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Tulu language
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Tulu is a Dravidian language of India with fewer than two million speakers, known as Tuluvas. 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. The original written script of the language, similar to Malayalam script, is rarely used today. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has mostly been written in the modified Kannada script.
e 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.
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Encyclopedia
Tulu is a Dravidian language of India with fewer than two million speakers, known as Tuluvas. 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. The original written script of the language, similar to Malayalam script, is rarely used today. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has mostly been written in the modified Kannada script.
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 (except Kundapur) 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. 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.
Script
Inscriptions in Tulu script have been found dating from the fifteenth century BC. It was originally adapted from Malayalam script 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. Attempts are being made by Tuluva linguists to revive the original script.
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. Tulu Brahmins were traveling to 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').
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.
Spoken Tulu changes from South to North. There is a common perception that there are only two Tulu dialects, namely Shivalli and Common. But a study of the language and pronunciation suggests there are four distinct dialects of this language: Shivalli, Jain, Common, and Tribal.
Brahmin dialect: Spoken by Tulu Brahmins (Sthanika Brahmins and Shivalli Brahmins).
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. Although it has more than one million speakers, Tulu is also considered an endangered language.
See also
External links
- www.yakshagana.com
- www.boloji.com
- www.mangalore.com
- www.buntsworld.com
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