The People’s Linguistics Survey of India tries to give an idea of the extant and dying languages of India. It is the outcome of a nationwide survey of languages that has been documented by linguists, writers, social activists, and members of different speech communities. The Languages of West Bengal (volume thirty-one, part two) covers the languages that are spoken in the state of West Bengal, belonging to four different language families—Austroasiatic, Dravidian, Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman. The book not only documents the five Scheduled languages of West Bengal—Bangla, Bodo, Nepali, Santhali and Urdu, but also provides a detailed study of the twenty-three Non-Scheduled languages that are spoken in the state. What deserves special mention is that the volume also includes a chapter introducing the readers to nine endangered languages of North Bengal that are on the verge of extinction. Contents: The National Editorial Collective xi List of Volumes xv Acknowledgements xix Copyrights Acknowledgements xxi Foreword xxiii A Nation Proud of Its Language Diversity: Chief Editor’s Introduction xxvii Introduction xli Editorial xlv Contributors to the Volume xlix An Appeal to Readers liii List of Languages Covered in this Volume lv PART I: SCHEDULED LANGUAGES 1. Bangla 3 Beetashoke Bhattacharya 2. Bodo 151 Ashis Baglari 3. Nepali 171 Shradhajali Tamang and Gyanendra Mani Pradhan 4. Santhali 197 Shyam Charan Hembram, Kisun Murmu and Chhanuram Hembram 5. Urdu 215 Bilkis Begum, Amzed Hossein and Tajuddin Ahmed PART II: NON-SCHEDULED LANGUAGES 6. Baigani 233 Lakshman Routh and Gobardhan Routh 7. Bedia 244 Sripada Bedia and Tajuddin Ahmed 8. Birhorh 251 Lalmohan Shikari and Jayanta Ghosh 9. Dhimal 266 Garjan Kumar Mallik and Sankar Prasad Singha 10. Dukpa 283 Pasang Shering Dukpa, Dipak Kumar Roy and Tamal Goswami 11. Garo 288 Benedict Sangma 12. Kharia Sabar 306 Prasanta Rakshit 13. Kol Hayam 316 Kartik Chandra Baawanda and Indranil Acharya 14. Kora 333 Kanai Mudi and Jharna Acharya 15. Kurmali 348 Anadi Nath Mahato and Pulakeswar Mahato 16. Kurukh 359 Bimal Kumar Toppo and Dipak Kumar Roy 17. Lepcha 377 Norbu Tshering Lepcha 18. Limbu 396 Gyanendra Subba and Biswajit Ray 19. Lodha Sabar 407 Prahlad Kumar Bhakta and Fatik Midya 20. Mahali Alakhand 417 Ganapati Mahali and Abhijit Roy 21. Malpaharia 430 Jagannath Paharia and Jharna Acharya 22. Mundari 435 Budhuram Singh Mura and Koutuk Datta 23. Rabha 446 24. Rajbanshi 461 Sujan Kumar Barman 25. Sadri 484 Balai Chandra Sardar and Nehru Oraon 26. Sherpa 501 Furba Sherpa and Tamal Goswami 27. Tamang 510 Kajiman Gole 28. Toto 520 Dhaniram Toto and Amit Chakraborty 29. The Endangered Languages of North Bengal 532 Dipak Kumar Roy Index 541 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table I: Distribution of Indian Scheduled Languages xxxviii Figure I: Distribution of Indian Scheduled Languages xxxix Figure II: Speakers of Scheduled Languages in West Bengal (out of every 10,000 people) xxxix Figure III: Political Map of West Bengal xl