South Dravidian languages

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South Dravidian
South Dravidian I
Geographic
distribution		 South India, Sri Lanka, diaspora
Linguistic classification Dravidian
  • South Dravidian
Proto-language Proto-South Dravidian
Subdivisions
  • Tamil–Kannada
  • Tuluic
Language codes
Glottolog sout3138

South Dravidian (also called "South Dravidian I") is one of the four major branches of the Dravidian languages family. It includes the literary languages Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu, as well as several non-literary languages such as Badaga, Irula, Kota, Kurumba, Toda and Kodava. [1]

Contents

Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam are recognized among the official languages of India and are spoken mainly in South India. All three are officially recognized as classical languages by the Government of India, along with Sanskrit, Telugu, and Odia. [2]

Phonological features

Standard Tamil and Malayalam have both retroflex lateral /ɭ/ and retroflex approximant /ɻ/ sounds, whereas most of the remaining like Kannada have merged the central approximant with the lateral. Evidence shows that both retroflex approximant and the retroflex laterals were once (before the 10th century) also present in Kannada. However, all the retroflex approximants changed into retroflex laterals in Kannada later. In Kannada, the bilabial voiceless plosive (/p/) at the beginning of many words has disappeared to produce a glottal fricative (/h/) or has disappeared completely. This change was later taken to other Kannadoid languages and Tuluoid languages like Bellari and Koraga, eg. Tamil peyar, Kannada hesaru, Bellari/Koraga hudari; Tamil puṟṟu, Jenu Kuruba uṯṯu, Ka. puttu, huttu, uttu. [3] [4]

Tamil-Malayalam and Telugu show the conversion of Voiceless velar plosive (/k/) into Voiceless palatal plosive (/c/) at the beginning of the words (refer to comparative method for details). Kannada and other languages, however, are totally inert to this change and hence the velar plosives are retained as such or with minimum changes in the corresponding words, eg. Tamil/Malayalam cey, Irula cē(y)-, Toda kïy-, Kannada key/gey, Badaga gī-, Telugu cēyu , Gondi kīānā .

Tulu is characterized by its r/l and s/c/t alternation, for e.g. sarɛ, tarɛ across Tulu dialects compare with Kannada tale. The alveolar ṯ, ṯṯ, nṯ became post alveolar or dental, the singular ones usually becomes a trill in other Dravidian languages, e.g. Tamil oṉṟu, āṟu, nāṟu, nāṟṟam, muṟi, kīṟu; Tulu oñji, āji, nāduni, nāta, {mudipuni, muyipuni}, {kīruni, gīcuni}. The retroflex approximant mostly became a /ɾ/ and also /ɭ,ɖ/, e.g. Tamil ēẓu, puẓu, Tulu {ēḷŭ, ēlŭ, ēḍŭ}, puru. [5]

The vowels have mostly remained the same with the 5 /a, e, i, o, u/ + length; Malayalam and Tulu have an extra /ə̆/ and /ɯ/. The Nilagiri languages developed a set of centralized vowel around retroflexes and alveolars with Irula having /ɨ, ʉ, ə, ɵ/ + length. [3] Kurumba languages have nasalized vowels, eg. Jenu Kuruba ã·we, Kannada āme, āve, ēve, ēme, Tamil yāmai, āmai. [6]

Grammar

Most Malayalamoid languages including Malayalam lost the pronounial endings of verbs. Kannada lost clusivity. Old Tamil retained the PD like tense system of past vs non past but none currently do, all have past, present, future. Common plural marker is -kaḷ(u) in Tamil-Kannada while Tulu uses -ḷŭ, -kuḷŭ, certain Malayalamoid languages use other methods like -ya in Ravula and having kuṟe before the word in Eranadan. Most languages outside Kannadoid have plural pronouns as singular form suffixed with the plural marker, eg, Kannada nīvu (PD *nīm), Malayalam niṅṅaḷ, (nīn-kaḷ), Tulu nikuḷu. [3] [7]

Classification and terminology

The Dravidian languages form a close-knit family. Four subgroups are generally accepted: South Dravidian, South-Central Dravidian, Central Dravidian and North Dravidian. [8] [9] [10] Most scholars agree that the South Dravidian and South-Central Dravidian branches (called "Tamil-Tulu" and "Telugu-Kui" in Zvelebil 1990 :56) are more closely related to each other than to the other branches of the Dravidian languages. [9] For this reason, Krishnamurti suggested the alternative terms South Dravidian I for the former branch and South Dravidian II for the latter. [11]

South Dravidian is classified internally into two subbranches: Tamil–Kannada and Tulu. [12] The languages that constitute the Tamil–Kannada branch are Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Irula, Toda, Kota, Kodava, and Badaga and the languages that constitute the Tulu branch are Tulu, Koraga, Kudiya, Bellari.

According to R. C. Hiremath, Director of International School of Dravidian Linguistics in Trivandrum, the separation of Tamil and Kannada into independent languages from the Tamil–Kannada inner branch started with the separation of Tulu in about 1500 BCE and completed in about 300 BCE.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dravidian languages</span> Language family mostly of southern India

The Dravidian languages are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in South India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan, with pockets elsewhere in South Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil language</span> Dravidian language native to South India and Sri Lanka

Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India, along with Sanskrit, attested since c. 300 BCE. The language belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian language family and shares close ties with Malayalam and Kannada. Despite external influences, Tamil has retained a sense of linguistic purism, especially in formal and literary contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kannada</span> Dravidian language of South India

Kannada, formerly also known as Canarese, is a classical Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a second or third language for around 15 million non-native speakers in Karnataka. The official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka, it also has scheduled status in India and has been included among the country's designated classical languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulu language</span> Dravidian language of Tulu Nadu region

The Tulu language is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in Dakshina Kannada and in the southern part of Udupi of Karnataka in south-western India and also in the northern parts of the Kasaragod district of Kerala. The native speakers of Tulu are referred to as Tuluva or Tulu people and the geographical area is unofficially called Tulu Nadu.

The Kodava is a Dravidian language spoken in Kodagu district (Coorg) in Southern Karnataka, India. It is an endangered The term Kodava has two related usages. Firstly, it is the name of the Kodava language and culture followed by a number of communities from Kodagu. Secondly, within the Kodava-speaking communities and region (Kodagu), it is a demonym for the dominant Kodava people. Hence, the Kodava language is not only the primary language of the Kodavas but also of many other castes and tribes in Kodagu. The language has two dialects: Mendele and Kiggat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nilgiris district</span> District in Tamil Nadu, India

The Nilgiris district is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nilgiri is the name given to a range of mountains spread across the borders among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The Nilgiri Hills are part of a larger mountain chain known as the Western Ghats. Their highest point is the mountain of Doddabetta, height 2,637 m. The district is contained mainly within the Nilgiri Mountains range. The administrative headquarters is located at Ooty. The district is bounded by Coimbatore to the south, Erode to the east, and Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka and Wayanad district of Kerala to the north. As it is located at the junction of three states, namely, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, significant Malayali and Kannadiga populations reside in the district. Nilgiris district is known for natural mines of Gold, which is also seen in the other parts of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve extended in the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Kerala too.

Toda is a Dravidian language noted for its many fricatives and trills. It is spoken by the Toda people, a population of about one thousand who live in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India. The Toda language originated from Toda-Kota subgroup of South Dravidian. Krishnamurti (2003) doesn't consider a single Toda-Kota branch and says Kota split first and later Toda did as Kota doesn't have the centralized vowels of other Tamil-Toda languages.

Proto-Dravidian is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Dravidian languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian, and Proto-South Dravidian, although the date of diversification is still debated.

Irula is a Dravidian language spoken by the Irulas who inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, India. It is closely related to Tamil. It is written in the Tamil script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linguistic history of India</span>

Since the Iron Age in India, the native languages of the Indian subcontinent are divided into various language families, of which the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian are the most widely spoken. There are also many languages belonging to unrelated language families such as Munda and Tibeto-Burman, spoken by smaller groups.

The Sholaga (Soliga) language is a Dravidian language related to Kannada and Tamil, spoken by the Soliga people.

The Betta Kurumba language is a Dravidian language closely related to Kannada and Tamil, and is spoken by 32,000 people in the Nilgiri mountains and in adjoining areas in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Beṭṭa (ಬೆಟ್ಟ) means “hills” in Kannada and kurumba (ಕುರುಬ) means “shepherd”.

Tamil phonology is characterised by the presence of "true-subapical" retroflex consonants and multiple rhotic consonants. Its script does not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants; phonetically, voice is assigned depending on a consonant's position in a word, voiced intervocalically and after nasals except when geminated. Tamil phonology permits few consonant clusters, which can never be word initial.

Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the north-west, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the south-east, and Kerala to the south-west. The state covers an area of 74,122 sq mi (191,976 km2), or 5.83% of the total geographical area of India. It comprises 30 districts. Kannada is the official language of Karnataka and as per the 2011 census is the mother tongue of 66.5% of the population. Various ethnic groups with origins in other parts of India have unique customs and use languages at home other than Kannada, adding to the cultural diversity of the state. Significant linguistic minorities in the state in 2011 included speakers of Urdu (10.8%), Telugu (5.8%), Tamil (3.5%), Marathi (3.4%), Hindi (3.2%), Tulu (2.6%), Konkani (1.3%) and Malayalam (1.3%).

Koraga is a Dravidian language spoken by the Koraga people, a Scheduled tribe people of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, and Kerala in South West India. The dialect spoken by the Koraga tribe in Kerala, Mudu Koraga, is divergent enough to not be intelligible with Korra Koraga.

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the States of Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is the tenth-largest state in India and the seventh most populous state.

Bellari is a Dravidian variety of India spoken by about 1,000 Bellara, a Scheduled Caste of Karnataka and Kerala. It is reportedly close to Tulu and Koraga, but it is not known if it is a separate language or a dialect of Tulu. A community of fifty families of basket-weavers lives in Kundapura Taluk in coastal Karnataka.

Old Telugu is the earliest attested stage of the Telugu language.

Proto-South Dravidian is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the southern Dravidian languages native to southern India. Its descendants include Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Badaga, Kodava, Irula, Kota and Toda. South Dravidian is sometimes referred to as South Dravidian I by linguists.

Jenu Kurumba, also known as Jen Kurumba or Jennu Kurumba, is a Southern Dravidian language of the Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the Jenu Kuruba/Kattunayakan tribe. It is often considered to constitute a dialect of Kannada; however, Ethnologue classifies it as a separate language. Jenu Kurumba speakers are situated on the Nilgiri Hills cross-border area between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Mysore and Kodagu districts of Karnataka, and Wayanad district of Kerala. The speakers of the language call it "nama basha".

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Steever (2019), pp. 5–7.
  2. ↑ "Odia gets classical language status – The Hindu". The Hindu. 20 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Krishnamurti (2003).
  4. ↑ "A Dravidian etymological dictionary". 1984.
  5. ↑ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 127, 146.
  6. ↑ Zvelebil, Kamil V. (1988). "Jēnu Kuṟumba: Brief Report on a "Tribal" Language of the Nilgiri Area". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 108 (2): 297–301. doi:10.2307/603656. JSTOR   603656.
  7. ↑ http://www.languageinindia.com/july2013/ravisankarkeralatriballanguages.pdf
  8. ↑ Steever (2019), pp. 5–9, 12.
  9. 1 2 Kolichala (2016), p. 76.
  10. ↑ Krishnamurti (2003), pp. 19–20.
  11. ↑ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 58.
  12. 1 2 Zvelebil (1990), p. 56.
  13. ↑ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 21.

Sources

  • Kolichala, Suresh (2016). "Dravidian Languages". In Hans Henrich Hock; Elena Bashir (eds.). The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 73–107. ISBN   978-3-11-042715-8.
  • Krishnamurti, B. (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-77111-0.
  • Steever, Sanford (2019). "Introduction to the Dravidian languages". In Steever, Sanford (ed.). The Dravidian Languages (2nd ed.). Routledge. pp. 1–44. ISBN   978-1-138-85376-8.
  • Subrahmanyam, P.S. (1983). Dravidian Comparative Phonology. Annamalai University.
  • Zvelebil, Kamil (1990). Dravidian Linguistics: An Introduction. PILC (Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture).
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