पृष्ठम्:The Sanskrit Language (T.Burrow).djvu/३८३

LOANWORDS IN SANSKRIT 377 is of considerable importance from this and other points of view. The Munda or Kolarian languages as they are variously called, have in no instances achieved the status of literary languages but they are important scientifically firstly because there is definite evidence that Indo- Aryan had been influenced from this source, and secondly because of their connection with Mon, Khmer and other languages east of India. The most important centre of this family is the Chota Nagpur Plateau, where San tali, Mundari, and a number of fairly closely related dialects are spoken. In Orissa, not far from the above area occurs Juang, and further south, on the Orissa Madras border, Savara, Gadaba and two other dialects which form a special group within the Munda family. Of these Savara is particularly well preserved and less overlaid by Indo-Aryan than most members of the family. The most western Munda tribe is that of the Kurkus, who occupy the Satpura and Mahadeo hills in Madhya Pradesh. The most important linguistic family in India outside Indo- Aryan is the Dravidian family. Four members of this family have achieved the status of literary languages — Tamil, Malay- alam, Telugu, Kanarese, and in the case of Tamil the literary tradition goes back for at least two thousand years. Besides the major languages there are numerous minor non-literary Dravid- ian languages spoken in various pacts of India, namely : (i) Southern : Tulu, Coorg, Toda, Kota. (ii) Central : (a) KoIamFNaiki, Parji, Dravidian Gadba ; (5) Gondi, Konda, Pengo, Kui, Kuvi. (iii) Northern : (a) Kurukh, Malto ; (6) Brahui. The existence of the last member of the family in Baluchistan, far away from the main concentration of Dravidian is consistent with the theory that before the Aryan conquest Dravidian occupied a much greater area including considerably portions of Northern India. We shall see that the extensive influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit, beginning at an early period, also seems to point to this conclusion. In addition to the above-mentioned linguistic groups it has recently been established that the Nahali language still spoken by a small number of people in the Nimar district of Madhya Pradesh constitutes a further independent unit, unconnected with any of the groups previously mentioned. This language was briefly treated in the Linguistic survey of India where it