Tulu language

Tulu language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Tulu
ತುಳು
Handwritten Tulu script
Spoken in	India
Region	Tulu Nadu: Region of Karnataka and Kerala States[1][2] Maharashtra[3] Gulf countries[4][5]
Total speakers	3-5 Million [6][7]
Language family	Dravidian Southern Tulu
Writing system	Tulu script, Modified Kannada script[8]
Language codes
ISO 639-1	None
ISO 639-2	dra
ISO 639-3	tcy
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The Tulu language (native name: Tuḷu; written in Tulu script; ತುಳು in Kannada script) is a Dravidian language of India spoken by an estimated 3 to 5 million native speakers worldwide^[6][7][9], known as Tuluvas. Most Tuluvas are natives of the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the west of the state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala which is collectively known as the Tulu Nadu region. There are a sizable number of Tuluvas in the gulf as well as in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The original written script of the language Tigalari, 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 Kannada script. There appears to be approximately 4 Million Tuluvas in Tulunad itself & many others outside .^[10]

Classification

Tulu belongs to southern branch of the Family of Dravidian languages. It descends directly from Proto Southern dravidian which in turn descends directly from Proto-Dravidian, the hypothesised Mother language from which all dravidian languages descend. It is equally related to both Tamil and Malayalam^[11][12] . The language has a striking similarity with Proto-Dravidian^[13][14]

Eytmology

The word Tulu has been implied by linguists as being that which is connected with water. ‘Tuluve’(jack fruit) means ‘watery’ in Tulu. The other water related words in Tulu which means water or moisture are talipu, teli, teLi, teLpu, tuLipu, tulavu, tamel and additionally in Kannada there are words like tuLuku and toLe. In Tamil tuli means water drop and tulli means the same in Malayalam. Thus it is believed that that the word Tulu implies ‘related to water’. Therefore Tulu means the language of the waters as the traditional homeland of the Tulu-speaking people is the coastal region of modern Karnataka and parts of Northern Kerala.

History

In an ancient Greek text titled the Charition mime which contains a play about Greek sailors and their adventures in coastal parts of what is present day Indian state of karnataka, the Indian characters are seen speaking a language different from Greek. many scholars tried to identify the language. Noted German Indologist Dr. E. Hultzsch claimed that it was some ancient dravidian language probably an ancient form of Kannada, He was supported by scholars like B. A. Saletore, EP Rice and Shastri. Studies conducted by Indian linguist like P.S. Rai^[15] claimed the language as Tulu. This finding was also affirmed by Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore^{[16][clarification needed]} Also the Halmidi inscriptions makes mentions of the Tulu country ruled by Alupas^[17]. There is also a Tamil poem written during the Sangam age(200CE) that makes mention of the Tulu speaking people^[18]. Thus the language is almost 2,000 years old probably older since liguist agree that it was the earliest languages to bifurcate itself from its proto dravidian roots and develop into an independent language.

Geographic distribution

Map Showing ancient Tulu kingdom of Alva Kheda

According to malayalam works like Keralolpathi and Sangam literature in Tamil 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 ruled by the Alupas and was known as Alva Kheda. This kingdom was the homeland of the Tulu speaking people. However the present day Tulu linguistic Majority areas is confined to the region of Tulu Nadu which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka And the northern part of Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the river Payaswani also known as Chandragiri.,^[19]. The cities of Mangalore,Udupi and Kasaragod being the cultural centres of Tulu culture. Tuluvas have a saying: "Oorudu nanji aanda 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 ( Tamil Nadu now - areas like salem, attur, chinnasalem, thiruvannamalai, villupuram, vellore, chennai and perambalur). The large scale migration of Tulu speaking people from undivided South Canara district to other provinces ( regions ) of India happened during World War I, but there is no concrete materialistic evidence to prove. The reason being rationing of food grains by British who where ruling India then and spread of communicable diseases . The next wave of emigration 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. Even today Tulu is widely spoken in the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi district and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka state and Kasargod of Kerala. Efforts are also being made to include Tulu in the list of Official languages of India.^[20]

Script

Tulu script was originally adapted from the Grantha Script, from which the present day Malayalam script is also adapted, It was used by Tulu Brahmin 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.^[10] Attempts are being made by Tuluva linguists to revive the original script.^[21]

The relationship between Tulunadu and Kerala were very harmonious even in ancient times as Tulunadu was considered as a part of Ancient Kerala according to the Puranas. Nairs of kerala were originally migrants from Tulunadu to kerala. The Nairs have disappeared as an entity from Tulu Nadu but the inscriptions found in Barkur from the medieval period as well as the Grama Padathi, which gives the history of Brahmin families in Tulu Nadu, have made several references to the Nairs.

Dialects

Tulu language has namely four dialects. These dialects show slight variations and are more or less similar to each other.

The four dialects are as follows:

1. Common Tulu^[22]: Spoken by the majority includes the Billava, Mogaveera, Bunts communities and others. This is the dialect of Commerce Trade and entertainment and is mainly used for inter community communication. It is further subdivided into five groups:
   1. Northwest Tulu: Spoken in Udupi and Mangalore.
   2. Northeast Tulu: Spoken in Karkala and Belthangadi.
   3. Southwest Tulu: Spoken in Manjeshwar and Kasaragod, known as Kasaragod Tulu.
   4. Southcentral Tulu: Spoken in Bantwal, Puttur.
   5. Southeast Tulu: Spoken in Sullia.
2. Brahmin Tulu^[22]: Spoken by the Tulu brahmins who are subdivided into Shivalli Brahmins, Sthanika Brahmins and Tuluva Hebbars. It is slightly influenced by Sanskrit.
3. Jain Dialect^[23]: Spoken by the Tulu Jains. It is a dialect where the initial letter 'T' and 'S' have been replaced by letter 'H'. For example, the word Tare is pronounced as Hare, Saadi is pronounced as Haadi.
4. Harijan Dialect^[23]: Spoken by the Mera, Mansa, Harijan and Tribal classes.

Spoken characteristics

Phonology

Tulu has twelve vowels. Five short and five long vowels (a, ā, e, ē, u, ū, i, ī, o, ō) are common in Dravidian languages. Like Kodava Takk (and also like Konkani and Sinhala), Tulu has an [ɛ]- or [æ]-like vowel ê, occurring word-finally. Whether the contrast between e and ê is phonemic or not is unclear. J. Brigel does not distinguish the two.^[24]

Additionally, like Kodava Takk and Toda, and especially like Malayalam saṁvr̥tōkāram, Tulu has an [ɨ]-like vowel (or schwa /ə/) as a phoneme, which is romanized as ŭ or u̥. Both J. Brigel and A. Männer say that it is pronounced like e in the French je. If so, its phonetic value may be [œ]. However, if it is like Malayalam “half-u”, [ə] or [ɨ] may be a better description.

Tulu has 22 consonant phonemes: voiced and voiceless plosives (10), nasals (5), approximants (2), laterals (2), flap (1), and fricatives (2):

Some dialects do not have the retroflex lateral approximant ḷ /ɭ/; some other dialects do not distinguish s /s/, ś /ʃ/, and c /t͡ʃ/, pronouncing all of them as /t͡ʃ/. Word-initial consonant clusters are rare and occur mainly in Sanskrit loanwords.

Morphology

Tulu has five parts of speech: nouns (substantives and adjectives), pronouns, numerals, verbs, and particles.^[25]

Substantives have three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural), and eight cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative or instrumental, communicative, and vocative). The communicative case is used with verbs like “tell”, “speak”, “ask”, “beseech”, “inquire”, and denotes at whom a message, an inquiry, or a request is aimed, as in “I told him.” or “I speak to them.” It is also used to denote relationship with whom it is about, in a context like “I am on good terms with him.” or “I have nothing against him.”^[26] It is somewhat similar to the comitative case, but different in that it denotes communication or relationship, not physical companionship. The plural suffix is -rŭ, -ḷu, -kuḷu, or -āḍḷu; as, mēji (“table”), mējiḷu (“tables”).^[27] The nominative case is unmarked, while the remaining cases are expressed by different suffixes.

The personal pronouns are irregularly inflected: yānŭ “I” becomes en- in oblique cases. For “we” there is an inclusive and exclusive pronouns: eṅkulu “we (including you)”, and nama “we (not including you)”. For verbs, this distinction does not exist. The personal pronouns of the second person are ī (oblique: ni-) “you (singular)” and nuwgulu “you (plural)”. In the third person there is a distinction between masculine, feminine and neuter, and also between proximate and remote. For example, imbe “he (a person here)”, and āye “he (a person not here)”. The suffix -rŭ makes a polite form of personal pronouns, not only in the second person (“you”) but also in the third person, as in īrŭ “you (respectfully)”, ārŭ “he (respectfully)”.

Verbs decline for person, tense, and categories—active, causative, or reflexive (middle voice).

Also postpositions are used, usually with a noun in the genitive case, as in guḍḍe-da mittŭ “on the hill”.

Written Literature

Victorian linguist Robert Caldwell's observation on Tulu language^[29]

Though Tulu is a highly developed language, the written literature of Tulu isn't as vast when compared to literature of other literary dravidian languages like Tamil^[30] Nevertheless Tulu is one among the only Five literary Dravidian languages, the other four being Tamil,Telugu,Kannada and Malayalam. The earliest available Tulu literature that survives to this date is the Tulu Translation of the great Sanskrit epic of Mahabharata called Tulu Mahabharato. It was written by Arunabja, a poet who lived in Kodavur near Udupi^[31] around late 14th to early 15th century AD. The other important literary works in Tulu are as follows

• Sri Bhagavata
• Kaveri
• Devi Mahatmyam's Tulu Translation

Also certain Sanskrit works By Tulu brahmins were written using the Tulu script, the original script of the language.^{[citation needed]}Even Today the official script of The eight Tulu monasteries founded by Madhvacharya in Udupi is that of Tulu.^{[citation needed]} The pontiff of the monasteries write their names using this script when they are appointed.^{[citation needed]} Modern day Tulu literature is written using the Kannada script. Mandara Ramayana is the most notable piece of modern Tulu literature. Written by mandara keshava bhatt, it was awarded with the Sahitya Academy award for best poetry.^[32] Madipu,Mogaveera,Saphala and Samparka are popular Tulu periodicals published from mangalore. Tulu Sahitya Academy established by the state government of Karnataka, India in 1994 as also the Kerala Tulu academy established by the Indian State Government of Kerala in Manjeshwaram in the year 2007 are important Governmental organisations that promote Tulu literature. Nevertheless there are numerous organisations spread all over the world with significant Tulu migrated populations that contribute to Tulu literature. Some notable contributors of Tulu literature are Kayyara Kinyanna Rai, Amruta Someshwara, B. A. Viveka Rai, Kedambadi Jattappa Rai, Venkataraja Puninchattaya, Paltadi Ramakrishna Achar Dr. Sunitha M. Shetty, Dr. Vamana Nandavara, Sri. Balakrishna Shetty Polali.

Oral Traditions

The Oral Traditions of Tulu are one of the major traditions that greatly show the finer aspects of the language. The following are various forms of Tulu oral tradition and literature.

• Paddanas :A form of oral Epic poem sung in a highly stylised manner during the Hindu rituals of Bhuta Kola and Nagaradhane, which are peculiar to the Tulu people. These paddanas are mostly legends about gods or historical personalities among the people.

The longest of them being Siri Paddana, which is about a woman called Siri who shows strength and integrity during adverse times and in turn attains divinity. The paddana greatly depicts the independent nature of the Tulu womenfolk. The entire paddana was written down by Finnish scholar Lauri Honko^[18] of Turku University and it falls four lines short of Homer's Iliad, the world's longest poem.

• Riddles : They are another important aspect of Tulu oral traditions. These riddles are largely tongue twisting and mostly deal with kinship and agriculture.

• Bhajans: Bhajans sung in numerous temples across the Tulu region are varied and are dedicated to various gods and goddesses. Most of them being of Hindu tradition, others being Jain. They are sung in both the Carnatic style as well a style similar to what is used in Yakshagana

• Kabitol: Sung during cultivation of crops, the traditional occupation of the people.O Bele being the finest among them.

Theatre and Films

A Yakshagana Artist

A female character in Yakshagana

Theatre in form of the Traditional Yakshagana, prevalent in coastal Karnataka and northern kerala has greatly preserved the finer aspects of the Tulu language. Yakshagana which is conducted in both Tulu and Kannada is pretty popular among the Tuluva people.^{[citation needed]} It can also been seen as a form of temple art as there are many yakshagana groups that are attached to temples namely that of Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple as also the Udupi Krishna Temple. At present eight professional Yakshagana troupes perform only Tulu Yakshagana^{[citation needed]} not only during the Yakshagana season but also during the off season in various places of Karnataka and outside.^{[citation needed]} In Mumbai Tulu Yakshagana is very popular among the Tulu people there. More than 2000 Yakshagana artists take part in the performance in various places in Mumbai annually.^{[citation needed]} Notable performers of Tulu yakshagana include Kalladi Koraga Shetty Pundur Venkatraja Puninchathaya, Guru Bannanje Sanjiva Suvarna and Pathala Venkatramana Bhat. Tulu plays are one among the major entertainment for admirers of art and culture originating and flourishing in the Tulu Nadu. Tulu plays are generally centered on the comic genre are very popular in Mumbai and Bangalore outside Tulu Nadu^[33] Tulu Film industry is pretty small; it produces 2 to 3 films annually. The first fim being Enna Thangadi released in 1971. Usually these films are released in theatres across the Tulu Nadu region and on DVD.^[34] The critically acclaimed Tulu Film Suddha, won the award for the best Indian Film at the Osian film festival held at New Delhi in the year 2006.^[35][36][37]

Centres of Tulu Study and Research

The front cover of the Tulu dictionary published by manner in 1886

Tulu as a language continues to thrive in coastal Karnataka and Kasargod in Kerala. Tulu Sahitya Academy, an institute established by the state government of Karnataka has introduced Tulu as a language in schools around coastal Karnataka. Some names are Alva's High School, Moodbidri; Dattanjaneya High School, Odiyoor; Ramakunjeshwara English-medium High School, Ramakunja; and Vani Composite Pre-University College, Belthangady. The Academy is planning to add more schools and is awaiting government permission for the same. Tulu is also thought as a study language in post graduate level in Mangalore University and there is also a dedicated department for Tulu studies, Translation and research at Dravidian University^[38] in Kuppam Andhra Pradesh.The Government Degree College at Kasaragod in Kerala has also introduced a certificate course in Tulu from the academic year 2009-2010. It has introduced Tulu as an optional subject in its Kannada post-graduation course also. It has adopted syllabi from the books published by the Tulu Sahitya Academy. German misionaries Rev Kammerer and Rev. Manner were the first two people who conducted research on the language. Rev Krammer collected about 3,000 words and their meaning until he died. Later his work was carried on by Rev. Manner, who completed the research and published the first dictionary of Tulu language in 1886 with the help of the then Madras government. The effort though laudable was incomplete as it did not cover all the aspects of the language. The Govinda Pai Research Centre at MGM College, Udupi started an 18-year Tulu lexicon project in the year 1979.^[39] Different dialects, special vocabularies used for different occupational activities, rituals, and folk literature in the forms of Paād-danāas were included in this project. The Centre has also released a six-volume, trilingual, modestly priced Tulu-Kannada-English lexicon. The Tulu lexicon was awarded the Gundert Award for the best dictionary in the country in 1996.

Language Tree

The languages recognized as Official languages of India are in boldface.

Language tree of South India Languages, showing Tulu branched out as an independent language at a very early stage.

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 following the 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.^[40] 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.^[41][42]

See also

• Tuluva
• Tulu Nadu
• Kasaragod Tulu
• Mangalorean regionalism

Notes

1. ^ http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/piil/acharya1b.html
2. ^ http://www.ciil.org/Main/Announcement/Abstracts/Abstacts/11.htm
3. ^ http://www.languageinindia.com/may2003/maharashtraurdu.html
4. ^ http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=139752
5. ^ http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=63861&n_tit=Dr+Veerendra+Heggade+in+Dubai+to+Unite+Tuluvas+for+Tulu+Sammelan
6. ^ ^{a b} http://www.yakshagana.com/tulu-recog.htm
7. ^ ^{a b} http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/05/stories/2005050515070300.htm
8. ^ http://www.elda.org/en/proj/scalla/SCALLA2004/mallikarjunv3.pdf
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ ^{a b} Steever, Sanford B. (1998). The Dravidian Languages. Taylor & Francis. pp. 162. ISBN 0415100232. 
11. ^ *Krishnamurti, B., The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-77111-0
12. ^ http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=tcy
13. ^ *Krishnamurti, B., The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-77111-0
14. ^ http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=tcy
15. ^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC&pg=RA2-PA260#v=onepage&q=&f=false
16. ^ http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2005/kannadadictionary2.html
17. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mangalore/Teaching_Tulu_at_primary_level_sought/articleshow/4030806.cms
18. ^ ^{a b} http://www.thehindu.com/2002/07/16/stories/2002071602460300.htm
19. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/13/stories/2006081317290300.htm
20. ^ Why Tulu language deserves recognition from Kendra Sahithya Academy and why it should be included in schedule 8B of the constitution
21. ^ Radhika, M. (2005-10-08). "Dharam Singh pushes for Tulu rights". Tehelka. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main14.asp?filename=Ne100805Dharam_Singh.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
22. ^ ^{a b} http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tcy
23. ^ ^{a b} http://www.boloji.com/places/0020a.htm
24. ^ Brigel, J. (1872). "A Grammar of the Tulu Language". C. Stolz. http://www.archive.org/details/grammaroftululan00briguoft. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
25. ^ Brigel, p.10.
26. ^ Brigel, p.122
27. ^ Brigel, pp.10–11.
28. ^ Brigel, pp.14–15.
29. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2002/07/16/stories/2002071602460300.htm
30. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/21/stories/2009052150550200.htm.
31. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/13/stories/2004111302140500.htm
32. ^ http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa4.htm
33. ^ http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=107
34. ^ http://www.raveeshkumar.com/2006/08/tulu-cinema-at-35_31.html
35. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1063429/
36. ^ http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/04/29/stories/2006042903020300.htm
37. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072108810200.htm
38. ^ http://www.dravidianuniversity.ac.in/tuludept.html
39. ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/sep/22udupi.htm
40. ^ http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=27089&n_tit=News+headlines
41. ^ [2]
42. ^ [3]

References

• Caldwell, R., A comparative grammar of the Dravidian, or, South-Indian family of languages, London: Harrison, 1856.; Reprinted London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., ltd., 1913; rev. ed. by J.L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai, Madras, University of Madras, 1961, reprint Asian Educational Services, 1998. ISBN 81-206-0117-3
• Danielou, Alain (1985), Histoire de l'Inde, Fayard, Paris. ISBN 2-213-01254-7.
• Hall, Edith (2002), "The singing actors of antiquity" in Pat Easterling & Edith Hall, ed., Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-65140-9.
• Thesis of Viveka Rai
• Lauri Honko, Textualisation of oral epics. ISBN 3-110-1692-82
• William Pais, Land Called South Canara. ISBN 8-175-2514-84
• Bhat, S.L. A Grammar of Tulu: a Dravidian language ISBN 8-185-6911-26
• Manner, A. English-Tulu Dictionary ISBN 8-120-6026-33
• Briegel, J. A Grammar of the Tulu language Char and Roman ISBN 8-120-6007-03

External links

• Website for World Tulu Conference
• Website for all Tulu-speaking communitieswww.tuluver.com
• 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 Bunt community www.buntsworld.com