Oriya language

Oriya
Spoken in:	India
Region:	India
Total speakers: (1996)	31,000,000
Ranking:	32 (1996)
Genetic classification:	Indo-European  Indo-Iranian   Indo-Aryan    Oriya
Official status
Official language of:	India
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ISO 639-2
SIL

Oriya (ଓଡ଼ିଆ) is one of the Indian languages mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa. The language is also an official language of India. It is actually prounced as ODIA. Oriya is an Indo-Aryan language and is thought to be directly descended from the Prakrit known as Magadhi or Pali which was spoken in Eastern India over 1,500 years ago. It bears a very strong resemblance to the modern languages, Bangla (Bengali) and Ahomiya (Assamese). Of all the languages spoken in northern India, Oriya appears to be least influenced by Persian and Arabic.

Oriya has a rich literary heritage dating back to the thirteenth century. Sarala Das, who lived in the fourteenth century is known as the Vyasa of Orissa. During the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the works of Jayadeva and Chaitanya gained prominence. Upendra Bhanja was another outstanding poet of that period. Distinguished writers of the modern period include Fakir Mohan Senapati, Manoj Das, Kishore Charan Das, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi, and Gopinath Mohanty.

Oriya has traditionally had a strong Buddhist and Jain influence.

Oriya is written with the Oriya alphabet.

See also

• Oriya

External link

• odia.org, Oriya (Odia) news. Download a phonetic Oriya Translitation Editor. This is ITRANS compartable. Debu's Odiphon is available here too.