Muria [1] is a Dravidian language of the Gondi group spoken by the Muria Gond people in Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, documents Muria as a South-Central Dravidian language closely related to Maria Gondi and Gondi proper. The Muria Gond people are an indigenous tribal community of Bastar known for the ghotul, their unique institution of communal youth dormitory life.

The ghotul [2] is the central institution of Muria Gond social life — a dormitory for young unmarried men and women that serves as a community gathering place for cultural learning, music, dance and the transmission of tribal values. The Endangered Languages Project records the ghotul as one of the most distinctive aspects of Muria Gond culture, distinguishing the Muria from other Gondi communities. The Muria language is the medium of ghotul cultural transmission, making its preservation vital for the continuation of this unique institutional tradition.

Muria [2] is documented by the Endangered Languages Project as a language at risk. Like many tribal languages of Central India, Muria faces pressure from dominant regional languages including Hindi and Chhattisgarhi. ELAR SOAS [3] maintains archival documentation for Muria to support future research and community revitalisation. The CIIL [1] conducts documentation work on Indian minority languages including Muria to preserve their linguistic heritage.

The Muria Alphabet — Gondi Dravidian Language of the Muria Gond, Bastar, Chhattisgarh

Q: What is the difference between Muria and Maria?

Muria [1] and Maria are two distinct but closely related Gondi Dravidian languages of the Bastar region, Chhattisgarh. The CIIL documents them as separate varieties within the Gondi subgroup, associated with the Muria Gond and Maria Gond communities respectively. Both languages are written in Devanagari and share significant Gondi vocabulary and grammatical features. See the Maria alphabet page for the related Maria Gondi language.

Q: What script is used for Muria?

Muria [1] is written in the Devanagari script — an abugida shared with Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and Nepali. Each Devanagari consonant carries an inherent vowel "a" modified by diacritic marks (matras) or suppressed using the halant (्). The CIIL documents Devanagari as the standard script for Muria literacy and language documentation in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

Q: Where do the Muria Gond people live?

The Muria Gond people [2] live primarily in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, India — particularly in the Kondagaon, Narayanpur and Dantewada districts. The Endangered Languages Project records Muria-speaking communities distributed across the forested and hilly terrain of Bastar. The Muria Gond are closely associated with the dense Sal forests of the Bastar plateau and have maintained a traditional forest-based lifestyle alongside their distinctive social institutions including the ghotul.

Q: Is Muria related to Gondi?

Muria [1] belongs to the Gondi subgroup of South-Central Dravidian languages and is closely related to Gondi proper, Maria, Pradhan and Nagarchal. The CIIL documents all these languages as part of the same Gondi cluster within South-Central Dravidian. Muria and Gondi proper share significant core vocabulary, grammatical structures and phonological features. ELAR SOAS [3] archives documentation of Muria as a distinct Gondi variety with its own community identity in Bastar.

Muria Alphabet at a Glance

Muria ^[1] is a Dravidian language of the Gondi group spoken by the Muria Gond people in Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, documents Muria as a South-Central Dravidian language closely related to Gondi proper and to Maria Gondi. It is written in the Devanagari script
The Muria Gond people ^[2] are an indigenous tribal community of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, known internationally for the ghotul — a unique institution of communal dormitory life for young men and women that serves as a centre of cultural transmission. The Endangered Languages Project documents Muria as a language of the Gondi group with distinct cultural importance
ELAR (Endangered Languages Archive) ^[3] at SOAS University of London holds archival documentation for Muria, contributing to international efforts to preserve this South-Central Dravidian language. ELAR provides open access to endangered language materials for research, education and community revitalisation
Muria belongs to the Gondi subgroup ^[1] of South-Central Dravidian languages, which also includes Maria, Pradhan, Nagarchal and Gondi proper. The CIIL documents the Muria variety as distinct from Maria Gondi (spoken by the Hill Maria Gond) while sharing the same Gondi genetic heritage and the Devanagari script for written representation
The Devanagari script ^[1] used for Muria is an abugida written left-to-right, where each consonant carries an inherent vowel "a" that can be modified or suppressed using diacritic signs. This widely accessible writing system is shared with Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and other South Asian languages, providing Muria writers access to a broad literacy infrastructure
CIIL Mysore ^[1], ELAR SOAS ^[3] and the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] together document Muria as an endangered Gondi Dravidian language of the Muria Gond people of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India

Muria is a Dravidian language of the Gondi group spoken by the Muria Gond people in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) ^[1] documents Muria as a South-Central Dravidian language. The Endangered Languages Project ^[2] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] support international documentation of this Devanagari-script language of Bastar.

Muria Consonants

Muria uses the 33 Devanagari consonants ^[1], arranged in four series of stops (dental, retroflex, palatal, velar) each with voiced and voiceless aspirated and unaspirated variants. The retroflex series (ट, ठ, ड, ढ) is characteristic of Gondi Dravidian languages of Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

The CIIL ^[1] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] document Muria consonants as reflecting the South-Central Dravidian phonological heritage shared across the Gondi language group of Central India.

क

[ka]

ख

[kha]

ग

[ga]

घ

[gha]

ङ

[nga]

च

[cha]

छ

[chha]

ज

[ja]

झ

[jha]

ञ

[nya]

ट

[tta]

ठ

[ttha]

ड

[dda]

ढ

[ddha]

ण

[nna]

त

[ta]

थ

[tha]

द

[da]

ध

[dha]

न

[na]

प

[pa]

फ

[pha]

ब

[ba]

भ

[bha]

म

[ma]

य

[ya]

र

[ra]

ल

[la]

व

[va]

श

[sha]

ष

[ssha]

स

[sa]

ह

[ha]

Muria Independent Vowels

The 13 Devanagari independent vowels ^[1] are used in Muria when a vowel begins a syllable. They include short/long pairs (अ/आ, इ/ई, उ/ऊ), diphthongs (ऐ, औ), vocalic r (ऋ), anusvara (अं) and visarga (अः).

ELAR SOAS ^[3] and the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] document the Muria vowel system as characteristic of the Gondi Dravidian phonological tradition of Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

अ

[a]

आ

[aa]

इ

[i]

ई

[ii]

उ

[u]

ऊ

[uu]

ऋ

[ri]

ए

[e]

ऐ

[ai]

ओ

[o]

औ

[au]

अं

[an]

अः

[ah]

अ

[a]

Short vowel a, the inherent vowel of Devanagari consonants

आ

[aa]

Long vowel aa, like the a in "father"

इ

[i]

Short vowel i, like the i in "bit"

ई

[ii]

Long vowel ii, like the ee in "see"

उ

[u]

Short vowel u, like the u in "put"

ऊ

[uu]

Long vowel uu, like the oo in "food"

ऋ

[ri]

Vocalic r, a syllabic consonant unique to Brahmic scripts

ए

[e]

Vowel e, like the a in "late"

ऐ

[ai]

Diphthong ai, like the i in "kite"

ओ

[o]

Vowel o, like the o in "go"

औ

[au]

Diphthong au, like the ow in "cow"

अं

[an]

Anusvara form — nasalised vowel

अः

[ah]

Visarga form — aspirated vowel with final h-sound

ा

[aa]

ि

[i]

ी

[ii]

ु

[u]

ू

[uu]

ृ

[ri]

े

[e]

ै

[ai]

ो

[o]

ौ

[au]

ं

[an]

ः

[ah]

्

[halant]

ा

[aa]

Matra for long vowel aa

ि

[i]

Matra for short vowel i, written before the consonant

ी

[ii]

Matra for long vowel ii

ु

[u]

Matra for short vowel u, written below

ू

[uu]

Matra for long vowel uu, written below

ृ

[ri]

Matra for vocalic r, written below

े

[e]

Matra for vowel e, written above

ै

[ai]

Matra for diphthong ai, written above

ो

[o]

Matra for vowel o, written around consonant

ौ

[au]

Matra for diphthong au, written around consonant

ं

[an]

Anusvara — nasalisation dot above

ः

[ah]

Visarga — aspiration mark after the vowel

्

[halant]

Halant (virama) — suppresses the inherent a vowel

Muria Digits

Muria uses Devanagari numerals ^[1] (०–९), shared across Devanagari-script languages of South Asia. These numerals are used in Muria literacy and documentation materials produced for the community of Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

ELAR SOAS ^[3] and the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] archive Muria language materials including numerical vocabulary as part of their documentation of this Gondi Dravidian language.

०

[sunna]

१

[ek]

२

[do]

३

[teen]

४

[chaar]

५

[paanch]

६

[chhah]

७

[saat]

८

[aath]

९

[nau]

०

[sunna]

Devanagari digit zero

१

[ek]

Devanagari digit one

२

[do]

Devanagari digit two

३

[teen]

Devanagari digit three

४

[chaar]

Devanagari digit four

५

[paanch]

Devanagari digit five

६

[chhah]

Devanagari digit six

७

[saat]

Devanagari digit seven

८

[aath]

Devanagari digit eight

९

[nau]

Devanagari digit nine

Complete Muria Alphabet

The complete Muria Devanagari alphabet in standard Brahmic order — vowels followed by consonants. Devanagari is an abugida where each consonant carries the inherent vowel "a", modified by matras in Muria writing in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

CIIL Mysore ^[1], the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] document Muria as a Gondi Dravidian language of the Muria Gond people of Bastar — the language of the ghotul cultural tradition.

अ

[a]

आ

[aa]

इ

[i]

ई

[ii]

उ

[u]

ऊ

[uu]

ऋ

[ri]

ए

[e]

ऐ

[ai]

ओ

[o]

औ

[au]

क

[ka]

ख

[kha]

ग

[ga]

घ

[gha]

ङ

[nga]

च

[cha]

छ

[chha]

ज

[ja]

झ

[jha]

ञ

[nya]

ट

[tta]

ठ

[ttha]

ड

[dda]

ढ

[ddha]

ण

[nna]

त

[ta]

थ

[tha]

द

[da]

ध

[dha]

न

[na]

प

[pa]

फ

[pha]

ब

[ba]

भ

[bha]

म

[ma]

य

[ya]

र

[ra]

ल

[la]

व

[va]

श

[sha]

ष

[ssha]

स

[sa]

ह

[ha]

Expand All Collapse All

What is Muria?

What is the ghotul?

What is the difference between Muria and Maria?

What script is used for Muria?

Is Muria endangered?

Where do the Muria Gond people live?

Is Muria related to Gondi?

References:

[1] Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, India (Ministry of Education, Government of India). "Muria Gondi Language" — CIIL documents Muria (ISO 639-3: anr), a Gondi-branch Dravidian language spoken by the Muria Gond people of Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, and adjacent areas of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Muria are a Scheduled Tribe of India renowned for their ghotul institution (dormitory system) and distinctive cultural practices. Retrieved from Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL)
[2] Endangered Languages Project, Google.org. "Muria (Gondi) Language" — the Endangered Languages Project documents Muria (ISO 639-3: anr), a Gondi-branch Dravidian language of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India. Muria is part of the wider Gondi dialect complex of the Central Dravidian language subgroup. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project
[3] Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), SOAS University of London. "Muria Language Documentation" — ELAR holds documentation of Muria (ISO 639-3: anr), the Gondi-branch Dravidian language of the Muria Gond community of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, India, including recordings and linguistic analyses. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR)