Garo (language)

Garo is the language of the Garo people (also: Mandi, proper name: Achik), an ethnic group in northeast India and Bangladesh . In India there were 889,000 speakers (2001), in Bangladesh 120,000 (2005), so the population is around 1 million. The language belongs to the group of Bodo-Koch languages within the Tibetan Burman languages . Other names are Garrow and Mande.

Garo is taught in elementary school and is written in Latin letters. Movies, dictionaries and grammars exist on Garo. Since the Garos were evangelized, the Bible is also translated into Garo.

It is a living language spoken by all ages. The Garo live on the border between India (Meghalaya, Garo Hills District, West Assam, Goalpara, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong District, Nagaland, Kohima District, Tripura, South Tripura District, Udaipur subdivision, North Tripura District, Kamalpur, Kailasahar subdivisions, West Tripura District, Sadar subdivision, West Bengal, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts) and Bangladesh (in the northeast, Mymensingh plains, Tangail Shripur, Jamelpur, Netrakara, Sylhet, Dhaka).

There are different dialects: A'beng (A'bengya, Am'beng), A'chick (A'chik), A'we, Chisak, Dacca, Ganching, Kamrup, Matchi. The Achik dialect is the most common in India, the Abeng dialect is mainly spoken in Bangladesh.

Web links

Entry: Garo: A language of India. In: M. Paul Lewis et al. (Ed.): Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 17th Edition, SIL International, Dallas Texas 2013 (accessed June 5, 2013).
Robbins Burling: The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo), Volume 1. MPublishing, University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor 2003 (English, accessed June 5, 2013; PDF download , 407 pages; 1.5 MB, accessed on June 5, 2013). Other parts: Vol. II: The Lexicon; Vol. III: Glossary. (English, PDF downloads 1.6 and 1 MB, accessed on June 5, 2013). Abstract: "A comprehensive study of the Garo language as spoken by the Mandis people in the Modhupur area of northern Bangladesh."

Individual evidence

↑ Entry: Garo: A language of India. In: M. Paul Lewis et al. (Ed.): Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 17th Edition, SIL International, Dallas Texas 2013 (accessed June 5, 2013). Quote: “Population total all countries: 1,009,000 […] 889,000 in India (2001 census) […] 120,000 in Bangladesh (2005)”.

[1] Entry: Garo: A language of India. In: M. Paul Lewis et al. (Ed.): Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 17th Edition, SIL International, Dallas Texas 2013 (accessed June 5, 2013). Quote: “Population total all countries: 1,009,000 […] 889,000 in India (2001 census) […] 120,000 in Bangladesh (2005)”.