Odia language

Odia
Oriya
ଓଡ଼ିଆ oḍiā
Pronunciation [ˈoɖia]
Region Odisha, India
Ethnicity Odias
Native speakers
44 million (2007)[1]
Odia alphabet
Odia Braille
Official status
Official language in
 India, Odisha,[2] Jharkhand
Language codes
ISO 639-1 or
ISO 639-2 ori
ISO 639-3 oriinclusive code
Individual codes:
ory  Odia
spv  Sambalpuri
bpv  Dakshni
ort  Adivasi Odia (Kotia)
dso  Desiya (duplicate of [ort])[3]
Glottolog macr1269  partial match[4]
Linguasphere 59-AAF-x

Odia (/əˈdə/) or Oriya (/ɒˈrə/; both renderings of Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଆ  oḍiā ) is a language spoken by 4.2% of India's population.[5] It is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken mostly in eastern India, with around 44 million native speakers as of the year 2016, from the state of Odisha, and 55 million from adjoining regions of its neighboring states and by the largely migrated Odia population across India and different countries of the world.

It is the predominant language of the Indian state of Odisha, where native speakers make up 80% of the population,[6] and also is spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Odia is one of the many official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand.[7][8][9] The language is also spoken by a sizeable population of at least 10 million people in Chhattisgarh.

Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated a Classical Language in India on the basis of having a long literary history and not having borrowed extensively from other languages.[10][11][12][13]

The earliest known inscription in Odia dates back to the 10th century AD.[14]

Geographical distribution

India

Odia language is mainly spoken in the state of Odisha, but there are significant Odia-speaking populations in other areas of India, such as the Midnapore district of West Bengal, the East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum Seraikela Kharsawan district, Simdega, Gumla, Khunti, Ranchi district of Jharkhand, the Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vishakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh, and the eastern districts of Chhattisgarh state. Due to the increasing migration of labour, the west Indian state of Gujarat also has a significant population of Odia speakers, with Surat being the city with the second largest Odia-speaking population in India. Significant numbers of Odia speakers can also be found in the cities of Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Baroda, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Shillong, Pune, and Silvassa.[15]

Foreign countries

The Odia diaspora constitute a sizeable number in several countries around the world, totalling the number of Odia speakers on a global scale to 55 million.[16] It has a significant presence in eastern countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, mainly carried by the sadhaba, ancient traders from Odisha who carried the language along with the culture during the old-day trading,[17] and in western countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and England as well. The language has also spread to Burma, Malaysia, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Middle East countries.[16]

Forms

Standard Odia

Kataki Odia or The Odia of Mughalbandi region is considered as Standard Odia due to literary traditions. It is spoken mainly in the eastern half of the state of Odisha, in districts like Ganjam,Khurdha, Puri, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Dhenkanal, Angul and Nayagarh district with little variation.[18]

Major forms or dialects

Minor non literary and tribal forms or dialects[19]

History

A detailed chart depicting evolution of the Odia script as displayed in a museum at Ratnagiri, Odisha

Odia is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Aryan language family. It is thought to be directly descended from a OdraMagadhi Prakrit similar to Ardha Magadhi, which was spoken in eastern India over 1,500 years ago, and is the primary language used in early Jain texts.[20] Odia appears to have had relatively little influence from Persian and Arabic, compared to other major North Indian languages.

The history of the Odia language is divided into eras:

Eastern Hemisphere in the year 200.

Charyapada of 8th Century and its affinity with Odia language

The beginnings of Odia poetry coincide with the development of charya sahitya, the literature started by Vajrayana Buddhist poets such as in the Charyapada. This literature was written in a specific metaphor called twilight language and prominent poets included Luipa, Tilopa and Kanha. Quite importantly, the Ragas that have mentioned for singing the Charyapadas are found abundantly in latter Odia literature.

Poet Jayadeva's literary contribution

Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet. He was born in an Utkala Brahmin family of Puri in circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort, Radha, and is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism. About the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th, the influence of Jayadeva's literary contribution changed the pattern of versification in Odia.

John Beames, a British author and civil servant in British India who stayed for a considerable time in Odisha and worked for the survival of Odia language quotes:

At a period when Odia was already a fixed and settled language, Bengali did not exist. The Bengalis spoke a vast variety of corrupt forms of Eastern Hindi. It is not till quite recent times that we find anything that can with propriety be called a Bengali language.[27]

We may place the Hindi with its subsidiary forms Gujurati and Punjabi first fixing their rise and establishment as a modern languages distinct from their previous existence as Prakrit till the 12th or 13th century. Odia must have quite completed its transformation by the end of the 14th century. Bengali was no separate independent language but a maze of dialects without a distinct national or provincial type till the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. It was not till the gradual decay of the central Mohammedan power of Delhi enabled the provincial governors to assume an independent position that Bengali severed itself from Hindi and assumed characteristics which now vindicate for its right to be called a separate language.[28]

Phonology

Odia has twenty-eight consonant phonemes, two semivowel phonemes and six vowel phonemes.

Odia vowel phonemes
FrontBack
High iu
Mid eo
Low aɔ

All vowels except /o/ also have nasal counterparts, but these are not always contrastive. Final vowels are standard and pronounced, e.g. Odia [pʰulo] contra Bengali [pʰul] "flower".[29]

Odia consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar
/Dental
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ (ŋ)
Stop/
Affricate
voiceless p ʈ k
voiceless aspirated t̪ʰ ʈʰ tʃʰ
voiced b ɖ ɡ
voiced aspirated d̪ʱ ɖʱ dʒʱ ɡʱ
Fricative s h
Flap ɾ ɺ̢[30]
Lateral approximant l

The velar nasal [ŋ] is given phonemic status in some analyses. Nasals assimilate for place in nasal–stop clusters. /ɖ ɖʱ/ have the flap allophones [ɽ ɽʱ] in intervocalic position and in final position (but not at morpheme boundaries). Stops are sometimes deaspirated between /s/ and a vowel or an open syllable /s/+vowel and a vowel. Some speakers distinguish between single and geminate consonants.[31]

Morphology

Unlike Hindi, Odia retains most of the cases of Sanskrit, though the nominative and vocative have merged (both without a separate marker), as have the accusative and dative. There are three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and two grammatical numbers (singular and plural). There are three true tenses (present, past and future), others being formed with auxiliaries.

Writing system

Literature

The earliest literature in Odia language can be traced to the Charyapadas composed in the 7th to 9th centuries.[32] Before Sarala Das, the most important works in Odia literature are the Shishu Veda, Saptanga, Amara Kosha, Rudrasudhanidhi, Kesaba Koili, Kalasha Chautisha etc.[22][23][24] In the 14th century, the poet Sarala Dasa's wrote the Sarala Mahabharata, Chandi Purana, and Vilanka Ramayana, in praise of the goddess Durga. Rama-bibaha, written by Arjuna Dasa, was the first long poem written in the Odia language.

The following era is termed the Panchasakha Age and stretches until the year 1700. The period begins with the writings of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu whose Vaishnava influence brought in a new evolution in Odia literature. Notable religious works of the Panchasakha Age include those of Balarama Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Yasovanta, Ananta and Acyutananda. The authors of this period mainly translated, adapted, or imitated Sanskrit literature. Other prominent works of the period include the Usabhilasa of Sisu Sankara Dasa, the Rahasya-manjari of Deva-durlabha Dasa and the Rukmini-bibha of Kartikka Dasa. A new form of novels in verse evolved during the beginning of the 17th century when Ramachandra Pattanayaka wrote Haravali. Other poets like Madhusudana, Bhima Bhoi, Dhivara, Sadasiva and Sisu Isvara-dasa composed another form called kavyas (long poems) based on themes from Puranas, with an emphasis on plain, simple language.

However, during the Bhanja Age (also known as the Age of Riti Yuga) beginning with turn of the 18th century, verbally tricky Odia became the order of the day. Verbal jugglery, obscenity and eroticism characterise the period between 1700 and 1850, particularly in the works of the era's eponymous poet Upendra Bhanja (1670–1720). Bhanja's work inspired many imitators of which the most notable is Arakshita Das. Family chronicles in prose relating religious festivals and rituals are also characteristic of the period.

The first Odia printing typeset was cast in 1836 by Christian missionaries. Although the handwritten Odia script of the time closely resembled the Bengali and Assamese scripts, the one adopted for the printed typesets was significantly different, leaning more towards the Tamil script and Telugu script. Amos Sutton produced an Oriya Bible (1840), Oriya Dictionary (1841–43) and[33] An Introductory Grammar of Oriya (1844).[34]

Odia has a rich literary heritage dating back to the thirteenth century. Sarala Dasa who lived in the fourteenth century is known as the Vyasa of Odisha. He translated the Mahabharata into Odia. In fact, the language was initially standardised through a process of translating classical Sanskrit texts such as the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Srimad Bhagabatam. The translation of the Srimad Bhagabatam by Jagannatha Das was particularly influential on the written form of the language. Odia has had a strong tradition of poetry, especially devotional poetry.

Other eminent Odia poets include Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja and Kabisurya Baladev Ratha.

Prose in the language has had a late development.

Three great poets and prose writers, Kabibar Radhanath Ray (1849–1908), Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918) and Madhusudan Rao (1853–1912) made Odia their own. They brought in a modern outlook and spirit into Odia literature. Around the same time the modern drama took birth in the works of Rama Sankara Ray beginning with Kanci-Kaveri (1880).

Among the contemporaries of Fakir Mohan, four novelists deserve special mention: Aparna Panda, Mrutyunjay Rath, Ram Chandra Acharya and Brajabandhu Mishra. Aparna Panda's Kalavati and Brajabandhu Mishra's Basanta Malati were both published in 1902, the year in which Chha Mana Atha Guntha came out in the book form. Brajabandhu Mishra's Basanta Malati, which came out from Bamanda, depicts the conflict between a poor but highly educated young man and a wealthy and highly egoistic young woman whose conjugal life is seriously affected by ego clashes. Through a story of union, separation and reunion, the novelist delineates the psychological state of a young woman in separation from her husband and examines the significance of marriage as a social institution in traditional Indian society. Ram Chandra Acharya wrote about seven novels during 1924-1936. Interestingly all his novels are historical romances based on the historical events in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Odisha. Mrutyunjay Rath's novel, Adbhuta Parinama, published in 1915, centres round a young Hindu who gets converted to Christianity to marry a Christian girl.

One of the great writers in the 19th century was Pandit Krushna Chandra Kar (1907-1995) from Cuttack, who wrote many books for children like Pari Raija, Kuhuka Raija, Panchatantra, Adi Jugara Galpa Mala, etc. He was last felicitated by the Sahitya Academy in the year 1971-72 for his contributions to Odia literature, development of children's fiction, and biographies.

One of the prominent writers of the 19th and 20th centuries was Muralidhar Mallick (1927–2002). His contribution to Historical novels is beyond words. He was last felicitated by the Sahitya Academy in the year 1998 for his contributions to Odia literature. His son Khagendranath Mallick (born 1951) is also a well-known writer. His contribution towards poetry, criticism, essays, story and novels is commendable. He was the former President of Utkal Kala Parishad and also former President of Odisha Geeti Kabi Samaj. Presently he is a member of the Executive Committee of Utkal Sahitya Samaj. Another illustrious writer of the 20th century was Mr. Chintamani Das. A noted academician, he was written more than 40 books including fiction, short stories, biographies and storybooks for children. Born in 1903 in Sriramachandrapur village under Satyabadi block, Chintamani Das is the only writer who has written biographies on all the five 'Pancha Sakhas' of Satyabadi namely Pandit Gopabandhu Das, Acharya Harihara, Nilakantha Das, Krupasindhu Mishra and Pandit Godabarisha. Having served as the Head of the Odia department of Khallikote College, Berhampur, Chintamani Das was felicitated with the Sahitya Akademi Samman in 1970 for his outstanding contribution to Odia literature in general and Satyabadi Yuga literature in particular. Some of his well-known literary creations are 'Bhala Manisha Hua', 'Manishi Nilakantha', 'Kabi Godabarisha', 'Byasakabi Fakiramohan', 'Usha', 'Barabati'.

20th century writers in Odia include Pallikabi Nanda Kishore Bal (1875–1928), Gangadhar Meher (1862–1924), Chintamani Mahanti and Kuntala-Kumari Sabat Utkala-Bharati, besides Niladri Dasa and Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928). The most notable novelists were Umesa Sarakara, Divyasimha Panigrahi, Gopala Praharaja and Kalindi Charan Panigrahi. Sachi Kanta Rauta Ray is the great introducer of the ultra-modern style in modern Odia poetry. Others who took up this form were Godabarisha Mohapatra, Mayadhara Manasimha, Nityananda Mahapatra and Kunjabihari Dasa. Prabhasa Chandra Satpathi is known for his translations of some western classics apart from Udayanatha Shadangi, Sunanda Kara and Surendranatha Dwivedi. Criticism, essays and history also became major lines of writing in the Odia language. Esteemed writers in this field were Professor Girija Shankar Ray, Pandit Vinayaka Misra, Professor Gauri Kumara Brahma, Jagabandhu Simha and Harekrushna Mahatab. Odia literature mirrors the industrious, peaceful and artistic image of the Odia people who have offered and gifted much to the Indian civilization in the field of art and literature. Now Writers Manoj Das's creations motivated and inspired people towards a positive lifestyle .Distinguished prose writers of the modern period include Fakir Mohan Senapati, Madhusudan Das, Godabarisha Mohapatra, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi, Surendra Mohanty, Manoj Das, Kishori Charan Das, Gopinath Mohanty, Rabi Patnaik, Chandrasekhar Rath, Binapani Mohanty, Bhikari Rath, Jagadish Mohanty, Sarojini Sahoo, Yashodhara Mishra, Ramchandra Behera, Padmaja Pal. But it is poetry that makes modern Odia literature a force to reckon with. Poets like Kabibar Radhanath Ray, Sachidananda Routray, Guruprasad Mohanty, Soubhagya Misra, Ramakanta Rath, Sitakanta Mohapatra, Rajendra Kishore Panda, Pratibha Satpathy have made significant contributions towards Indian poetry.

Anita Desai's novella, Translator Translated, from her collection The Art of Disappearance, features a translator of a fictive Odian short story writer; the novella contains a discussion of the perils of translating works composed in regional Indian languages into English.

Four writers in Odia - Gopinath Mohanty, Sachidananda Routray, Sitakant Mahapatra and Pratibha Ray - have been awarded the Jnanpith, a prestigious Indian literary award.

Language sample

The first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Odia:

ସବୁ ମଣିଷ ଜନ୍ମକାଳରୁ ସ୍ୱାଧୀନ । ସେମାନଙ୍କ ମର୍ଯ୍ୟାଦା ଓ ଅଧିକାର ସମାନ । ସେମାନଙ୍କର ପ୍ରଜ୍ଞା ଓ ବିବେକ ନିହିତ ଅଛି । ସେମାନେ ପରସ୍ପର ପ୍ରତି ଭାତୃଭାବ ପୋଷଣ କରି କାର୍ଯ୍ୟ କରିବା ଦରକାର ।
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

References

  1. Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin
  2. Bureau, Odishatv. "Odia as official language from tomorrow; linguists doubtful on efficacy of Act | Odisha Television Limited". odishatv.in. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  4. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Macro-Oriya". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  5. http://www.internetworldstats.com/languages.htm
  6. Mahapatra, B.P. (2002). Linguistic Survey of India: Orissa (PDF). Kolkata, India: Language Division, Office of the Registrar General. p. 14. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  7. "Oriya gets its due in neighbouring state- Orissa- IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  8. Naresh Chandra Pattanayak (2011-09-01). "Oriya second language in Jharkhand - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  9. "Bengali, Oriya among 12 dialects as 2nd language in Jharkhand". daily.bhaskar.com. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  10. http://odisha.gov.in/e-magazine/orissareview/2014/mar/engpdf/5-14.pdf
  11. "Odia gets classical language status". The Hindu. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  12. "Odia becomes sixth classical language". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  13. "Milestone for state as Odia gets classical language status". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  14. Pattanayak, Debi Prasanna; Prusty, Subrat Kumar. Classical Odia (PDF). Bhubaneswar: KIS Foundation. p. 54. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  15. "Official and Regional Languages of India". 2011-01-25. Archived from the original on 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  16. 1 2 Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology (2003). Man and Life. 29. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  17. Subhakanta Behera (2002). Construction of an identity discourse: Oriya literature and the Jagannath cult (1866-1936). Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  18. Oriya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  19. Rabindra Nath Pati, Jagannatha Dash (2002). Tribal and Indigenous People of India: Problems and Prospects. New Delhi: APH PUBLISHING CORPORATION. pp. 51–59. ISBN 81-7648-322-2.
  20. Misra, Bijoy (April 11, 2009). Oriya Language and Literature (PDF) (Lecture). Languages and Literature of India. Harvard University.
  21. Classical Odia (PDF). Bhubaneswar: Government of Odisha. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  22. 1 2 Patnaik, Durga (1989). Palm Leaf Etchings of Orissa. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. p. 11. ISBN 978-8170172482.
  23. 1 2 Panda, Shishir (1991). Medieval Orissa: A Socio-economic Study. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 106. ISBN 978-8170992615.
  24. 1 2 Patnaik, Nihar (1997). Economic History of Orissa. New Delhi: Indus Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 978-8173870750.
  25. Sukhdeva (2002). Living Thoughts of the Ramayana. Jaico Publishing House. p. 7. ISBN 978-81-7992-002-2.
  26. Sujit Mukherjee (1998). A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850. Orient Blackswan. p. 420. ISBN 978-81-250-1453-9.
  27. Beames, Comparative Grammar of Four Languages Vol I, p. 119
  28. Beames, Comparative Grammar of Four Languages, Vol I, p.120
  29. Ray (2003:488–489)
  30. Masica (1991:97)
  31. Ray (2003:490–491)
  32. Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections. Sahitya Akademi. 1997-01-01. ISBN 9788126003655.
  33. Biswamoy Pati Situating social history: Orissa, 1800-1997 p30
  34. The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (Devraj To Jyoti): 2 p1030 ed. Amaresh Datta - 2006 "Amos Sutton also prepared a dictionary named Sadhu bhasharthabhidhan, a vocabulary of current Sanskrit terms with Odia definitions which was also printed in Odisha Mission Press in 1844."

Further reading

  • Tripathi, Kunjabihari (1962). The Evolution of Oriya Language and Script (PDF). Cuttack: Utkal University. Archived from the original on 2013-05-10. 
  • Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2. 
  • Neukom, Lukas; Patnaik, Manideepa (2003). A Grammar of Oriya. Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Zürich. Zurich: University of Zurich. ISBN 9783952101094. 
  • Ray, Tapas S. (2003). "Oriya". In Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh. The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. pp. 485–522. ISBN 978-0-7007-1130-7. 
  • Rabindra Nath Pati, Jagannatha Dash (2002). Tribal and Indigenous People of India: Problems and Prospects. India: APH PUBLISHING CORPORATION. pp. 51–59. ISBN 81-7648-322-2. 
  • Ghosh, A. (2003). An ethnolinguistic profile of Eastern India: a case of South Orissa. Burdwan: Dept. of Bengali (D.S.A.), University of Burdwan.
  • Mohanty, Prasanna Kumar (2007). The History of: History of Oriya Literature (Oriya Sahityara Adya Aitihasika Gana).
  • "Oriya Language and Literature" (PDF). Odia.org. Retrieved 2012-11-29. 
Odia edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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