Rabha is a Sino-Tibetan language of

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. The two dialects, Maitori and Rongdani, are divergent enough to cause problems in communication. According to U.V. Joseph, there are three dialects, viz. Rongdani, Maitori and Kocha (page ix). Joseph writes that "the Kocha dialect, spoken along the northern bank of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

, is highly divergent and is not intelligible to a Rongdani or Maitori speaker" (page ix). Joseph also writes that "The dialect variations between Rongdani and Maitori, both of which are spoken on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, in the Goalpara district of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and belong to the northern slopes of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

, are minimal" (pages ix-x). He concludes the paragraph on dialectal variation with: "The Rongdani-Maitori dialectal differences become gradually more marked as one moves further west" (page x). In 2007, U.V. Joseph published a grammar of Rabha with Brill in their series Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region.

A representation of different Rabha dialects

A representation of different Rabha numbers

Geographical distribution

According to the ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

'', Rabha is spoken in the following areas of India. * Darrang district, Goalpara district, and Kamrup district, western

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

* Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar district,

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

* Tufanganj subdivision, Koch Bihar district * East Garo Hills district and West Garo Hills district,

There are also 1,600 Rabha in 9 districts of

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

.Joshua Project

References

Sal languages Endangered languages of India Languages of Assam {{st-lang-stub

A representation of different Rabha dialects

A representation of different Rabha numbers

Geographical distribution

See also

References