- Also spelled:
- Oriya
- Related Topics:
- Indo-Aryan languages
- Indian languages
Odia language
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What is the Odia language?
Odia, an Indo-Aryan language, is spoken by approximately 50 million people. It is officially recognized in the Indian constitution and serves as the primary official language of Odisha, an Indian state.
The language evolved from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit and can be traced back to the 10th century CE. By the 11th century, it was nearly identical to Bengali. The first poetic works appeared in the 15th century, while literary prose began to develop in the 18th century.
Odia has been influenced by Dravidian languages, as well as Arabic, Persian, and English. Mughalbandi (Coastal Odia) is the standard dialect and the language of education.
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Where is Odia spoken?
Odia, also known as Oriya, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 50 million people. It is recognized in the Indian constitution and serves as the main official language of the Indian state of Odisha. While Odia is primarily spoken in Odisha, some parts of northeast Odisha have a prevalence of Bengali speakers. The standard dialect of Odia is Mughalbandi, also called Coastal Odia, which is used in education.
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How old is the Odia language?
The Odia language arguably dates back to the 10th century CE, making it one of the oldest languages in the Indo-Aryan language family. Although its distinct identity from Bengali wasn't established until the 11th century, Odia's origins can be traced to Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. The language gained literary prominence around the 15th century, with the composition of its first poetic classic, and literary prose began to take shape in the 18th century. Today, Odia is spoken by approximately 50 million people and is recognized in the Indian constitution. It serves as the main official language of the Indian state of Odisha.
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What are some key features of Odia grammar or vocabulary?
Odia, an Indo-Aryan language with approximately 50 million speakers, is the main official language of the Indian state of Odisha. It is derived from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit and can be traced back to the 10th century CE.
Key features of Odia grammar and vocabulary:
* Influenced by Dravidian languages, Arabic, Persian, and English
* Rich lexicon with borrowings from Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Turkish, French, Portuguese, and Sanskrit
* Allows compounding but not elision, unlike Sanskrit
* Consists of 6 pure vowels, 9 diphthongs, 28 consonants (3 retroflex), and 4 semivowels, with no consonant-ending words
* Uses three diacritics: visarga, anusvara, and candrabindu
* Grammar distinguishes between singular and plural number; first, second, and third person; and masculine and feminine gender
* Subjectâobjectâverb (SOV) language with a three-tier tense system
* Finite verb agrees with its subject in person and number and marks the honorific form
* Main moods are indicative, imperative, interrogative, and subjunctive
* Copula does not surface if the sentence is in the present tense
* Clauses can be without a subject1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some famous works or authors in Odia literature?
Odia literature, dating back to the 10th century CE, has a rich history shaped by Sanskrit and regional influences. The 14th century saw the emergence of notable works such as the anonymous Kalasa-cautisa and Saraladasa's Chandi-purana. The Bhakti period greatly influenced Odia literature, with Jagannatha Das, a 16th-century poet and devotee of Chaitanya, being a prominent figure. His rendition of the Bhagavata-Purana remains popular in Odisha.
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Odia language, Indo-Aryan language with some 50 million speakers. A language officially recognized, or âscheduled,â in the Indian constitution, it is also the main official language of the Indian state of Odisha (Oriya). The language has several dialects; Mughalbandi (Coastal Odia) is the standard dialect and the language of education.
Oldest of the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan family, Odia is derived from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. Odia arguably dates back to the 10th century ce, though it was almost indistinguishable from Bengali until the 11th century. The first poetic classic was composed in the 15th century, and literary prose began to take shape in the 18th century.
Odia has been heavily influenced by the Dravidian languages as well as Arabic, Persian, and English. Its lexicon has been enriched by borrowings from these languages as well as from Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Turkish, French, Portuguese, and Sanskrit. Words borrowed from Sanskrit occur in two forms: tatsama (close to the original form) and tadbhava (remote from the original form).
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Odia allows compounding, but unlike Sanskrit it does not allow elision. The use of compounds is more a feature of written than of spoken Odia. Odia has 6 pure vowels, 9 diphthongs, 28 consonants (3 of them retroflex), 4 semivowels, and no consonant-ending words. The written form uses three diacritics: visarga, anusvara, and candrabindu.
Odia grammar distinguishes between singular and plural number; first, second, and third person; and masculine and feminine gender, although the gender of the noun has no morphological consequences for the pronoun and the verb. It is an inflectionally rich language. Nominals carry number and case inflections, while adjectives carry inflections indicating degree and, for the tatsama adjectives, gender.
Odia is a subjectâobjectâverb (SOV) language with a three-tier tense system. The finite verb agrees with its subject in person and number and also marks the honorific form. The main moods are indicative, imperative, interrogative, and subjunctive. The copula does not surface if the sentence is in the present tense. It is possible for main clausesâand some subordinate clausesâto be without a subject.
In Odia inscriptions from between the 12th and the 14th century, word order is relatively free, and verbâobject sequence (with the subject before or after) is not infrequent. Other historical changes include the loss of some plural markers and some postpositions. The indirect speech, relative clauses, and passive constructions found in English have emerged in Odia, although these are considered nonstandard forms. New discursive forms such as the essay and news reporting and analysis have also come to Odia from English. Scholarly speech and writing still remain fairly Sanskritized, however.
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