The identification of the Koro language, spoken by 800 to 1,200 people in the Arunachal Pradesh region of India, is announced.
Koro is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by approximately 800–1,200 people in the East Kameng district at the western end of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Few speakers are under 20 years old. The people live among the Aka (Hruso), but their language is distantly related, with distinct words for numerals, body parts, and other basic vocabulary. Although it has resemblances to Tani further to the east, it appears to be a separate branch of Tibeto-Burman. Researchers hypothesize it may have originated from a group of people enslaved and brought to the area. Koro may face extinction if younger speakers abandon it for Hindi or English.
Identification: Koro was recognized as a separate language in 2008 by a linguistic team of David Harrison, Gregory Anderson, and Ganesh Murmu while documenting two Hruso languages (Aka and Miji) as part of National Geographic's "Enduring Voices" project. It was reported to them as a dialect of Aka, but turned out to be highly divergent. However, it was apparently noticed by earlier researchers. Ethnologue reports that "A 2005 survey identified a group of Aka in East Kameng District called Koro Aka, distinct from Hruso Aka in West Kameng".
Koro is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by approximately 800–1,200 people in the East Kameng district at the western end of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Few speakers are under 20 years old. The people live among the Aka (Hruso), but their language is distantly related, with distinct words for numerals, body parts, and other basic vocabulary. Although it has resemblances to Tani further to the east, it appears to be a separate branch of Tibeto-Burman. Researchers hypothesize it may have originated from a group of people enslaved and brought to the area. Koro may face extinction if younger speakers abandon it for Hindi or English.
Identification: Koro was recognized as a separate language in 2008 by a linguistic team of David Harrison, Gregory Anderson, and Ganesh Murmu while documenting two Hruso languages (Aka and Miji) as part of National Geographic's "Enduring Voices" project. It was reported to them as a dialect of Aka, but turned out to be highly divergent. However, it was apparently noticed by earlier researchers. Ethnologue reports that "A 2005 survey identified a group of Aka in East Kameng District called Koro Aka, distinct from Hruso Aka in West Kameng".
