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Languages of Orissa
A direct descendant of eastern Magadhi, Oriya is the
principal and regional language of Orissa. Belonging to
the Aryan family of languages, it is closely related to
Assamese, Bengali and Maithili. Under the influence of
neighboring regional languages of the Aryan and
Dravidian families, Oriya has developed many linguistic
variations, such as Baleswari (Balasore), Bhatri (Koraput),
Laria (Sambalpur), Sambalpuri (Sambalpur and other
western districts), Ganjami (Ganjam and Koraput),
Chhatisgarhi (Chhatisgarh and adjoining areas of Orissa)
and Medinipuri (Midnapur district of West Bengal).
Besides, hilly regions of north and south Orissa
have their own local versions of Oriya with many
linguistic peculiarities. The first dated, inscription
in Oriya goes back to 1051 AD discovered at Urajang. But
some of the recent discoveries of Sanskrit inscriptions
with Oriya words reported from certain areas of the
ancient Kalinga Empire push back its lineage to the 6th
century AD.
The Oriya script, descending from Brahmi, has been
given Dravidian finish, probably during the reign of the
Ganga kings. And the shape was admirably adapted to
writing on processed palm leaves with an iron stylus.
Orissa is one of the most beautiful states of
India, which is full of mesmerizing natural beauty. The
people of this state are very hospitable and welcome the
guests with open arms. The official language of Orissa
is Oriya, which is spoken by the majority (84%) of the
population. It is also one of the most prominent and one
of the oldest languages of India. The other major
languages spoken in the state are Hindi, Urdu, Bengali
and Telugu. English language is spoken only by a few
literate people in Orissa.
Oriya is a part of the Aryan family of languages and
seems to be very closely associated with Assamese,
Bengali and Maithili. There are a large number of
variations in the way Oriya language is spoken. These
variations consist of Baleswari (Balasore), Sambalpuri (Sambalpur
and other western districts), Laria (Sambalpur), Bhatri
(Koraput), Ganjami (Ganjam and Koraput), etc. There are
also noticeable differences in the languages spoken by
the people belonging to the hilly regions of north and
south Orissa. |
