Odia language


Odia is a classical Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha, where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Odia is one of the official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand. The Odia language has various various dialects, including the Baleswari Odia, Kataki, Dhenkanalia, Anugulia, Ganjami Odia, Sundargadi Odia, Sambalpuri Odia, Desia and [|Tribal Community dialects] spoken by the tribal groups in Odisha who adopted the Odia language.
Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated a classical language. It traces its linguistic roots to the Eastern Magadhi Prakrit, evolving through stages such as Proto Odia, Old Odia, Middle Odia, and Modern Odia. The language displays a distinct phonological and morphological character shaped by centuries of interaction with tribal and Dravidian tongues. Recognized as a classical language of India, Odia has an unbroken literary tradition, with inscriptions dating back over a thousand years.

History

Odia is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Aryan language family. It descends from Odra Prakrit which itself evolved from Magadhi Prakrit. The latter was spoken in east India over 1,500 years ago, and is the primary language used in early Jain and Buddhist texts. Odia appears to have had relatively little influence from Persian and Arabic, compared to other major Indo-Aryan languages.
The history of the Odia language is divided into eras:
  • Proto-Odia : Inscriptions from 9th century shows the evolution of proto-Odia, i.e. Odra Prakrit or Oriya Prakrit words used along with Sanskrit. The inscriptions are dated to third quarter of 9th century during the reign of early Eastern Gangas.
  • Old Odia : Inscriptions from the 10th century onwards provide evidence for the existence of the Old Odia language, with the earliest inscription being the Urajam inscription of the Eastern Gangas written in Old Odia in 1051 CE. Old Odia written in the form of connected lines is found in inscription dated to 1249 CE.
  • Early Middle Odia : The earliest use of prose can be found in the Madala Panji of the Jagannath Temple at Puri, which dates back to the 12th century. Such works as Sisu Beda, Amarakosa, Gorekha Samhita, Kalasa Chautisa and Saptanga are written in this form of Odia.
  • Middle Odia : Sarala Das writes the Mahabharata and Bilanka Ramayana. Towards the 15th century, Panchasakha 'five seer poets' namely Balarama Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Achyutananda Dasa, Sisu Ananta Dasa and Jasobanta Dasa wrote a number of popular works, including the Odia Bhagabata, Jagamohana Ramayana, Lakshmi Purana, Haribansa, Gobinda Chandra and more. Balarama Dasa, Ananta Dasa and Achyutananda Dasa of Pancha Sakha group hailed from Karana community.
  • Late Middle Odia : Usabhilasa of Sisu Sankara Dasa, the Rahasya Manjari of Deba Durlabha Dasa and the Rukmini Bibaha of Kartika Dasa were written. Upendra Bhanja took a leading role in this period with his creations Baidehisa Bilasa, Koti Brahmanda Sundari, Labanyabati which emerged as landmarks in Odia Literature. Dinakrushna Dasa's Rasakallola and Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara's Bidagdha Chintamani were prominent latter kabyas. Of the song poets who spearheaded Odissi music, classical music of the state – Upendra Bhanja, Banamali, Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha, Gopalakrusna were prominent. Bhima Bhoi emerged towards the end of the 19th century.
  • Modern Odia : The first Odia magazine, Bodha Dayini was published in Balasore in 1861. During this time many Bengali scholars claimed that Odia was just a dialect of Bengali to exercise of power by cornering government jobs. For instance Pandit Kanti Chandra Bhattacharya, a teacher of Balasore Zilla School, published a little pamphlet named "Odia Ekti Swatantray Bhasha Noi" where Bhattacharya claimed that Odia was not a separate and original form of language and was a mere corruption of Bengali. He suggested British Government to abolish all Odia Vernacular Schools from Odisha and to alter into Bengali Vernacular Schools. The first Odia newspaper Utkala Deepika, launched in 1866 under editors Gourishankar Ray and Bichitrananda. In 1869 Bhagavati Charan Das started another newspaper, Utkal Subhakari. More Odia newspapers soon followed like Utkal Patra, Utkal Hiteisini from Cuttack, Utkal Darpan and Sambada Vahika from Balasore and Sambalpur Hiteisini from Deogarh. Fakir Mohan Senapati emerged as a prominent Odia fiction writer of this time and Radhanath Ray as a prominent Odia poet. Other prominent Odia writers who helped promote Odia at this time were Madhusudan Das, Madhusudan Rao, Gangadhar Meher, Chintamani Mohanty, Nanda Kishore Bal, Reba Ray, Gopabandhu Das and Nilakantha Das.

    Geographical distribution

India

According to the 2011 census, there are 37.52 million Odia speakers in India, making up 3.1% of the country's population. Among these, 93% reside in Odisha. Odia is also spoken in neighbouring states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal, as of 2011 Census.
Due to worker migration as tea garden workers in colonial India, northeastern states Assam and Tripura have a sizeable Odia-speaking population, particularly in Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Udalguri, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Nagaon, Karimganj, Karbi Anglong, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Baksa, Kamrup Metropolitan, Hailakandi district of Assam and West Tripura, Dhalai, North Tripura district of Tripura. Similarly, due to increasing migration due to economic pursuits in modern India, the western states Gujarat and Maharashtra also have a significant Odia speaking population. Additionally, due to economic pursuits, significant numbers of Odia speakers can be found in Indian cities such as Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Guwahati, Shillong, Pune, Gurgaon, Jammu and Silvassa.

Foreign countries

The Odia diaspora is sizeable in several countries around the world, bringing the number of Odia speakers worldwide to 50 million. It has a significant presence in eastern countries, such as Thailand and Indonesia, mainly brought by the sadhaba, ancient traders from Odisha who carried the language along with the culture during the old-day trading, and in western countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and England. The language has also spread to Burma, Malaysia, Fiji, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Middle East countries.

Odia place names

Odia place names are present across Odisha, Northern Andhra, South Bengal, South Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.
Odia street names usually end with -sahi, -pada, -nagar, -vihar/bihar. Examples include Nua-sahi, Madanmohan-pada, Nehru-nagar, Vani-vihar.
Common Odia place names ending with
-pur - Sambalpur, Berhampur, Salepur, Padampur, Bijepur, Jajpur etc.
-eswar - Maneswar, Baleswar, Bhubaneswar etc.
-put - Pokhariput, Bhejiput, Koraput, Lamataput etc.
-giri - Lalitgiri, G. Udayagiri, Ratnagiri etc.
-khol - Chandikhol, Redhakhol, Khaprakhol etc.
-garh/gada - Bargarh, Sarangarh, Nayagarh, Rayagada, Lanjigarh, Titlagarh, Potagada etc.
-pali/palli - Kamapalli, Dunguripali, Nayapalli, Jaanpalli, Barpali etc.
-pada - Amalapada, Kendrapada, Bhatpada, Baripada etc.
-padar - Ballipadar, Bahadapadar, Jahadapadar etc.
-guda - Khariaguda, Kosamaguda, Semiliguda, Muniguda, Jharsuguda etc.
-patna - Bhawanipatna, Manikapatna etc.
-munda - Bangomunda, Bondamunda, Baramunda, Kuarmunda etc.
-kela - Rourkela, Seraikela etc.
-bira - Kolabira, Attabira etc.
-prasad - Durgaprasad, Jagannathprasad, Kalikaprasad etc.
-pani - Kanjipani, Bansapani, Taptapani etc.
-jang - Derjang, Parjang, Kujang etc.
-pentha - Chikitipentha, Mahadeipentha etc.
-bandha - Tumudibandha, Garabandha etc.
-khemundi - Paralakhemundi, Badakhemundi, Sanakhemundi etc.
-bali - Tikabali etc.
-kote - Khallikote, Umerkote, Mardakote etc.

Standardisation and dialects

Major varieties

Minor regional varieties