| Bodo | |
|---|---|
| बड़ो | |
| Spoken in | India, with a few small communities in Nepal |
| Ethnicity | Bodo |
| Native speakers | 1.540 million (2007) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | brx |
Bodo (Devnagari:बोडो) (pronounced [bɔɽo]) is a language that belongs to the branch of Barish section under Baric division of the Tibeto-Burman languages and spoken by the Bodo people of north-eastern India and Nepal. The language is one of the official languages of the Indian state of Assam, and is one of the 22 scheduled languages that is given a special constitutional status in India.
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Bodo language, a branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, is a language of the Bodo group under the Assam-Burmese group of languages. It is closely related to the Dimasa language of Assam and the Garo language of Meghalaya. It is also a very closely related language of Kokborok language spoken in Tripura. The Bodo speaking areas of Assam at present are stretching from Dhubri in the west to Sadiya in the east. In parts of Tripura and Nagaland also there is a small number of the Boros or Boro Kacharis. In Jalpaiguri and other adjacent districts of Bengal, the Boros are known as "Mech". The Bodo language of Assam has atleast four clear-cut dialect-areas with a sufficient number of dialectal variations; there may be called North-eastern, south-western, north-central and southern dialect areas with phonological, morphological and glossarial differences. UGC (University Grants Commission) has included Bodo as subject in NET examination.
Although the Bodo language is a rich and ancient language, it did not written literature until the second decade of the twentieth century. The Christian missionaries, who entered the bodo speaking areas with an intent to preach their religion, publish some books on religion, tales, rhymes and songs. These missionaries also published some books on grammar and dictionary. Reverend Sidney Endle compiled "An Outline of The Kachari Grammar" in 1884. The grammar is based on the dialect of Darrang district. Sidney also wrote an important monograph on the Bodos. The monograph is entitled The Kacharis. The book was published in 1911 and it contains chapters on social customs, agriculture practices, festivities, food habits, life cycle rituals, crafts and textiles of the Bodos. The book has also incorporated specimens of bodo folktales, rhymes and grammars. J.D.Anderson's "A Collection of Bodo Folktales and Rhymes"(1895) incorporated seventeen bodo folktales translate in english, besides the original versions in Bodo Language.
In the aftermath of socio-political awakening and movement launched by the Bodo organizations since 1913, the language was introduced as the medium of instruction (1963) in the primary schools in Bodo dominated areas. Currently, the Bodo language serves as a medium of instruction up to the secondary level and an associated official language in the state of Assam. The language has attained a position of pride with the opening of the Post-Graduate course in Bodo language and literature in the University of Guwahati in 1996. The Bodo language has to its credit large number of books of poetry, drama, short stories, novels, biography, travelogues, children's literature and literary criticism. Though the spoken language has been affected by other communities, especially the Bengalis, in and around Kokrajhar, it is still to be heard in its pure form, in and around Udalguri district.
Chote, Mech. Related to Dimasa, Tripuri, Lalunga, Bore.
The language is officially written using the Devanagari script, although it also has a long history of using the Roman script and Assamese script.[1] Some researchers have suggested that the language originally used a now-lost script called Deodhai.
But there is a difference in using the letters in Bodo than the Devanagari. Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha gathered a few specimen of the Deodhai alphabet from an informant of Dimapur area which was noted for the Kachari reign and remains representing the art and architecture.
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