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

Sambalpuri (Odia:[sɔmbɔlɔpuɾi]) is anIndo-Aryan language variety of Odia language spoken inwestern Odisha, India. It is alternatively known asWestern Odia, and asKosali (with variantsKosli,Koshal andKoshali),^[5] a recently popularised but controversial term, which draws on an association with the historical region ofDakshina 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 ofOdia,^[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]

There were 2.63 million people in India who declared their language to be Sambalpuri at the 2011 census, almost all of them residents inOdisha.^[11] These speakers were mostly concentrated in the districts ofBargarh (1,130,000 speakers),Subarnapur (364,000),Balangir (335,000),Sambalpur (275,000),Jharsuguda (245,000),Nuapada (145,000),Baudh (90,700),Sundargarh (42,700) andKalahandi (11,545).^[12]

The inscriptions and literary works from theWestern Odisha region used theOdia script, which is attested through the inscriptions like the Stambeswari stone inscription of 1268 CE laid by theEastern Ganga monarch Bhanu Deva I at Sonepur and the Meghla grant and Gobindpur charter of Raja Prithvi Sing ofSonepur State^[13] and also through the major epicKosalananda Kavya composed during the 17th century Chauhan rule under Raja Baliar Singh of theSambalpur State, which was written inSanskrit inOdia script.^[14]

TheDevanagari script may have been used in the past,^[15] (the Hindi language was mandated in administration and education in Sambalpur for the brief period 1895–1901)^[16]

There are many eminent poets from Sambalpuri language, PadmaShree Haldhar Nag, Khageswar seth, Hemachandra Acharya has contributed a lot for the language.

NRI Poet Prasanta Meher, Poet Ranjit Padhan, Hemanta Deep and many other are made remarkable contribution modern time.

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 the loss of retroflex consonant likevoiced retroflex lateral approximant[ɭ] (ଳ) which are present in Standard Odia, and a limited usage of retroflex unaspirated nasal (voiced retroflex nasal)ɳ (ଣ).^[18]

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

Some key features include-

• r-insertion: insertion or paragogue of /r/ at the end of Sambalpuri verbs
• Word Medial Vowel Deletion: Syncope of certain word medial vowels, with exceptions seen in -ai diphthongs.
• Vowel Harmony: a shift of /o/ to /u/. This is also seen in theBaleswari Odia dialect and to an extent theGanjami Odia dialect.
• Word Final Vowel Deletion: Apocope of word-final schwa (seeSchwa deletion).
• Voiced retroflex consonant usage: Absence of voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ] (ଳ) and limited usage of voiced retroflex nasal ɳ (ଣ).^[18]

Voiced retroflex consonant

Word Medial Vowel Deletion: Syncope

Exceptions to Word Medial Vowel Deletion: seen in '-ai' diphthongs

Vowel Harmony: 'o' to 'u' phoneme shift, feature also seen inBaleswari Odia dialect

Lengthening of Vowel Sound: vowels which appear in between consonants take their longer counterpart

Consonant shift- shift of 'ḷ' phoneme to 'l'

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

Sambalpuri words

There has been a language movement campaigning for the recognition of the language. Its main objective has been the inclusion of the language into the8th schedule of the Indian constitution.^[20][21]

• Satya Narayan Bohidar, writer and pioneer of Sambalpuri literature. Notable works includeṬikcaham̐rā (1975),Sambalapurī bhāshāra sabda-bibhaba: bā, Saṃkshipta Sambalapurī byākaraṇa o racanā (1977)^[22]
• Prayag Dutta Joshi, Sambalpuri writer
• Nil Madhab Panigrahi, wroteMahabharat Katha^[23]
• Haldhar Nag, Sambalpuri poet popularly known as "Lok kabi Ratna". His notable Sambalpuri works areLokgeet,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 thePadma Shri in 2016.^[26][27]
• Prafulla Kumar Tripathy, compiled the Sambalpuri-Odia Dictionary-Samalpuri Odia Shabdakosha (2001).^[28]
• Hema Chandra Acharya, wroteRam Raha (2001), the Sambalpuri version of theRamayana.^[29]

• Sambalpuri culture

• Dash, Ashok Kumar (1990).Evolution of Sambalpuri language and its morphology (Thesis). Sambalpur University.hdl:10603/187859.
• Mathai, Eldose K.; Kelsall, Juliana (2013).Sambalpuri of Orissa, India: A Brief Sociolinguistic Survey (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports.
• Patel, Kunjaban (n.d.).A Sambalpuri phonetic reader (Thesis). Sambalpur University.
• Sahu, Gobardhan (2001).Generative phonology of Sambalpuri: a study (revised) (PhD). Sambalpur University.hdl:10603/187791.
• Sahu, Gopal Krishna (2002).A derivational morphology of Sambalpuri (Thesis). Sambalpur University.hdl:10603/187186.

• Biswal, Tuna (2010)."Politics of Sambalpuri or Kosali as a dialect of Oriy in Orissa"(PDF).Language in India.10 (11).
• Registered newspapers and magazines published in Kosli languageArchived 22 January 2022 at theWayback Machine
• Datta, S.P. (2002). "Sambalpuri dialect".Linguistic survey of India: special studies: Orissa. Special studies / Linguistic Survey of India. Kolkata: Language Division, Office of the Registrar General, India. pp. 67–93.

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