The Ol Onal is an alphabetic writing system for the Bhumij language.[1] Ol Onal script was created between 1981 and 1992 by Ol Guru Mahendra Nath Sardar. Ol Onal script is used to write the Bhumij language in some parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Assam.[2][3]
History
The Ol Onal script was created in between 1981 and 1992 by Mahendra Nath Sardar for the Bhumij language.
The Bhumij community had no written language, and knowledge was transmitted orally from one generation to another. Later researchers started to use Devanagari, Bengali, and Odia scripts to document the Bhumij language. However, Bhumijs did not have their own script. Sardar's invention of the Ol Onal script enriched the cultural identity of the tribal Bhumij community. He wrote many text books in the Ol Onal script.
Language
Bhumij is the language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho, Mundari and Santali, spoken mainly in the Indian states Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. It is spoken by around 100,000 people in India.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Ol Onal". Omniglot.
- ^ "Non-Scheduled Indian Languages Resources".[failed verification]
- ^ "Tribals demand official status for Bhumij language". Times of India. 17 March 2016.
- ^ "Bhumij language and alphabet". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.