Tulu language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tulu | ||||
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| തുളു/ತುಳು | ||||
| Spoken in | India | |||
| Region | Coastal Karnataka (Udupi and Dakshina Kannada) and parts of northern Kerala (Kasargod). (historically known as Tulu Nadu) | |||
| Total speakers | 3 Million [1] | |||
| Language family | Dravidian
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| Writing system | Tigalari, Modified Kannada script | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-1 | None | |||
| ISO 639-2 | dra | |||
| ISO 639-3 | tcy | |||
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Tulu is a Dravidian language of India with nearly Three million speakers, known as Tuluvas. It is one of the oldest language born almost during the same time when Tamil & Prakrit was born.[2] Most Tuluvas live in the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the west of the state of Karnataka. It is also spoken in the Kasaragod taluk of Kerala. There are a sizeable number of Tuluvas in the gulf as well as in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The original written script of the language, adapted from the Grantha Script, from which the present day Malayalam script is also adapted, is rarely used today. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has mostly been written in the modified Kannada script.[3]
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[edit] Geographic distribution
There are indications in a few Malayalam works that the region stretching from the Chandragiri river, now part of the Kasaragod district of Kerala, to Gokarna, now part of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, was called Tulu Nadu. However, the present day Tulu linguistic boundary is confined to Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi district. Northern Kasaragod, Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi district are the major Tulu cultural regions.
Tuluvas have a saying: "Oorudu nanjaanda paarad badkodu". A loose translation would be: "If it's tough at home; run away and survive". Tuluvas are true to this character and have migrated to other places in great numbers.Early migration was to neighbouring regions like Malabar ( Kerala now ) , Mysore kingdom, Madras Presidency ( Tamilnadu now). The large scale migration of Tulu speaking people from undivided South Canara district to other provinces ( regions ) of India is believed to happened during World War I, but there are no concrete materialistic evidence to prove. The reason being rationing of food grains by British who where ruling India then and and spread of communicable diseases . The next wave of emmigration was during World War II , now they settled in interior parts of Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh and also to far off cities like Mumbai and Chennai.They mostly did business of running restaurants serving Udupi cuisine. Mumbai and Thane in Maharastra state has a sizable population of Tuluvas. Tulu is widely spoken in the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka state. Efforts are also being made to include Tulu in the list of Official languages of India.[4]
[edit] Language Tree
The languages recognized as Official languages of India are in boldface.
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Language tree of South India Languages showing, Tulu branched out at a very early stage, proving Tulu as the oldest Dravidian Langauage
[edit] Script
Tulu script was originally adapted from the Grantha Script, from which the present day Malayalam script is also adapted, by Tulu Brahmins who used it to translate Sanskrit text. 19th century missionaries used the Kannada script to transcribe Tulu works and to translate the Bible into Tulu. During the Tulu literature renaissance of the 1900s, the practice of writing Tulu in Kannada script became increasingly common; today, the original script is rarely used.[3] Attempts are being made by Tuluva linguists to revive the original script.[5]
The relationship between Tulunad and Kerala was very harmonious even in ancient times as Tulunadu was also considered as a part of Kerala according to the puranas. Nairs of kerala are originally migrated from Tulunadu.Nairs perhaps never talked Tamil but the Prakrit or Tulu or some other Aryan tongue. Nairs did mix with few Dravidian clans including Vellalas. The arrival of Nairs led to the mixture of Tamil with Prakrit Sanskrit and Tulu words converting the language to Malayalam.[citation required] Tulu Brahmins were also traveling and settling in Kerala for further studies in agama shastras or for conducting rituals in temples. The Tulu Brahmins used to write down the slokas on palmyra leaves (taalegari), which were used then for writing, in a curvy, floral style of script. Earlier it was considered as a variant of Malayalam script. But recent studies showed that this was the script used by the Brahmin scholars and later was adopted by the Kerala kings which is the present Malayalam script.(This has been proved in detail by Vidwan P V Puninchathaya in 'Tulu -Nadu-Nudi').
[edit] The language
The paucity of literary works has rendered the precise dating of the origin of this language very difficult. It is considered to be one of the oldest Dravidian language by some scholars.[citation needed]
Spoken Tulu changes from South to North. There is a common perception that there are only two Tulu dialects, namely Brahmin and Common. However, a study of the language and pronunciation suggests there are four distinct dialects of this language: Brahmin, Jain, Common, and Tribal.[citation needed]
- Brahmin dialect
- Spoken by Tulu Brahmins (Sthanika Brahmins and Shivalli Brahmins).[6]
- Jain dialect
- Spoken by the Jains in the northern part of Tulu Nadu.
- Common dialect
- Spoken by the majority of people of Tulu Nadu; the dialect of commerce, entertainment and art.
- Tribal dialect
- Spoken by tribal people; closely resembles the Common dialect.
Tulu is not taught in schools and Schedule 8B of the Constitution of India does not recognize it as an official language.[7] Although it has more than Three million speakers, Tulu is also considered an endangered language.[8]
[edit] Demand for a separate Tulunadu state
The Tulu speakers of Southern India are a separate culture from the Kannadigas within India. From India's independence and the following reorganization of states, the Tuluvas have been demanding official language status for Tulu and a separate state for themselves. Though a bit subdued in between, this demand has grown stronger in recent years. Several organizations like the Tulu Rajya Horata Samiti have taken up the cause of the Tuluvas and frequent meetings and demonstrations are held across towns in Tulunadu (like Mangalore, Udupi etc) to voice their demands.[9][10]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.yakshagana.com/tulu-recog.htm
- ^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5DPDE2zBgHoC&pg=PA2497&dq=Tulu+Nadu+Konkani+Tulu+Kannada&lr=
- ^ a b Steever, Sanford B. (1998). The Dravidian Languages. Taylor & Francis. pp. 162. ISBN 0415100232.
- ^ Why Tulu language deserves recognition from Kendra Sahithya Academy and why it should be included in schedule 8B of the constitution
- ^ Radhika, M. (2005-10-08). "Dharam Singh pushes for Tulu rights". Tehelka. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main14.asp?filename=Ne100805Dharam_Singh.asp. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
- ^ Tulunadu and Tulu community around the world - www.tuluver.com - Home
- ^ Kurzon, Dennis (2004). Where East Looks West. Multilingual Matters. pp. 115. ISBN 1853596736.
- ^ Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Routledge. pp. 345. ISBN 9780700711970.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Tulu Script www.yakshagana.com
- Tulu Jokes Collection Tulu Jokes Collection
- Tulu Language: Its Script and Dialects www.boloji.com
- Common Kannada, Tulu and Konkani phrases www.mangalore.com
- Community Website for Tulu speaking community www.buntsworld.com
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