Santali love poem
Ạrsi
Ạrsi re amak̕ rup umul
Ińạk̕ mońj utạr onoṛhẽ
Usạraeme baṅkhan chan adok̕a
Noado̠ ińạk’ ses “Dulạṛet̕meạń”
→ Poem the mirror ←
Santali language & the Santals
The little love poem in its Santali version (Sentali, Santhal, Khole, Har, Lohari-Santali, Sonthal, Mahali, Sangtal, Satar, Mahle, Kamari-Santali, Paharia, Santal, Sainti, Karmali, Santhali, Manjhi, Hor, Samtali, Sandal, Santhiali).
Almost 6 million speakers speak this Munda language. The santali, is the aboriginal language of Santâlîs people (Santals) of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is the most important of the Munda languages, since it comprises 80% of speakers of these languages. One can write it with different systems, the old script Ol Chiki, or else: oriya, devanagari, bengali, or as here, in Latin letters.
Santali is mostly spoken on the side of Sadar, Jhargram, Purulia, respectively in the Bunkura, Midnapur and West Bengal, also in the south of Bhagalpur and Monghyr in Bihar, Baleshwar, Mayurbhanj, and Keonjhar in Orissa, and Rajsahi, Rangpur, and Chittagong in Bangladesh. It can be separated in two dialects, north and south, which do not have the same number of vowels.
Munda languages (kol) belong to the Austroasiatic family, and are spoken, in the central and eastern part of India (Orissa, Jharkand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh). They can be divided into two groups, north and south. The santali which is the most important of the Munda languages with 8 million speakers, belongs, to the North group, exactly to the kherware group.
Other languages of this northern group include Mundari, Ho, Karmali Santali, Koraku, Agariya, Asuri, Bhumij, Korwa, Mahali and Turi. In the jharkhand the munda-speaking ethnic groups would that munda will be recognized as official in India. For the southern group, languages are Sora, Juray, Remo, Kharia, Juang, Gorum and Gutob (Bodo). All together, they are less spoken than those of the northern group.
The Santals, like many aborigines of India, continue to live according to their ancient rites and traditions. They are tribal peoples, who live of agriculture and form a patrilineal society, which is divided into exogamic clans, in which polygamy is permitted. Hindus, the Santals continue to worship spirits and ancestors.