Nihali language
Encyclopedia
Nihali, also known as Nahali or erroneously as Kalto
, is a language isolate
spoken in west-central India
(in Madhya Pradesh
and Maharashtra
) by around 2,000 people (in 1991) out of an ethnic population of 5,000. The Nihali tribal area is just south of the Tapti River
, around the village of Tembi in Nimar
district of Central Provinces
during British Raj
, now in Madhya Pradesh
. The language has a very large number of words adopted from neighboring languages, with 60-70% apparently taken from Korku
(25% of vocabulary and much of its morphology), from Dravidian languages
, and from Marathi
, but much of its core vocabulary cannot be related to these or other languages, such as the numerals and words for 'blood' and 'egg'.
Kuiper was the first to suggest that it may be unrelated to any other Indian language, with the non-Korku, non-Dravidian core vocabulary being the remnant of an earlier population in India. However, he did not rule out that it may be a Munda language like Korku. The Nihali have long lived in a symbiotic but socially inferior relationship with the Korku people, and are bilingual in Korku, with Nihali frequently spoken to prevent the Korku from understanding them. Kuiper suggested that the differences might also be argot
, such as a thieves' cant
. Norman Zide described the situation this way:
The Nihali live similarly to the Kalto
; this, combined with the fact that Kalto has often been called Nihali, has led to confusion of the two languages in the literature.
Kalto language
Kalto or Nahali is an Indo-Aryan language of India. Kalto is the ethnonym; "Nahal" or "Nihal" is disparaging. The language is often confused with Nihali, an apparent language isolate spoken by neighboring people with a similar lifestyle....
, is a language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
spoken in west-central India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
) by around 2,000 people (in 1991) out of an ethnic population of 5,000. The Nihali tribal area is just south of the Tapti River
Tapti River
The Tapi River ancient original name Tapi River , is a river in central India. It is one of the major rivers of peninsular India with a length of around 724 km...
, around the village of Tembi in Nimar
Nimar
Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India.The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and Tapti river valleys, separated by a section of the Satpura Range, about 15 miles in breadth...
district of Central Provinces
Central Provinces
The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur....
during British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, now in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
. The language has a very large number of words adopted from neighboring languages, with 60-70% apparently taken from Korku
Korku language
The Korku language is the language of the Korku tribe of central India. It belongs to the Kolarian or Munda family, isolated in the midst of a Dravidian population. The Korkus are also closely associated with the Nihali people, many of whom have traditionally lived in special quarters of Korku...
(25% of vocabulary and much of its morphology), from Dravidian languages
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
, and from Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, but much of its core vocabulary cannot be related to these or other languages, such as the numerals and words for 'blood' and 'egg'.
Kuiper was the first to suggest that it may be unrelated to any other Indian language, with the non-Korku, non-Dravidian core vocabulary being the remnant of an earlier population in India. However, he did not rule out that it may be a Munda language like Korku. The Nihali have long lived in a symbiotic but socially inferior relationship with the Korku people, and are bilingual in Korku, with Nihali frequently spoken to prevent the Korku from understanding them. Kuiper suggested that the differences might also be argot
Argot
An Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
, such as a thieves' cant
Thieves' cant
Thieves' cant or Rogues' cant was a secret language which was formerly used by thieves, beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries...
. Norman Zide described the situation this way:
The Nihali live similarly to the Kalto
Kalto language
Kalto or Nahali is an Indo-Aryan language of India. Kalto is the ethnonym; "Nahal" or "Nihal" is disparaging. The language is often confused with Nihali, an apparent language isolate spoken by neighboring people with a similar lifestyle....
; this, combined with the fact that Kalto has often been called Nihali, has led to confusion of the two languages in the literature.