Kokborok ককবরক | |
---|---|
Tripuri ত্রিপুরা | |
Native to | India and Bangladesh |
Region | Tripura, Assam, Mizoram, Bangladesh, Burma |
Ethnicity | Borok |
Native speakers
|
1.5 million (2011) |
Early forms
|
Early Borok
|
Latin alphabet (Roman Script) Eastern Nagari script (Bengali alphabet) Koloma (original) |
|
Official status | |
Official language in
|
India (Tripura) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously: trp – Kokborok ria – Riang tpe – Tippera (Khagrachari) usi – Usui xtr – Early Tripuri |
Linguist list
|
xtr Early Tripuri |
Glottolog | tipp1238 |
Kok Borok (Kókborok), is the native language of the Borok people of the Indian state of Tripura and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh. The word Kók Borok stands for kók "language" and borok "borok society", which is used specifically for the Borok people. Kokborok is closely related to languages of Bodo Dimasa Kacharies of Assam.
Kókborok has existed since at least the 1st century AD, when the historical record of Tipra Kings began to be written down. The script of Kókborok was called "Koloma." The Chronicle of the Borok kings were written in a book called the Rajratnakar. This book was originally written down in Kókborok using the Koloma script by Durlobendra Chontai.
Later, two Brahmins, Sukreswar and Vaneswar translated it into Sanskrit and then again translated the chronicle into Bengali in the 19th century. The chronicle of Tipra in Kókborok and Rajratnakar are no longer available. Kókborok was relegated to a common people's dialect during the rule of the Borok kings in the Kingdom of Tipra from the 19th century till the 20th century.
Kokborok was declared an official language of the state of Tripura, India by the State Government in the year 1979. Consequently, the language has been taught in schools of Tripura from the primary level to the higher secondary stage since the 1980's. A Certificate course in Kokborok started from 1994 in Tripura University and a Post graduate Diploma in Kokborok was started in 2001 by the Tripura University. Kokborok was introduced in the Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree in the colleges affiliated to the Tripura University from the year 2012 and a Masters of Arts (M.A) degree in Kokborok was started by Tripura University from the year 2015.
There currently is a demand for giving the language recognition as one of the recognised official language of India as per the 8th schedule of the Constitution. The official form is the dialect spoken in Agartala, state capital of Tripura.
Kokborok is a Sino-Tibetan language family of East Asia and South East Asia.