Languages of Tribal and Indigenous Peoples of India: The Ethnic Space.

• Author: Korom, Frank J.
• Position: Review

Edited by ANVITA ABBI. MLBD Series in Linguistics, vol. 10. Delhi: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, 1997. Pp. xiv + 494, introduction, appendix, index. Rs 595.

Given the fact that the 1981 Census of India calculates the population of Scheduled Tribes at 51.63 million, comprising nearly eight percent of the total population of the country, it is a pity that not more attention is being focused on this neglected sector of Indian society. Part of the reason, of course, is political. Gaining access to the communities in question is often difficult, if not impossible. Thus, at a time when the study of adivasi languages is in decline in Europe and North America, this volume is a welcome addition to the sociological and linguistic literature on the tribal peoples of India. Moreover, it demonstrates the strength of sociolinguistic research in India, for many of the contributions in the volume are written by scholars working in Indian institutions. Not only does the volume cover a broad range of topics, but it also includes a number of useful charts, maps, and tables to assist the non-initiated reader in visualizing the demography and areal spread of India's indigenous languages.

In addition to the introduction written by the editor, the volume consists of twenty-six essays arranged in seven sections, beginning with two thematic sets - quest for identity (Abbi, Annamalai, Emeneau, K. S. Singh, Kubchandani, Hasnain) and contact/convergence (Mohanty, Israel, Abbi) - then followed by the linguistic designations Indo-Aryan (Zoller), Dravidian (Andronov, Pilot-Raichoor, Mahapatra), Austro-Asiatic (Bhat, A. Zide, Starosta, N. Zide, Ishtiaq, Nagaraja, Philip), Tibeto-Burman (Sharma, Yashwanta Singh, Subbarao and Lalitha, Abbi and Victor, Aggarawal), and Andamanese (Manoharan).

Although the introduction by Abbi begins in a romantic tone, noting that the "peace-loving, self-contented" tribal groups "fell back on Nature [sic], the forest for shelter and sustenance" (p. 5) in the face of modernization and industrialization, it soon moves on to important issues relating to ethnolinguistic identity. Abbi reaffirms that allegiance to a specific tongue is a basic marker of tribal identity, and she also underscores the need to move away from the false notion that tribal languages should somehow be equated with the "primitive" or the "underdeveloped." Without a doubt, India's indigenous languages are as complex, if not more so, than the modern IA vernaculars. The issues of...