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Remo
Language
Remo [bfw] or remsam is the language of the Bonda people
of Malkangiri district, Orissa. Although
a highly celebrated tribal people for
their unique cultural practices, Remo
has remained a poorly investigated
language. It is an endangered language
with approximately 6,500 speakers
remaining. Two dialects are
traditionally reckoned although data
remains inconclusive as to the exact
nature and make-up of the variation seen
in the Remo-speaking communities. The
Living Tongues Institute’s Remo Talking
Dictionary and Online Grammar Project
began in 2005 with Sukra Danghada-Majhi
serving as primary consultant. Short
trips were carried out in 2007 and
numerous ones throughout late 2010 and
early 2011. A small portion of this work
is offered here as a sample.
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Left to
Right: Budra Raspeda (Gta'
consultant), Sonia
Danghada-Majhi (Remo
consultant), Sudarsan Majhi
(Remo consultant), Greg
Anderson, Opino Gomango in
Bhubaneswar 2010
Photo by
Mundari scholar Bikram Jora |
In 2010, Living Tongues was awarded a
small one-year grant (BCS 0853877) from
the National Science Foundation under
the auspices of its Documenting
Endangered Languages program to continue
our work on the Remo Talking Dictionary
and Online Grammar project. Several
field trips have been undertaken in the
fall of 2010 and winter of 2011 to make
recordings for this work. Working
closely together with Dr. Anderson and
Dr. Harrison has been the local
coordinator of this work, Opino Gomango.
Mundari scholar Bikram Jora also has
taken part in this work. The Primary
consultant has been Sania Danghada-Majhi,
other consultants include Sudarsan Majhi,
and Sukari Danghada-Majhi.
Phase one of the project is what was
focused on giving the reduced time frame
and amount of the award. This was to
collect a large amount of lexical items
and to produce the first version of a
searchable on-line Talking Dictionary of
the language
remo.swarthmore.edu.
This will be expanded in the second
phase when adequate funding can be
secured.
In addition to expanding the lexical
content and Remo Talking Dictionary,
phase two will also expand the
collection of grammatical samples and
annotated texts that we have collected;
a tiny sample of this is offered here.
Ultimately we hope to have a full sketch
grammar and decent lexicon with a small
collected of analyzed texts to produce a
usable and searchable on-line reference
grammar. Further funding is required for
the Online Documentation of Remo (Bonda)
to be realized in its fullest potential.
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