Uniforms

It belongs to the branch of the mundo of the Austro-Asian languages , together with the very close languages ​​of Santali and Ho and a number of other small languages ​​it forms a subgroup of khervari , and it, in turn, together with the language of the peel is combined into one of the two main branches of the munda - northern munda languages .

“Mundari” is an exonym; the munda themselves call themselves, like the Santals , “chorus” (people) or “munda” in the sense of their caste of “village leaders”; their language is called horo jagar or munda jagar. According to Hoffman (Encyclopaedia Mundarica, Volume 1), the Mundari has four dialects: Hassada, Naguri, Tamaria and Kera. Kera Mundari is considered the most independent dialect, which is also associated with its sociolinguistic status - the Dravidians-oraons in the city of Ranchi and its environs switched to this language. In the collective monograph “Munda languages” (L., Routledge, 2008), kera-uniforms are described separately ^[1] .

Language learning began in the 19th century: the works of Holdar (1871), Whitley (1873), Nottroth (1882), but their level is lower than that of Santal works of the same period. The best studies of uniforms and collections of materials remain the grammar of the missionary John (Johann) Hoffman (1903) and the Encyclopedia of the Mundaries prepared by him (published 1930-1978). At the end of XX - beginning of XXI century. the language was studied by Ram Dayal Munda, who wrote the Mundari grammar in Hindi (1971), and Japanese linguist Toshiki Osada, the author of several articles on this language.