, states=India , region=

Western Odisha Western Odisha or the western part of Odisha, India, extending from the Kalahandi district in the south to the Sundargarh district in the north. History Historically It's a region of 'Greater Kalinga' & ruled by various dynastys. * Mahamegha ...

, image=

, imagecaption= 'Sambalpuri' in

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 mor ...

, speakers = million , date = 2011 census , ref= , familycolor=Indo-European , fam2= Indo-Iranian , fam3= Indo-Aryan , fam4=

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, fam5= Odia , script= Odia , iso3=spv , glotto=samb1325 , glottoname=Sambalpuri , glotto2=west2384 , glottoname2=Western Oriya , glottorefname2=Western Oriya , map = Sambalpuri speaking areas.png , mapcaption= Sambalpuri speaking areas(dialect continuum in green) in Odisha and Chhattisgarh Sambalpuri is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in

western Odisha Western Odisha or the western part of Odisha, India, extending from the Kalahandi district in the south to the Sundargarh district in the north. History Historically It's a region of 'Greater Kalinga' & ruled by various dynastys. * Mahamegha ...

, India. It is alternatively known as Western Odia, and as Kosali (with variants ''Kosli'', ''Koshal'' and ''Koshali''), a recently popularised but controversial term, which draws on an association with the historical region of Dakshina Kosala, whose territories also included the present-day Sambalpur region. Its speakers usually perceive it as a separate language, while outsiders have seen it as a dialect of Odia, and standard Odia is used by Sambalpuri speakers for formal communication. A 2006 survey of the varieties spoken in four villages found out that they share three-quarters of their basic vocabulary with Standard Odia.

Geographical Distribution

There were million people in India who declared their language to be Sambalpuri at the 2011 census, almost all of them residents 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 ...

. These speakers were mostly concetrated in the districts of

Bargarh Bargarh is a city and municipality in Bargarh district in the state of odisha in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bargarh District. Bargarh is popularly known for intensive cultivation of 'paddy', therefore called "Bhata Handi" o ...

( speakers), Subarnapur (),

Balangir Balangir also known as Bolangir, is a city and municipality, the headquarters of Balangir district in the state of Odisha, India. Balangir has one of the best cultural heritage in India. It is also known as one of the finest places for tourists ...

(),

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Sam ...

(),

Jharsuguda Jharsuguda is a city and district headquarters of Jharsuguda district of Odisha, India. It is an industrial hub, consisting mainly of metallurgical industries. It is well connected to major cities of India through the rail network, and a rece ...

(),

Nuapada Nuapada is a town in western region of Odisha state of eastern India. It is the headquarter of Nuapada district. Nuapada district was carved out of the undivided Kalahandi district on 27 March 1993. It is on the western border of Odisha with Ch ...

(), Baudh (), and Sundargarh ().

Script

The inscriptions and literary works from the

region used the

, which is attested through the inscriptions like the Stambeswari stone inscription of 1268 CE laid by the Eastern Ganga monarch Bhanu Deva I at Sonepur and the Meghla grant and Gobindpur charter of Raja Prithvi Sing of

Sonepur State Sonepur also known as Sonpur State, was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. Its ruler was entitled to a nine gun salute. Formerly it was placed under the Central India Agency, but in 1905 it was transferred ...

and also through the major epic

Kosalananda Kavya Kosalananda Kavyam is a Sanskrit work written on a palm-leaf manuscript in Odia script, in 1663 CE by Pandit Gangadhara Mishra. The work is an important epic of Sanskrit literature about the history of Chauhan rule in Western Odisha region. Pandit ...

composed during the 17th century Chauhan rule under Raja Baliar Singh of the

Sambalpur State Sambalpur State, also known as Hirakhand Kingdom was a sovereign state founded in the 1570 CE. It ruled over a vast kingdom spread across Western Odisha and Eastern Chhattisgarh in central-eastern India prior to the Maratha occupation in 1800 AD ...

, which was written in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. The

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

script may have been used in the past, (the Hindi language was mandated in administration and education in Sambalpur for the brief period 18951901)

Phonology

Sambalpuri has 28 consonant phonemes, 2 semivowel phonemes and 5 vowel phonemes. There are no long vowels in Sambalpuri just like Standard Odia. Sambalpuri shows loss of retroflex consonants like retroflex unaspirated nasal( voiced retroflex nasal) () and

voiced retroflex lateral approximant The voiced retroflex lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some Speech, spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l`. The retrofl ...

() which are present in Standard Odia.

Characteristics

The following is a list of features and comparison with Standard Odia: Some key features include- * r-insertion: insertion or paragogue of /r/ at the end of Sambalpuri verbs * Word Medial Vowel Deletion - Syncope of certain word medial vowels, with exceptions seen in -ai diphthongs. * Vowel Harmony - a shift of /o/ to /u/. This is also seen in the Baleswari Odia dialect and to an extent the Ganjami Odia dialect. * Word Final Vowel Deletion - Apocope of word-final schwa (see Schwa deletion). Word Medial Vowel Deletion- Syncope Exceptions to Word Medial Vowel Deletion- seen in '-ai' diphthongs Vowel Harmony- 'o' to 'u' phoneme shift, feature also seen in Baleswari Odia dialect Lengthening of Vowel Sound - vowels which appear in between consonants take their longer counterpart Consonant shift- shift of 'ṇ' and 'ḷ' phonemes to 'n' and 'l' Word Final Vowel Deletion( Schwa deletion Apocope)- a characteristic feature of Sambalpuri Sambalpuri words

Language movement

There has been a language movement campaigning for the recognition of the language. Its main objective has been the inclusion of the language into the

8th schedule There is no national language in India. However, article 343(1) of the Indian constitution specifically mentions that, "The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official pur ...

of the Indian constitution.

Literature

Satya Narayan Bohidar Satya Narayan Bohidar (1 August 1913 – 31 December 1980) was a Sambalpuri writer. He is Known as the pioneer of Sambalpuri language and grammar Life Bohidar was born at Sonepur, Orissa, Sonepur. His formative and creative years were spent in ...

– writer and pioneer of Sambalpuri literature. Notable works include Ṭikcaham̐rā (1975), Sambalapurī bhāshāra sabda-bibhaba : bā, Saṃkshipta Sambalapurī byākaraṇa o racanā (1977) * Prayag Dutta Joshi- Sambalpuri writer *Nil Madhab Panigrahi– Wrote Mahabharat Katha * Haldhar Nag– Famous Sambalpuri poet and popularly known as "Lok kabi Ratna". His notable Sambalpuri works are- ''Lokgeet'', ''Samparda'', ''Krushnaguru'', ''Mahasati Urmila'', ''Tara Mandodari'', ''Achhia'', ''Bacchhar'', ''Siri Somalai'', ''Veer Surendra Sai'', ''Karamsani'', ''Rasia Kavi'', ''Prem Paechan''. His works has been compiled into "Lokakabi Haladhar Granthabali" and "Surata". He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 2016. *Prafulla Kumar Tripathy– Compiled the Sambalpuri-Odia Dictionary- 'Samalpuri Odia Shabdakosha' (2001). *Hema Chandra Acharya- Wrote 'Ram Raha' (2001), the Sambalpuri version of the Ramayana.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links and further reading

*
Registered newspapers and magazines published in Kosli language
* {{Western Orissa Languages of Odisha Odia language Eastern Indo-Aryan languages