Chenchu language
{{Short description|Dravidian language of India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Chenchu
|nativename = {{lang|cde|చెంచు}}
|states = India
|region = Andhra Pradesh (highest concentration in Kurnool district, Prakasam district, Guntur district), Telangana (Mahabubnagar district), Karnataka and Orissa
|ethnicity = Chenchu people
|speakers = 26,000
|date = 2007
|ref=e25
|familycolor = Dravidian
| fam2 = Southern
| fam3 = Southern II{{sfnp|Zvelebil|1990|p=57}}
| fam4 = Teluguic
|script = Telugu alphabet
|iso3=cde
|glotto=chen1255
|glottorefname=Chenchu
|notice=Indic
}}
Chenchu language is a Dravidian language which belongs to the Telugu branch of its South-Central family. This language is spoken mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states in India by about 280,764 people (1981 census) of the Chenchu Aboriginal forests hunter-gatherer tribe. It is also called Chenchukulam, Chenchwar, Chenswar or Choncharu.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book
|last=Krishnamurti
|first=Bhadriraju
|title=The Dravidian Languages
|year=2003
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=978-0-521-79205-8
|page=208
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54fV7Lwu3fMC&pg=PA208
|quote=Chenchu is a tribal Dravidian language spoken mainly in the Nallamala forests in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
}}
- {{cite web
|title=Chenchu language
|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/cnu
|website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World
|access-date=2025-06-01
|quote=Chenchu is a vulnerable Dravidian language spoken in forested regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by the Chenchu tribe, classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
}}
- {{cite report
|last=Government of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs
|title=Report on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
|year=2020
|url=https://tribal.nic.in/downloads/StatisticalProfileofScheduledTribesinIndia.pdf
|access-date=2025-06-01
|quote=The Chenchu tribe is one of the 75 PVTGs, with a distinct language and culture in forested areas of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
}}
- {{cite journal
|last=Reddy
|first=V. S. S.
|title=Language Endangerment and Preservation: The Case of Chenchu
|journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics
|volume=48
|issue=1
|year=2019
|pages=45–56
|url=https://dravidianlinguistics.org/ijdl/volume48/issue1/chenchu.pdf
|access-date=2025-06-01
|quote=The use of Telugu language has increased among Chenchu children, contributing to endangerment of the Chenchu language.
}}
{{Dravidian languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chenchu Language}}
Category:Agglutinative languages
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