Sambalpuri () is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in western Odisha, 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. cited in A 2006 survey of the varieties spoken in four villages found 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. These speakers were mostly concentrated in the districts of Bargarh ( speakers), Subarnapur (), Balangir (), Sambalpur (), Jharsuguda (), Nuapada (), Baudh (), Sundargarh () and Kalahandi (11,545).

Script The inscriptions and literary works from the Western Odisha region used the Odia script, 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 and also through the major epic Kosalananda Kavya composed during the 17th century Chauhan rule under Raja Baliar Singh of the Sambalpur State, which was written in Sanskrit in Odia script.

The Devanagari script may have been used in the past, (the Hindi language was mandated in administration and education in Sambalpur for the brief period 18951901)Untitled-13

There are many eminent poets from Sambalpuri language, PadmaShree Haldhar Nag, Khageswar seth, Hemachandra Acharya has contributed a lot for the language.

NRI Poet Prasanta Meher, Poet Ranjit Padhan, Hemanta Deep and many other have made a contribution.

Phonology Sambalpuri has 28 consonant phonemes, 2 semivowel phonemes and 5 vowel phonemes.

+Sambalpuri vowel phonemes FrontCentralBackHigh Mid ()Low

There are no long vowels in Sambalpuri just like Standard Odia.

+Sambalpuri consonant phonemes Labial Alveolar/Dental Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal Stop/Affricate Fricative Trill/Flap ~ Lateral approximant Approximant

Sambalpuri shows the loss of retroflex consonant like voiced retroflex lateral approximant () which are present in Standard Odia, and a limited usage of retroflex unaspirated nasal (voiced retroflex nasal) ().

Characteristics The following is a list of features and comparison with Standard Odia:

Some key features include- r-insertion: insertion or paragoge 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). Voiced retroflex consonant usage: Absence of voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ] (ଳ) and limited usage of voiced retroflex nasal ɳ (ଣ).

Voiced retroflex consonant Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning କଣ (kaṇa) କଣ୍ / କାଣା (kaṇ / kāṇā) what

Word Medial Vowel Deletion: Syncope Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ପଢ଼ିବା (paṛibā) padhibā ପଢ଼୍‌ବାର୍ (paṛbār) padhbār to study ଗାଧେଇବା (gādheibā) ଗାଧ୍‌ବାର୍ (gādhbār) to bathe ହସିବା (hasibā) ହସ୍‌ବାର୍ (hasbār) to laugh ବୁଲିବା (bulibā) ବୁଲ୍‌ବାର୍ (bulbār) to roam ରାନ୍ଧିବା (rāndhibā) ରାନ୍ଧ୍‌ବାର୍ (rāndhbār) to cook ଖେଳିବା (kheḷibā) ଖେଲ୍‌ବାର୍ (khelbār) to play

Exceptions to Word Medial Vowel Deletion: seen in '-ai' diphthongs Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ଖାଇବା (khāibā) ଖାଏବାର୍ (khāebār) to eat ଗାଇବା (gāibā) ଗାଏବାର୍ (gāebār) to sing ପାଇବା (pāibā) ପାଏବାର୍ (pāebār) to get ହାଇ (hāi) ହାଇ (hāi) yawn ଗାଇ (gāi) ଗାଏ (gāe) cow

Vowel Harmony: 'o' to 'u' phoneme shift, feature also seen in Baleswari Odia dialect Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ଶୋଇବା (soibā) ସୁଇବାର୍ (suibār) to sleep ଖୋଜିବା (khojibā) ଖୁଜ୍‌ବାର୍ (khujbār) to search

Lengthening of Vowel Sound: vowels which appear in between consonants take their longer counterpart Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ପାଣି (pāṇi) ପାଏନ୍ (pāen) water ଚାରି (cāri) ଚାଏର୍ (cāer) four

Consonant shift- shift of 'ḷ' phoneme to 'l' Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ଫଳ (phaḷa) ଫଲ୍ (phal) fruit

Word Final Vowel Deletion(Schwa deletion Apocope)- a characteristic feature of Sambalpuri Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ଭଲ (bhala) ଭଲ୍ (bhal) good ବାଘ (bāgha) ବାଘ୍ (bāgh) tiger କୁକୁର (kukura) କୁକୁର୍ (kukur) dog ଲୋକ (loka) ଲୋକ୍ (lok) people ଗଛ (gacha) ଗଛ୍ (gach) tree ଫୁଲ (phula) ଫୁଲ୍ (phul) flower ଭାତ (bhāta) ଭାତ୍ (bhāt) rice ଘର (ghara) ଘର୍ (ghar) house

Sambalpuri words Standard Odia Sambalpuri Meaning ମାଛ (mācha) ଝୁରି (jhuri) fish ବାଣ (bāṇa) ଫଟ୍କା (phatka) firecracker

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 of the Indian constitution.Plea to include Kosli in 8th Schedule of Constitution

Literature

Satya Narayan Bohidar, 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 KathaPanigrahi, Nil Madhab, "Mahabharat Katha", Lark books, Bhubaneswar, 1996, . Haldhar Nag, Sambalpuri poet 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"Nag, Haldhar, "Lokakabi Haladhar Granthabali", compiler – Dwarikanath Nayak, Bidya Prakashan, Cuttack, 2000, (Five PhD theses on this class III-dropout poet) and "Surata". He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016.5 PhD theses on this class III-dropout poet 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.

See also Sambalpuri culture Sambalpuri cinema

References

Bibliography

External links and further reading

Registered newspapers and magazines published in Kosli language