A Practical Handbook Of The Uriya Or Odiya Language

The chief object in compiling this handbook is to supply an existing want in a practical shape, as with the exception of Dr Sutton?s introduction to Uriya, which was published about a generation ago, there is no book the author knows of, that will assist the Englishman in learning the Uriya language. The plan adopted well, it is hoped, smooth over many difficulties, and make the language easy of acquisition by any one desiring to obtain a colloquial and useful knowledge of it. This language is spoken by about more than one crore inhabitants of Orissa. It is one of the 23 officially recognized languages of India and has its own script. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly known as Orissa) where native speakers make up 82 per cent of the population, also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. It is the sixth Indian language to be designated a Classical Language in India, on the basis of having a long literary history and not having borrowed extensively from other languages.