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Bonda
Bonda
Remosam
ବଣ୍ଡା
	Conversation in Bonda about the Pusarke festival
Native to	India
Ethnicity	Bonda
Native speakers	9,000 (2002)
Language family	Austroasiatic Munda South Gutob-Remo Bonda; ; ; ;
Writing system	Odia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bfw
Glottolog	bond1245
ELP	Remo

The Bonda language, also known as Bondo or Remosam, is a south Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken in Odisha, formerly known as Southern Odisha, in India.^[3] It had 2,568 speakers, all in Odisha, according to the 1951 Census of India,^[4] increasing to approximately 9,000 speakers in 2002 according to SIL.^[5]

Classification

The Bonda language is an indigenous language belonging to the Southern subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family.^[1] Bonda is a spoken language with no traditional written system recorded. Bonda is a part of the Gutob-Remo branch, due to the similarities Bonda shares with another Southern Munda Language named Gutob.^[3]

History

The Bonda language derives its name from the tribe of the Bonda people, an indigenous group located in Odisha known as the Bonda Highlanders. In their native language, the Bonda people regard themselves as "Remo", which translates to human, and derive their language name from that root, calling their language as the human language or "Remosam" in their native tongue^[6]

Geographic distribution

The language differs slightly, classified according to whether it can be categorized as Plains Remo (Bonda) or Hill Remo (Bonda).^[3]

Plains Remo

This is a subdivision of Bonda, localized in 35 villages throughout the Khairpat within the Malkangiri district in Odisha. In 1941, 2,565 people categorized the Plains Remo. That number nearly doubled in 1971, with 4,764 people classifying themselves as Plains Remo. The increase in population was not correlated with language extension.^[3] There are 3,500 speakers as of 2002, but few are monolingual.^[5]

Hills Remo

This is a subdivision of Bonda, localized in the Jeypore Hills region of Odisha.^[3] There are 5,570 speakers as of 2002.^[5]

Phonology

Stress

In Bonda, primary stress is placed on the last syllable in a word, syllables with diphthongs, glottal stops, or checked consonants.^[7] However, Plains Remo primarily stresses the second syllable in a word.^[3] Bonda words can have a maximum of 5 syllables.^[7]

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are placed either in the beginning or middle of a word, usually used in combination of two different vowel types.^[7]

Bonda	Translation^[3]
lean	tongue
bois	age
guidag	to wash
otoi	not to be
dau	small

Consonants

There are 33 consonants in the Bonda language.^[7]

Consonants^[8]
		Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	c	k	ʔ
	voiceless aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ	cʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	ɟ	ɡ
	voiced aspirated	bʱ	dʱ	ɖʱ	ɟʱ	ɡʱ
Fricative	voiceless		s				h
Fricative	voiced		(z)
Nasal		m	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant			l	ɭ	j	w
Trill			r

/z/ only occurs in loanwords from Odia.^[7]

Vowels

Bonda has 5 vowel phonemes: /a, e, i, o, u/.^[8]

In Bonda, vowels are nasalized and clusters are commonplace.^[7]

Grammar

Syntax

Bonda follows the SOV (Subject + Object + Verb) sequence, but other word orders are possible.^[7]

Gender

Age and gender serve as classification denominations for individuals. Female names end in /-i/ and male names end in /-a/. Animals are also distinguished by gender.^[7]

Compound verb

The compound verb is not frequently used in Bonda and can be used as a conjunctive participle.^[9]

Vocabulary

Gobardhan Panda showing body parts and pronouncing their respective names in Bonda

Kinship terminology

In Kinship terms, the velar nasal, ŋ, is often used. Various kinship terms also represent multiple positions.^[10]

Bonda	English Gloss^[10]
baʔ	Father
iyɔŋ	Mother
remɔ	Man
mpɔr	Husband
kunui	Wife
bɔrai	Aunt
busã	Uncle
tata	Grandfather
ya/iya	Father's Mother/Mother's Mother
maŋ	Eldest brother
miŋ	Elder sister
ileʔǐ	Grandchild
masɔ	Nephew

References

^ ^a ^b Bonda at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Bonda language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Anderson, Gregory (2008). The Munda Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 557–631. ISBN 9780415328906.
^ N. Gopalakrishnan, Linguistic Survey of India, p. 271
^ ^a ^b ^c "Bondo". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^ Dash, Jagannatha; Pati, Rabindra (2002). Tribal and Indigenous People of India: Problems and Prospects. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation. pp. 136–144. ISBN 978-8176483223.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Swain, Rajashree (1998). "A Grammar of Bonda Language". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 58/59: 391–396. JSTOR 42930587.
^ ^a ^b DeArmond, Richard (1976). "Proto-Gutob-Remo-Gtaq Stressed Monosyllabic Vowels and Initial Consonants". Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. 13 (13): 213–217. JSTOR 20019157.
^ Hook, Peter (1991). "The Compound Verb in Munda: An Areal and Typological Overview" (PDF). Language Sciences. 13 (2): 181–195. doi:10.1016/0388-0001(91)90013-Q. hdl:2027.42/29571.
^ ^a ^b Bhattacharya, Sudhibhushan (1970). "Kinship Terms in the Munda Language". Anthropos. 65 (3/4): 444–465. JSTOR 40457389.