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Language Lineage

Kannada

Word-initial p became h in Middle Kannada: Tamil pāl 'milk' and pal 'tooth' correspond to Kannada hālu and hallu.

c. 1st millennium BCE – presentKarnataka and neighbouring areas
On this page
  1. Origins
  2. Old, Middle and Modern
  3. In its own words
  4. Where it's spoken
  5. Turning points

01

Origins

Kannada, spoken by around 45 million people, has a written record of more than 1,500 years. The Halmidi inscription, usually dated to the mid-5th century CE, is often cited as the earliest Kannada inscription, though its date is disputed. The earliest surviving literary work, the Kavirājamārga, a treatise on poetics from the 9th-century court of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha I, refers to an existing tradition of Kannada poetry. Kannada script developed from the southern Brahmi of the Kadamba and Chalukya dynasties and is close to Telugu script.

02

Old, Middle and Modern

Kannada changed its sounds visibly over its history. The best-known change is the weakening of initial p to h in the Middle Kannada period (12th–13th centuries): pālu became hālu 'milk' and pattu became hattu 'ten', while Tamil keeps pāl and pattu. The Badaga of the Nilgiri hills, whose ancestors migrated there from Karnataka, speak a language descended from Kannada. In 2008 Kannada was declared a classical language of India.

A sample

In its own words

Kannada

ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹೆಸರು ಏನು?
nimma
your
hesaru
name
ēnu?
what
‘What is your name?’
Sources (1)
  • Sridhar, S. N. 1990. Kannada. Descriptive Grammars. London: Routledge.

On the map

Where it’s spoken

Spoken todayShading marks whole countries, not the regions within them.
  1. Indiac. 44 million

Figures are rough first-language estimates, rounded, from censuses and Ethnologue. Counts for small or scattered communities are especially uncertain.

Rings along the limb

Turning points

Oldest first.

  1. Writingc. 450 CE (disputed)Contested

    The Halmidi inscription

    An inscription found at Halmidi is usually cited as the oldest Kannada inscription. Its date, based on its script and the dynasty it names, has been questioned, and some scholars place it later.

    Sources (1)
    • Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju. 2003. The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Writing9th century CE

    The Kavirājamārga

    The oldest surviving Kannada literary work, a treatise on poetics from the Rashtrakuta court, names earlier poets whose work is lost and describes the regional varieties of the language.

    Sources (1)
    • Steever, Sanford B., ed. 2020. The Dravidian Languages, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
  3. Sound lawc. 12th – 13th century CE

    Initial p becomes h

    p- → h- (pālu → hālu 'milk'; Tamil pāl)

    Word-initial p weakens to h in Middle Kannada: pālu → hālu 'milk', pattu → hattu 'ten'. It happened during the period of written records, so it can be dated from spelling changes in inscriptions.

    Compare with other weakening and voicing across families →

    Sources (1)
    • Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju. 2003. The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Revitalization2008

    Classical language status

    India declares Kannada a classical language, together with Telugu, after campaigns in Karnataka. The status funds research into its early literature.

    Sources (1)
    • Steever, Sanford B., ed. 2020. The Dravidian Languages, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.