Kodava (language)
| Kodava | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
India ; Region: Karnataka | |
| speaker | 166,000 (as of 2001) | |
| Linguistic classification |
|
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
dra (other Dravidian languages) |
|
| ISO 639-3 | ||
Kodava ( koḍava ; also Kodagu, Coorgi) is the Dravidian language of the people of the same name . It is common in the Kodagu (formerly Coorg) district of the southern Indian state of Karnataka , where around 166,000 people speak it as their mother tongue. It has strong influences from related languages, especially Kannada , which is used as a second language by the majority of speakers. Kodava has been written in the Kannada script since the 17th century , although it has no symbols for two characteristic vowels of the language. Kodava includes two dialects, a northern and a southern. The northern dialect, which has always been preferred for literary works and is spoken in and around Madikeri , the former capital of the former Princely State of Coorg , has established itself as the standard .
Although the Kodava place a high value on their mother tongue as the central element of their community, English and Kannada are preferred as educational and administrative languages. Nevertheless, two weekly newspapers appear in Kodava. All India Radio broadcasts features in the language and local television also broadcasts programs in Kodava.
literature
- Karen H. Ebert: Kodava (Languages of the world; 104). LINCOM, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89586-038-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues. Census of India 2001