GONDIA

Gondia is a district in eastern Maharashtra, bordered by the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Its linguistic landscape is shaped by this location, resulting in a mix of speech forms and influences from neighboring regions. Interestingly, the area is also known for its dense tree cover, and many villages are named after trees. Locals say that for this reason, the local speech is sometimes referred to as “Zadi Boli” which literally means the bush language. 

Several indigenous communities also live in the region, each with their own spoken styles and ways of speaking, making the area home to many different language varieties. Among these, two of the varieties spoken are Gondi and Powari, both of which reflect the distinct cultural and geographic setting of the district.

Remarkably, the 2011 Census of India data reveals that several languages are spoken as mother tongues in Gondia district. At the time of the Census (2011), Gondia district had a total population of approximately 13 lakh (13,22,507).

Of this population, 73.31% reported Marathi as their first language. This was followed by Hindi (11.54%), Pawari/Powari (4.70%), Gondi (3.32%), and Lodhi (2.60%). Chhattisgarhi speakers accounted for 1.79% of the population. Other languages spoken as mother tongues included Sindhi (0.76%), Bengali (0.68%), and Gujarati (0.27%). Smaller linguistic groups in the district included Kalari (0.14%), Urdu (0.13%), Punjabi (0.12%), Telugu (0.11%), Kannada (0.09%), Odia (0.07%), Marwari (0.06%), and even Tibetan (0.06%).

Gondi is a language spoken by the Gond people across central India, including states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Gujarat. In Gondia district, it is the fourth most widely spoken language as a mother tongue, according to the 2011 census, and remains an integral part of the region’s cultural and linguistic identity. The name ‘Gondia’ itself is believed to have multiple origins, one of which traces it to the Gond people, who have for long been habitants of the district.

The origins of Gondi have been the subject of multiple theories. The traditional view maintains that Gondi has primarily existed as an oral language without a written script. However, it has been noted in the Languages of Maharashtra (2017) that this perspective has been challenged by scholars such as Motiram Kale, who argues that Gondi is an ancient language that once served as the official language of the ancient Gondwana Kingdom, complete with its own script and literary tradition. Scholar Vyankatesh Atram claims that hieroglyphs discovered in Gondwana are actually Gondi script and that it served as the official language of the Kuyava Kingdom in the pre-Rigveda period. According to this theory, the written script disappeared when Duryon, the Kuyava capital, was destroyed around 3201 BCE.

Despite these historical shifts, this language has endured beautifully in its oral form. Unfortunately, it has been classified as a “vulnerable language” in UNESCO’s 2009 report, which states that while most children still speak Gondi, its use may be restricted to certain domains.

Gondi is classified as part of the Dravidian language family in the Chandrapur Gazetteer (1972) and as mentioned above, is spoken across central India. However, rather than existing as a single uniform variety, Gondi exhibits significant dialectal diversity. The influence of surrounding languages, such as Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, and Chhattisgarhi, has contributed to regional variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical structures.

It is listed in the volume Languages of Maharashtra (2017), that there are more than 13 vowel sounds (counting all the short, long, uncommon vowels and diphthongs) and more than 37 consonant sounds in the Gondi language. They are as follows:

Gondi includes a distinct set of kinship terms that differ and are phonologically unique.

Gondi is spoken differently across Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, and Chandrapur in Maharashtra. In these areas, the language is in close contact with Hindi and Marathi, which has led to gradual shifts in vocabulary.

In many cases, original Gondi words have been replaced by borrowed forms, especially in everyday contexts. In other cases, certain words in Gondi may look or sound similar to words in Hindi or Marathi, but carry different meanings. For instance, the word मुलगी (mulgī) means mother’s elder sister in Gondi, whereas in Marathi, it means girl. These kinds of terms are often referred to as false friends (words that appear the same across two languages but differ in meaning.)

Other terms, like सकार (sakār) for morning or दुपार (dupar) for afternoon, resemble their counterparts in Marathi and Hindi, and may be considered as borrowings which have slight alterations in the way they are pronounced and spelled.

Some Gondi words also resemble terms in Marathi or Sanskrit in both sound and meaning. As noted in Languages of Maharashtra (2017), Vyankatesh Atram has pointed to certain Gondi terms as being possible sources for later Marathi words. For example:

• कलुष (kaluśa) – coal → is believed to be the possible source for the Marathi word कोळसा (kolasā)
  
• जावा उन्माल (jāva unmāl) – having a meal → similar to Marathi जेवण (jevaṇ)
  

While the direction of influence is debated, such overlaps point to long-standing interaction between Gondi and neighboring languages.

Powari is spoken by the Powar community, who live along the border of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is mentioned in the Languages of Maharashtra (2017), the Powar people trace their origins to North India, and this can be seen in features of the language, especially the influence of Hindi. At the same time, Marathi influence is also strong, especially in vocabulary and naming patterns. Many Powar surnames end with the Marathi suffix “-e”, such as Rane, Patale, and Tembale.

Other than that, very interestingly, words for seasons in Powari show both borrowing and shifts in pronunciation. For instance, the Gujarati word for summer, ઉનાળો (unāḷō) or the Marathi उन्हाळा (unhāḷā), becomes उनारो (unāro) in Powari. The form changes slightly in sound, but the structure and meaning remain close, suggesting contact or shared usage.

For winter, Powari uses the term ठंडकाल (ṭhaṇḍkāl), a compound word [a word formed by joining two words together] made up of ठंड (ṭhaṇḍ) meaning cold, and काल (kāl), which perhaps comes from the Hindi word that means ‘period of time.’ This compound is not commonly used in either Hindi or Marathi, marking it as distinctive within Powari.

A notable grammatical feature of Powari is its use of the “-no” (नो) suffix in many verb forms. This suffix is added to a verb root to mark the action. Some examples are given below:

These examples show how -no is regularly used to form verbs, and also how some Powari verb roots align with Marathi, particularly for everyday actions.

Jhadi is a language variety spoken across four districts in eastern Maharashtra, a region often referred to locally as the “Jhadi Patti” or “Jhadi Mandal.” This variety holds historical significance, with early literary mentions that trace back nearly a millennium.

Dr. Harishchandra Borkar in the volume Languages of India (2017), mentions that Jhadi appears in the poetic work Viveksindhu, written by Mukundraj, who is regarded to be one of the earliest Marathi literary poets in 1110 CE. He says that, “many words of this variety can also be found in the prose work edited around the same time by Mhaimbhatt [म्हाइंभट, the writer of the book Lilacharitra, who is associated with the Mahanubhav Panth].” In this work, Borkar writes, the region of Jhadi Mandal is directly identified as the homeland of Jhadi-speaking people.

Jhadi includes several words for everyday objects and actions that differ from other varieties of Marathi. One notable pattern is the frequent use of the suffix “-ना”, especially in verbs, a feature that gives the variety a recognisable rhythm.

This -ना (-nā) ending appears consistently across many verbs. It likely serves as a marker of action, and is used widely in both descriptive and process-related verbs.

Kohali, also referred to as Kohalauu or Koharau, is the language spoken by the Kohali community, who in Maharashtra, are noted to reside across the districts of Gondia, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, and Chandrapur. The Kohalis are associated with reservoir-building and watercraft, and are believed to have been brought to the region from Kashi (Varanasi) around 500 years ago by Gond rulers.

Interestingly, despite their North Indian origin, it is mentioned in the volume Languages of Maharashtra (2017) that they have no “resemblance to the languages of the North,” except for perhaps Hindi. Over centuries, it has developed into a distinct regional speech variety.

As a distinct speech variety, Kohali has its own variations when it comes to pronunciation. One notable phonological feature in Kohali is the replacement of the “l” sound with “r”. Very remarkably, this is reflected even in how speakers refer to themselves: Kohali becomes Kohari or Koharau in local pronunciation.

Kohali includes several unique words for common items, along with regional variations of words that resemble Hindi but differ in sound or form.

An interesting sound pattern in Kohali which can be observed here involves the replacement of the “ch” sound (as in छ) with “s” (स) in certain words. For example, the word for chest is commonly छाती (chātī) in Hindi and Marathi, but appears as साती (sātī) in Kohali. Another example is hole, which is usually छेद (ched) or छिद्र (chidra), but becomes सेद (sed) in this variety.

These kinds of substitutions, in many ways, help shape Kohali’s distinct pronunciation system and mark it as different from neighbouring languages, even when the words share a similar root or meaning.

Kohali kinship terms are especially rich and complex, structured by gendered perspectives. Terms can differ depending on whether the speaker is male or female, and whether the term refers to one’s own family or in-laws.

Kinship vocabulary falls into three categories:

1. General terms (used by anyone)
   
2. Male speaker’s perspective
   
3. Female speaker’s perspective
   

This gendered variation shows how Kohali organizes family and social roles linguistically, offering insight into the community’s social structure and ways of relating. Also as mentioned above, a notable sound shift in Kohali is the replacement of “l” with “r.” Here, one can observe how the Hindi word साला (sālā), meaning wife’s brother, is realized in Kohali as सारा (sārā).