Nihali

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A language of India

ISO 639-3
nll
Alternate Names
Nihal
User Population

2,000 (Parkin 1991). Ethnic population: 5,000 (1987).

Location

Madhya Pradesh state: Burhanpur; Maharashtra state: Buldana district, Jamod Jalgaon sub-district.

Language Maps
Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification
Language isolate
Dialects

None known. Lexical similarity: 25% between Nihal in Chikaldara taluk and Akola District and Korku [kfq] (Munda).

Language Use

Some young people, all adults. Also use English [eng]. Also use Hindi [hin]. Also use Korku [kfq]. Also use Marathi [mar].

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Nihali
Writing

Unwritten [Qaax].

Other Comments

They live in or near Korku [kfq] villages in a position of subordination to the Korku people. Possibly belonged to a now extinct speech family of India. Influenced significantly by Munda and Dravidian languages. 60%–70% of vocabulary borrowed. Nihali and Nahali [nlx] are different languages.