Ho language

Ho (also known as Bihar Ho and Lanka Kol) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken primarily in India by about 1.04 million people (0.103% of India's population) per the 2001 census. It is spoken by the Ho people and is written with the "Varang Kshiti" (also "Warang Chiti" script). In some regions, in Oriya, Devanagari and Latin but are considered non-ideal by the native speakers who prefer exclusive use of Varang Kshiti. The name "Ho" is derived from the native word "ho", which means "human".

Distribution

The largest concentrations of Ho speakers are in the East Singhbhum district of southern Jharkhand and in the Mayurbhanj district and Keonjhar district of northern Odisha. Ho is closer to the Mayurbhanj dialect of Mundari than the language spoken in Jharkhand. Although Ho and Mundari are linguistically closer, the ethnic identity of the speakers is distinct.

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Further reading