Kodava language

File:LSI map of Dravidian languages.jpg (1906) map of the distribution of Dravidian languages]]

In Kannada, the region was called Kodagu and the people Kodaga. Natively, the people were called Kodava and the land was called Kodavu in the folksongs. Comparative Dravidian studies show that the Kodava language belongs to the South Dravidian language group.{{cite web |last1=Rajyashree |first1=K S |title=Language in India: Kodava speech community - an ethnolinguistic study |url=http://www.languageinindia.com/oct2001/kodavarajyashree.html |website=www.languageinindia.com |access-date=30 May 2022}}{{cite web |title=KODAVA THAKK , AN INDEPENDENT LANGUAGE , NOT A DIALECT – Kodavas |url=http://www.kodavas.in/2022/01/19/kodava-thakk-an-independent-language-not-a-dialect/ |website=Kodavas.in |access-date=30 May 2022}}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/CoorgGrammar|title=Coorg Grammar|date=11 August 1867|via=Internet Archive}}

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.{{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}}

Kodava and Kannada share a lack of palatalization of word-initial *k-, which is a feature found in the Tamil-Malayalam branch.{{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}}

{{main|Coorgi–Cox alphabet|Thirke}}

The Kodava (Kodagu) language was popularly written in the Kannada script. Dr. IM Muthanna, developed a script to Kodava Thakk in 1971, and as of 2022, Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy, a government body for the development of Kodava Language, accepted the script developed by Dr IM Muthanna as the official script of Kodava Language. It is also widely used across Kodagu, Although around 7 scripts were developed over a period from 1889 to 2008, Only Dr. IM Muthanna's script is considered as the most acceptable script for Kodava Language.

The Coorgi is an alphabet developed by the linguist Gregg M. Cox{{cite report |last1=Pandey |first1=Anshuman |title=Introducing the Coorgi-Cox Alphabet |url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n4287.pdf |date=2012-06-22}} that is used by a number of individuals within Kodagu district of India to write the endangered Dravidian language of Kodava, also known sometimes as Coorgi.{{cite news |title=Debate on Kodava script continues|date=12 March 2006|work=The Hindu |url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/12/stories/2006031206840300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071201103102/http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/12/stories/2006031206840300.htm |archive-date=1 December 2007|access-date=29 December 2011}}

The script uses a combination of 26 consonant letters, eight vowel letters and a diphthong marker. Each letter represents a single sound and there are no capital letters. A computer-based font has been created.The Coorgi-Cox handbook, Feb. 2005. {{full citation needed|date=January 2020}}

The script was developed out of the request by a group of Kodava individuals to have a distinct script for Kodava Takk, to distinguish the language. Kodava Takk is generally written in the Kannada script, but can also be found written in the Malayalam script, especially along the borders with Kerala. The new script is intended as a unified writing system for all Kodava Takk speakers.Gregg Cox, April 2005. {{full citation needed|date=January 2020}}

Recently an old Kodava script from the 14th century was discovered, it is now called the Thirke script.{{cite web | url=https://starofmysore.com/discovering-alphabets-of-old-kodava-script/ | title=Discovering alphabets of old Kodava script | date=24 January 2022 }}

Various other scripts were made by Kodava writers like Iychettira M Muthanna, Koravanda Appayya, Appaneravanda Kiran Subbaiah.{{cite web | url=https://www.kodagufirst.in/?tag=i-m-muthanna | title=I M Muthanna | Kodagu First | date=11 May 2023 }}

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.{{sfnp|Bhadriraju Krishnamurti|2003|p=21}} It is closely related to and influenced by Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu. A majority of the words are common between Kodava and Beary bashe, a dialect which is a mixture of Tulu and Malayalam spoken by the Beary Muslims and Kodava Thiyyar communities. Kodava is also closely related to the Kasaragod and Kannur dialects of Malayalam, which are in turn related to Beary.

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. In 2005, after requests from the Kodagu community, German linguist Gerard Cox created a script unique to Kodava called the Coorgi-Cox script. It uses straight lines for 5 vowels, and has circles for diphthongs.{{Cite news |last=Merritt|first=Anne|title=Easiest written languages for English speakers|date=2015-04-01 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/11507109/Easiest-written-languages-for-English-speakers.html|access-date=2017-10-14 |work=The Daily Telegraph|issn=0307-1235}}

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.{{cite web |title=Official Website of Kodava Community |publisher=Kodava.org |url=http://www.kodava.org/kcontent/pp2003.asp |access-date=2012-06-01}}

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.

Since 2021, the Mangalore University teaches an MA degree in the Kodava language.{{cite news |date=17 December 2021 |title=Mangalore University to offer MA in Kodava language |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/mangalore-university-to-offer-ma-in-kodava-language-1062025.html |access-date=30 May 2022 |work=Deccan Herald}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=R A |title=An Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language |date=1867 |publisher=Wesleyan Mission Press |location=Bangalore |url=https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qaf6FyfUU-E7I_jXTFqRQ0ACstRxsLcCIP29JXtE108_UtR89dQregkp2IP81yocsbJDc2y1XUmW35xetvvcTPh_80DmQ7a3JohYrnJsQXSwpAtkGmNFh9REYyMVRWzHGjJDABEV4bnI7qaGkDSf8LPLk4p01C_0xU0o-Mzc-KVV5vwLIlzDsV6OIxkL2WIA5RePuAsLuTXm_1cOw-QycTrSkIRrOrYx--547t8A1DY3VDSa1IPjPoEKijOkSxne6SlgInqqN3s05IoPM146qHcA9PklhvSALt2GbWNoFcYiFGFnbRs |access-date=24 August 2022}}
• {{cite book |author=Bhadriraju Krishnamurti |author-link=Bhadriraju Krishnamurti |title=The Dravidian Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-77111-0}}

• {{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

}}

• [http://www.kodava.chilume.com Kodava Literature]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151122215606/http://www.kodavasamaj.com/ Kodava Samaj]

{{Languages of India}}

{{Dravidian languages}}

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Category:Agglutinative languages

Category:Dravidian languages

Category:Languages of Karnataka

Category:Endangered languages of India