Identity
An ancient language, from the soil of Chota Nagpur
Mundari is a North Munda (Kherwarian) language of the Austroasiatic family β the closest relative of Santali and Ho. Its own name is πππͺπ πππ¦ππ£ horo jagar; the word βMundaβ itself means βvillage headmanβ in Mundari.
The largest home
Khunti, Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan and Singhbhum β 57.6% of all speakers in India lived here in 2011.
The Mayurbhanj centre
Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Balasore. Mayurbhanj is also a major centre of Mundari Bani publishing (Burubanga / Baripada).
Across borders too
About 2,500 speakers in Bangladesh (Naogaon, Rajshahi) and about 7,700 in Nepal's Koshi region; within India there are communities in West Bengal and Assam as well.
The identity code
ISO 639-3 code unr, Glottolog mund1320. Note β the βMandariβ of South Sudan (mqu) is a completely different language.
Status and demand β understand the difference: Mundari is an additional official language of Jharkhand (since 2011). But it is not yet included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution β that is the community's long-standing, living demand, not a status already granted. See this week's movement on that demand on the Movement page.
The four dialects
| Dialect | Where / who | What is special |
|---|---|---|
| Hasada | East of the RanchiβChaibasa road | Regarded as the standard dialect; Hoffmann's Encyclopaedia Mundarica is based on it |
| Naguri | West of the same road | Hoffmann's Mundari Grammar (1903) is based on it; aspirated sounds are absorbed into the dialect |
| Tamaria (πππππ£ Latar) | Panchpargana β Tamar, Bundu, Silli, Rahe, Sonahatu | Called the βlowland dialectβ; Bhumij is often considered a form of it |
| Kera | Ranchi city area, among Oraon (Kurukh) speakers | Its past-tense ending is -π’π€π£ππ -keraΚ, where the others have -π’π€π‘π -keda β that is its identity mark |
Bhumij (MayurbhanjβSinghbhum) is listed as a separate language in many lists, but Anderson (2008) and Osada treat it as a form of Mundari's Tamaria/Latar dialect β most Bhumij material is useful for a learner, but check it against Hasada.
How Mundari differs from Santali and Ho
| Mundari | Santali | Ho | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speakers | ~16 lakh (including the Munda label) | ~60β70 lakh, the largest Munda language | ~10β15 lakh |
| Own script | Mundari Bani (Unicode 2022) | Ol Chiki (Unicode 2008) | Warang Chiti (not yet encoded in Unicode, at the time of the sources) |
| Status | Additional official language of Jharkhand; not in the Eighth Schedule | Included in the Eighth Schedule | Additional official language of Jharkhand |
| Mutual understanding | The three Kherwarian languages are mutually intelligible to a large extent (Ho teachers in Mayurbhanj reported about 75% comprehension), but by community, script and standardisation they are three separate languages β do not use a Santali or Ho word in place of a Mundari one without checking. | ||