Kannada

Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) is a language,^[8] and it is a script used for writing the language. Most people in the southern Indian state of Karnataka speak Kannada. There are also many speakers in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa. There are some differences in the way Kannada is spoken in these places. There are about 44 million people who speak the language.^[9] The oldest Kannada writings that still exist today are called the "Halmidi inscription" from the 5th Century.

Kannada
ಕನ್ನಡ
Native to	India - Karnataka , Kasaragod, Kerala, Andhra pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu and significant communities in Mauritius,[1] United Arab Emirates,[2] Thailand.[3]
Ethnicity	Kannadiga/Kannadati
Native speakers	60 million (2011)[4] 11.4 million as a second language[5]
Language family	Dravidian Southern Tamil–Kannada Kannada–Badaga Kannada
Writing system	Kannada alphabet (Brahmic) Kannada Braille
Official status
Official language in	Karnataka
Regulated by	Various academies and the Government of Karnataka[6]
Language codes
ISO 639-1	kn
ISO 639-2	kan
ISO 639-3	kan
Distribution of native Kannada speakers in India[7]

Part of a series on
Constitutionally recognised languages of India
Category
Scheduled Languages
A Assamese B Bengali Bodo D Dogri G Gujarati H Hindi K Kannada Kashmiri Konkani M Maithili Malayalam Marathi Meitei (Manipuri) N Nepali O Odia (Oriya) P Punjabi S Sanskrit Santali Sindhi T Tamil Telugu U Urdu
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Official languages of India Languages with official status in India

Old Kannada script on a victory pillar, 8th century

Modern Kannada script

Not to be confused with Canada.

Spoken Kannada

The old woman speaks Kannada

Language profile

Kannada is a Dravidian language, which is a different language family from the Indo-European or Aryan languages of the north, such as Hindi but close to the other southern languages like Telugu. It has about 1200 years of written history. The first version is known as the Old Kannada script, which was used between 450 - 1200 CE. Modern Kannada has existed since about 1700 CE.^[10] Printing presses introduced by Christian missionaries at the beginning of the 19th century standardized the Kannada and Telugu scripts. Kannada also has a Braille writing system for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Script

The Kannada script is a type of writing system called an alphasyllabary. All consonants have a built-in vowel. Other vowels are indicated with diacritics, which appear next to the consonants.^[11] When they appear at the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as separate letters. When consonants appear together without intervening vowels, the second consonant is written as a special joint symbol, usually below the first. The direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.^[9]

Literature

Many songs, poems and religious texts have been written in Kannada. It is called a "classical language" by the Government of India, which means it is historically and culturally valuable.^[12] Kannada has the highest number of Janapeeta literary awards compared to any Indian language. Kannada had a huge boost during the Vijayanagar period.