imported>Chidananda Kampa at 01:50, 11 August 2021

2021-08-11T01:50:00Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{multiple issues|
{{more citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{missing information|its history, phonology, grammar, and orthography|date=March 2018}}
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{{Infobox language
| name = Kodava
| nativename = ಕೊಡವ
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Kodagu]], [[Karnataka]]
| ethnicity = [[Kodava people|Kodava]]
| speakers = 113,857
| date = 2011 census
| ref =<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-05}}</ref>
| familycolor = Dravidian
| fam2 = Southern
| fam3 = [[Tamil–Kannada languages|Tamil–Kannada]]
| fam4 = Tamil-Kodava
| iso3 = kfa
| glotto = koda1255
| glottorefname = Kodava
| script = [[Kannada script]], [[Coorgi–Cox alphabet]]
}}
{{Culture of Karnataka}}

The '''Kodava''' ([[Kannada script]]: ಕೊಡವ ತಕ್ಕ್, ''Kodava takk'', meaning 'speech of Kodavas', in the Kodava language, alternate names: [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]], [[Coorg]]i) is an endangered<ref> {{Cite web|title=Five Languages in Karnataka, Including Tulu Vanishing: Unesco|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=62360|access-date=2020-09-18|website=www.daijiworld.com}}</ref> [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian language]] and the original language of the [[Kodagu district]] in Southern [[Karnataka]], [[India]]. 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 (spoken in Northern and Central Kodagu, i.e. outside Kodagu's Kiggat naadu) and Kiggat (spoken in Kiggat naadu, in Southern Kodagu).

Historically, it has been referred to as a dialect of Kannada.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4VLY1KcltcC&q=Dialects+of+Kodagu&pg=PA122|title=The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and the Associated States|last=Thurston|first=Edgar|date=2011-06-16|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-60068-3|language=en}}</ref> However it has been re-analysed as a language by early 20th century academics.

It is traditionally written using the [[Kannada script]] which is an [[abugida]]. However, an abugida called the [[Coorgi–Cox alphabet]] has been developed on the request of community members. The 2011 Census of India reports 96,918 persons who returned Kodava as their mother tongue and 16,939 for Coorgi/Kodagu, for a total of 113,857 persons who identified one of these languages as their mother tongue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf|title=Census of India 2011|website=Census of India : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|access-date=2020-01-24}}</ref>

== Grammar ==
The grammar of Kodagu has been systematically studied and documented since at least around 1867 when Captain R.A. Cole published the seminal work ''An Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/CoorgGrammar|title=Coorg Grammar|date=11 August 1867|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
Dravidian vowel systems contain five vowel qualities i.e. those usually corresponding to ''a, e, i, o'' and ''u.,'' with a short and long variants for each. However, Kodava has two more: the mid and high (close) back unrounded vowels, with corresponding long variants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Emeneau|first=M. B.|year=1970|title=Koḍagu Vowels|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=90|issue=1|pages=145–158|doi=10.2307/598436|jstor=598436|issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

Kodagu has 14 vowels. 7 of these, i, e, ɛ, a, ɑ, o, u, have long equivalents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://phoible.org/inventories/view/1743#tipa|title=PHOIBLE Online -|website=phoible.org|access-date=2019-01-26}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!unrounded
![[Roundedness|rounded]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|i
|ɨ
|ɯ
|u
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|ɪ
|
|
|ʊ
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|e
|
|
|o
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|
|ə
|
|
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|ɛ
|
|ʌ
|ɔ
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|a
|
|ɑ
|
|}

=== Consonants ===
Kodava has 25 consonants.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
!voiceless
|p
|t̪
|
|ʈ
|
|k
|
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|b
|d̪
|
|ɖ
|
|g
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
|ð
|s
|ʂ
|ç
|
|h
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n̪
|n
|ɳ
|ɲ
|ŋ
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
|
|l
|ɭ
|j
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|r
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
|
|
|ɽ
|
|
|
|}
Kodava and Kannada share a lack of palatalization of word-initial ''*k-'', which is a feature found in the Tamil-Malayalam branch.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Emeneau|first=M. B.|year=1967|title=The South Dravidian Languages|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=87|issue=4|pages=365–413|doi=10.2307/597585|jstor=597585|issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

==Comparisons==

Linguistically, Kodava/Kodagu language belongs to the South Dravidian subfamily of the Dravidian family. Further within the South Dravidian subfamily , it belongs to the subgroup Tamil-Malayalam-Kodagu-Kota-Toda.<ref>Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju. ''Dravidian Languages'', p21, Cambridge Language Surveys, Cambridge University Press, 2003</ref> It is closely related to and influenced by [[Kannada language|Kannada]], [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Tulu language|Tulu]]. A majority of the words are common between Kodava and [[Beary bashe]], a dialect which is a mixture of [[Tulu language|Tulu]] and [[Malayalam]] spoken by the [[Beary]] muslims and Kodava Thiyyar communities.

==Literature==
Family histories, rituals and other records were scripted on palm leaves called Pattole (patt=palm, ole=leaf) by astrologers in the ancient times. When Kodava was written, it was usually with [[Kannada script]], sometimes with minor modifications. The folk songs of the Kodavas, called the Palame (also known as the Balo Patt or Dudi Patt), were orally transmitted across several generations. The language had no significant written [[literature]] until the twentieth century. [[Appachcha Kavi]], a playwright, and [[Nadikerianda Chinnappa]], a folk compiler, are the two important poets and writers of the Kodava language. Other important writers in the language were [[B D Ganapathy]] and [[I M Muthanna]].
[[File:Coorgi-cox.jpg|thumb|left|The Coorgi-Cox alphabet]]
In 2005, after requests from the Kodagu community, German linguist Gerard Cox created a script unique to Kodava called the [[Coorgi–Cox alphabet|Coorgi-Cox script]]. It uses straight lines for 5 vowels, and has circles for diphthongs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/11507109/Easiest-written-languages-for-English-speakers.html|title=Easiest written languages for English speakers|last=Merritt|first=Anne|journal=The Daily Telegraph|date=2015-04-01|access-date=2017-10-14|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

The [[Pattole Palame]], a collection of Kodava folksongs and traditions compiled in the early 1900s by Nadikerianda Chinnappa, was first published in 1924. The most important Kodava literature, it is said to be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, collection of folklore of a community in an Indian language. Nearly two-thirds of the book consists of folksongs that were handed down orally through generations, sung even today during marriage and death ceremonies and during festivals relating to the seasons and in honour of local deities and heroes. Traditionally known as Balo Pat, these songs are sung by four men who beat dudis (drums) as they sing. Kodava folk dances are performed to the beat of many of these songs. The Pattole Palame was written using the Kannada script originally; it has been translated into English by Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa, grandchildren of Nadikerianda Chinnappa, and has been published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kodava.org/kcontent/pp2003.asp |title=– Official Website of Kodava Community |publisher=Kodava.org |access-date=2012-06-01}}</ref>

==Cinema==
The Kodava Cinema industry is very small. A few movies portraying the native culture and traditions of the Kodavas have been produced in this language. The first Kodava film 'Nada Mann Nada Kool' was directed by S.R.Rajan and produced in the year 1972.

==Words for family members==
{{Move to Wiktionary|date=September 2015}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Mother
| Avvo
|-
| Father
| Appo
|-
| Grandfather
| Ajjo
|-
| Grandmother
| Ajjavo Thaayi
|-
| Maternal Uncle / Paternal Aunt's husband
| Thammaavo / Maavo
|-
| Maternal Uncle's wife / Paternal Aunt
| Maavi / Thammaavi
|-
| Eldest Paternal Uncle / Eldest Maternal Aunt's husband
| Baliappo
|-
| Eldest Paternal Uncle's wife / Eldest Maternal Aunt
| Baliavvo
|-
| Elder Paternal Uncle / Elder Maternal Aunt's husband
| Bojappo
|-
| Elder Paternal Uncle's wife / Elder Maternal Aunt
| Bojavvo
|-
| Younger Paternal Uncle / Younger Maternal Aunt's husband
| Kunjappo
|-
| Younger Paternal Uncle's wife/ Younger Maternal Aunt
| Kunjavvo
|-
| Youngest Paternal Uncle / Youngest Maternal Aunt's husband
| Cheriappo
|-
| Youngest Paternal Uncle's wife/ Youngest Maternal Aunt
| Cheriavvo
|-
| Father-in-law
| Maavo
|-
| Mother-in-law
| Maavi
|-
| brother-in-law (elder) / cross-cousin (elder, brother) / lineal cousin (elder, sister)'s husband
| Baavo
|-
| sister-in-law (elder)/ cross-cousin (elder, sister) / lineal-cousin (elder, brother)'s wife
| Mammo
|-
| brother (elder) / lineal cousin (elder brother) / cross-cousin (elder, sister)'s husband
| Anno / Annaiah
|-
| sister (elder) / lineal-cousin (elder, sister) / cross-cousin (elder, brother)'s wife
| Akko / Akkaiah
|-
| brother (younger)
| Thammanno
|-
| sister (younger)
| Thange
|-
| Wife
| Ponne
|-
| Husband
| Wadiyye
|-
| Son
| Movo
|-
| Daughter
| Mova
|}

== Kodava words ==
{{Move to Wiktionary|date=September 2015}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Kodava'''
! '''Kannada'''
! '''Tamil'''
! '''Tulu'''
! '''English'''

|-
| Muddi
| Hudugi
|
| Ponnu
| Girl
|-
| Kinha
| Huduga
| Chiruvan
| Aan/Kinni
| Boy
|-
| Poyi
| Hogu
| Po
| Poyi
| Go
|-
| Kanni
| Saaru
| Kuzhambu, Curry
| Kajipu
| Stew (lentils, vegetables, others)
|-
| Koole
| Anna
| Soru/Annam
| Nuppu
| Cooked Rice
|-
| Ide
| Idu
| Id
| Dee
| Put
|-
| thimbake
| tinnakke
| tinnu
| Thinere
| To Eat
|-
| kulli
| snana
| kuLi
| Meela
| To Bathe
|-
| unda
| unta/ideya
| Unda/irukkiradha
| Unda
| Is There
|-
| Bappi
| Bartini
| Varuven
| Barpe
| I will Come (Farewell Greeting)
|-
| Ullo
| iddene
| Ullaen/Irukkaen
| Ulle
| Am There
|-
| Bandan Ullo
| Baruta iddene
| Varugirēn
| Barond ulle
| Am coming
|-
| Yenene Ulliya?
| Hege iddiya?
| eppaṭi irukkiraai?
| Encha ulla/ya?
| How are you?
|-
|Māṅge
|Maavu
|Māngāi / māngani
|Mudi/Kukku
|Mango
|-
|Kaḷḷa
|Kaḷla
|KaLvan/Thirudan
|Kalva
|Thief
|-
|Suroole /Minyathele
|Modalu
|Mudal
|Suru
|First
|-
|Kere Pamb
|Kere Haavu
|Kīri Pambu
|Keri
|Rat Snake
|-
|Mūle
|Mūle
|Muulai
|Mudye/mūle
|Corner
|-
|Āme
|Āme
|Āmai
|Eme
|Tortoise
|-
|Bēli
|Bēli
|Vēli
|Bēli
|Fence
|-
|Bithe/Kuru
|Beeja
|Vidhai/Vithu
|Bitth
|Seed
|-
|Bādege
|Bādige
|Vādagai
|Badige
|Rent
|-
|Chaththe
|Sante
|Chanthai
|Santhe
|Market
|-
|Ēni
|Ēni
|Ēni
|Ēni
|Ladder
|-
|Pulunja Puḷi
|Hunase Huli
|PuLi
|Punke puli
|Tamarind
|-
|Gaali/Kaath
|Gaali
|Kaatru/Kaathu
|Gaali
|Wind
|-
|Thaari
|Kodu
|Kodu
|Koru
|give
|-
|Kaapi
|Kaapi
|Kulambi
|Kaapi
|Coffee
|-
|Paaduvo
|Haadu
|Paadu
|Pada paad
|to sing
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* R A Cole, "An Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language"
==Further reading==
* {{Citation
| author = Government of Coorg | year=1953
| title= Handbook of Coorg Census-1951 | publisher=Assistant Commissioner and District Census Officer, Coorg
| url= http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/6036/1/42086_1951_COO.pdf
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.languageinindia.com/oct2001/kodavarajyashree.html K. S. Rajyashree, Kodava speech community: An ethnolinguistic study]
* [http://www.kodava.chilume.com Kodava Literature]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151122215606/http://www.kodavasamaj.com/ Kodava Samaj]

{{Languages of India}}
{{Dravidian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodava Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Kodava Takk| ]]
[[Category:Dravidian languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]

Kodava language - Revision history

imported>Chidananda Kampa at 01:50, 11 August 2021