Munda Substratum in Sri Lanka

[Raveen Satkurunathan]

Dear Listers

Some in this list have indicated a possible Munda (Austric) substratum in
many of the Indic languages including that of Dravidian ones in South
India. Although no major conclusive studies have been done on that premise,
there are at least two marginal communities in the neighboring island
nation of Sri Lanka who are at the verge of cultural extinction that show
possible vestiges of Austric origins. They are the hunter-gatherer Veddas
and "untouchable" Rodis. Both are fast forgetting any vestiges of non-
Sinhalese ancestral languages unless some one records them for posterity.
These are two articles which records some of the non IA or Dr. words used
by these communities

Who are the Rodis by Assif Husein
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/varalaaRu/message/208

and

Vel Worship in Sri Lanka by Dr. (Mrs.) Vimala Krishnapillai
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/varalaaRu/message/207

for more information on Veddas of Sri Lanka try

www.vedda.org

Regards
Raveen