| South Dravidian | |
|---|---|
| South Dravidian I | |
| Geographic distribution | South India,Sri Lanka, diaspora |
| Linguistic classification | Dravidian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-South Dravidian |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | sout3138 |
South Dravidian (also called "South Dravidian I") is one of the four major branches of theDravidian languages family. It includes the literary languagesTamil,Kannada,Malayalam andTulu, as well as several non-literary languages such asBadaga,Irula,Kota,Kurumba,Toda andKodava.[1]
Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil andTelugu (South Dravidian II or South-Central Dravidian) are recognized among theofficial languages of India and are spoken mainly inSouth India. All four are officially recognized asclassical languages by the Government of India, along withSanskrit andOdia.[2]
StandardTamil andMalayalam have bothretroflex lateral/ɭ/ andretroflex approximant/ɻ/ sounds, whereas most of the remaining likeKannada 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 retroflexapproximants changed into retroflex laterals in Kannada later. In Kannada, thebilabial 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 otherKannadoid languages and Tuluoid languages like Bellari and Koraga, e.g. Tamilpeyar, Kannadahesaru, Bellari/Koragahudari; Tamilpuṟṟu, Jenu Kurubauṯṯu, Ka.puttu, huttu, uttu.[3][4]
Tamil-Malayalam andTelugu show the conversion ofVoiceless velar plosive (/k/) intoVoiceless palatal plosive (/c/) at the beginning of the words (refer tocomparative 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, e.g. Tamil/Malayalamcey, Irulacē(y)-, Todakïy-, Kannadakey/gey, Badagagī-, Telugucēyu, Gondikīānā.
Tulu is characterized by its r/l and s/c/t alternation, for e.g.sarɛ, tarɛ across Tulu dialects compare with Kannadatale. The alveolar ṯ, ṯṯ, nṯ became post alveolar or dental, the singular ones usually becomes a trill in other Dravidian languages, e.g. Tamiloṉṟu, āṟu, nāṟu, nāṟṟam, muṟi, kīṟu; Tuluoñji, āji, nāduni, nāta, {mudipuni, muyipuni}, {kīruni, gīcuni}. The retroflex approximant mostly became a/ɾ/ and also/ɭ,ɖ/, e.g. Tamilēẓu, 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, e.g. Jenu Kurubaã·we, Kannadaāme, āve, ēve, ēme, Tamilyāmai, āmai.[6]
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, e.g., Kannadanīvu (PD *nīm), Malayalamniṅṅaḷ, (nīn-kaḷ), Tulunikuḷu.[3][7]
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" inZvelebil 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 termsSouth Dravidian I for the former branch andSouth 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 areTamil,Kannada,Malayalam,Irula,Toda,Kota,Kodava, andBadaga and the languages that constitute the Tulu branch areTulu,Koraga,Kudiya,Bellari.
According toR. 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 ofTulu in about 1500 BCE and completed in about 300 BCE.[citation needed]