Kui (also Kandha, Khondi, Khond, Khondo, Kanda, Kodu (Kōdu), Kodulu, Kuinga (Kūinga), Kuy) is a South-Central
Dravidian language spoken by the
Kandhas, eastern Indian state of Odisha. It is mostly spoken in
Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
, and written in the
Odia script
The Odia script (, also ) is a Brahmic script used to write the Odia language. To a lesser extent, it is also used to write Sanskrit and other regional languages. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. The script has deve ...
. With 941,988 registered native speakers, it figures at
rank 29 in the 1991
Indian census
The decennial census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1872. Post 1949, it has been conducted by the Reg ...
.
The Kui language was also referred to as the Kuinga language during the historical period. It is closely related to the
Gondi and
Kuvi languages.
Phonology
Vowels
Kui language has five short vowels and five long vowels.
The vowels are illustrated below in IPA.
References
External links
Kui basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database*
Agglutinative languages
Dravidian languages
Endangered languages of India
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