DIALECTS OF
KANNADA
The dialects of Kannada may be studied from
three different perspectives. The first is the historical perspective. This deals
with the development of various dialects that are prevalent now as also the dialects
mentioned in ancient texts. Geographical approach gives broad picture of the dialects
that are present to day and the dynamic processes that are going on within them.
The third dimension is a study of social dialects and the hierarchical situations
that control their use and marginalization. Some dialects like Badaga are now treated
as independent languages.
'>‘Kavirajamarga’
(9th Century) speaks of Dakshina Marga and Uttara Marga as the
major dialect divisions of Kannada. However its author also opines that even Adishesha
the thousand tongued serpent will despair while trying to describe the dialects
Kannada prevalent then. Consequently he picks up a few towns such as kopaNa, puligere,
okkunda and muduvolalu as the focal points and declares that the area covered by
these places constitutes the core of Kannada language. (tiruLugannaDa) The
D.N.Shankara
Bhatta even though he agrees with this contention puts forward a very interesting
theory in his ‘kannada BASeya kalpita caritre’. He contends that the split between
the western and the Eastern varieties of Kannada is much more important and ancient.
He divides the Kannada dialects that are spoken in Kannada in to two groups. The
first is the group which speaks Kannada only as a second language with Tulu, Konakani,
Maratthi, Maleyalam and such languages as their mother tongue. The second group
consists of people who use one or the other variety of Kannada as their mother tongue.
These communities have Goudakannada, Havyaka Kannada. Halakki Kannada, Kota Kannada
and Kumbara Kannada as their mother tongue. Bhat is of the opinion that these native
speakers of Kannada have separated from the main stream of Kannada more than one
thousand years ago and that they have retained many verbs and grammatical features
that were innate to ancient Kannada relative to the more dynamic dialects of western
Karnataka. He provides a number of illustrations in support of his speculation.
A deep study of these dialects will unearth many interesting points about the historical
development of Kannada.
However more
traditional linguists have described four very broad categories of geographical
dialects. They are Mysuuru Kannada, Dharwada Kannada, Mangalooru Kannada and Gulbarga
Kannada, Of course each one of these consist of a sub dialects that have their own
distinctive feature. Many of these distinctions occur because the dialects are strongly
influenced by their neighboring languages. Tamil, Marathi, Telugu and Maleyalam
have shaped their vocabulary and less intensely their grammar. The differences among
these geographical dialects are well documented. Of course the pressures of centralization
and the hierarchical nature of our society have created huge gaps between Kannada
spoken in
Social dialects
are distinctions that develop over a period of time depending on the caste and social
conditioning of the people involved. The language spoken by the upper crust of the
society becomes the privileged variety. Same region could have a distinct geographical
dialect as also several social dialects dictated by the castes of the speakers.
The artistic expression will use one or many of these dialects as their raw material
and then create unique literary styles out of them.
References:
1. Kannada: A Cultural Introduction to the Spoken Styles
of the Language
By William Charles McCormack, M. G. Krishnamurthi,
Contributor M. G. Krishnamurthi
Published by
2. An Outline
Grammar of Havyaka by D. N. Shankara Bhat, Published by
3. A Comparative
Study of Kannada Dialects:
By U. Padmanabha Upadhyaya, Published by Prasaranga,
4. The Dravidian
Languages, Bhadriraju Krishnamurthy, 2003,
5. Clause Structure
of Northern Havyaka Kannaḍa, Dravidian:
A Tagmemic Analysis
By Helen E. Ullrich, Published by Dravidian Linguistics
Association, 1980, Original from the
6. A Reference
Grammar of Spoken Kannada, Schiffmann Harold, 1979.
7. The Havyaka
Dialect of
8. Gowda Kannada,
K.K.Gowda, 1976,
9. ‘Upabhashegalu’,
10. ‘Kannada
Jagattu: Ardha Shatamana’, K.V.Narayana, 2007,
11. ‘Halakki
Kannada. Acharya, A. S. 1967, Linguistic
Survey of
, 12.
Coorg Kannada (Jenu Kuruba Dialect), U.P.Upadhyaya, 1971, Linguistic Survey of
13. ‘Kannada
Bhashashastra’, R.Y.Dharwadkar,
14. ‘Kannada
Bhasheya svaroopa’, K.M.Krishna Rao
15 ‘Kannada
Bhasheya Kalpita Charitre’, D.N.Shankara Bhat, 1995,
16. ‘Samkhipta
Kannada Bhasheya Charitre’, M.H.Krishnaiah