora are s ...

, including near the town Majiguda (close to Kalyansinghpur) where they live alongside the Dravidian-speaking Kondhs. ''Ethnologue'' reports the following locations. *40 villages of Lamptaput block,

, southern

*Khoirput block,

Malkangiri district Malkangiri district is the southwesternmost district in the Indian state of Odisha. It has two Vidhan sabha constituencies. History Local legend claims Valmiki wrote the Ramayana on the banks of the Tamasa river. The region was known as ''Mal ...

, southern

, northern

Language status

The Gutob language is considered to be either

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

moribund Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death. Moribund may refer to: * ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann * " Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun ...

, due in part to several hydroelectric projects that have displaced Gutob people from their traditional villages and forced them to live as minorities in primarily Desiya-speaking villages. Anderson (2008) estimates the number of speakers at around 10 to 15,000, while the Asha Kiran society, which works in Koraput, estimates the number at less than 5,000. The 2011 census most likely counts Gutob and Ollari as the same language, since they are both called Gadaba by outsiders. Although Gutob-language education has been attempted, it has faced stiff resistance and most parents still want their children to learn Desiya only due to being in mixed villages."Literature development in minority language: Case study of Gutob–Gadaba Language Revitalization Project in India"
(in .pdf format)

References

*Griffiths, Arlo. 2008. In Anderson, Gregory D.S (ed). ''The Munda languages'', 633–681. Routledge Language Family Series 3.New York: Routledge. . Languages of India Munda languages Endangered languages of India Endangered Austroasiatic languages {{AustroAsiatic-lang-stub br:Gadabeg