Koya language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Koya
కోయా, କୋୟା, कोया
Native toIndia
EthnicityKoya
Native speakers
455,000 (2011)[1]
Dravidian
Telugu, Odia, Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3kff
Glottologkoya1251

Koya is a South-Central Dravidian language of the GondiKui group spoken in central and southern India. It is the native language of the Koya people. It is sometimes described as a dialect of Gondi, but it is mutually unintelligible with Gondi dialects.[2][3]

Koya is the language spoken by the tribal community in Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA),

East Godavari district ; ITDA,Kotaramachandrapuram, West Godavari district; ITDA,Bhadrachalam in Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh. The Koyas also live in the southernmost part of Sukma in Chhattisgarh and Malkangiri, the southwesternmost district of Odisha
.

Koya is variously written in the Oriya, Telugu, Devanagari or Latin script. Sathupati Prasanna Sree has also developed a unique script for use with the Koya language. With 270,994 registered native speakers, it figures at rank 37 in the 1991 Indian census.[citation needed] There are textbooks developed in Koya language under Mother Tongue based Multilingual Education Programme by Government of Andhra Pradesh and implemented in 50 primary schools in Koya habitations.

References

  1. ^ Koya at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003). The Dravidian languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 25.
  3. ^ "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.