This special issue of Research Series came about as the result of work that was undertaken by Dr. Koh for the plan of the institute since 2002. The research was planned with a deep approach toward the extension of South Asian Studies. In the available time, he was able to analyze the Ho language with the general heading of syntax and typology. Thus, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for his active and extensive research. This book provides a useful outline for Ho grammar with extensive examples. The whole subject is covered in 36 topics systemically arranged. Thus this research is organized not on a general grammar basis but by topic, so that salient theoretical issues may be discussed in a comparative context. At the same time a wealth of descriptive information is accessibly presented. Moreover, this book is the result of the author?.?.s observations and analysis of original sources. Majority of examples cited by him are selected from the field trip over and over years. He has rendered an exceptional service to the field of tribal languages in India by making a survey that takes into account the research done in the extension of South Asian studies. It is a matter of regret that there has been no concerted effort to research on the tribal languages by Korean scholars. However, this book has made an attempt to document the typological and syntactic system of those languages and incorporate as many of the insights gained from recent research as possible in Korea.
Consequently, apart from looking at languages, our institute has also concentrated on other areas. Growing interests in South Asia has brought with the deep and extensive issues. Thus the research series in South Asian studies are to be published in different volumes demarcated by the following broad categories: (i) Introduction to South Asia, (ii) Language, (iii) Classics, (iv) Religion and Thought, (v) Humanities, (vi) Social Science, (vii) Translation. This measure of work represents a commitment to researches unprecedented in South Asian Studies.
Therefore, these researches on South Asia will be an invaluable resource for people and countries who have wished for a comprehensive book about this region. --- 'Foreword' 중에서

The purpose of this book is to provide a general and typological introduction of Ho language to a fascinating field for those who want to learn and understand it with the broader and deeper linguistic context. Before proceeding further, it is appropriate that we identify more precisely the language to be discussed. A brief survey of the Ho language in terms of historical background, number and region is therefore given here. Although this may not be necessary, it will be helpful to those less familiar with the language. Ho belongs to the Munda languages of the Austro-Asiatic language family spoken primarily in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal of India by about 1,077,000 people. It is generally argued that the Munda languages and Dravidian languages were the first Indian language with which Indo-Aryan languages came in contact. Although Munda words are not as numerous as words of Dravidian origin, they are often names of common objects which are used in animal, bird, plants etc and hunt and so well assimilated as not to be recognizably foreign. Witzel (1999) also states that some Sanskrit words and prefixes are influenced or related with Proto-Munda languages. Thus, it is estimated that the Ho tribes resided in the Indian subcontinent before Aryan came to India.

Although with the help of the index, an overall basic description of the each category may be extracted in terms of Greenberg (1968)?.?.s aspects. Attempts to survey a field must still be selective, and even though an attempt has been made to cover all typological perspectives. Characteristics of the Ho language includes three grammatical numbers (singular, dual, and plural), two genders (animate and inanimate), a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronouns, the use of either suffixes or auxiliaries to indicate tense agreement, and the use of intransitive marker as passive. Much of interest has no doubt been omitted and has been deeply researched. In general priority has been given to simple presentation of facts rather than to the different theoretical analyses with various examples. Ho language appears to exhibit a typological profile that is very different from that which is typical of the Mon Khmer languages to which it is related but these differences are not always attributable to Dravidian and/or Indo-Aryan influence. For example, the verb structure of the Ho language is extremely synthetic, indeed significantly more synthetic than structures typical of either Dravidian or Indo-Aryan languages. In this way, it shares certain structural affinities with so-called?.?. pro-drop?.?.phenomena with the rich agreement. Thus in this book, we research on most of agreements which are related to the pro-drop phenomenon. This heavy?.?.pro-drop?.?.language is due to the rich agreement attended by hierarchy. There is an attempt to show how subject agreement marker can be suffixed to preverbal constituent according to the concept of merge under minimalist program, and anti-symmetry. And there are some studies of the agreement patterns in Ho. And we also discuss that agreement marker also has extra functions and the relation between the occurrence of the agreement and thematic role in Ho. In other words, with regards to verbal and syntactic phenomena characteristic of Ho languages there appear to be systems of noun incorporation patterns that are highly marked or even unique. Another characteristic of the verbal systems of particular Ho language that is rare or unique among the world?.?.s languages is the agreement of a verb with arguments. Throughout the book, we also examine the relation between pro and the verbal reflexive and the properties of reflexives with passive since it is a crucial point to understand the nature of verbal reflexive in Ho. Thus this book brings us to the whole set of grammar of Ho coming under the general heading of syntax and typology.

Apart from these linguistic concerns, there is a different set of reason why Ho language merits attention. First of all, Ho presents special opportunities for the investigation for historical issue that Munda had influenced on Sanskrit either by words or prefixes. Secondly, although its use is not considered to be in serious decline, the language is under-documented and therefore little known to the outside world. This book is to promote the documentation, maintenance, preservation and revitalization of the minor language through linguistic perspectives. And this book serves as a stepping-stone for making comparative study with other tribal languages. Moreover, not only is the historical importance relatively put, but the political and geographical issues are also fairly concerned since Ho may become a state official language of Jharkhand and it is spoken in the heart of iron mines.

It should be also added that this book involves essentially the presentation of various data through the field trip to communities to dialogue with speakers of Ho language in Jharkhand and Orissa. New data, however, keeps coming to light and new analyses keep appearing. It is impossible for a work to be ?.?.complete?.?.even in the sense of reflecting fully the state knowledge at the time of its publication.
I hope that readers will find this book useful, and look forward to their advice. Special thanks go to the institute and Prof. Choi who has provided these sheets. I am also grateful for my family.

The book 'A TYPOLOGICAL GRAMMAR OF HO' has been planned with a new kind of approach towards the extension of Indian studies. It is the first attempt to obtain a general and wide account of the Ho language which belongs to the Munda languages of the Austro-Asiatic language family spoken in India. It has been comparatively and typologically and analytically studied by different aspects of linguistics. From the point of view of the contents, the book deals with the subjects of various interest and tries to analyze different linguistic issues such as pro-drop phenomena, verbal reflexive, agreement etc. In order to arrive at these results, the field trip to the remote areas to collect data was made over years.