Guest Editor’s Note

Abstract

Human language began with oral expression. Living amidst the bounties of Mother Earth in the lap of Nature human beings learnt to converse in their own ways as diverse as their habitats. The languages grew in the form of sounds as people used these sounds for expressing various feelings, ideas and thoughts. Script came very late in human history. Even after that several communities continued to follow the oral tradition in their speech and also in composition of their tales, songs, proverbs, sayings, quizzes and puzzles etc. The folklore comprises primarily of the oral literature spread not only across India but across the world especially among the indigenous people.