DESIGNING A LINGUISTIC PROFILE OF KHORTHA: A LESS RESOURCED LANGUAGE SPOKEN IN THE STATE OF JHARKHAND, INDIA.

This paper describes the linguistic outline of Khortha language, which is spoken in the state of Jharkhand, India. Khortha is the second most spoken language after Hindi in the state of Jharkhand, with approximately 80 million speakers (As per the Govt. of India, census reports 2011). The paucity of the language resources in Khortha played a vital role in motivating us for the present work. The methodology adopted for the present study comprises linguistic field surveys (Dash & Aman 2015) and reviews on the earlier literature of Khortha. The current status and demographic profile of Khortha suggest its usage as a link language among the other indigenous language communities (i.e. Munda, Bedia, Kurmali, etc.) as well. The scope (usage) of the Khortha language within the various domains (i.e. administration, education, mass media, social divisions and religion, judiciary and interpersonal communication), as discussed in the paper, gives a clear idea of its usage and linguistic identity. This paper can be a helpful resource for the researchers in order to portray the current linguistic status of the language.