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Irula language

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Dravidian language spoken in India

Irula
இருளா
Native to	India
Region	Nilgiri Mountains
Ethnicity	Irula
Native speakers	11,870 (2011 census)^[1] Census conflates some speakers withTamil
Language family	Dravidian Southern Southern I Tamil–Kannada Tamil–Kota Tamil–Toda Tamil–Irula Irula–Muduga Irula
Dialects	Kasaba (north Irula), South Irula (Mele Nadu, Vette Kada),Urali Irula
Writing system	Tamil script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`iru`
Glottolog	`irul1243`
ELP	Irula
Irula is classified as Vulnerable according to theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger^[2]
This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Irula (Natively: ër̠la/ïr̠la,IPA:[ərla,ɨrla])^[3] is aDravidian language spoken by theIrulas who inhabit the area of theNilgiri mountains, in the states ofTamil Nadu,Kerala, andKarnataka,India.^[4] It is closely related to Tamil. It is written in theTamil script.

Origins

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The language was first described and classified by indologistKamil Zvelebil, who in 1955 showed that the Irula language is an independent Southern Dravidian language that is akin toTamil, particularlyOld Tamil, with someKannada-like features. Before that, it was traditionally denied or put to doubt, and Irula was described as a crude or corrupt mixture of Tamil and Kannada.

According to a tentative hypothesis by Kamil Zvelebil, a pre-Dravidian population that forms the bulk of the Irulas anthropologically began to speak an ancient pre- or proto-Tamil dialect, which was superimposed almost totally on their native pre-Dravidian speech. That then became the basis of the language, which must have subsequently been in close contact with the other tribal languages of the Nilgiri area as well as with the large surrounding languages such as Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam.^[5]

Phonology

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The tables present the vowel^[6] and the consonant^[7]^[8]^[9] phonemes of Irula.

Vowels

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	Front		Central				Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i	iː	ɨ	ɨː	ʉ	ʉː	u	uː
Mid	e	eː	ə	əː	ɵ	ɵː	o	oː
Low			a	aː

Zvelebil and Perialwar had listed centralized <ä, ǟ> before in the phonology. The real quality distinguishing <ä, ǟ> and <a, ā> is not clear.

Consonants

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		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m		n	ɳ
Stop	voiceless	p	t̪	t	ʈ	t͡ʃ	k
Stop	voiced	b	d̪	d	ɖ	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative				s
Approx.	central	ʋ				j
Approx.	lateral			l	ɭ
Rhotic				ɾ,r	ɽ

It is not clear how /d/ and /r/ are different phonemes.

References

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^"Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011".www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved7 July 2018.
^Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 31.
^https://www.jstor.org/stable/615027
^Perialwar (1979), p. 1.
^Das, Pauline. "The Irula Language and Literature." The Criterion Journal, April 2013 Vol 4 Issue 2.
^Perialwar (1979), p. 55.
^Perialwar (1979), p. 57.
^Zvelebil (2001), p. 157.
^Krishnamurti (2003), p. 65.

Sources

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Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003),The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press,ISBN 0-521-77111-0
Perialwar, R. (1978),A Grammar of Irula,Annamalai University
Perialwar, R. (1979),Phonology of Irula with Vocabulary, Annamalai University
Zvelebil, Kamil V. (2001), "Irula Phonological System",Nilgiri Areal Studies, Charles University in Prague,Karolinum Press,ISBN 80-7184-945-6

Tamiloid	Tamil Jaffnese Sankethi Thigala Eravallan Kaikadi Mala Malasar Malasar Malapandaram Mannan Muthuvan Paliyan Pattapu Yerukala
Malayalamoid	Malayalam Arabi Malayalam Byari Jeseri Judeo-Malayalam Suriyani Malayalam Allar Eranadan Kadar Kalanadi Kanikkaran Kunduvadi Kurichiya Malamuthan Malankuravan Malaryan Malavedan Mullu Kurumba Paniya Pathiya Ravula Thachanadan Ullatan Vishavan Wayanad Chetti

Tuluoid

Others

South-Central

Teluguoid

Gondi-Kui

Gondoid	Gondi Khirwar Koya Madiya Muria Nagarchal Pardhan
Konda-Kui	Konda Kui Kuvi Manda Pengo

Central

Kolami-Naiki	Kolami Naiki
Parji–Gadaba	Duruwa Kondekor Ollari

North

Kurukh-Malto	Kurukh Malto Kumarbhag Paharia Sauria Paharia
Brahui

Proto-languages

Italics indicateextinct languages (no surviving native speakers and no spoken descendant)

v t e Languages ofTamil Nadu
Main languages	Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam
Tribal languages	Mannan Kadar Malaryan Malavedan Paliyan Paniya Ravula Eravallan Irula Kanikkaran language Betta Kurumba language Muthuvan Yerukula Mannan Kodava Jennu Kurumba Mullu Kurumba Urali Malasar Thachanadan Ullatan Pathiya Toda language Kota language
Other languages and creoles	Thanjavur Marathi Saurashtra
Related topics	Dravidian languages Languages of India Languages of Sri Lanka Languages of South Asia
Category

v t e Languages ofKerala
Non-tribal languages	Arabi Malayalam Kannada Konkani Malayalam Tamil Telugu Tulu
Tribal languages	Allar Bellari Eravallan Irula Kadar Kalanadi Kanikkaran Kodava Koraga Kota Kudiya Kumbaran Kunduvadi Kurumba Attapady Kurumba Betta Kurumba Jennu Kurumba Mullu Kurumba Malapandaram Malaryan Malasar Mala Malasar Malavedan Mannan Muduga Muthuvan Paliyan Paniya Pathiya Ravula Thachanadan Toda Ullatan Urali Wayanad Chetti Yerukala
Other languages and creoles	Aranadan Beary Cannanore Portuguese creole Cochin Portuguese creole English Judeo-Malayalam Suriyani Malayalam
Related topics	Dravidian languages Languages of India Languages of South Asia
Category