The Kurux Language: Grammar, Texts and Lexicon by Masato Kobayashi and Bablu Tirkey is a comprehensive description of Kurux, a northern Dravidian tribal language with two million speakers. Isolated in the Chota Nagpur Plateau of Eastern India, Kurux shows a unique mixture of archaic Dravidian traits and innovations induced by contact with neighboring Indo-Aryan and Munda languages, and has posed questions regarding language change and Dravidian subgrouping.
Making use of first-hand materials from their fieldwork, Kobayashi and Tirkey analyze the complexities of the language in the grammar section. This book also contains transcribed and glossed texts, and a lexicon with more than 9,000 entries, and serves both as reference for linguists and learning resource for students.
Masato Kobayashi, Ph.D. (2000), University of Pennsylvania, is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Tokyo. He has worked on ancient and modern Indian languages, and is the author of
Texts and Grammar of Malto (Vizianagaram, Kotoba Books, 2012).
Bablu Tirkey (1980-2015) was a Lecturer of Kurux at Doranda College, Ranchi. Firmly established in Kurux tradition, he worked on Kurux language and literature, and authored the Kurux novel
Khatrka Ropnas gahi Tungul (‘Poor Ropna’s Dream’) (Bendora, Manas Prakashan, 2017).
List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations
1
Introduction § 1
Typological Overview § 2
Profile of the Language § 3
Language Endangerment § 4
Writing Systems and Transcription § 5
Name of the Language § 6
Dialectal Variation § 7
Genetic Relationship § 8
Lexicon § 9
Convergence § 10
Previous Studies § 11
Fieldwork and Materials § 12
Organization of the Book § 13
Acknowledgment
Grammar
2
Phonology § 14
Vowels § 15
Vowel Length § 16
Umlaut § 17
Consonants § 18
Geminates and Singletons § 19
Metathesis and Linearity § 20
Syllable § 21
Stress and Rhythm § 22
Intonation § 23
Morphophonology § 24
Sound Changes up to Proto-Kurux-Malto § 25
Phonological Alternations within Kurux § 26
Summary of Historical Phonology 3
Morphology § 27
Characteristics of Kurux Morphology § 28
Parts of Speech § 29
Nouns: Nominal Stems and Bases § 30
Nouns: Gender § 31
Nouns: Number § 32
Nouns: Cases § 33
Diminutive and Augmentative § 34
Compound Nouns and Adjectives § 35
Pronouns: Personal Pronouns § 36
Pronouns: Reflexives § 37
Pronouns: Possessives § 38
Pronouns: Demonstratives § 39
Pronouns: Interrogatives and Indefinites § 40
Pronouns: Cases of Personal and Reflexive Pronouns § 41
Pronouns: Cases of Demonstratives and Interrogatives § 42
Adpositions § 43
Agreement Suffix and Predicative Nominals § 44
Adjectives: Simple § 45
Adjectives in -taː, -iyaː, -madʰheː and -aːboː § 46
Adjectives: Suffixes Deriving Demonyms etc. § 47
Numerals and Classifiers § 48
Adverbs § 49
Preverbs § 50
Verbs § 51
Verbal Roots and Verbal Bases § 52
Past Stem and the Primary Verb Classes § 53
Irregular Verb Inflection § 54
Verb Inflection: Simple Tenses § 55
Complex Aspectual Forms: Perfect § 56
Complex Aspectual Forms: Progressive § 57
Complex Aspectual Forms: ciʔ-aː Benefactive § 58
Verb Inflection: Modal Forms § 59
Verb Inflection: Inter-Female Forms § 60
Copula and Existential Verbs § 61
Copular Clauses and Concord § 62
Derived Verbal Bases § 63
Frequentative Verbs § 64
Infinitives § 65
Inflection Reduction § 66
Perfect and Imperfect Participles § 67
Agentive Participle § 68
Adverbial Participles § 69
Converb § 70
Origin of the Kurux-Malto Past Inflection
4
Syntax and Pragmatics § 71
Word Order § 72
Coordinating Conjunctions § 73
Subordinating Conjunctions § 74
Complementizer § 75
Reflexives and Logophorics § 76
Relative Clauses § 77
The -madʰheː Construction and Adnominal PPs § 78
Conditional and Counterfactual § 79
Complex Predicates § 80
Voice and Argument Alternation § 81
Passive and Grammatical Relations § 82
Stative Passive Construction § 83
Use of the -aː Infinitive § 84
Use of the -naː Infinitive § 85
Non-nominative Subjects § 86
Impersonal Construction § 87
Topic and Focus § 88
Phrasal Clitics § 89
Clausal Clitics
5
Semantics § 90
Spatial Deixis § 91
Animacy, Number, Gender and Person § 92
Use of the Copular Verbs § 93
Possession § 94
Question § 95
Deictic Verbs § 96
Definiteness and Differential Object Marking § 97
Lexical Aspect § 98
Use of the Simple Tenses § 99
Use of the Aspectual Forms § 100
Modality § 101
Use of the Causative § 102
Function of the Passive Voice § 103
Volition or Control over the Action § 104
Negation § 105
Negative Polarity Items § 106
Politeness § 107
Use of Cases: Nominative § 108
Use of Cases: Accusative § 109
Use of Cases: Dative § 110
Use of Cases: Instrumental-Ablative § 111
Use of Cases: Genitive § 112
Use of Cases: Locative
6
Lexicon § 113
Characteristics of the Kurux Lexicon § 114
Inherited Etyma § 115
Loanwords and Toponyms § 116
Source of Loanwords § 117
Semantic Shift, Doublets and False Friends § 118
Kinship Terms § 119
Personal Names § 120
Echo Words and Onomatopoeia § 121
Interjections § 122
Euphemistic Expression § 123
Fauna and Flora
Texts
7
Glossed Texts § 124
Home Visit (Dialogue) § 125
From Bablu Tirkey, Poor Ropna’s Dream (2017) § 126
Sone the Vulture § 127
Life Story of a Farmer § 128
The Bihar Famine (1966–1967) and my Father § 129
Letiya the Thief § 130
Building a Career § 131
King’s Seven Daughters and a Rakshas § 132
Story of Two Orphans and the Banyan Seed § 133
Seven Brothers and a Sister § 134
Story of a Man and a Tiger § 135
Myth of Fire and Rain § 136
Why Oraons Observe the Karam Festival
Lexicon
Bibliography Word Index General Index
All interested in Dravidian linguistics, North Dravidian hypothesis, contact-induced language change, Indian tribal folklore, and anyone learning Kurux.