Kannada

Kannada
Kannada
ಕನ್ನಡ kannaḍa
Native to	Karnataka, India
Native speakers	50 million (2001)
Language family	Dravidian Southern Dravidian Tamil-Kannada Kannada; ; ;
Official status
Official language in	Karnataka, India
Regulated by	Various academies and the Government of Karnataka
Language codes
ISO 639-1	kn
ISO 639-2	kan
ISO 639-3	kan

Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of southern India and one of the oldest languages in India. Speakers of its various dialects number roughly 50 million people. It is the state language of Karnataka, one of the four southern states in India. It is written using the Kannada script.

History

The first record on Kannada language is traced to Emperor Ashoka's Brahmagiri edict dated 230 BC. The first example of full length Kannada language stone inscription (shilashaasana) in Hale Kannada (Old-Kannada) script can be found in the Halmidi inscription, dated c. 450 CE. Prior to this, there is an abundance of inscriptions containing Kannada words, phrases and sentences. The 543 CE. Badami fort shilashaasana of Pulakesi I is an example of Sanskrit inscription in Hale Kannada script. An example of early Sanskrit copper plate inscription (tamarashaasana) in Old Kannada script is the Western Ganga dynasty Penugonda inscription date early 6th c. CE.(Govt. Museum, Chennai). The earliest full length Kannada tamarashaasana in Old Kannada script (mid 8th c. CE) belongs to Alupa ruler Aluvarasa II from Belmannu, South Kanara district. The oldest well-preserved palm leaf manuscript is in old Kannada and is that of Dhavala, dated to around 9th century, preserved in the Jain Bhandar, Mudbidri, Dakshina Kannada district. The manuscript contains 1478 leaves written in ink.

Kannada language inscriptions are the highest of any language in India, with more than 40,000. These inscriptions were not only discovered in Karnataka but also quite commonly in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Some inscriptions were also found in Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur) and Uttar Pradesh. As an example, the inscription at Jura (Madhya Pradesh) , belonging to the reign of Rashtrakuta Krishna III, is regarded as an epigraphical landmark of classical Kannada literary composition, with charming poetic diction in polished Kannada metre. This indicates the spread of the language over the ages, especially during the rule of large Kannada empires.

Kannada has had significant influence on other Indian languages and overseas cultures. Well known Tamil scholar Iravatham Mahadevan in his book Early Tamil Epigraphy: From Earliest times to Sixth century, 2003 CE. brings to light the influence of old Kannada on Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from the 2nd. c. BCE - 4th. c. CE. He made this observations based on lexical and grammatical usages.

Charition mime, a Greek drama discovered at Oxyrhynchus and dated to 2nd century CE. or earlier contains scenes where Indian characters in the skit speak dialogue in Kannada. This was deciphered by Dr. E. Hultzsch, a noted German indologist.

Prior to and during the early Christian era, Kannada country seems to have been in close trade ties with the Greek and Roman empires of the west. Greek dramatists of 4th century BC. seem to have been familiar with Kannada language. This is evident in their usage of Kannada words and phrases in their dramas and skits. (Sri K. Appadurai, 1997, INTAMM).

In coinage, recent discovery of copper coin dated back to 5th century CE. in Banavasi with the inscription Srimanaragi in Kannada script proves that Kannada had become official by the time of the Kadambas of Banavasi. Coinage with Kannada legends are common from the time of Chalukyas.

Literature and Poetry

The earliest record of Kannada poetry in tripadi metre are the Kappe Arabhatta record of 700 A.D. (Dr. S.U.Kamat, 2002). Kavirajamarga, of King Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I (850 CE.) is the earliest extant literary work in Kannada. It is a complex work on Kannada grammar meant to standardize various Kannada dialects used in literature in previous centuries. The book also makes references to Kannada works by early writers such as King Durvinita (495 - 535 A.D.) of Ganga dynasty of Talkad (Dr. K.A.N Sastry, 1955). A very early prose work in Kannada, Vaddaradhane by Sivakotyacharya of 9th century described the life of Bhadrabahu of Shravanabelagola elaborately. Since the earliest extant Kannada work is one of complex grammar and a guide of sorts to unify existing variants of Kannada grammar and literary styles, it can be safely assumed that literature in Kannada must have started several centuries earlier. Many historians consider that only Sanskrit and Tamil have an older written tradition than Kannada based on available inscriptions and literature. Many Kannada works from 6th, 7th and 8th centuries mentioned in Kavirajamarga are not yet traced. Kannada literature has been prolific ever since. Chudamani (a 96,000 verse-measures), a commentary on logic Tatwarthamahashastra by Tumbulruacharya is said to have belonged to the 7th century (Dr. Jyotsna Kamat). Gajastaka a work on elephant management by king Shivamara II of Ganga dynasty belonged to the 8th century (Dr. S.U. Kamat, 2002). As historian K. Appadurai puts it, Kannada is one of the most ancient literatures not only of South India, but of all India as well. Tamil Buddhist commentators of the 10th century A.D. (Comentary on Nemrinatham, a Tamil grammatical work) makes references to Kannada literature of the 4th century CE.

Development

The development of Kannada as a distinct spoken language from a southern proto-Dravidian language is probably impossible to date. The spoken language is said to have seperated from its proto-Dravidian source at about the same time as Tamil. However, the written tradition of this language is around 1500-1600 years based on the archeological evidences. The initial development of the Kannada language is similar to that of other Dravidian languages and independent of Sanskrit. During later centuries, Kannada, along with other Indian languages like Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi etc., has been highly influenced by Sanskrit vocabulary and literary styles. Kannada is a highly inflected language with three genders (masculine, feminine, neutral or common) and two numbers (singular, plural). It is inflected for gender, number and tense, among other things.

Dialects

There is also some distinction between the spoken and written forms of the language. Spoken Kannada tends to vary from region to region. The written form is more or less constant throughout Karnataka, however. The ethnologue identifies about 20 dialects of Kannada. Among them are Kunda (spoken exclusively in Kundapura), Havyaka (spoken mainly by Havyaka Brahmins), Are Bhashe (spoken mainly in Sullia region of Dakshina Kannada), Soliga, Badaga, Gulbarga Kannada, Dharawad Kannada, Chitradurga Kannada, and others. All of these dialects are influenced by their regional and cultural background.

Classification

The written Kannada language has come under various religious and social influences in its 1600 years of known existence. Linguists generally divide the written form into four broad categories.

Poorvada Halegannada (Pre-ancient Kananda) : This is the language of Halmidi scripture thought to be from fourth or fifth century CE.
Halegannada (Ancient Kannada) : From ninth century CE onwards, until fourteenth century, Kannada works were classified under Old Kannada. In this period Kannada showed a high level of maturity as a language of original lierature. Mostly Jain and Saivite poets produced works in this period. This period saw the emergence of Jain puranas and Virashaiva Vachana Sahitya or simply vachana, a unique and native form of literature which was the sum contributions from all sections of society.
Nadugannada ( Middle Kannada) : In the period between fifteenth and eighteenth century CE., Brahmanical Hinduism had a great influence on Kannada. Kannada grammar was further developed based on Sanskrit grammar by Keshiraja Bhatta. The language itself Sanskritized to a large extent. Non-brahmin Hindu saints like Kanakadasa and Purandaradasa also produced devotional poems in this period. Kanakadasa's Ramadhanya Charite is a rare work on class struggle. This period saw the advent of Haridasa Sahitya which made rich contributions to bhakti literature and sowed the seeds of carnatic music.
Hosagannada ( Modern Kannada) : The Kannada works produced by the end of nineteenth century and later are classified under Hosagannada or Modern Kannada. However, till the beginning of twentieth century there were Kannada literary works that could still be classified under Middle Kannada. Most notable among them is poet Muddana's works. Sometimes, his works were described as the 'dawn of Modern Kannada'. Generally, linguists treat Indira Bai or Saddharma Vijayavu by Gulvadi Venkata Raya as the first literary work in Modern Kannada.

Current Literary Trends

Modern Kannada in twentieth century has been influenced by many movements. Notable among them are Navodaya, Navya, Dalita/Bandaya. Presently Kannada literature is ahead of all other languages in India with seven Jnanpith awards and forty eight Sahitya Academy awards.

Jnanpith Awardees

Kuvempu for Sri Ramayana Darshanam (1967)
Da.Ra.Bendhre for Naaku thanthi (1973)
Shivaram Karanth for Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (1977)
Masti Venkatesh Iyengar for Chikkaveera Raajendhra (1983)
Vi.Kru.Gokak for Bhaaratha Sindhhu Rashmi (1990)
U.R.Ananthamurthy for his works in Kannada (1994)
Girish Karnad for his works in Kannada Drama (1998)

Geographic distribution

Kannada is mainly spoken in Karnataka in India, and to a good extent in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and in Goa.

Official status

Kannada is one of the 22 official languages of India and is the sole administrative language of the state of Karnataka.

Kannada script

The language has 49 letters phonemic. These 49 letters are divided into three groups: Swaragalu (13 letters), Yogavaahakagalu(2 letters- ಅಂ,ಅಃ), and Vyanjanagalu (34 letters), similar to the vowels and consonants of English, respectively. The character set is almost identical to that of other Indian languages. The script itself, derived from brahmi script, is fairly complicated like most other languages of India owing to the occurrence of various combinations of "half-letters", or symbols that attach to various letters in a manner similar to diacritical marks (such as aigüe, grave, and cédille marks) in the Romance languages. The Kannada script is almost perfectly phonetic, but for the sound of a "half n" (which becomes a half m). The number of written symbols, however, is far more than the 49 characters in the alphabet, because different characters can be combined to form compound characters (vattaksharas). Each written symbol in the Kannada script corresponds with one syllable, as opposed to one phoneme in languages like English. The script of Kannada is also used in other languages such as Tulu, Kodava Takk and Konkani. Simply put the Kannada script is syllabic.

Transliteration

Several transliteration schemes are used to type Kannada characters using a standard keyboard. These include baraha 1 (based on ITRANS) and Nudi, the government of Karnataka's standard for Kannada transliteration.

Unicode

Kannada^[1]^[2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+0C8x	ಀ	ಁ	ಂ	ಃ	಄	ಅ	ಆ	ಇ	ಈ	ಉ	ಊ	ಋ	ಌ		ಎ	ಏ
U+0C9x	ಐ		ಒ	ಓ	ಔ	ಕ	ಖ	ಗ	ಘ	ಙ	ಚ	ಛ	ಜ	ಝ	ಞ	ಟ
U+0CAx	ಠ	ಡ	ಢ	ಣ	ತ	ಥ	ದ	ಧ	ನ		ಪ	ಫ	ಬ	ಭ	ಮ	ಯ
U+0CBx	ರ	ಱ	ಲ	ಳ		ವ	ಶ	ಷ	ಸ	ಹ			಼	ಽ	ಾ	ಿ
U+0CCx	ೀ	ು	ೂ	ೃ	ೄ		ೆ	ೇ	ೈ		ೊ	ೋ	ೌ	್
U+0CDx						ೕ	ೖ							ೝ	ೞ
U+0CEx	ೠ	ೡ	ೢ	ೣ			೦	೧	೨	೩	೪	೫	೬	೭	೮	೯
U+0CFx		ೱ	ೲ	ೳ
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Extinct Kannada Letters

Until the thirteenth century, Kannada literary works employed letters 'rh', 'lh (zh)', whose manner of articulation most plausibly could be akin to those in present day Malayalam. Tamil is supposed to exhibit only 'lh' and not 'rh'. The later Kannada works replaced 'rh' and 'lh' with ರ (ra) and ಳ (La) respectively.

Another letter (or unclassified vyanjana (consonant)?) that has become extinct is 'nh' or 'inn' (Again this has its equivalent in Malayalam). The usage of this consonant was observed until the 1980s in mostly coastal Karnataka (especially, Dakshina Kannada district) Kannada works. Now hardly any mainstream works use this consonant. This letter has been replaced by ನ್(consonant n).

The Dictionary

A German priest Reverend Ferdinand Kittel composed the first Kannada dictionary consisting of more than 70,000 words.

Possible mis-interpretation

The term "Kannada language" is often mis-interpreted as meaning "the language of Canada". However, the languages of Canada are English and French.

References

Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat, Concise History of Karnataka, 2001, MCC, Bangalore, Reprinted 2002
Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002)