The Indian subcontinent consists of a number of separate linguistic communities each of which share a common language and culture. India is richly diverse in clothes, religion, customs, traditions, rituals and languages. The Tribals (adivasis) living in India has their own culture, customs and languages. They have introduced tribal language or vocabulary. It is very difficult to specifically define a Tribal language. But for explanatory purposes, a Tribal language is defined `as folk languages having no literary of their own and spoken by people of ethnic groups who preferred to live in relatively isolated groups`. It may simply be defined as the traditional language of the tribal. Tribal languages of India are very complex but are valuable relics of India`s past glory that why they are preserved orally in the form of songs, legends and other tales. Some of the tribal language speaking groups are Garo, Naga, Gonds, Mizos, Munda, Santali, Khasia, Oraon and Manipuri languages are very well organized and orderly, to a developed past. Garo and Chakma languages have slight Chinese tone. There is a basic similarity between the Garo and Magh languages as both tribes have the same origins. Munda, Santali, Kol, Khasia, Garo and Kurukh are interrelated languages. Munda and Kurukh are regarded as the same language as the syntax and verbs of both are almost identical. Munda, Santali and Kol languages are even more ancient than the Aryan languages. The tribal languages belong to Austro-Asian, Indo-Chinese, Chinese-Tibetan, Tibetan-Burman or Dravidian families. As the Tribal`s have mostly migrated from places mentioned they have adopted their language mostly from these.

Some of the major t Tribal languages are as follows:

1. Chakma language: Chakma is the most advanced of the Tribal languages. It has its origin in Nepal after roaming in many of the south East Asian countries they came to Burma & Arakan before settling in Chittagong hills. The alphabets of Chakma language are similar to Thailand`s ksmer Annam Laos, Cambodia, South Burma, and Syam. The Tara scripture of Chakma is written in the Burmese script. When spoken the chakma language has a sound of Chinese tone. There are many songs written in chakma. Chakma folk literature is quite rich. It has many folklores and fables. Chakma language is close to bangla, Assamese, Garo, and Sanghma. This language has 6 regional forms. Within the Chakmas different clans have their distinct dialects.

2. Garo language: The Garo language is, undoubtedly, an unwritten language, belonged to the Aryan language group. This is a very rich language and consists of idioms, folk tales, rhymes, and songs. This language bears a lot of history of Garo people and their cultural religious codes. Its vocabulary contains words borrowed from many different languages. It is believed that Garo language is a mixture of both assamy and Bangla, as it resembles both. Different dialects are found in the Garo language. The Garo language can be written in Bangla script without any difficulty. Now Garo language is their family language but Bangla is their official language.

3. Khasi language: The Khasi language is part of the Austro-Asian group of languages. In this language `s` is pronounced as `h`. Khasi language has no alphabets nor is it written. At one point of time Khasi language was written in Bangla language. In India, Khasi speaking people reside in Cherapunji region, they also live in some parts of Bangladesh. In Khasi language a village is said as `punji`.

4. Munda language: Munda language belongs to the Austro-Asian group of language. It is more ancient than the Aryan language. Munda language was the basis of the Oriya, Assamese and Bangla languages. It has links with Khasia, Garo, Santal, Kol and other similar tribal languages. Innumerable Munda words are found in Bangla, especially in its regional dialects. The Munda language has had an influence on Bangla speech forms. Bangla words relating to agriculture housework, habitation, counting,family relationships, weights and measures, land, animals and birds and trees are derived from the Munda language.

Since the Munda language was spoken over a vast region of India, it has numerous regional forms. Nearly 10 million people in areas of South Bihar and Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal speak this language. The Munda language evolved amongst the Mundas about 3 to 4 thousand years ago as a Pidgin language to facilitate communication and livelihood between them. Later, it spread to other Southeast Asian countries through agriculture and superior hunting practices. In due course it took the form of an established language and still later it became a written language for literature.

5. Santali language: Santali language has been originated from the eastern group of Austro-Asiatic languages. The Austro-Asians came to the South Asian subcontinent about 10,000 years ago from Australia by way of Indonesia, Myanmar and Assam. Millions of Santali speaking people live in the Santal Pargana of Bihar. The Santali language has no script of its own. In India, Santali is now written in Devanagari script and has absorbed many elements from Hindi. During British rule, Santalis used to be written in the Roman script. No Santali books are available in Bangladesh. Educated Santals write Santali in both Bangla and English scripts but prefer to write in Bangla because of phonetic similarities between it and Bangla. Santalis are mainly found in Bangla. The Santali, Kol and Munda languages are older than the Aryan languages.

6. Manipuri language: Manipuri language is about 3,500 years old and belongs to the Kuki-Chin group of the Tibeto-Burmese stream of the Mongoloid family of languages. Up to the middle of the 19th century this language was known as `Moitoi` after the name of a tribe. In the original `Moitoi` there were 18 alphabets.Other alphabets were added later. Its alphabets, like the Burmese-Arakanese alphabets, are pronounced in accordance with the limbs of a human body. Its alphabets are similar to the Tibetan family. The Manipuri language began to be written in the Bangla script when VAISNAVIS assumed the form of the state religion during the days of Maharaja Garib Newaz in the 18th century.

The first example of a lyrical composition in Manipuri language and literature was `Ougri`. Before this a variety of love songs, proverbs and sayings, lyrical plays and ballads were present. The love songs are very poetic and are presented by youths in groups. Manipuri language has many martial songs and several plays, novels, short stories and poems have been written in it. Even epic poems have been composed in this language. Some well-known Bengali and western books as well as RAMAYANA and MAHABHARATA have been translated into Manipuri. In the Indian state of Manipur it is an official language and it is one of the national languages of India. Manipuri is a Hybrid language. It is spoken by millions of people in Bangladesh, Tripura, Assam and Myanmar. Nearly half a million Manipuri speaking people live in Greater Sylhet.