Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ), formerly spelled Oriya, is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language and the official language of the Indian state of Odisha. The 2011 Census of India recorded 37,521,324 people who speak Odia as their first language, about 3.1% of India's population. Odia is listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, is written in its own rounded Odia script, and in 2014 became the sixth Indian language to be declared a classical language.
What kind of language is Odia?
Odia belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family. Britannica places it in the eastern group of Indo-Aryan languages, alongside Bengali, Assamese and the Bihari languages such as Maithili. Like its eastern neighbours, Odia developed from a Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit; linguists often call the eastern ancestor Magadhi Prakrit, and Odia's own earliest stage is sometimes referred to as Odra Prakrit.
Odia shares a great deal of vocabulary with Sanskrit (tatsama and tadbhava words) and has borrowed words from Persian, Arabic, English and, along its southern borders, Telugu. Its grammar is typical of the eastern Indo-Aryan languages: nouns take case suffixes, and verbs are inflected for person, tense and level of respect.
How many people speak Odia?
The 2011 Census grouped the language as follows:
| Census 2011 measure | Number | Share of India |
|---|---|---|
| First language (mother tongue grouped as Odia) | 37,521,324 | 3.10% |
| Second language | 4,670,796 | — |
| Third language | 397,213 | — |
| Total speakers (first, second and third) | 42,589,333 | 3.52% |
The first-language figure is the Census "language" total, which bundles several mother tongues that the Census classifies under Odia, including Sambalpuri and Desia. Within Odisha, about 82.7% of residents reported Odia as their mother tongue in 2011. Sizeable Odia-speaking communities also live in neighbouring Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, and Odia-speaking communities formed by migration are found in Assam, Tripura and India's major cities.
What is the official status of Odia?
- Eighth Schedule: Odia has been one of India's scheduled languages since the Constitution came into force in 1950. The Constitution (Ninety-sixth Amendment) Act, 2011, in force from 23 September 2011, changed the listed spelling from "Oriya" to "Odia".
- Odisha: Odia is the official language of the state; English is also used in administration.
- Jharkhand: Odia is one of the additional (second) official languages recognised by the Jharkhand government.
- West Bengal: Odia is also listed among West Bengal's additional official languages for areas with Odia-speaking populations.
- Classical language: Odia was granted classical status in 2014. See Odia as a classical language for the dates, criteria and benefits.
Which script is Odia written in?
Odia is written in the Odia script, a Brahmic abugida that runs left to right. Every consonant carries an inherent vowel that is changed with vowel signs. The script descends from the eastern Siddham script, and its letters took their characteristic curved shape partly because scribes wrote on palm leaves, which tear easily along straight horizontal strokes. The Odia script has its own Unicode block, U+0B00 to U+0B7F.
For the letters themselves see the Odia alphabet, and for how the script evolved from Brahmi see the history of the Odia script.
How old is Odia?
Writing in the region is far older than the Odia language itself. Ashoka's rock edicts at Dhauli and Jaugada (3rd century BCE) and Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription are written in Prakrit in Brahmi script. Words and forms that point towards Odia appear gradually in later copper-plate grants and stone inscriptions.
The Urajam inscription of 1051 CE, issued under the Eastern Ganga kings, is generally cited as the earliest inscription written in Old Odia. By the 13th century, Odia inscriptions were common; an inscription of 1249 CE is cited as an early example of connected Odia prose.
Linguists commonly divide the history of the language into stages:
| Stage | Approximate period |
|---|---|
| Proto-Odia | 9th century and earlier |
| Old Odia | 10th to 13th century |
| Early Middle Odia | 13th to 15th century |
| Middle Odia | 15th to 17th century |
| Late Middle Odia | 17th to early 19th century |
| Modern Odia | late 19th century to the present |
A short history of Odia literature
- Charyapada (c. 7th to 9th century onwards): Buddhist mystic songs with early eastern Indo-Aryan features. They are claimed as an ancestor by several eastern languages, Odia among them.
- Sarala Das (15th century): His Odia Mahabharata is regarded as the first great literary work in the language, and he is honoured as the Adi Kabi (first poet). Sources differ slightly on his dates.
- Panchasakha poets (15th to 16th century): Five devotional poets, including Jagannatha Dasa, whose Odia Bhagabata became one of the most widely read books in Odisha.
- Riti or Bhanja era (17th to early 19th century): Ornate court poetry, best known through Upendra Bhanja.
- Modern period (late 19th century onwards): Prose fiction, journalism and new poetry, led by Fakir Mohan Senapati, Radhanath Ray and Gangadhar Meher, and later by writers such as Gopinath Mohanty.
The milestones of Odia literature page gives a fuller timeline, including Odia's Jnanpith Award winners.
What are the main dialects of Odia?
Odia varies across Odisha. The varieties most often listed are:
- Kataki (central and coastal Odisha, around Cuttack and Puri), the basis of the standard written language
- Baleswari (north: Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar)
- Ganjami (south: Ganjam and Gajapati)
- Sambalpuri, also called Kosli (western Odisha)
- Desia (south-western Odisha, around Koraput)
- Sundargadi (north-western Odisha)
Some speakers and scholars regard Sambalpuri/Kosli as a separate language. The dialects of Odia page covers each variety and that debate in more detail.
Learning Odia
Odiapedia's Learn Odia section introduces the script, pronunciation and everyday words, and the common Odia greetings page is a good place to start speaking.