Halbi language

Halbi (also Bastari, Halba, Halvas, Halabi, Halvi) is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language, transitional between Odia and Marathi.[2] It is spoken by 500,000 people across the central part of India.

Halbi
हलबी, ହଲବୀ
Native toIndia
RegionMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra
EthnicityHalba
Native speakers
766,297 (2011 census)[1]
Devanagari, Odia
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
hlb – Halbi
bhu – Bhunjia
Glottologhalb1244  Halbi
bhun1242  Bhunjia
Linguasphere59-AAF-tb
Halbi-speaking region

The Mehari (or Mahari) dialect is mutually intelligible with the other dialects only with difficulty. There are an estimated 200,000 second-language speakers (as of 2001). In Chhattisgarh educated people are fluent in Hindi. Some first language speakers use Bhatri as second language.

Halbi is often used as a trade language, but there is a low literacy rate. It is written in the Odia and Devanagari scripts. It uses SOV word order (subject-object-verb), makes strong use of affixes, and places adjectives before nouns.

Phonology

Vowels

Halbi has 6 vowels: /a, e, ɘ, i, o, u/. All vowels show contrastive vowel nasalization.[3]

Consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p t k ʔ
aspirated ph th kh
voiced b d g
breathy bɦ dɦ gɦ
Nasal m n ŋ
Affricate voiceless t͡s cç
voiced ɟʝ
Fricative voiceless f s ç h
voiced v z
Approximant l j w
Trill r


References
  1. "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  2. Masica (1991)
  3. "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2020-03-16.


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