Rabha

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A language of India

ISO 639-3
rah
Alternate Names
Rava
Population

165,000 (2001 census). No monolinguals. Ethnic population: 374,000 (1993).

Location

Assam state: Darrang, Goalpara, and Kamrup districts; Nagaland state; West Bengal state: Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts; Koch Bihar district, Tafangunj sub-district; Meghalaya state: East and West Garo hills districts.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Sal, Boro-Garo, Koch
Dialects

Maitaria (Maitoria, Maituri), Rangdania (Rongdani). Rongdani is the standard dialect. Lexical similarity: 73% between Maituri and Rongdani. 31%–39% with Koch [kdq].

Language Use

The majority of the ethnic group speaks Assamese [asm] as L1; Rabha spoken only in Rongdani and Maituri. Home, prayer, market, other villages. All ages. Also use Bengali [ben], English [eng], Garo [grt], Hindi [hin]. Used as L2 by Koch [kdq].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 30%–50%. High interest in language development. Taught in primary schools. Literature. Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 2000.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Rabha
Writing

Bengali (Bangla) script [Beng]. Latin script [Latn], preferred by Catholics.

Other Comments

A Scheduled Tribe. Traditional religion, Christian, Hindu.

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