Summary of the project

The project documents the language and culture of a few Kurumba groups living in the Nilgiri hills and adjacent forest areas in South India. The region, known for its biodiversity (Unesco Nilgiri biosphere), is also rich in human diversity: more than 30 small ethno-linguistic groups, from hunter-gatherers to settled cultivators, live in the area. The ‘Kurumba’ groups we document are scattered on the borders of the three southern states and identified under a variety of names: Alu Kurumbas and Jenu Kurumbas in Tamil Nadu, Cholanaikkas, Kattunaikkas and Mullu Kurumbas in Kerala, Jenu Kurubas in Karnataka. Their languages belong to the South branch of Dravidian, but further identification or sub-classification is problematic.

• The project contains audio and visual data on the languages: narrations, songs, interviews, elicitation sessions, etc. and on the cultural events: hunting/fishing, daily occupations, rituals, dance…
• The data are annotated mainly in Elan-files.
• A thematic overview of the language and cultural data is added for comparison