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The Saora is a south ‘Munda’ language of the Austroasiatic language of the Saora people, an ethnic group located in the eastern part of India, mainly in the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Saora contains very little formal literature but has an abundance of folk tales and rich traditions. Most of the knowledge passed down from generation to generation is transmitted orally. Like many languages in eastern India, Saora is listed as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ Saora-speaking people are resided in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The Saora (alternative names and spellings include Sora, Saura, Savara, and Sabara) are a Munda ethnic group from the eastern region of India. Also, they live in southern Odisha and north coastal Andhra Pradesh as well. Since early this century, some Saora communities have migrated to the tea gardens of Assam for temporary wage labour and some have remained there. More recently they have migrated to road-building and building projects in Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of India. In Odisha, the Saora’s mainly live in Gajapati, Rayagada, and Bargarh districts. They are also existing in the Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh. In the census, however, some Saora’s are classified under Shabar or Lodha, then for another very different Munda tribe. They inhabit blocks of Gunupur, Padmapur, and Gudari in the districts of Rayagada. Their highest community is found in the Puttasingi area, approximately 25 km away from Gunupur NAC. Although they are close to the assimilation process, some interior GPs like Rejingtal,Sagada, and Puttasingi have Saoras who still retain their traditional tribal customs and traditions. Since early this century, they are known by various names such as Savara, Sabara, Sora, and Soura. They are concentrated in parts of Gunupur adjoining the blocks of Gumma, Serango of Gajapati district. However, the written language in Saora is not followed by all. They practice shifting cultivation, with a few gradually taking up settled agriculture.

Mangei Gomango

Gomango was born on 16 June 1916 in Marichaguda, Jeypore Estate, British India. He is regarded as the inventor of Soura Lipi(script). The Saura script Sorang Sompeng was developed by Mangei Gamang in 1966 for spreading the language. As a mark of respect, people called him “Pandita Sabara” (scholar).

Mangei Gomango (16 June 1916 – 1980), popularly known as Pandita Sabara Mangei Gamango was an Indian language activist who is said to have devised the tribal language of Rayagada district. He has been awarded by Odisha Sahitya Akademi.

The temple of Matarabnam in Marichaguda played a great role in the invention of the script. It is believed that there the Sorang Sompeng alphabet came to him in a vision on 18 June 1936. He was a poet, Ayurvedic scholar, and a reformer too. In 1936, he established a press in Puthasahi of Gunupur sub-division for spreading the script he invented the Saura alphabet.

Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy

Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy (1863-1940) was a Telugu writer and one of the earliest modern Telugu linguists and social visionaries during British rule.

Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy gave a social base to Telugu literature and rendered services to the tribals, especially the Savaras, in the Parlakimidi area of the Srikakulam agency area and tirelessly worked for the development of tribal languages. He gave Savara language a script and prepared lexicons. During his research for the Savara language, he had to travel in the forests resulting in excessive use of quinine due to which he became deaf. Developed language script and prepared lexicons for the ‘Savara’ people (Munda tribe) Sora-English Dictionary Savara Patalu.

Prof. Khageswara Mahapatra

Conducted the ‘Tribal Language Study Projects’ sponsored by the Ministry of Welfare at the Academy of Tribal Dialects and Culture, Government of Odisha, and prepared monographs on 20 tribal languages; Kui, Kissan, Didayi, Koya, Santali, Oraon, Kharia, Juang, Gadaba, Saora, Lanjia Saora, Ho, Bathudi, Bonda, Mundari, Desia, Kuvi Kondh, Gondi, Prenga and Sadri with the following contents in each volume:

I. Grammar, II- Texts, III- Dictionary in three formats:

1. Odia- Tribal Dialect,

2. English- Tribal Dialect

3. Tribal Dialect- Odia/ English

Conducted a major research project on the survey and study of Tribal Odia Dialects sponsored by D.P.E.P.

Participated in many national and international seminars/conferences held in India and abroad, such as Austro-Asiatic Linguistic Conferences, Sino- Tibetan Linguistic Conference, Anthropological and Ethnological Science Congress, South-Asia Language, and Linguistic Conference, All India Linguists Conference, All India Oriental Conference, etc. and symposia/workshops organized by UGC.

Research Associate in the Munda Language Project sponsored by Chicago University (3 years during 1963-69).

Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra

Former State Coordinator, MLE program, Odisha Mangei Gomanga, the inventor of Sora script Sora Sompen in Maricha Guda has been used by the Saora people for their ethnic solidarity. Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra’s contribution to the field of indigenous education using folklore is another area of concern. His forthcoming book is Saora Folk Literature to be published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

Folklorist and National Consultant on Multilingual Education Curriculum Designer and Teacher Trainer philanthropies.

For School Community Linkage and using local knowledge in primary education for a Culturally responsive, community-owned, child cantered and teacher-supportive classroom through storytelling festivals, art, and crafts music and dance, traditional games, nature books, and villages project are implemented in Odisha.

Gregory D.S. Anderson

The Munda verb typological perspectives the Munda verb is a unique book on the typology of the verb in the Munda language family, and the first of its kind on any language family of the Indian subcontinent. The author painstakingly works out nearly all the details of the morphology of the verb in each modern Munda language and offers a description of the typology of the Munda verbal systems both individually and collectively.

The author uses a large amount of data from modern Munda languages, as well as an extensive cross-linguistic corpus offering comparisons from genetically unrelated languages such as Fox, Amele, Kinyarwanda, Luyia, Takelma, Tonkawa, Burushaski, or Tangut where relevant. Points of note include the unusual incorporation system of south Munda Sora and the elaborate and complex system of verb agreement attested in the Kherwarian Munda languages. Further, the author discusses models for a Proto-Munda verbal system and problems in its reconstruction at various points throughout.

This book is of great interest to specialists working on the Munda languages, South Asian linguistics, language typology, historical linguistics, and scholars of both morphology as well as syntax.

Oral Tradition: 

Oral tradition is rich depository practices by the Saora community. Basically, their story tellers are known are Kata Birmar, and singers are known as Kin Kinmar. Ranai is a local field where they are singing the song to celebrate. The origin and narratives of the myth’s spells by their priest Buyang. Everywhere the folklore is juxtaposed with regional idea and thought. The Saora has introduced by the Govt. of Odisha from Class I to Class V in primary schools under Multilingual Education Program (MLE). The Saora primers have been written by the eminent teachers from Sora community. Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, the former state coordinator of MLE program Odisha has guided the eminent writers of Saora primer, such as Enam Gomanga, Philip Sabara, Ghasi Sabara, and Injuram Sabara. Mangei Gomanga, the pioneer inventor of Sora script ‘Sora – Sompen’ in Maricha Guda has been used and popularised by the Saora community for their ethnic solidarity.

History

The Saora language has rapidly climbed and a lot of people speak this language for decades while before it crashing down. In fact, in 1901, one hundred fifty-seven thousand spoke this language and it rise till one hundred sixty-six thousand in 1911. After ten years this number marginally increased to one hundred sixty-eight thousand and kept increasing. Also in 1931, the speaking figures are jumped to one hundred ninety-four thousand. Moreover in 1961, the numbers are highest at two hundred sixty-five thousand speaking before crashing down in 1971 when speaking numbers dropped back down to two hundred twenty-one thousand.

Photo1 : Map of Proto-Munda, Saora

Photo 2 : Traditional Classification of Munda Languages

Grammar

From the beginning the Saora language has more and less a complicated grammar in terms of verb system. Sometimes a verb has capacity to compact the complete sentence into just a single word. Both Saora language and linguistics uses grammatical devices, including agreement of subject and object, order of word, and noun compounding to showcase. It is seen as a predominantly nominative-accusative language. And once again it differs from the other languages with lack of a passive structure. Saora language has some complex grammatical cases whenever we use it for writing. A few examples are as follows:

1. Nominative

2. Accusative

3. Locative

4. Instrumental

5. Comitative

6. Benefactive

7. Genitive

In addition to Saora language, like many other Munda languages, uses relator nouns to link the nouns with the other parts of the sentence in order to provide a more specific meaning, called compounding. These monosyllabic nouns that enhance meaning are called semantic relator nouns and are used widely in Saora. Also, it has a combining form for every noun in addition to the full form of the noun. The combining form allows the noun to be attached to a verb root to create a more semantically and complex word, which is similar to compounding in other languages as well. Saora contains prefixes, infixes, and suffixes to form its affixation but only uses its suffixes to change the possession of nouns. The combining form is the form seen when the noun is being used with a verb or another full formed noun. The full form is the form seen when the noun is standing alone or functioning not in tandem with other parts of speech. Some templates of Saora combinations between nouns and verbs are as follows:

Verb + Combined Form

Verb + Combined Form + Combined Form

Full-Form + Combined Form

Full-Form + Combined Form + Combined Form

An example of a full-form noun shortened into the Combined Form is as follows: mənra, the full form of man, and it transforms into the combined form word --mər . The two—indicate that a noun (full or combined) or verb has to precede the combined form noun; that is the combined form noun cannot stand on its own. Although by no means conclusive, a few general guidelines about the combined form are that it depends on where the combination with the verb or other noun is to take place. If the combined form is to an infix, then its resulting form will be different from, if it were to be combined as a prefix.

Vocabulary

Saora borrows words from the surrounding languages like ‘Telugu’ and ‘Odia’. An example of a word borrowed from Odia is kɘ'ra'ñja' which is a tree name and from Telugu mu'nu', which means black gram. Moreover, within the Munda family itself most words appear to be mutually intelligible owing to minor differences in pronunciations and phonology. ‘Kharia’ and ‘Korku’, two other Munda languages, share mutually intelligible words with Saora. For example, the number 11 in Kharia is gholmoŋ, in Korku it is gel ḑomiya, and in Saora it is gelmuy. Each 11 in each language looks and sounds remarkably similar to the other 11’s. This phenomenon is not just contained in numbers but rather a great deal of vocabulary is mutually intelligible among the Munda languages. Within the Austroasiatic language, more knowledge about Saora vocabulary can be found. The Mon-Khmer language which encompasses the languages primarily spoken in Southeast Asia has lexical cognates with the Munda. That means that some words found in Saora are of direct proto-Austroasiatic origin and share similarities with other derived Austroasiatic languages. Words that relate to the body, family, home, and field, as well as pronouns, demonstratives, and numerals are the ones with the most cognates.

Numerals System

The Saora numeral system uses a base 12, which only a few other languages in the world. Ekari, for example, uses a base 60 system. For example, 39 in Sora arithmetic would be thought of as (1 * 20)+ 12 + 7. Here are the first 12 numerals in the Sora language.

English: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve

Sora: aboy bago yagi unji monloy tudru gulji t^hamji tinji gelji gelmuy migel

Similar to how English uses the suffix from the numeral ten after twelve (such as thirteen, fourteen, etc.), Sora also uses a suffix assignment to numerals after 12 and before 20. Thirteen in Saora is expressed as migelboy (12+1), fourteen as migelbagu (12+2), etc. Between numerals 20 and 99, Saora adds the suffix kuri to the first constituent of the numeral. For example, 31 is expressed as bokurigelmuy and 90 as unjikurigelji.

Writing System of Saora Script Fonts

It is believed that there is ‘Sorang Sompeng’ alphabet came to lime light in 18 June 1936 invented by Mangei Gomanga.  He was a poet and ayurvedic scholar as well as a social reformer. In the same year, he established a press in the Gunupur sub-division of Rayagada district for spreading the script and Saora alphabet.  

Photo 3: Saora Alphabet, Script Saora Sompeng

The Saora language has multiple writing systems. One is called Saora Sompeng, a native writing system created only for the Sora language. It was developed in 1936 by Mangei Gomango. Saora is also written in the Odia alphabet by the bilingual speakers of Odisha. Similarly, Telugu is used bybilingual speakers living in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Finally, the last commonly used script to write Saora is the Latin script.

The Saora language has multiple writing systems. One is called ‘Saora Sompeng,’ a native writing system created only for the Sora language. It was developed in 1936 by Mangei Gomango. Saora is also written in the Odia alphabet by the bilingual speakers of Odisha. Similarly, Telugu is used by bilingual speakers living in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Moreover, the last commonly used script to write Saora is the Latin script.  

Saora Idital 

Idital is the home of spirits and deities. The mural depicts images of ancestors and gods on different levels and according to the hierarchy of positions. The objects and images drawn in the Idital are Sonums in the form of humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, trees, guns, archers, gunmen, and even vehicles such as bicycles, cars, buses, and trains having the mythical and religious linkages with the tradition of Lanjia Saoura’s. The various types of images of peacock (maaraa) is frequently seen in the ritual art. There is also a sacred pot called daanki, it is hanging before the icon is used for keeping rice, pulses, and other crops with the meaning to give food to the ancestors and gods.

Photo 4: Saora rituals Idital

The pot is called Sonumdung which means the food pot of the Sonums. Many in-house rituals are performed near the icon out of which the first harvesting festivals of Raganabdar (red gram) and udaanabdar (mango) are compulsory to perform near the Idital. The art is regarded as sacred in Saora religion which represents the house of deities and spirits.

Saora Culture

Sora is spoken by the Sora people, who are a part of the Adivasi, or tribal people, in India, making Sora an Adivasi language. Sora is found in close proximity to Odia and Telugu-speaking peoples making a great deal of Sora people bilingual. Sora does not have much in the way of literature except for a few songs and folk tales which are usually transmitted orally. Sora religion is a mix of traditional shamanistic rituals and the surrounding Hinduism predominant in surrounding populations. One particular Sora ritual has to do with death. Sora retains a unique shamanistic view on the subject of death. It is said that people who die from murders, suicides, or accidents are said to be taken, in a sense, by the Sun spirit. These people, called usungdaijen, are then said to reside in the Sun itself after death. Sora uses spirits to explain many phenomena. For example, if a girl in no relationship has a headache or a migrane, it is said that the Pangalsum spirit, or Bachelor Spirit who contains the souls of men who have died before wedlock, has placed a wreath of flowers tightly around the girl head as a symbol of claiming her as his wife.

Photo 5: Saora rituals Idital and women priest (kudanbou tadugsum)

Apparently, there is hardly any tribe that has such complex religious beliefs and practices and such an elaborate and dynamic pantheon of countless deities and spirit-both benevolent as that of the Lanjia Saora. They are worshipped with fear and anxiety and offered sacrifices to provide safety and well-being of the people Religion Permeates all aspects of their life

Sonnum or Sunnam is the general name for the Saora deities and spirits. They have no concept of a supreme deity. But all the various aspect of their environment are associated with some gods or other. The gods are different from one another in terms of composition, character, and nature. Some gods are benevolent, some gods neutral, and some gods are malevolent.

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