Korku language
Korku (also known as Kurku, or Muwasi) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Korku tribe of central India, in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is isolated in the midst of the Gondi people, who are Dravidian, while its closest relatives are in eastern India. It is the westernmost Austroasiatic language.
| Korku | |
|---|---|
| कोरकू | |
| Region | Central India (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra) |
| Ethnicity | Korku |
Native speakers | 730,000 (2011 census) |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Devanagari script (Balbodh style) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kfq |
| Glottolog | kork1243 |
| ELP | Korku |
Korku is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Korkus are also closely associated with the Nihali people, many of whom have traditionally lived in special quarters of Korku villages. Korku is spoken by around 700,000 people, mainly in four districts of southern Madhya Pradesh (Khandwa, Harda, Betul, Narmadapuram) and three districts of northern Maharashtra (Rajura and Korpana tahsils of Chandrapur district, Manikgarh pahad area near Gadchandur in Chandrapur district) (Amravati, Buldana, Akola).
The name Korku comes from Koro-ku (-ku is the animate plural), Koro 'person, member of the Korku community' (Zide 2008).