Rabha language

Rabha
Rabha khurang/krwu
Raba
Native to	India
Region	Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya
Ethnicity	Rabha people
Native speakers	139,986 (2011 census)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Sal Boro–Garo Rabha
Dialects	Maitori Rongdani Kocha
Writing system	Assamese script, Bengali script, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rah
Glottolog	rabh1238
ELP	Rabha
Map of where Rabha is spoken

Rabha is a Sino-Tibetan language of Northeast India. The two dialects, Maitori and Rongdani, are divergent enough to cause problems in communication. According to U.V. Joseph,^[2] there are three dialects, viz. Rongdani, Maitori and Kocha (page ix). Joseph writes that "the Kocha dialect, spoken along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, is highly divergent and is not intelligible to a Rongdani or Maitori speaker" (page ix). Joseph also writes that "The dialect variations between Rongdani and Maitori, both of which are spoken on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, in the Goalpara district of Assam and belong to the northern slopes of Meghalaya, are minimal" (pages ix-x). He concludes the paragraph on dialectal variation with: "The Rongdani-Maitori dialectal differences become gradually more marked as one moves further west" (page x).

In 2007, U.V. Joseph published a grammar of Rabha with Brill in their series Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region.^[3]

According to the Ethnologue, Rabha is spoken in the following areas of India.

• Darrang district, Goalpara district, and Kamrup district, western Assam
• Nagaland
• Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar district, West Bengal
• Tufanganj subdivision, Koch Bihar district
• East Garo Hills district and West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya

 There are also 1,600 Rabha in 9 districts of Bhutan.[4]

• Rabha people
• Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council
• Rabha Baptist Church Union

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