Turi language

Turi is an endangered Austroasiatic language of India that belongs to the Kherwarian Munda group. Grierson (1906) described that Turi is similar to both Mundari and Santali. It is spoken by only half a percent of ethnic Turi, the rest having shifted to Sadri in Jharkhand, Mundari in West Bengal, and Odia in Odisha. The Turi are classified as a Scheduled Caste in Jharkhand.

Osada (1991) lists the following locations where Turi is spoken.

• Jharkhand (pop. 133,137 as of 1981; then part of Bihar)
  • Giridih district
  • Ranchi district
  • Hazaribagh district
• Chhattisgarh
  • Raigarh district
• West Bengal (pop. 26,443 as of 1981)
• Odisha (pop. 7,374 as of 1981)

Similar to Santali and Mundari, but /w/ is replaced by /ʋ/ in Turi.

Like all Kherwarian languages, double- and triple markings are possible in Turi.

• Konow, Sten. 1906. Tūrī. In Grierson, George A. (ed.), Muṇḍā and Dravidian Languages, 128–134. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing.
• Osada, Toshiki. 1991. Father Ponette's Field Note on Turi with a Comparative Vocabulary. Journal of Asian and African Studies 42. 175–189.