Gutob language
The Gutob or Bodo Gadaba language is a Munda language of India, with the greatest concentrations of speakers being found in Koraput district of Odisha and Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. It is also known simply as the Gadaba language, but it is different from the Dravidian Gadaba language. Other names for the Bodo Gadaba language include Gadba, Gutop, Gudwa, Godwa, Gadwa, and Boi Gadaba.
| Gutob | |
|---|---|
| Bodo Gadaba | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Odisha, Andhra Pradesh |
Native speakers | 40,976 (2011)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gbj |
| Glottolog | bodo1267[2] |
Classification
The Gutob language belongs to the South Munda subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family. It is most closely related to the Bondo language.[3]
Distribution
Gutob is spoken across southern Odisha and adjacent districts of northern Andhra Pradesh, and is concentrated primarily in Lamptaput block, Koraput district, southern Odisha (Griffiths 2008:634). In recent centuries, Gutob speakers have also migrated to the plains of Andhra Pradesh as well as Rayagada District, including near the town Majiguda (close to Kalyansinghpur) where they live alongside the Dravidian-speaking Kondhs.
Ethnologue reports the following locations.
- 40 villages of Lamptaput block, Koraput district, southern Odisha
- Khoirput block, Malkangiri district, southern Odisha
- Visakhapatnam district, northern Andhra Pradesh
Language status
The Gutob language is considered to be either endangered or moribund, due in part to a couple of hydroelectric projects that have displaced Gutob people from their traditional villages and forced them to live as minorities in primarily Desiya-speaking villages.[4]
References
- "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bodo Gadaba". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Ethnologue report on the Bodo Gadaba language
- "Literature development in minority language: Case study of Gutob–Gadaba Language Revitalization Project in India" (in .pdf format)
- Griffiths, Arlo. 2008. In Anderson, Gregory D.S (ed). The Munda languages, 633–681. Routledge Language Family Series 3.New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32890-X.