Kurukh language

Kurukh
Kurukh
Kurux, Oraon, Uraon
कुँड़ुख़, কুড়ুখ্, କୁଡ଼ୁଖ୍
	'Kuṛux' or 'Kuṅṛux' in Kurukh Banna alphabet (top) and Tolong Siki alphabet (bottom)
Native to	India, Bangladesh, and Nepal
Region	Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Tripura
Ethnicity	Kurukh; Kisan;
Native speakers	2.28 million (2002–2011)
Language family	Dravidian Northern Dravidian Kurukh–Malto Kurukh; ; ;
Dialects	Oraon; Kisan; Dhangar;
Writing system	Devanagari; Kurukh Banna; Tolong Siki
Official status
Official language in	India Jharkhand (additional); West Bengal (additional);
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; kru – Kurukh; xis – Kisan
Glottolog	kuru1301
ELP	Nepali Kurux

Kurukh (/ˈkʊrʊx/ or /ˈkʊrʊk/;^[4] Devanagari: कुँड़ुख़, Kurukh pronunciation: [/kũɽux/]), also Kurux, Oraon or Uranw,^[5] is a North Dravidian language spoken by the Kurukh (Oraon) and Kisan people of East India. It is spoken by about two million people in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Tripura, as well as by 65,000 in northern Bangladesh, 28,600 of a dialect called Uranw in Nepal and about 5,000 in Bhutan. The most closely related language to Kurukh is Malto; together with Brahui, all three languages form the North Dravidian branch of the Dravidian language family. It is marked as being in a "vulnerable" state in UNESCO's list of endangered languages.^[6] The Kisan dialect has 206,100 speakers as of 2011.

^ ^a ^b "Kurux". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
^ "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.
^ "Kurux, Nepali". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
^ "Kurukh". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ "Glottolog 4.5 - Nepali Kurux".
^ Evans, Lisa (15 April 2011). "Endangered Languages: The Full List". The Guardian.