Tulu and Kodava

Oct. 29, 2022

Speakers of Tulu and Kodava have opposed the draft of the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022, which aims to ensure the “extensive use and propagation” of Kannada.

About:

Tulu:

  • Tulu is a Dravidian language.
  • It is mainly spoken in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kasargod and the Western Ghats had 17,22,768 speakers as per the 2001 census.
  • The native speakers of Tulu are referred to as Tuluva or Tulu people and the geographical area is unofficially called Tulu Nadu.
  • Features:Separated early from Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in Tamil–Kannada. For example, it has the past perfect and the future perfect, like French or Spanish, but formed without an auxiliary verb.
  • Status:At present, Tulu is not an official language in the country. 
  • Tulu culture:Tulu has a rich oral literature tradition with folk-song forms like paddana, and traditional folk theatre yakshagana. 

Kodava:

  • It is a Dravidian language.
  • Kodava, which is also called Coorgi, is spoken mainly in Kodagu district.
  • According to the 2001 census, the total number of Kodava speakers are 166,187, compared to 1,22,000 in the 1997 census.
Source : The Hindu