Talk:Odia language

Christian Missionaries

I removed the "The first Odia printing typeset was cast in 1836 by Christian missionaries, making a great revolution in Odia literature and language." No citation was provided for this claim. Witchilich (talk)

Remove the English pronunciation /əˈdiːə/ – it is not supported by actual usage

Hi everyone, I would like to propose removing the English pronunciation /əˈdiːə/ currently listed in the article’s lead and infobox:

1. Phonetically inaccurate

   The pronunciation /əˈdiːə/ introduces a voiced dental/alveolar plosive /d/, which does not reflect how the word is pronounced in English contexts familiar with the language. The actual consonant is a voiced retroflex flap /ɽ/, as in the native pronunciation [oˈɽia]. This phoneme is not equivalent to /d/ and the simplification is misleading.

2. Based on a flawed anglicisation of the new spelling

   Oxford lists /əˈdiːə/, because they’ve re-analysed the post-2011 spelling “Odia” in a regular English orthographic way, inserting a /d/ where none exists phonetically. This anglicisation is not supported by actual English usage, especially in India. They seem to have guessed the pronunciation from the spelling “Odia”—not from how it's spoken.

3. No widespread usage of /əˈdiːə/

   There's no clear evidence (e.g., media, academic recordings, pronunciation guides) that English speakers commonly use /əˈdiːə/. Most Indian English speakers either approximate the native form (/oɽia/ or /ɒɽiə/) or use a pronunciation closer to that. On platforms like Forvo, Odia speakers pronounce it with a retroflex, not a /d/. You can listen various samples here, here, here, here, here and here etc.

4. Misleading to readers

   Because it appears first and prominently, this pronunciation may mislead readers into thinking it's official or standard. In reality, it's the result of a phonologically inaccurate assumption. Featuring /əˈdiːə/ prominently without usage is misleading. According to WP:UNDUE, we shouldn't highlight forms not used by speakers.

We could optionally note how Oxford lists /əˈdiːə/ in a footnote, but as this is not consistent with actual usage, especially in India, it should definitely not be in the lead and the infobox. I also have been to India at least 9 times and I can testify personally that no one in India says /əˈdiːə/. Moreover, retroflex "r" in many context is spelled with a "d" but pronunced with an "r". This is not something unique to Odia or Odisha. Words such as Nadi, Ida are spelled with a d, but pronounced with an r. This is very common in India and in Odia as well. The Hindi word गाड़ी is spelled Gadi but pronounced [ɡaːɽiː]. This fact has escaped the attention of lazy dictionary editors. Here, in WP we should reflect actual usage. Respectfully --Universal Life (talk) 06:34, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

Actually, as Template:Infobox language itself indicates, "pronunciation" is just for native pronunciation of the language. I've checked various other languages to see that it's actually the case. It is. So, I'm going ahead and removing the "English pronunciation" from the infobox. --Universal Life (talk) 06:59, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

Just removed it. --Universal Life (talk) 19:20, 26 June 2025 (UTC)