>Reidgreg at 01:47, 18 October 2021

2021-10-18T01:47:39Z

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{{Short description|Dravidian language spoken in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Irula
|nativename=இருளா
|states=[[India]]
|region=[[Nilgiri Mountains]]
|ethnicity=[[Irula people|Irula]]
|speakers=11,870
|date=2011 census
|ref=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-07}}</ref>
|speakers2=Census conflates some speakers with [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
|familycolor=Dravidian
|fam2=[[Southern Dravidian]]
|fam3=[[Tamil–Kannada]]
|fam4=Tamil–Kodagu
|fam5=Tamil–Malayalam
|iso3=iru
|glotto=irul1243
|glottorefname=Irula of the Nilgiri
|script=[[Tamil script]]
|notice=IPA
}}

'''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]].{{sfnp|Perialwar|1979|p=1}} It is written in the [[Tamil script]].

== Origins ==
The language was first described and classified by indologist [[Kamil Zvelebil]], who in 1955 showed that the Irula language is an independent Southern Dravidian language that is akin to [[Tamil language|Tamil]], particularly [[Old Tamil]], with some [[Kannada]]-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 Melanid 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.<ref>https://indiantribalheritage.org › ...
Irula communities: Spread over the three southern States with a language marked ...</ref><ref>http://www.languageinindia.com › ...PDF
Tribal Languages of Kerala - Language in India</ref>

== Phonology ==
The tables present the vowel{{sfnp|Perialwar|1979|p=55}} and the consonant{{sfnp|Perialwar|1979|p=57}}{{sfnp|Zvelebil|2001|p=157}} phonemes of Irula.

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|i}} {{IPA|iː}}
|
| {{IPA|u}} {{IPA|uː}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA|e}} {{IPA|eː}}
|
| {{IPA|o}} {{IPA|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| {{IPA|a}} {{IPA|aː}}
|
|}

All vowels are centralized by certain neighbouring consonants.{{clarify|date=December 2010}} They are then transcribed {{IPA|[ï ë ä ö ü]}}, etc., but they may be closer to {{IPA|[ɨ ɘ æ ɵ ʉ]}}.

=== Consonants ===
Phonemes marked with an asterisk appear only in {{harvtxt|Zvelebil|2001|p=157}}.

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-style="font-size: 90%;"
!
!colspan=2| [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
!colspan=2| [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
!colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=2| [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
!colspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
!colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|m}}
|colspan=2|
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|n}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɳ}}
|colspan=2|
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]/[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|b}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|t̪}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|d̪}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|t}}*||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|d}}*
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ʈ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɖ}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|tʃ}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|dʒ}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|g}}
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|v}}
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] ([[Lateral consonant#Approximants|Lateral]])
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ʝ}}*
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|j}}
|colspan=2|
|-
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|l}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɭ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|-
! [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|r̪
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|r}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Citation
|last= Perialwar
|first= R.
|title= A Grammar of Irula
|publisher= [[Annamalai University]]
|year= 1978
}}
*{{Citation
|last= Perialwar
|first= R.
|title= Phonology of Irula with Vocabulary
|publisher= Annamalai University
|year= 1979
}}
*{{Citation
|last= Zvelebil
|first= Kamil V.
|authorlink=Kamil Zvelebil
|title= Nilgiri Areal Studies
|publisher= Charles University in Prague, [[Karolinum Press]]
|year= 2001
|chapter= Irula Phonological System
|isbn= 80-7184-945-6
}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{citation|last= Zvelebil|first=Kamil| authorlink= Kamil Zvelebil| title= The Irula language, Volumes 1-3| year= 1973| publisher=Harrassowitz| isbn= 978-3-447-01520-2| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6GfRAAAAMAAJ&q=coimbatore+kovan |ref=none}}

{{Dravidian languages}}
{{Languages of Tamil Nadu}}
{{Languages spoken in Kerala}}

[[Category:Languages of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Tamil languages]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]

{{Dr-lang-stub}}

Irula language - Revision history

>Reidgreg at 01:47, 18 October 2021