Ho () is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken primarily in India by about 1.04 million people (0.103% of India's population) per the 2001 census. Ho is a tribal language. It is spoken by the Ho, Munda, Kolha and Kol tribal communities of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam and is written with the Warang Citi script. Devanagari, Latin script, Odia script and Telugu script are sometimes used, although native speakers are said to prefer a Ho script. The latter script was invented by Ott Guru Kol Lako Bodra. The name "Ho" is derived from the native word "" which means "Human being". Distribution Around half of all Ho speakers are from West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, where they form the majority community. Ho speakers are also found in East Singhbhum district in southern Jharkhand and in northern Odisha. Ho is closer to the Mayurbhanj dialect of Mundari than the language spoken in Jharkhand. Ho and Mundari are ethnically and linguistically close but the regional identity of the speakers is distinct. Some researchers and scholars state that Ho and Mundari are two sister languages. Stages of development The lexicon of the language reflects close association with nature and living proximity with birds and beasts which is typical for tribal languages. The Roman, Devanagari and Warang Citi scripts have been used in the field of teaching and learning. In 1953, the department of Education, Government of Bihar set out instructions to all the Divisional Inspectors of schools. The government maintained that ‘the pupil-teachers whose mother tongue is other than Hindi should be given the option of maintaining their records in their mother tongue. In every junior Training School besides Hindi, a second mother-tongue as accepted in Government resolution no.645ER of 10 August 1953 should be invariably taught.’ The plan has been to provide education in their mother tongue at the primary level. Since 1976, the Ho language is being imparted at intermediate and graduate courses in different colleges under the Ranchi University. The university opened a separate department named Tribal and Regional Languages in 1981. In erstwhile Bihar, the Information and Mass Communication department regularly published Ho articles, folk stories, songs in devanagari script in a weekly named Adivasi Saptahik. The Tribal Research Institute conducted a Study of Ho Dialect. There are significant initiatives inculcated in development of Ho language. A pioneering work was started at Ete