Ajay Kumar at 11:22, 22 August 2023

2023-08-22T11:22:09Z

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{{Short description|Endangered Austroasiatic language of India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Bhumij
| familycolor = Austroasiatic
| nativename = ভূমিজ, ଭୁମିଜ୍, भूमिज
| states = [[Jharkhand]], [[Odisha]], [[West Bengal]], India
| ethnicity = [[Bhumij people]]
| fam2 = [[Munda languages|Munda]]
| fam3 = North Munda
| fam4 = Kherwarian
| fam5 = Mundaric
| script = [[Ol Onal|Ol Onal script]]
Others: [[Devanagari script]], [[Odia script]], [[Bengali script]]
| nation = {{flag|India}}
* [[Jharkhand]] (additional)
| image = Bhumij in Ol Onal.png
| imagescale =
| imagecaption = The word "Bhumij" in [[Ol Onal|Ol Onal script]]
| glotto = bhum1234
| glottoname = Bhumij
| linglist = unr-bhu
| map = Bhumij language.svg
| mapcaption = {{align|center|Distribution of Bhumij language in India}}
}}

'''Bhumij''' is an [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic language]] belonging to the [[Munda languages|Munda]] subfamily, related to [[Ho language|Ho]], [[Mundari language|Mundari]], and [[Santali language|Santali]], primarily spoken by [[Bhumij people|Bhumij peoples]] in the Indian states [[Jharkhand]], [[Odisha]] and [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Parkin |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7n8OAAAAYAAJ |title=A Guide to Austroasiatic Speakers and Their Languages |last2=Parkin |first2=Visiting Lecturer Research Associate Robert |date=1991 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1377-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Gregory D. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6GzxBwAAQBAJ |title=The Munda Languages |date=2015-04-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-82886-0 |language=en}}</ref> As per the 2011 census, only 27,506 people out of 9,11,349 Bhumij people spoke Bhumij as their mother tongue, as most Bhumijas [[Language shift|have shifted]] to one of the regional dominant languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/ST.html|title=A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=7 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419131619/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NIpPAQAAMAAJ |title=Linguistic Survey of India |date=1906 |publisher=Office of the superintendent of government printing, India |language=en}}</ref> Thus the language is considered an [[Endangered language|extremely endangered language]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Did you know Bhumij is at risk? |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1601 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Endangered Languages |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Abbi |first=Anvita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5W1jAAAAMAAJ |title=Languages of Tribal and Indigenous Peoples of India: The Ethnic Space |date=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=978-81-208-1374-8 |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
Bhumij speakers have traditionally lived throughout the Kherwarian area in the modern states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.<ref name=":0" /> While spoken by very few Bhumij people today, it was much more widespread historically. Those who lived east in [[Dhalbhum]] mostly shifted to the [[Bengali language]] and lost their local tongue, while those who lived around the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] held on to their language.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ishtiaq |first=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkIgsfb95rAC |title=Language Shifts Among the Scheduled Tribes in India: A Geographical Study |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1617-6 |language=en}}</ref> Speakers have gradually dropped since the 1940s.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size: 9pt"
|+ Historical number of Bhumij speaker
! Census year
! Speaker
! ±%
!Ref.
|-
! 1941
| 108,230
| –
|<ref name="Andreson">{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Gregory D. S. |url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Munda-Languages/Anderson/p/book/9780415741835 |title=The Munda Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=9780415741835 |pages=196–197 |doi=10.4324/9781315822433}}</ref>
|-
! 1951
| 101,938
| {{decrease}} 5.81%
|<ref name="Andreson"/>
|-
! 1961
| 131,258
| {{increase}} 28.76%
|<ref name="Andreson"/>
|-
! 1971
| 51,651
| {{decrease}}60.64
|<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Statement 8 : Growth of Non-Scheduled Languages - 1971, 1981, 1991,2001 and 2011 |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-8.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614190143/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-8.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2021 |website=censusindia.gov.in}}</ref>
|-
! 1981
| 50,384
| {{decrease}}2.45%
|<ref name=":1" />
|-
! 1991
| 45,302
| {{decrease}}10.09%
|<ref name=":1" />
|-
! 2001
| 47,443
| {{increase}}4.73%
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues –2001 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415074130/https://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm|archive-date=26 May 2022 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=censusindia.gov.in}}</ref>
|-
! 2011
| 27,506
| {{decrease}} 42.02%
|<ref name=":2" />
|-
! 2021
| –
| –
|
|-
|}

Bhumij was mainly an oral language until the development of the [[Ol Onal]] script by the Ol Guru Mahendra Nath Sardar between 1981-1992.

Bhumij has been described{{by whom|date=April 2022}} as related to [[Mundari language|Mundari]] and as a [[Munda languages|Munda language]], so its ISO 639-3 code is [unr/unx].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Bhumij {{!}} Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages |url=https://livingtongues.org/projects/asia/india/munda-languages/bhumij/ |website=livingtongues.org |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref>
Despite being linguistically and ethnically distinct from other Munda languages, Bhumij does not get its own ISO 639-3 code. Bhumij tribal people have protested for greater recognition and government funding for Bhumij-language education and public broadcasting resources.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 March 2016 |first=Hemanta |last=Pradhan |title=Tribals demand official status for Bhumij language |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/tribals-demand-official-status-for-bhumij-language/articleshow/51431550.cms |access-date=14 April 2022 |work=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>

== Geographic distribution ==
The highest concentrations of Bhumij language speakers are in [[East Singhbhum district|East Singhbhum]] and [[Seraikela Kharsawan district|Seraikela Kharsawan]] districts of [[Jharkhand]], the [[Jungle Mahals|Jangal mahals]] region of [[West Bengal]] ([[Jhargram district|Jhargram]], [[Bankura district|Bankura]] and [[Purulia district|Purulia]] districts) and [[Mayurbhanj district|Mayurbhanj]] district of [[Odisha]].<ref name="Omniglot">{{cite web |title=Bhumij language and alphabet |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/bhumij.htm#:~:text=Bhumij%20(%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%9C%20%2F%20%E0%AC%AD%E0%AD%82%E0%AC%AE%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%9C%20%2F%20%E0%A6%AD%E0%A7%82%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%9C,Devanagari%2C%20Odia%20or%20Bengali%20alphabets |website=Omniglot |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Tarakchandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1m41AAAAIAAJ |title=The Bhumijas of Seraikella |date=1931 |publisher=University of Calcutta |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sA1uAAAAMAAJ |title=People of India: The scheduled tribes |date=1994 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-85579-09-2 |language=en}}</ref>
==Official status==
In January 2019, Bhumij was accorded the status of second language in the state of [[Jharkhand]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Jharkhand notifies Bhumij as second state language |url=https://avenuemail.in/jharkhand-notifies-bhumij-as-second-state-language/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |work=The Avenue Mail |date=5 January 2019}}</ref>

States like Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar have a large number of Bhumij people, yet the Bhumij language has not been given the status of a state language in these states so far.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 16, 2016 |first=Hemanta |last=Pradhan |title=Tribals demand official status for Bhumij language |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/tribals-demand-official-status-for-bhumij-language/articleshow/51431550.cms |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>

==Writing system==
{{main article|Ol Onal}}
Bhumij language is written in [[Ol Onal]] script, invented between 1981 and 1992 by [[Mahendra Nath Sardar]]. However, some speakers use the [[Bengali script]], the [[Odia alphabet]], or [[Devanagari]] to write the language.

== See also ==
* [[Languages of India]]
* [[Ol Onal|Ol Onal script]]
* [[Bhumij people|Bhumij]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* {{Cite report |last1=Bailey |first1=Troy |first2=Loren |last2=Maggard |title=A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Bhumij People of India |series=Journal of Language Survey Reports |issue=2018 |publisher=[[SIL International]] |location=Dallas, Texas|date= 31 Dec 1996|url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/15/13/98/151398813344684805518300582432867773551/silesr2015_026.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602011402/https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/15/13/98/151398813344684805518300582432867773551/silesr2015_026.pdf |archive-date=2 Jun 2022}}

{{Languages of India}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bhumij language| ]]
[[Category:Munda languages]]
[[Category:Bhumij]]
[[Category:Languages of Jharkhand]]
[[Category:Languages of Odisha]]
[[Category:Languages of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 19th century]]

Bhumij language - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 11:22, 22 August 2023