Sambalpuri
Western Odia
ସମ୍ବଲପୁରୀ
'Sambalpuri' in Odia script
Native to	India
Region	Western Odisha
Native speakers	2.63 million (2011 census)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Odia Sambalpuri
Writing system	Odia[2][3][4]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	spv
Glottolog	samb1325  Sambalpuri west2384  Western Oriya

Sambalpuri speaking areas(dialect continuum in green) in Odisha and Chhattisgarh

A Sambalpuri speaker speaking three languages, recorded in China.

Sambalpuri is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in western Odisha, India. It is alternatively known as Western Odia, and as Kosali (with variants Kosli, Koshal and Koshali),^[5] a recently popularised but controversial term, which draws on an association with the historical region of Dakshina Kosala, whose territories also included the present-day Sambalpur region.^[6][7]

Its speakers usually perceive it as a separate language, while outsiders have seen it as a dialect of Odia,^[8] and standard Odia is used by Sambalpuri speakers for formal communication.^[9] A 2006 survey of the varieties spoken in four villages found out that they share three-quarters of their basic vocabulary with Standard Odia.^[10]

Geographical Distribution

Core variant spoken in Sambalpur (excluding Rairakhol subdivision), Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Subarnapur and Balangir districts. Also spoken in parts of Nuapada and western parts of Boudh districts and in neighbouring districts of Chhattisgarh.^[11][12]

Script

The inscriptions and literary works from the Western Odisha region used the Odia script, which is attested through the inscriptions like the Stambeswari stone inscription of 1268 CE laid by the Eastern Ganga monarch Bhanu Deva I at Sonepur and the Meghla grant and Gobindpur charter of Raja Prithvi Sing of Sonepur State^[13] and also through the major epic Kosalananda Kavya composed during the 17th century Chauhan rule under Raja Baliar Singh of the Sambalpur State, which was written in Sanskrit in Odia script.^[14]

The Devanagari script was likely used when the undivided Sambalpur district was part of Central Provinces of the British Raj during the late 19th century where Hindi was used as an official language. With the commencement of publications in 1891 in the magazine 'Sambalpur Hiteisani'^[15] and the subsequent merger of the Sambalpur region with the then Orissa division of Bengal province following the Partition of Bengal (1905), the Odia script become established and is currently the script used in literature and publications.^[16]

Phonology

Sambalpuri has 28 consonant phonemes, 2 semivowel phonemes and 5 vowel phonemes.^[17]

There are no long vowels in Sambalpuri just like Standard Odia.

Sambalpuri shows loss of retroflex consonants like retroflex unaspirated nasal(voiced retroflex nasal) ɳ (ଣ) and voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ] (ଳ) which are present in Standard Odia.

Characteristics

The following is a list of features and comparison with Standard Odia:^[18][19]

Some key features include-

• r-insertion Insertion at the end of Sambalpuri Verbs- Paragogue(addition of a sound at the end of the word).
• Word Medial Vowel Deletion- Syncope. But exceptions seen in -ai diphthongs.
• Vowel Harmony- o to u phoneme shift. This is also seen in Baleswari Odia dialect.
• Word Final Vowel Deletion(Schwa deletion)- Apocope.

Word Medial Vowel Deletion- Syncope

Excpetions to Word Medial Vowel Deletion- seen in '-ai' diphthongs

Vowel Harmony- 'o' to 'u' phoneme shift, feature also seen in Baleswari Odia dialect

Lengthening of Vowel Sound- vowels when appear in between consonants take their longer counterpart

Consonant shift- shift of 'ṇ' and 'ḷ' phonemes to 'n' and 'l'

Word Final Vowel Deletion(Schwa deletion Apocope)- a characteristic feature of Sambalpuri

Sambalpuri words

Language movement

There has been a language movement campaigning for the recognition of the language. Its main objective has been the inclusion of the language into the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution.^[20][21]

Literature

• Satya Narayan Bohidar– writer and pioneer of Sambalpuri literature. Notable works include Ṭikcaham̐rā (1975), Sambalapurī bhāshāra sabda-bibhaba : bā, Saṃkshipta Sambalapurī byākaraṇa o racanā (1977)^[22]
• Prayag Dutta Joshi- Sambalpuri writer
• Nil Madhab Panigrahi– Wrote Mahabharat Katha^[23]
• Haldhar Nag– Famous Sambalpuri poet and popularly known as "Lok kabi Ratna". His notable Sambalpuri works are- Lokgeet, Samparda, Krushnaguru, Mahasati Urmila, Tara Mandodari, Achhia, Bacchhar, Siri Somalai, Veer Surendra Sai, Karamsani, Rasia Kavi, Prem Paechan.^[24] His works has been compiled into "Lokakabi Haladhar Granthabali"^[25] and "Surata". He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016.^[26][27]
• Prafulla Kumar Tripathy– Compiled the Sambalpuri-Odia Dictionary- 'Samalpuri Odia Shabdakosha' (2001).^[28]
• Hema Chandra Acharya- Wrote 'Ram Raha' (2001), the Sambalpuri version of the Ramayana.^[29]