Savara [1] (also known as Sora or Saura) is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken in the Eastern Ghats of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, documents Savara as a significant tribal language with a substantial speaker community. Savara belongs to the Sora-Juray-Gorum subgroup of South-Central Dravidian, making it genetically distinct from both the Gondi languages and the South Dravidian Tamil group.

The Savara Alphabet — South-Central Dravidian Language of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

Q: Does Savara have its own script?

Savara [2] has its own indigenous script called Sorang Sompeng, invented by Mangei Gomango in 1936 for the Sora/Savara people. The Endangered Languages Project documents Sorang Sompeng as an active writing system used by members of the Savara community. In academic and linguistic contexts, Latin-script transcription is used, as presented on this page. The CIIL [1] documents both the Sorang Sompeng script and the Latin transcription of Savara.

Q: What are the other names for Savara?

Savara [1] is also known by the names Sora and Saura. These three names — Savara, Sora and Saura — refer to the same language and people. "Sora" is the most widely used name in linguistic literature, while "Savara" is a common form in ethnographic and administrative contexts. The CIIL and the Endangered Languages Project [2] use multiple names to ensure the language is discoverable under all its documented designations.

Q: Where is Savara spoken?

Savara (Sora) [2] is spoken primarily in the Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput districts of Odisha, and in the Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Endangered Languages Project records the Savara speaker community in the Eastern Ghats hill region. The CIIL [1] documents Savara as one of the more sizeable tribal languages of eastern India with a documented speaker base.

Q: Is Savara related to Tamil?

Savara [1] and Tamil are both members of the Dravidian language family but belong to different subgroups. Tamil is a South Dravidian I language; Savara belongs to the South-Central Dravidian group (specifically the Sora-Juray-Gorum subgroup), which is genetically distinct from the Tamil-Kannada branch. The CIIL documents the Dravidian family's internal subgrouping, noting that South-Central Dravidian languages like Savara share a common ancestry with all Dravidian languages but diverged from the South Dravidian group many millennia ago.

Q: Is Savara endangered?

Savara [2] is documented by the Endangered Languages Project, reflecting concerns about its long-term vitality. Despite having a significant number of speakers compared to many other tribal languages, Savara faces pressure from Odia (the dominant language of Odisha), Telugu and Hindi. ELAR SOAS [3] maintains archival documentation to support future research and the preservation of the Savara language and its indigenous Sorang Sompeng script tradition.

Q: What is the Sorang Sompeng script?

The Sorang Sompeng script [2] is an indigenous writing system invented specifically for the Savara (Sora) language by Mangei Gomango in 1936. It is one of the relatively rare examples of a 20th-century indigenous script creation for a tribal language in India. The Endangered Languages Project and CIIL [1] document Sorang Sompeng as a syllabic script used by members of the Savara community for religious, cultural and literary purposes, making it a significant symbol of Savara cultural identity and self-determination.

Savara Alphabet at a Glance

Savara ^[1] (also known as Sora or Saura) is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, documents Savara as a significant tribal language of eastern India with a substantial speaker community and a distinctive linguistic heritage
The Savara people ^[2] have developed a unique writing system of their own — Sorang Sompeng — invented by Mangei Gomango in 1936. The Endangered Languages Project documents the Savara community in the Eastern Ghats of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Their language preserves features of South-Central Dravidian that are distinct from both Gondi and Tamil-group languages
ELAR (Endangered Languages Archive) ^[3] at SOAS University of London holds archival documentation for Savara, contributing to international documentation of this South-Central Dravidian language. ELAR provides open access to endangered language materials for research, education and community use worldwide
The Savara phonological system ^[1] is notable for its rich consonant inventory including retroflex stops, aspirated consonants and a distinctive vowel system with length contrasts. The CIIL documents Savara as having phonological features characteristic of the Sora-Juray-Gorum subgroup of South-Central Dravidian, distinct from both the Gondi and Telugu groups
Savara is documented in Latin script ^[1] in academic and linguistic contexts, as presented on this page. Community use of the indigenous Sorang Sompeng script — invented for the Savara people in 1936 — is also documented by the CIIL and the Endangered Languages Project, making Savara a notable example of an indigenous script creation in the 20th century
CIIL Mysore ^[1], ELAR SOAS ^[3] and the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] together form the primary documentation network for Savara, supporting the preservation of this South-Central Dravidian language of eastern India

Savara (also known as Sora or Saura) is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) ^[1] documents Savara as a significant tribal language. The Endangered Languages Project ^[2] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] support international documentation of this language of the Eastern Ghats.

[a]

[aː]

[i]

[iː]

[u]

[uː]

[e]

[eː]

[o]

[oː]

[a]

Short open vowel, like the a in "father"

[aː]

Long open vowel, a lengthened version of a

[i]

Short close front vowel, like the i in "bit"

[iː]

Long close front vowel, like the ee in "see"

[u]

Short close back vowel, like the u in "put"

[uː]

Long close back vowel, like the oo in "food"

[e]

Mid front vowel, like the e in "bed"

[eː]

Long mid front vowel

[o]

Mid back vowel, like the o in "go"

[oː]

Long mid back vowel

Savara Consonants

Savara has a rich consonant inventory of 28 consonants ^[1], including aspirated stops (ph, bh, th, dh, kh, gh), retroflex sounds (ṭ, ḍ, ṇ, ḷ) and the retroflex aspirates ṭh and ḍh. These are characteristic of South-Central Dravidian languages.

The CIIL ^[1] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] document the Savara consonant system in linguistic fieldwork, highlighting its complex retroflex and aspirate series absent from most European languages.

[p]

[pʰ]

[b]

[bʱ]

[t]

[tʰ]

[d]

[dʱ]

ṭ

[ʈ]

ṭh

[ʈʰ]

ḍ

[ɖ]

ḍh

[ɖʱ]

[k]

[kʰ]

[g]

[gʱ]

[tʃ]

[dʒ]

[m]

[n]

ṇ

[ɳ]

[ŋ]

[r]

[l]

ḷ

[ɭ]

[j]

[v]

[h]

Savara Special Characters

Savara phonological transcription uses special diacritic characters including the retroflex dot-below (ṭ, ḍ, ṇ, ḷ), nasalisation tilde, aspiration superscript h and the IPA length mark (ː) ^[1]. These are standard in linguistic documentation.

ELAR SOAS ^[3] and the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] use these transcription conventions in their archival documentation of the Savara language of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

[length]

[glottal]

[nasal]

[breathy]

[aspiration]

[pause]

[gundi]

[mi]

[bagi]

[yagi]

[unji]

[monoi]

[turoi]

[guloi]

[tameroi]

[tigeroi]

Complete Savara Alphabet

The complete Savara alphabet in standard Latin transcription order — vowels followed by consonants. This Latin transcription is used in academic and linguistic documentation of Savara by CIIL, ELAR and other research institutions.

CIIL Mysore ^[1], the Endangered Languages Project ^[2] and ELAR SOAS ^[3] document Savara as a significant South-Central Dravidian language of eastern India with an indigenous script tradition.

[a]

[aː]

[b]

[bʱ]

[tʃ]

[d]

[dʱ]

ḍ

[ɖ]

ḍh

[ɖʱ]

[e]

[eː]

[g]

[gʱ]

[h]

[i]

[iː]

[dʒ]

[k]

[kʰ]

[l]

ḷ

[ɭ]

[m]

[n]

ṇ

[ɳ]

[ŋ]

[o]

[oː]

[p]

[pʰ]

[r]

[t]

[tʰ]

ṭ

[ʈ]

ṭh

[ʈʰ]

[u]

[uː]

[v]

[j]

Expand All Collapse All

What is Savara?

Does Savara have its own script?

What are the other names for Savara?

Where is Savara spoken?

Is Savara related to Tamil?

Is Savara endangered?

What is the Sorang Sompeng script?

References:

[1] Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, India (Ministry of Education, Government of India). "Savara Language" — CIIL documents Savara (ISO 639-3: svr), a Dravidian language of the Savara tribal community of southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, India. The Savara (also Saura, Sora) are a Scheduled Tribe of India, and their language is classified in the South Dravidian branch. Retrieved from Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL)
[2] Endangered Languages Project, Google.org. "Savara Language" — the Endangered Languages Project documents Savara (ISO 639-3: svr), a Dravidian tribal language spoken by approximately 15,000 people in the Gajapati and Rayagada districts of Odisha and Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project
[3] Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), SOAS University of London. "Savara Language Documentation" — ELAR holds documentation of the Savara Dravidian language (ISO 639-3: svr) of southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, India, including audio recordings, transcriptions and grammatical analyses. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR)