Gorum language explained

Gorum
Nativename:Parengi
States:India
Region:Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Ethnicity:9,445 in Odisha (2011 census)
Speakers:20
Date:2011
Ref:[1]
Familycolor:Austroasiatic
Fam2:Munda
Fam3:South
Fam4:Sora-Gorum
Iso3:pcj
Glotto:pare1266
Glottorefname:Gorum-Parenga

Gorum, or Parengi, is a nearly-extinct minor Munda language of India.

Names

The name Gorum most likely comes from an animal/people prefix go- and root -rum meaning 'people', and is possibly related to the ethnonym Remo (Anderson 2008:381).

Parengi, or Parenga, is of obscure origin.

Status

Gorum is 60 percent endangered and may soon become extinct. Few people under the age of thirty years can understand the language, while those who do know it are likely to deny knowing it.[2] This language seems to have been first researched in 1933.[3]

Origins

Gorum is a member of the Munda family, as shown by the glottal consonants that are used in creaky voice. However, it has borrowed some elements from nearby Dravidian languages, such as doubly inflected AVC structures.[4]

Distribution

Gorum speakers are located in the following areas of eastern India (Anderson 2008:381).

Gutob is spoken to the north of Gorum, and Gta to the west of Gorum.

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger. www.unesco.org. en. 2018-08-15.
  2. http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/4953 Endangered Language Project
  3. Sitapati, G.V. 1933. "Pareng." A Miscellany of Papers Presented to Rao Sahib Mahopadhyaya Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthi. Madras. 145-65
  4. Anderson, Gregory D.S. & Felix Rau. 2008. “Gorum.” In: Gregory D.S. Anderson