Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ)

Kannada is a Southern Dravidian language spoken mainly in the state of Karnataka in the southwest of India. There are also Kannada speakers in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Goa and Kerala, and in the USA, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In 2011 there were about 56.4 million speakers of Kannada, including 43 million native speakers.

Kannada is the official and administrative language of Karnataka, and was officially designated a classical language of India in 2011. It is also known as Banglori, Canarese, Havyaka or Kanarese.

Written Kannada

Kannada first appeared in writing as words in Tamil inscriptions dating from the 3rd-1st centuries BC. The earliest known texts in Old Kannada were written in the Brahmi script and are dated at 450 AD. Poetry in Kannada started to appear in 700 AD, and literary works from 850 AD.

From the 14th century Kannada was sometimes written with the Tigalari alphabet, which developed in the 12th century in Karnataka.

The Kannada alphabet (ಕನ್ನಡ ಲಿಪಿ) developed from the Kadamba and Cālukya scripts, descendents of Brahmi, which were used between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. These scripts developed into the Old Kannada script, which by about 1500 had morphed into the Kannada and Telugu scripts. Under the influence of Christian missionary organizations, Kannada and Telugu scripts were standardized at the beginning of the 19th century.

Notable features

Kannada alphabet

Vowels and vowel diacritics with ka

Kannada vowels and vowel diacritics

Hear a recording of these letters by ಚೇತನ್ (Chethan)

Consonants

Kannada consonants

A recording of these letters by ಚೇತನ್ (Chethan)

A selection of conjunct consonants

A selection of Kannada conjunct consonants

Numerals

Kannada numerals and numbers

A recording of these numbers by ಚೇತನ್ (Chethan)

Download a chart of the Kannada alphabet (Excel)

How to write and pronounced Kannada letters

Sample text in Kannada

ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾನವರೂ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರರಾಗಿಯೇ ಜನಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಹಾಗೂ ಘನತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಹಕ್ಕು ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಮಾನರಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ. ವಿವೇಕ ಮತ್ತು ಅಂತಃಕರಣ ಗಳನ್ನು ಪಡೆದವರಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅವರು ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಸಹೋದರ ಭಾವದಿಂದ ವರ್ತಿಸಬೇಕು.

Transliteration
Ellā mānavarū svatantrarāgiyē janisiddāre. Hāgū ghanate mattu hakku gaḷalli samānarāgiddāre. Vivēka mattu antaḥkaraṇagaḷannu paḍedavarāddarinda avaru paraspara sahōdara bhāvadinda vartisabēku.

A recording of this text by ಚೇತನ್ (Chethan)

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Thanks to Arvind Iyengar for providing the sample text.

Sample video in Kannada

Information about Kannada | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Links

Information about the Kannada language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada
http://languages.iloveindia.com/kannada.html
http://www.indianetzone.com/7/kannada.htm

Information about the Kannada alphabet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_alphabet

Online Kannada lessons
http://www.universini.com

Kannada phrases
http://www.aboutlanguageschools.com/language/phrases/kannada.asp
http://www.mangalore.com/documents/languages.html
http://wikitravel.org/en/Kannada_phrasebook
http://www.languageshome.com/English-Kannada.htm
http://www.mediescapes.com/India_Useful_Phrases.html

Online Kannada dictionary
http://www.shabdkosh.com/kn/
http://dictionary.tamilcube.com/kannada-dictionary.aspx
http://kannada.changathi.com/Dictionary.aspx

Free Kannada fonts
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Kannada.html
http://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/kannada/
http://web.nickshanks.com/fonts/kannada/
http://kannada.changathi.com/Fonts.aspx
https://github.com/aravindavk/Gubbi
https://github.com/aravindavk/Navilu

Online news in Kannada
http://www.prajavani.net
http://www.kannadaprabha.com
https://publictv.in/
https://karnatakahelp.in/
https://www.vijayavani.net/

Languages written with the Kannada alphabet

Kannada, Kodava, Konkani, Lambadi, Sankethi, Tulu

Dravidian languages

Badaga, Brahui, Dhundari, Gondi, Irula, Jatapu, Kannada, Kodava, Kolam, Konda, Koya, Kurukh, Malayalam, Malto, Mukha Dora, Ravula, Sankethi, Savara, Sunuwar, Suriyani Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Toda, Tulu, Yerukula

Abugidas / Syllabic alphabets

Ahom, Aima, Arleng, Badagu, Badlit, Basahan, Balinese, Balti-A, Balti-B, Batak, Baybayin, Bengali, Bhaiksuki, Bhujimol, Bilang-bilang, Bima, Blackfoot, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese, Carrier, Chakma, Cham, Cree, Dehong Dai, Devanagari, Dham Lipi, Dhankari / Sirmauri, Ditema, Dives Akuru, Dogra, Ethiopic, Evēla Akuru, Fox, Fraser, Gond, Goykanadi, Grantha, Gujarati, Gunjala Gondi, Gupta, Gurmukhi, Halbi Lipi, Hanifi, Hanuno'o, Hočąk, Ibalnan, Incung, Inuktitut, Jaunsari Takri, Javanese, Kaithi, Kadamba, Kamarupi, Kannada, Kawi, Kharosthi, Khema, Khe Prih, Khmer, Khojki, Khudabadi, Kirat Rai, Kōchi, Komering, Kulitan, Kurukh Banna, Lampung, Lanna, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Lota Ende, Magar Akkha, Mahajani, Malayalam, Meitei (Modern), Manpuri (Old), Marchen, Meetei Yelhou Mayek, Meroïtic, Masarm Gondi, Modi, Mon, Mongolian Horizontal Square Script, Multani, Nandinagari, Newa, New Tai Lue, Ojibwe, Odia, Ogan, Pahawh Hmong, Pallava, Phags-pa, Purva Licchavi, Qiang / Rma, Ranjana, Rejang (Kaganga), Sasak, Savara, Satera Jontal, Shan, Sharda, Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo, Siddham, Sinhala, Sorang Sompeng, Sourashtra, Soyombo, Sukhothai, Sundanese, Syloti Nagri, Tagbanwa, Takri, Tamil, Tanchangya (Ka-Pat), Tani, Thaana, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigalari, Tikamuli, Tocharian, Tolong Siki, Vatteluttu, Warang Citi

Other writing systems

Page last modified: 14.04.24

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