Dravidian languages

Language family mostly of southern India

It has been suggested that Northern Dravidian languages be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2022.

|

Dravidian

Geographic
distribution| South Asia and Southeast Asia, mainly South India, north-east Sri Lanka and south-west Pakistan
Linguistic classification| One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language| Proto-Dravidian
Subdivisions|

* Northern
* Central
* South-Central
* South

ISO 639-2 / 5| dra
Linguasphere| 49= (phylozone)
Glottolog| drav1251
File:Dravidian map.svg

Distribution of the Dravidian languages

Part of a series on

Dravidian culture and history
File:Dravidian map.svg

Origin

Indus Valley civilisation Keezhadi excavation site

History

* History of South India
* Ancient history of Sri Lanka

* * *

Dravidian dynasties

* Chola
* Chera
* Pandyan
* Satavahana
* Rashtrakuta
* Chalukya
* Pallava
* Kakatiya
* Hoysala
* Sangama
* Saluva
* Tuluva
* Aravidu
* Nayak
* Reddy
* Aryacakravarti
* Western Ganga
* Eastern Ganga

Culture

* Dravidian civilization
* South Indian culture
* Dravidian architecture
* Dravidian studies

Language

* Dravidian languages
* History of Dravidian languages
* Proto-Dravidian language
* Elamo-Dravidian languages

Religion

* Dravidian folk religion
* Hinduism
* Jainism
* Buddhism
* Śramaṇa
* Ājīvika
* Charvaka

Regions

* South India (Dravida)
* Sri Lanka
* South Asia

People

* Dravidian peoples
* Brahui people
* Gondi people
* Kannadigas
* Kodavas
* Malayalis
* Telugus
* Tamils
* Tuluvas
* Irulas
* Nagas (Extinct)
* Giraavarus (Extinct)
* Cholanaikkans
* Khonds
* Kodavas
* Kurukhs
* Paniyas
* Malar
* Soligas
* Koragas

Politics

* Kannada language rights
* Tulu Nadu state movement
* Telugu Desam Party
* Tamil nationalism
* Dravidian nationalism
* Dravidian parties
* Dravida Nadu

Portal:Dravidian civilizations

* v
* t
* e

The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic[1]) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan.[2][3] Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant immigrant communities in Mauritius, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and the United States.

The Dravidian languages are first attested in the 2nd century BCE, as Tamil-Brahmi script, inscribed on the cave walls in the Madurai and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu.[4][a] The Dravidian languages with the most speakers are (in descending order of number of speakers) Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, all of which have long literary traditions. Smaller literary languages are Tulu and Kodava.[5] There are also a number of Dravidian-speaking scheduled tribes, such as the Kurukh in Eastern India and Gondi in Central India.[6]

Outside of India, Brahui is mostly spoken in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, besides there are other smaller groups of speakers in Irani Balochistan, Afghanistan and around the Marw oasis in Turkmenistan. Dhangar, a dialect of Kurukh is spoken in parts of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and Tamil is spoken in north-eastern Sri Lanka, there are also diaspora communities of Dravidians who speak it mostly in the Middle East, Europe, North America and South East Asia.[7] Dravidian place names along the Arabian Sea coasts and Dravidian grammatical influence such as clusivity in the Indo-Aryan languages, namely, Marathi, Gujarati, Marwari, and Sindhi, suggest that Dravidian languages were once spoken more widely across the Indian subcontinent.[8][9]

It is thought that the Dravidian languages were the most widespread indigenous languages in the Indian subcontinent before the advance of the Indo-Aryan languages.[10] Though some scholars have argued that the Dravidian languages may have been brought to India by migrations from the Iranian plateau in the fourth or third millennium BCE[11][12] or even earlier,[13][14] Dravidian languages cannot easily be connected to any other language family and most scholars believe them to be indigenous to India.[10][15][16][b]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Discovery
* 3 Classification
* 4 Distribution
* 5 Proposed relations with other families
* 6 Prehistory
* 6.1 Proto-Dravidian and onset of diversification
* 6.2 Indus Valley Civilisation
* 6.3 Northern Dravidian pockets
* 6.4 Dravidian influence on Sanskrit
* 7 Grammar
* 8 Phonology
* 8.1 Proto-Dravidian
* 8.2 Numerals
* 9 Literature
* 10 See also
* 11 Notes
* 12 References
* 13 Bibliography
* 14 Further reading
* 15 External links

## Etymology[edit | edit source]

The origin of the Sanskrit word drāviḍa is the word Tamiḻ.[18] Kamil Zvelebil cites the forms such as dramila (in Daṇḍin's Sanskrit work Avantisundarīkathā) and damiḷa (found in the Sri Lankan (Ceylonese) chronicle Mahavamsa) and then goes on to say, "The forms damiḷa/damila almost certainly provide a connection of dr(a/ā)viḍa" with the indigenous name of the Tamil language, the likely derivation being "*tamiḻ > *damiḷ > damiḷa\- / damila\- and further, with the intrusive, 'hypercorrect' (or perhaps analogical) -r-, into dr(a/ā)viḍa. The -m-/-v\- alternation is a common enough phenomenon in Dravidian phonology".[19]

Bhadriraju Krishnamurti states in his reference book The Dravidian languages:[20]

> Joseph (1989: IJDL 18.2:134-42) gives extensive references to the use of the term draviḍa, dramila first as the name of a people, then of a country. Sinhala BCE inscriptions cite dameḍa-, damela\- denoting Tamil merchants. Early Buddhist and Jaina sources used damiḷa\- to refer to a people of south India (presumably Tamil); damilaraṭṭha\- was a southern non-Aryan country; dramiḷa-, dramiḍa, and draviḍa\- were used as variants to designate a country in the south (Bṛhatsamhita-, Kādambarī, Daśakumāracarita-, fourth to seventh centuries CE) (1989: 134–138). It appears that damiḷa\- was older than draviḍa\- which could be its Sanskritization.

Based on what Krishnamurti states (referring to a scholarly paper published in the International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics), the Sanskrit word draviḍa itself appeared later than damiḷa, since the dates for the forms with -r- are centuries later than the dates for the forms without -r- (damiḷa, dameḍa-, damela\- etc.).

## Discovery[edit | edit source]

File:LSI map of Dravidian languages.jpg

Linguistic Survey of India (1906) map of the distribution of Dravidian languages

The 14th-century Sanskrit text Lilatilakam, which is a grammar of Manipravalam, states that the spoken languages of present-day Kerala and Tamil Nadu were similar, terming them as "Dramiḍa". The author does not consider the "Karṇṇāṭa" (Kannada) and the "Andhra" (Telugu) languages as "Dramiḍa", because they were very different from the language of the "Tamil Veda" (Tiruvaymoli), but states that some people would include them in the "Dramiḍa" category.[21]

In 1816, Alexander D. Campbell suggested the existence of a Dravidian language family in his Grammar of the Teloogoo Language,[22] in which he and Francis W. Ellis argued that Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu and Kodava descended from a common, non-Indo-European ancestor.[23] In 1856, Robert Caldwell published his Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages,[24] which considerably expanded the Dravidian umbrella and established Dravidian as one of the major language groups of the world. Caldwell coined the term "Dravidian" for this family of languages, based on the usage of the Sanskrit word द्रविड (Draviḍa) in the work Tantravārttika by Kumārila Bhaṭṭa.[25] In his own words, Caldwell says,

> The word I have chosen is 'Dravidian', from Drāviḍa, the adjectival form of Draviḍa. This term, it is true, has sometimes been used, and is still sometimes used, in almost as restricted a sense as that of Tamil itself, so that though on the whole it is the best term I can find, I admit it is not perfectly free from ambiguity. It is a term which has already been used more or less distinctively by Sanskrit philologists, as a generic appellation for the South Indian people and their languages, and it is the only single term they ever seem to have used in this manner. I have, therefore, no doubt of the propriety of adopting it.[26]

The 1961 publication of the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary by T. Burrow and M. B. Emeneau proved a notable event in the study of Dravidian linguistics.[27]

## Classification[edit | edit source]

The Dravidian languages form a close-knit family. Most scholars agree on four groups: South (or South Dravidian I), South-Central (or South Dravidian II), Central, and North Dravidian, but there are different proposals regarding the relationship between these groups. Earlier classifications grouped Central and South-Central Dravidian in a single branch. On the other hand, Krishnamurti groups South-Central and South Dravidian together.[28]

* South Dravidian (or South Dravidian I)[28][29]
* Tamil–Kannada
*       *         *         *           *           *             *             *               *               *                 * Tamil languages, including Tamil
* Malayalam languages, including Malayalam
* Irula
*             *               * Kodava
* Kurumba
* Toda
* Kota
* Kannada languages
* Kannada
* Badaga
*     *       * Koraga
* Tulu
* Kudiya

* South-Central Dravidian (or South Dravidian II)[28][30]
*     *       * Telugu
* Chenchu
* Gondi-Kui
* Gondi languages, including Gondi
*       *         *         *           * Konda
* Mukha-Dora
*         *           *           *             * Manda
* Pengo
*           *             * Kuvi
* Kui

* Central Dravidian[28][30]
*     *       * Kolami
* Naiki
*     *       * Gadaba
* Ollari
* Kondekor
* Duruwa

* North Dravidian[28][31]
* Kurukh–Malto
* Kurukh (Oraon, Kisan)
* Malto (Kumarbhag Paharia, Sauria Paharia)
* Brahui

Some authors deny that North Dravidian forms a valid subgroup, splitting it into Northeast (Kurukh–Malto) and Northwest (Brahui).[32] Their affiliation has been proposed based primarily on a small number of common phonetic developments, including:

* In some words, *k is retracted or spirantized, shifting to /x/ in Kurukh and Brahui, /q/ in Malto.
* In some words, *c is retracted to /k/.
* Word-initial *v develops to /b/. This development is, however, also found in several other Dravidian languages, including Kannada, Kodagu and Tulu.

McAlpin (2003)[33] notes that no exact conditioning can be established for the first two changes, and proposes that distinct Proto-Dravidian *q and *kʲ should be reconstructed behind these correspondences, and that Brahui, Kurukh-Malto, and the rest of Dravidian may be three coordinate branches, possibly with Brahui being the earliest language to split off. A few morphological parallels between Brahui and Kurukh-Malto are also known, but according to McAlpin they are analyzable as shared archaisms rather than shared innovations.

In addition, Ethnologue lists several unclassified Dravidian languages: Allar, Bazigar, Bharia, Malankuravan (possibly a dialect of Malayalam), and Vishavan. Ethnologue also lists several unclassified South Dravidian languages: Mala Malasar, Malasar, Thachanadan, Ullatan, Kalanadi, Kumbaran, Kunduvadi, Kurichiya, Attapady Kurumba, Muduga, Pathiya, and Wayanad Chetti. Pattapu may also be South Dravidian.

A computational phylogenetic study of the Dravidian language family was undertaken by Kolipakam, et al. (2018).[34] Kolipakam, et al. (2018) supports the internal coherence of the four Dravidian branches South (or South Dravidian I), South-Central (or South Dravidian II), Central, and North, but is uncertain about the precise relationships of these four branches to each other. The date of Dravidian is estimated to be 4,500 years old.[34]

## Distribution[edit | edit source]

Speakers of Dravidian languages, by language

Telugu (30.5%)

Tamil (26.0%)

Kannada (22.4%)

Malayalam (14.4%)

Gondi (1.2%)

Brahui (0.9%)

Tulu (0.7%)

Kurukh (0.8%)

Beary (0.7%)

Others (2.3%)

Since 1981, the Census of India has reported only languages with more than 10,000 speakers, including 17 Dravidian languages. In 1981, these accounted for approximately 24% of India's population.[35][36]

In the 2001 census, they included 214 million people, about 21% of India's total population of 1.02 billion.[37] In addition, the largest Dravidian-speaking group outside India, Tamil speakers in Sri Lanka, number around 4.7 million. The total number of speakers of Dravidian languages is around 227 million people, around 13% of the population of the Indian subcontinent.

The largest group of the Dravidian languages is South Dravidian, with almost 150 million speakers. Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam make up around 98% of the speakers, with 75 million, 44 million and 37 million native speakers, respectively.

The next-largest is the South-Central branch, which has 78 million native speakers, the vast majority of whom speak Telugu. The total number of speakers of Telugu, including those whose first language is not Telugu, is around 84 million people. This branch also includes the tribal language Gondi spoken in central India.

The second-smallest branch is the Northern branch, with around 6.3 million speakers. This is the only sub-group to have a language spoken in Pakistan — Brahui.

The smallest branch is the Central branch, which has only around 200,000 speakers. These languages are mostly tribal, and spoken in central India.

Languages recognized as official languages of India appear here in boldface.

North Dravidian languages  Language  | Number of speakers  | Location

|
|

Brahui | 2,430,000  | Balochistan (Pakistan), Helmand (Afghanistan), Beluchistan. Kerman (Iran)
Kurukh | 2,280,000  | Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar (India)
Malto | 234,000  | Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal (India)
Kurambhag Paharia  | 12,500  | Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha
Central Dravidian languages  Language  | Number of speakers  | Location

|
|

Kolami | 122,000  | Maharashtra, Telangana
Duruwa | 51,000  | Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh
Ollari | 15,000  | Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Naiki | 10,000  | Maharashtra
South-Central Dravidian languages  Language  | Number of speakers  | Location

|
|

Telugu | 81,100,000  | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, United States, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Mauritius, Australia, South Africa, Canada, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, France, Singapore and Réunion.
Gondi | 2,980,000  | Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Kui | 942,000  | Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Koya | 360,000  | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh
Madiya | 360,000  | Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Maharashtra
Kuvi | 155,000  | Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Pengo | 350,000  | Odisha
Pardhan | 135,000  | Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh
Khirwar | 36,400  | Chhattisgarh (Surguja district)
Chenchu | 26,000  | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
Konda | 20,000  | Andhra Pradesh, Odisha
Muria | 15,000  | Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha
Manda | 4,040  | Odisha
South Dravidian languages  Language | Number of speakers | Location

|
|

Tamil | 75,000,000  | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry (including Karaikal), parts of Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor, Nellore, Tirupati, Annamayya), parts of Karnataka (Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Chamarajanagar, Kolar, Mysore, Ramanagara), parts of Kerala (Palakkad, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram), parts of Telangana (Hyderabad), parts of Maharashtra (Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Pune), Andaman and Nicobar, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Réunion and Seychelles[38][39][unreliable source?]
Kannada | 44,000,000  | Karnataka, parts of Kerala (Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad), parts of Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli), parts of Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri), parts of Andhra Pradesh (Anantapur, Kurnool), parts of Telangana (Hyderabad, Medak, Jogulamba Gadwal, Narayanpet, Sangareddy, Vikarabad district), United States, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Netherlands
Malayalam | 37,000,000 | Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahe district of Puducherry, Parts of Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Mysore and Bangalore), parts of Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, and Kanyakumari), Maharashtra (Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Pune), Delhi, United Arab Emirates, United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, United Kingdom, Qatar, Bahrain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Ireland,[40] Germany, Austria[41] Finland,[42] Japan,[43] Pakistan[44]
Tulu | 1,850,000 | Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts) and Kerala (Kasaragod district), Across Maharashtra especially in cities like Mumbai, Thane and Gulf Countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain)[45]
Beary | 1,500,000 | Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts) and Kerala (Kasaragod district) and Gulf Countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain)
Irula | 200,000 | Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris district), Karnataka (Mysore district)
Kurumba | 180,000 | Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris district)
Badaga | 133,000 | Karnataka (Mysore district), Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris district)
Kodava | 114,000 | Karnataka (Kodagu district)
Jeseri | 65,000  | Lakshadweep
Yerukala | 58,000  | Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana
Betta Kurumba | 32,000  | Karnataka (Chamarajanagar district, Kodagu district, Mysore district), Kerala (Wayanad district), Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris District)
Kurichiya | 29,000  | Kerala (Kannur district, Kozhikode district, Wayanad district)
Ravula | 27,000  | Karnataka (Kodagu district), Kerala (Kannur district, Wayanad district)
Mullu Kurumba | 26,000  | Kerala (Wayanad district), Tamil Nadu (The Nilgiris District)
Sholaga | 24,000  | Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (Mysore district)
Kaikadi | 26,000  | Madhya Pradesh (Betul district), Maharashtra (Amravati district)
Paniya | 22,000  | Karnataka (Kodagu district), Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Kanikkaran | 19,000 | Kerala, Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari district, Tirunelveli district)
Malankuravan | 18,600  | Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari district), Kerala (Kollam district, Kottayam district, Thiruvananthapuram district)
Muthuvan | 16,800  | Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district, Madurai district)
Koraga | 14,000 | Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts) and Kerala (Kasaragod district)
Kumbaran | 10,000  | Kerala (Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Wayanad district)
Paliyan | 9,500  | Kerala (Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Kottayam district), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
Malasar | 7,800  | Kerala (Palakkad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district)
Malapandaram | 5,900  | Kerala (Kollam district, Pathanamthitta district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district, Madurai district, Viluppuram district)
Eravallan | 5,000  | Kerala (Palakkad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district)
Wayanad Chetti | 5,000  | Karnataka, Kerala (Wayanad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district, The Nilgiris District, Erode district)
Muduga | 3,400  | Kerala (Palakkad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district, The Nilgiris District)
Thachanadan | 3,000  | Kerala (Malappuram district, Wayanad district)
Kadar | 2,960  | Kerala (Thrissur district, Palakkad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district)
Toda | 1,560 | Karnataka (Mysore district), Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris district)
Attapady Kurumba | 1,370  | Kerala (Palakkad district)
Kunduvadi | 1,000  | Kerala (Kozhikode district, Wayanad district)
Mala Malasar | 1,000  | Kerala (Palakkad district), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore district)
Pathiya | 1,000  | Kerala (Wayanad district)
Kota | 930 | Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris district)
Kalanadi | 750  | Kerala (Wayanad district)
Holiya | 500  | Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat district, Seoni district), Maharashtra, Karnataka
Aranadan | 200  | Kerala (Malappuram district)
Unclassified Dravidian languages  Language  | Number of speakers  | Location

|
|

Pattapu | 200,000+  | Andhra Pradesh
Bharia | 197,000  | Chhattisgarh (Bilaspur district, Durg district, Surguja district), Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar
Allar | 350  | Kerala (Palakkad district, Malappuram district)
Vishavan | 150  | Kerala (Ernakulam district, Kottayam district, Thrissur district)

## Proposed relations with other families[edit | edit source]

File:South Asian Language Families.jpg

Language families in South Asia

The Dravidian family has defied all of the attempts to show a connection with other languages, including Indo-European, Hurrian, Basque, Sumerian, Korean and Japanese. Comparisons have been made not just with the other language families of the Indian subcontinent (Indo-European, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, and Nihali), but with all typologically similar language families of the Old World. Nonetheless, although there are no readily detectable genealogical connections, Dravidian shares several areal features with the Indo-Aryan languages, which have been attributed to the influence of a Dravidian substratum on Indo-Aryan.[46]

Dravidian languages display typological similarities with the Uralic language group, and there have been several attempts to establish a genetic relationship in the past.[47] This idea has been popular amongst Dravidian linguists, including Robert Caldwell,[48] Thomas Burrow,[49] Kamil Zvelebil,[50] and Mikhail Andronov,[51] The hypothesis is, however, rejected by most specialists in Uralic languages,[52] and also in recent times by Dravidian linguists such as Bhadriraju Krishnamurti.[53]

In the early 1970s, the linguist David McAlpin produced a detailed proposal of a genetic relationship between Dravidian and the extinct Elamite language of ancient Elam (present-day southwestern Iran).[54] The Elamo-Dravidian hypothesis was supported in the late 1980s by the archaeologist Colin Renfrew and the geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, who suggested that Proto-Dravidian was brought to India by farmers from the Iranian part of the Fertile Crescent.[55][56] (In his 2000 book, Cavalli-Sforza suggested western India, northern India and northern Iran as alternative starting points.[57]) However, linguists have found McAlpin's cognates unconvincing and criticized his proposed phonological rules as ad hoc.[58][59][60] Elamite is generally believed by scholars to be a language isolate, and the theory has had no effect on studies of the language.[61] In 2012, Southworth suggested a "Zagrosian family" of West Asian origin including Elamite, Brahui and Dravidian as its three branches.[62]

Dravidian is one of the primary language families in the Nostratic proposal, which would link most languages in North Africa, Europe and Western Asia into a family with its origins in the Fertile Crescent sometime between the Last Glacial Period and the emergence of Proto-Indo-European 4,000–6,000 BCE. However, the general consensus is that such deep connections are not, or not yet, demonstrable.[63]

## Prehistory[edit | edit source]

The origins of the Dravidian languages, as well as their subsequent development and the period of their differentiation are unclear, partially due to the lack of comparative linguistic research into the Dravidian languages. It is thought that the Dravidian languages were the most widespread indigenous languages in the Indian subcontinent before the advance of the Indo-Aryan languages.[10] Though some scholars have argued that the Dravidian languages may have been brought to India by migrations from the Iranian plateau in the fourth or third millennium BCE[11][12] or even earlier,[13][14] the Dravidian languages cannot easily be connected to any other language, and they could well be indigenous to India.[15][b]

### Proto-Dravidian and onset of diversification[edit | edit source]

As a proto-language, the Proto-Dravidian language is not itself attested in the historical record. Its modern conception is based solely on reconstruction. It was suggested in the 1980s that the language was spoken in the 4th millennium BCE, and started disintegrating into various branches around the 3rd millennium BCE.[64] According to Krishnamurti, Proto-Dravidian may have been spoken in the Indus civilization, suggesting a "tentative date of Proto-Dravidian around the early part of the third millennium."[65] Krishnamurti further states that South Dravidian I (including pre-Tamil) and South Dravidian II (including Pre-Telugu) split around the 11th century BCE, with the other major branches splitting off at around the same time.[66] Kolipakam et al. (2018) give a similar estimate of 2,500 BCE for Proto-Dravidian.[67]

Several geneticists have noted a strong correlation between Dravidian and the Ancestral South Indian (ASI) component of South Asian genetic makeup.[68] Narasimhan et al. (2019) argue that the ASI component itself formed in the early 2nd millennium BCE from a mixture of a population associated with the Indus Valley civilization and a population resident in peninsular India.[69] They conclude that one of these two groups may have been the source of proto-Dravidian.[70] An Indus valley origin would be consistent with the location of Brahui and with attempts to interpret the Indus script as Dravidian.[70][71] On the other hand, reconstructed Proto-Dravidian terms for flora and fauna provide support for a peninsular Indian origin.[70][72][73]

### Indus Valley Civilisation[edit | edit source]

The Indus Valley civilisation (3,300–1,900 BCE), located in the Indus Valley region, is sometimes suggested to have been Dravidian.[74] Already in 1924, when announcing the discovery of the IVC, John Marshall stated that (one of) the language(s) may have been Dravidic.[75] Cultural and linguistic similarities have been cited by researchers Henry Heras, Kamil Zvelebil, Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan as being strong evidence for a proto-Dravidian origin of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation.[76][77] The discovery in Tamil Nadu of a late Neolithic (early 2nd millennium BCE, i.e. post-dating Harappan decline) stone celt allegedly marked with Indus signs has been considered by some to be significant for the Dravidian identification.[78][79]

Yuri Knorozov surmised that the symbols represent a logosyllabic script and suggested, based on computer analysis, an underlying agglutinative Dravidian language as the most likely candidate for the underlying language.[80] Knorozov's suggestion was preceded by the work of Henry Heras, who suggested several readings of signs based on a proto-Dravidian assumption.[81]

Linguist Asko Parpola writes that the Indus script and Harappan language are "most likely to have belonged to the Dravidian family".[82] Parpola led a Finnish team in investigating the inscriptions using computer analysis. Based on a proto-Dravidian assumption, they proposed readings of many signs, some agreeing with the suggested readings of Heras and Knorozov (such as equating the "fish" sign with the Dravidian word for fish, "min") but disagreeing on several other readings. A comprehensive description of Parpola's work until 1994 is given in his book Deciphering the Indus Script.[83]

### Northern Dravidian pockets[edit | edit source]

See also: Kurukh language, Malto language, and Brahui language

Although in modern times speakers of the various Dravidian languages have mainly occupied the southern portion of India, in earlier times they probably were spoken in a larger area. After the Indo-Aryan migrations into north-western India, starting ca. 1500 BCE, and the establishment of the Kuru kingdom ca. 1100 BCE, a process of Sanskritisation of the masses started, which resulted in a language shift in northern India. Southern India has remained majority Dravidian, but pockets of Dravidian can be found in central India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The Kurukh and Malto are pockets of Dravidian languages in central India, spoken by people who may have migrated from south India. They do have myths about external origins.[84] The Kurukh have traditionally claimed to be from the Deccan Peninsula,[85] more specifically Karnataka. The same tradition has existed of the Brahui,[86][87] who call themselves immigrants.[88] Holding this same view of the Brahui are many scholars[89] such as L. H. Horace Perera and M. Ratnasabapathy.[90]

The Brahui population of Pakistan's Balochistan province has been taken by some as the linguistic equivalent of a relict population, perhaps indicating that Dravidian languages were formerly much more widespread and were supplanted by the incoming Indo-Aryan languages.[91][92][93] However, it has been argued that the absence of any Old Iranian (Avestan) loanwords in Brahui suggests that the Brahui migrated to Balochistan from central India less than 1,000 years ago. The main Iranian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, Balochi, is a western Iranian language like Kurdish, and arrived in the area from the west only around 1000 CE.[94] Sound changes shared with Kurukh and Malto also suggest that Brahui was originally spoken near them in central India.[95]

### Dravidian influence on Sanskrit[edit | edit source]

Main article: Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit

Dravidian languages show extensive lexical (vocabulary) borrowing, but only a few traits of structural (either phonological or grammatical) borrowing from Indo-Aryan, whereas Indo-Aryan shows more structural than lexical borrowings from the Dravidian languages.[96] Many of these features are already present in the oldest known Indo-Aryan language, the language of the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE), which also includes over a dozen words borrowed from Dravidian.[97]

Vedic Sanskrit has retroflex consonants (ṭ/ḍ, ṇ) with about 88 words in the Rigveda having unconditioned retroflexes.[98][99] Some sample words are Iṭanta, Kaṇva, śakaṭī, kevaṭa, puṇya and maṇḍūka. Since other Indo-European languages, including other Indo-Iranian languages, lack retroflex consonants, their presence in Indo-Aryan is often cited as evidence of substrate influence from close contact of the Vedic speakers with speakers of a foreign language family rich in retroflex consonants.[98][99] The Dravidian family is a serious candidate since it is rich in retroflex phonemes reconstructible back to the Proto-Dravidian stage.[100][101][102]

In addition, a number of grammatical features of Vedic Sanskrit not found in its sister Avestan language appear to have been borrowed from Dravidian languages. These include the gerund, which has the same function as in Dravidian.[103] Some linguists explain this asymmetrical borrowing by arguing that Middle Indo-Aryan languages were built on a Dravidian substratum.[104] These scholars argue that the most plausible explanation for the presence of Dravidian structural features in Indic is language shift, that is, native Dravidian speakers learning and adopting Indic languages due to elite dominance.[105] Although each of the innovative traits in Indic could be accounted for by internal explanations, early Dravidian influence is the only explanation that can account for all of the innovations at once; moreover, it accounts for several of the innovative traits in Indic better than any internal explanation that has been proposed.[106]

## Grammar[edit | edit source]

The most characteristic grammatical features of Dravidian languages are:[50]

* Dravidian languages are agglutinative.
* Word order is subject–object–verb (SOV).
* Most Dravidian languages have a clusivity distinction.
* The major word classes are nouns (substantives, numerals, pronouns), adjectives, verbs, and indeclinables (particles, enclitics, adverbs, interjections, onomatopoetic words, echo words).
* Proto-Dravidian used only suffixes, never prefixes or infixes, in the construction of inflected forms. Hence, the roots of words always occurred at the beginning. Nouns, verbs, and indeclinable words constituted the original word classes.
* There are two numbers and four different gender systems, the ancestral system probably having "male:non-male" in the singular and "person:non-person" in the plural.
* In a sentence, however complex, only one finite verb occurs, normally at the end, preceded if necessary by a number of gerunds.
* Word order follows certain basic rules but is relatively free.
* The main (and probably original) dichotomy in tense is past:non-past. Present tense developed later and independently in each language or subgroup.
* Verbs are intransitive, transitive, and causative; there are also active and passive forms.
* All of the positive verb forms have their corresponding negative counterparts, negative verbs.

## Phonology[edit | edit source]

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Dravidian languages are noted for the lack of distinction between aspirated and unaspirated stops. While some Dravidian languages have accepted large numbers of loanwords from Sanskrit and other Indo-Iranian languages in addition to their already vast vocabulary, in which the orthography shows distinctions in voice and aspiration, the words are pronounced in Dravidian according to different rules of phonology and phonotactics: aspiration of plosives is generally absent, regardless of the spelling of the word. This is not a universal phenomenon and is generally avoided in formal or careful speech, especially when reciting. For instance, Tamil does not distinguish between voiced and voiceless stops. In fact, the Tamil alphabet lacks symbols for voiced and aspirated stops. Dravidian languages are also characterized by a three-way distinction between dental, alveolar, and retroflex places of articulation as well as large numbers of liquids.

### Proto-Dravidian[edit | edit source]

Main article: Proto-Dravidian

Proto-Dravidian had five short and long vowels: *a, *ā, *i, *ī, *u, *ū, *e, *ē, *o, *ō. There were no diphthongs; ai and au are treated as *ay and *av (or *aw).[107][101][108] The five-vowel system is largely preserved in the descendent subgroups.[109] Notable exceptions being the Nilgiri languages (except Kota but including Kodagu) developing a series of central vowels which formed from vowels near retroflex and alveolar consonants and the short u's (mostly word finally) becoming ŭ/ụ and becoming phonemic in Tulu and Malayalam.

The following consonantal phonemes are reconstructed:[100][101][110]

| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Nasals | *m | *n | *ṉ (?) | *ṇ | *ñ |  |
Plosives | *p | *t | *ṯ | *ṭ | *c | *k |
Semivowel | *w |  |  |  | *y |  | *H
Tap/Rhotic |  |  | *r | *ẓ[c] |  |  |
Lateral |  |  | *l | *ḷ |  |  |

### Numerals[edit | edit source]

Main article: wikt:Appendix:Cognate_sets_for_Dravidian_languages § Numerals

The numerals from 1 to 10 in various Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages (here exemplified by Indo Aryan language Sanskrit and Iranian language Persian).[111][112]

Number  | South  | South-Central  | Central  | Northern  | Proto-Dravidian | Indo-Aryan  | Iranian

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Tamil | Malayalam | Kodava | Kannada | Tulu | Toda | Beary | Telugu | Gondi | Kolami | Kurukh | Brahui | Sanskrit | Persian
1  | oṉṟŭ, oṇṇŭ 6 | onnŭ  | ondï  | ondu  | onji  | wïd̠  | onnu  | okaṭi 7 | undi  | okkod 7 | oṇṭa  | asiṭ  | *onṯu 1 | éka  | yek
2  | iraṇṭŭ, reṇḍŭ 6 | raṇḍŭ  | daṇḍï  | eraḍu  | eraḍŭ, iraḍŭ  | ēḍ  | jend  | reṇḍu  | raṇḍ  | irāṭ  | indiŋ  | irāṭ  | *iraṇṭu 2 | dvi  | do
3  | mūṉṟŭ, mūṇŭ 6 | mūnnŭ  | mūndï  | mūru  | mūji  | mūd̠  | mūnnu  | mūḍu  | muṇḍ  | mūndiŋ  | mūnd  | musiṭ  | *mūnt̠u  | tri  | seh
4  | nāl, nālku, nāṉkŭ, nālŭ 6 | nālŭ  | nālï  | nālku  | nālŭ  | nōng  | nāl  | nālugu  | nāluṅg  | nāliŋ  | nāx  | čār (II)  | *nāl, *nālnk(k)V, *nānk(k)V  | catúr  | cahār
5  | aintŭ, añjŭ 6 | añjŭ  | añji  | aidu  | ayinŭ, ainŭ  | üɀ  | añji  | ayidu  | saiyuṅg, hayuṅ  | ayd 3 | pancē (II)  | panč (II)  | *caymtu  | pañca  | panj
6  | āṟŭ  | āṟŭ  | ārï  | āru  | āji  | ōr̠  | ār  | āru  | sāruṅg, hāruṅg  | ār 3 | soyyē (II)  | šaš (II)  | *cāṯu  | ṣáṣ  | śeś
7  | ēḻŭ  | ēḻŭ  | ë̄ḷï  | ēḷu  | ēḍŭ, ēlŭ, ēḷŭ  | öw  | ēl  | ēḍu  | yeḍuṅg, ēṛuṅg  | ēḍ 3 | sattē (II)  | haft (II)  | *ēẓ  | saptá  | haft
8  | eṭṭŭ  | eṭṭŭ  | ëṭṭï  | eṇṭu  | enma, eṇma, eḍma  | öṭ  | ett  | enimidi  | aṛmur  | enumadī 3 | aṭṭhē (II)  | hašt (II)  | *eṇṭṭu  | aṣṭá  | haśt
9  | oṉpatŭ 4 5 | oṉbadŭ,
ombadŭ 5 | ombay 5 | ombattu 5 | ormba 5 | wïnboθ 5 | olimbō 5 | tommidi  | unmāk  | tomdī 3 | naiṃyē (II)  | nōh (II)  | *toḷ, *toṇ  | náva  | noh
10  | pattŭ  | pattŭ  | pattï  | hattu  | pattŭ  | pot  | patt  | padi  | pad  | padī 3 | dassē (II)  | dah (II)  | *paHtu  | dáśa  | dah

1. This is the same as the word for another form of the number one in Tamil and Malayalam, used as the indefinite article ("a") and when the number is an attribute preceding a noun (as in "one person"), as opposed to when it is a noun (as in "How many are there?" "One").
2. The stem *īr is still found in compound words, and has taken on a meaning of "double" in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. For example, irupatu (20, literally meaning "double-ten"), iravai (20 in Telugu), "iraṭṭi" ("double") or iruvar ("two people", in Tamil) and "ippattu" (ipp-hattu, double ten", in Kannada).
3. The Kolami numbers 5 to 10 are borrowed from Telugu.
4. The word toṇṭu was also used to refer to the number nine in ancient Sangam texts but was later completely replaced by the word oṉpatu.
5. These forms are derived from "one (less than) ten". Proto-Dravidian *toḷ/*toṇ (which could mean 9 or 9/10) is still used in Tamil and Malayalam as the basis of numbers such as 90 and 900, toṇṇūṟu (9⁄10*100 = 90) as well as the Kannada tombattu (9*10 = 90).
6. Because of shared sound changes that have happened over the years in the majority of the Tamil dialects, the numbers 1-5 have different colloquial pronunciations, seen here to the right of their written, formal pronunciations.
7. In languages with words for one starts with ok(k)- it was taken from *okk- which originally meant "to be united" and not a numeral.

* Words indicated (II) are borrowings from Indo-Iranian languages (in Brahui's case, from Balochi).

## Literature[edit | edit source]

The oldest known Tamil-Brahmi inscription, near Mangulam in Madurai district[113]

Four Dravidian languages, viz. Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, have lengthy literary traditions.[114] Literature in Tulu and Kodava is more recent.[114] Recently old literature in Gondi has been discovered as well.[115]

The earliest known Dravidian inscriptions are 76 Old Tamil inscriptions on cave walls in Madurai and Tirunelveli districts in Tamil Nadu, dating from the 2nd century BCE.[4] These inscriptions are written in a variant of the Brahmi script called Tamil Brahmi.[116] In 2019, the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department released a report on excavations at Keeladi, near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, including a description of potsherds dated to the 6th century BCE inscribed with personal names in the Tamil-Brahmi script.[117] However, the report lacks the detail of a full archaeological study, and other archaeologists have disputed whether the oldest dates obtained for the site can be assigned to these potsherds.[118] The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the Tolkāppiyam, a work on Tamil grammar and poetics preserved in a 5th-century CE redaction, whose oldest layers could date from the late 2nd century or 1st century BCE.[119]

Kannada's earliest known inscription is the lion balustrade (Simhakatanjana) inscription excavated at the Pranaveshwara temple complex at Talagunda near Shiralakoppa of Shivamogga district, dated to 370 CE which replaced the Halmidi inscription in Hassan district (450 CE).[120] A 9th-century treatise on poetics, the Kavirajamarga, is the first known literary work.[121] The earliest Telugu inscription, from Erragudipadu in Kadapa district, is dated 575. The first literary work is an 11th-century translation of part of the Mahābhārata.[121] The earliest Malayalam text is the Vazhappally copper plate (9th century). The first literary work is Rāmacaritam (12th century).[4]

## See also[edit | edit source]

* Dravidian Linguistics Association
* Dravidian peoples
* Dravidian studies
* Dravidianism
* Elamo-Dravidian languages
* Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew
* Dreaming of Words

## Notes[edit | edit source]

1. ^ Earlier fragmentary finds have been claimed, e.g. at Keezhadi near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, but have not been conclusively established (see § Literature).
2. ^ a b Renfrew and Bahn conclude that several scenarios are compatible with the data, and that "the linguistic jury is still very much out."[17]
3. ^ may also be represented as ḻ or r̤

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108. ^ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 90.
109. ^ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 48.
110. ^ Krishnamurti (2003), p. 91.
111. ^ Krishnamurti (2003), pp. 260–265.
112. ^ Asher, R. E. (2002). Colloquial Tamil : the complete course for beginners. London: Routledge. p. 45\. ISBN 0-415-18788-5.
113. ^ Mahadevan (2003), pp. 5–7.
114. ^ a b Krishnamurti (2003), p. 20.
115. ^ Singh, S. Harpal (20 January 2014). "Gondi manuscript translation to reveal Gondwana history". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
116. ^ Mahadevan (2003), pp. 90–95.
117. ^ Sivanantham, R.; Seran, M., eds. (2019). Keeladi: an Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of the River Vaigai (Report). Chennai: Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu. pp. 8–9, 14.
118. ^ Charuchandra, Sukanya (17 October 2019). "Experts Question Dates of Script in Tamil Nadu's Keeladi Excavation Report". The Wire.
119. ^ Zvelebil (1973), p. 147.
120. ^ "Kannada inscription at Talagunda of 370 CE may replace Halmidi inscription as the oldest". Deccan Herald.
121. ^ a b Krishnamurti (2003), p. 23.

## Bibliography[edit | edit source]

* Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich (2003), A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, Otto Harrassowitz, ISBN 978-3-447-04455-4.
* Avari, Burjor (2007), Ancient India: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-25162-9.
* Caldwell, Robert (1856), A comparative grammar of the Dravidian, or, South-Indian family of languages, London: Harrison; 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.
* Campbell, A. D. (1849), A grammar of the Teloogoo language, commonly termed the Gentoo, peculiar to the Hindoos inhabiting the northeastern provinces of the Indian peninsula (3d ed.), Madras: Hindu Press.
* Campbell, Lyle; Poser, William J. (2008), Language Classification: History and Method, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-88005-3.
* Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; Piazza, Alberto (1994), The History and Geography of Human Genes, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-18726-6.
* Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca (2000), Genes, Peoples, and Languages, North Point Press, ISBN 978-0-86547-529-8.
* Elst, Koenraad (1999), Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate, New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, ISBN 81-86471-77-4.
* Erdosy, George, ed. (1995), The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-014447-6.
* Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003), The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-77111-0.
* Kuiper, F.B.J. (1991), Aryans in the Rig Veda, Rodopi, ISBN 90-5183-307-5.
* Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003), Early Tamil Epigraphy, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1.
* Mallory, J. P. (1989), In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth, London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 978-0-500-05052-1.
* Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Patterson, Nick; Moorjani, Priya; Rohland, Nadin; et al. (2019), "The Formation of Human Populations in South and Central Asia", Science, 365 (6457): eaat7487, doi:10.1126/science.aat7487, PMC 6822619, PMID 31488661.
* Parpola, Asko (2010), A Dravidian solution to the Indus script problem (PDF), World Classical Tamil Conference.
* Reich, David; Thangaraj, Kumarasamy; Patterson, Nick; Price, Alkes L.; Singh, Lalji (2009), "Reconstructing Indian Population History", Nature, 461 (7263): 489–494, Bibcode:2009Natur.461..489R, doi:10.1038/nature08365, PMC 2842210, PMID 19779445.
* Ruhlen, Merritt (1991), A Guide to the World's Languages: Classification, Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0-8047-1894-3.
* Shulman, David (2016), Tamil, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-05992-4.
* Southworth, Franklin C. (2005), Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia, RoutledgeCurzon, ISBN 978-1-134-31777-6.
* 

 (2011), "Rice in Dravidian", Rice, 4 (3–4): 142–148, doi:10.1007/s12284-011-9076-9.
* Sreekumar, P. (2009), "Francis Whyte Ellis and the Beginning of Comparative Dravidian Linguistics", Historiographia Linguistica, 36 (1): 75–95, doi:10.1075/hl.36.1.04sre.
* Steever, Sanford B. (2020), "Introduction to the Dravidian Languages", in Steever, Sanford B. (ed.), The Dravidian Languages (2nd ed.), Routledge, pp. 1–44, ISBN 978-1-138-85376-8.
* Subrahmanyam, P. S. (1983), Dravidian Comparative Phonology, Annamalai University.
* Thomason, Sarah Grey; Kaufman, Terrence (1988), Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics, University of California Press (published 1991), ISBN 0-520-07893-4.
* Trask, Robert Lawrence (2000), The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics, Routledge, ISBN 1-57958-218-4.
* Witzel, Michael (1999), "Early Sources for South Asian Substrate Languages" (PDF), Mother Tongue (extra number): 1–76.
* Zvelebil, Kamil (1973), The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India, BRILL, ISBN 90-04-03591-5.
* 

 (1975), Tamil Literature, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 90-04-04190-7.
* 

 (1990), Dravidian Linguistics: An Introduction, Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture, ISBN 978-81-8545-201-2.

## Further reading[edit | edit source]

* Vishnupriya Kolipakam et al. (2018), A Bayesian phylogenetic study of the Dravidian language family, Royal Society Open Science. doi:10.1098/rsos.171504

## External links[edit | edit source]

Wiktionary has word lists at Appendix:Dravidian word lists

Wiktionary has Swadesh lists for Dravidian languages

* Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. Burrow and Emeneau's A Dravidian etymological dictionary (2nd ed., 1984) in a searchable online form.

* v
* t
* e

Major languages of South Asia

Languages of|

* Afghanistan
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* India
* list by number of speakers
* scheduled
* Languages of Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka

Contemporary
languages|

| Great Andamanese|

* Aka-Jeru
* Aka-Bo

|

Dravidian|

* Brahui
* Kannada
* Malayalam
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Tulu

Germanic|

* English
* Bangladeshi
* Indian
* Nepalese
* Pakistani
* Sri Lankan

Indo-Aryan|

* Angika
* Assamese
* Bhojpuri
* Bengali
* Chakma
* Chittagonian
* Dhivehi
* Dogri
* Gujarati
* Hindustani
* Hindi
* Urdu
* Hindko
* Kashmiri
* Konkani
* Kumaoni
* Magahi
* Mahal
* Maithili
* Marathi
* Nepali
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Rajasthani
* Rangpuri
* Sanskrit
* Saraiki
* Sindhi
* Sinhala
* Sylheti

Iranian|

* Balochi
* Dari
* Pashto
* Wakhi

Isolates|

* Burushaski
* Nihali
* Kusunda

Khasic|

* Khasi
* Lyngngam
* Pnar
* War

Malay creoles|

* Sri Lankan Creole Malay

Munda|

* Ho
* Korku
* Mundari
* Santali
* Sora

Nicobaric|

* Car
* Central Nicobarese
* Chaura
* Southern Nicobarese
* Teressa

Ongan|

* Önge
* Jarawa

Romance|

* French
* Portuguese

Sino-Tibetan|

* Ao
* Balti
* Bodo
* Dzongkha
* Garo
* Hajong
* Ladakhi
* Limbu
* Meitei
* Mizo
* Nepal Bhasa
* Sikkimese
* Tenyidie
* Tibetan
* Tripuri

Turkic|

* Turkmen
* Uzbek

Scripts|

| Historical|

* Brahmi (Abugida)
* Greek
* Indus (Undeciphered)
* Kharosthi

|

Arabic|

* Arabi Malayalam
* Arwi
* Nastaliq
* Shahmukhi

Brahmic|

* Devanagari
* Bengali
* Gujarati
* Gurmukhi
* Malayalam
* Kannada
* Odia
* Ranjana
* Sinhala
* Tamil
* Telugu

Old Italic|

* Latin

Other|

* Thaana

Activism|

* Bengali movement
* Hela Havula
* Newar movement
* Nepali movement
* Punjabi Movement
* Pure Tamil movement
* Sanskrit revival
* Urdu movement

* v
* t
* e

Dravidian languages

South|

| Tamil –
Kannada|

| Kannada
\- Badaga|

| Kannada|

* Kannada
* Holiya
* Urali
* Sholaga
* Betta Kurumba
* Alu Kurumba
* Jennu Kurumba

|

* Badaga · Moundadan Chetty

Toda-Kota|

* Toda
* Kota

Kodagu|

* Kodava
* Kurumba
* Wayanad Chetti

Irula|

* Irula
* Attapady Kurumba
* Muduga

Tamil -
Malayalam|

| Tamil|

* Tamil
* Sankethi
* Eravallan
* Kaikadi
* Kanikkaran
* Malapandaram
* Mala Malasar
* Malasar
* Muthuvan
* Paliyan
* Yerukala

|

Malayalam|

* Malayalam
* Jeseri
* Arabi Malayalam (Mappila Malayalam)
* Judeo-Malayalam
* Suriyani Malayalam
* Aranadan
* Beary
* Kadar
* Malaryan
* Malavedan
* Mullu Kurumba
* Paniya
* Ravula
* Allar
* Malankuravan
* Vishavan
* Kalanadi
* Kunduvadi
* Kurichiya
* Pathiya
* Thachanadan
* Ullatan

Tulu|

* Tulu
* Bellari
* Koraga
* Kudiya

Others|

* Kumbaran
* Kakkala
* Pattapu

South-Central|

| Telugu|

* Telugu
* Chenchu
* Waddar

|

Gondi-Kui|

| Gondi|

* Gondi
* Madiya
* Muria
* Koya
* Nagarchal
* Pardhan
* Khirwar

|

Kui|

* Kui
* Kuvi
* Manda
* Pengo
* Konda
* Mukha-Dora

Central|

| Kolami-Naiki|

* Kolami
* Naiki

|

Parji–Gadaba|

* Duruwa
* Ollari
* Kondekor

North|

| Kurukh-Malto|

* Kurukh
* Malto

|

* Brahui

Unclassified|

* Bharia

Proto-languages|

* Proto-Dravidian
* Proto-South Dravidian

Italics indicate extinct languages (no surviving native speakers and no spoken descendant)

* v
* t
* e

Primary language families

Africa|

* Afroasiatic
* Austronesian
* Khoe–Kwadi
* Kx'a
* Niger–Congo
* Nilo-Saharan?
* Tuu
* Mande?
* Songhay?
* Ijaw?
* Ubangian?
* Kadu?

Isolates|

* Bangime
* Hadza
* Jalaa
* Sandawe
* Laal?
* Shabo?

Eurasia
(Europe
and Asia)|

* Afroasiatic
* Ainu
* Altaic?
* Austroasiatic
* Austronesian
* Chukotko-Kamchatkan
* Dravidian
* Eskaleut
* Great Andamanese
* Hmong–Mien
* Hurro-Urartian
* Indo-European
* Japonic
* Kartvelian
* Koreanic
* Kra–Dai
* Mongolic
* Nivkh
* North Caucasian?
* Northeast Caucasian
* Northwest Caucasian
* Ongan
* Sino-Tibetan
* Tungusic
* Turkic
* Tyrsenian
* Uralic
* Yeniseian
* Yukaghir
* Digaro?
* Hrusish?
* Kho-Bwa?
* Miju?
* Siangic?

Isolates|

* Basque
* Burushaski
* Elamite
* Enggano?
* Hattic
* Kenaboi?
* Kusunda
* Minoan?
* Nihali
* Shompen?
* Sumerian
* Tambora?

New Guinea
and the Pacific|

* Arai–Samaia
* Austronesian
* Binanderean–Goilalan
* Border
* Bulaka River
* Central Solomons
* Chimbu–Wahgi
* Demta–Sentani
* Doso–Turumsa
* East Geelvink Bay
* East New Britain
* East Strickland
* Eleman
* Engan
* Fas
* Foja Range
* Kaure–Kosare
* Kiwaian
* Kutubuan
* Lakes Plain
* Lower Mamberamo
* Lower Sepik
* Madang
* Mairasi
* North Bougainville
* Pauwasi
* Ramu
* Senagi
* Senu River
* Sepik
* Skou
* South Bougainville
* Teberan
* Torricelli
* Trans-Fly
* Trans–New Guinea
* Turama–Kikorian
* Upper Yuat
* West Papuan
* Yam
* Yawa
* Yuat
* Northwest Papuan?
* Papuan Gulf?

Isolates|

* Abinomn
* Abun
* Anêm?
* Ata?
* Kol
* Kuot
* Maybrat
* Mpur
* Pawaia
* Porome
* Sulka?
* Taiap?
* Tambora
* Wiru

Australia|

* Arnhem/Macro-Gunwinyguan?
* Bunuban
* Darwin Region?
* Eastern Daly
* Eastern Tasmanian
* Garawan
* Iwaidjan
* Jarrakan
* Marrku–Wurrugu?
* Mirndi
* Northern Tasmanian
* Northeastern Tasmanian
* Nyulnyulan
* Pama–Nyungan
* Southern Daly?
* Tangkic
* Wagaydyic
* Western Daly
* Western Tasmanian
* Worrorran
* Yangmanic (incl. Wagiman)?

Isolates|

* Giimbiyu
* Malak-Malak (Northern Daly?)
* Tiwi

North
America|

* Algic
* Alsea
* Caddoan
* Chimakuan
* Chinookan
* Chumashan
* Comecrudan
* Coosan
* Eskimo–Aleut
* Iroquoian
* Kalapuyan
* Keres
* Maiduan
* Muskogean
* Na-Dene
* Palaihnihan
* Plateau Penutian
* Pomoan
* Salishan
* Shastan
* Siouan
* Tanoan
* Tsimshianic
* Utian
* Uto-Aztecan
* Wakashan
* Wintuan
* Yukian
* Yuman–Cochimí

Isolates|

* Chimariko
* Esselen
* Haida
* Karuk
* Kutenai
* Seri
* Siuslaw
* Takelma
* Timucua
* Tonkawa
* Waikuri
* Washo
* Yana
* Yokuts
* Yuchi
* Zuni

Mesoamerica|

* Chibchan
* Jicaquean
* Lencan
* Mayan
* Misumalpan
* Mixe–Zoque
* Oto-Manguean
* Tequistlatecan
* Totonacan
* Uto-Aztecan
* Xincan

Isolates|

* Cuitlatec
* Huave
* Tarascan/Purépecha

South
America|

* Andoque–Urequena
* Arauan
* Araucanian
* Arawakan
* Arutani–Sape
* Aymaran
* Barbacoan
* Boran
* Cahuapanan
* Cariban
* Catacaoan
* Chapacuran
* Charruan
* Chibchan
* Choco
* Chonan
* Guaicuruan
* Guajiboan
* Harákmbut–Katukinan
* Jirajaran
* Jivaroan
* Katembri–Taruma
* Mascoian
* Matacoan
* Nadahup
* Nambikwaran
* Otomákoan
* Pano-Tacanan
* Peba–Yaguan
* Quechuan
* Piaroa–Saliban
* Ticuna–Yuri
* Timotean
* Tiniguan
* Tucanoan
* Tupian
* Uru–Chipaya
* Witotoan
* Yanomaman
* Zamucoan
* Zaparoan
* Bora–Witoto languages?
* Chimuan?
* Esmeralda–Yaruro?
* Hibito–Cholón?
* Lule–Vilela?
* Macro-Jê?
* Tequiraca–Canichana?

Isolates
(extant in 2000)|

* Aikanã?
* Alacalufan
* Camsá
* Candoshi
* Chimane
* Chiquitano
* Cofán?
* Fulniô
* Guató
* Hodï/Joti
* Irantxe?
* Itonama
* Kunza
* Leco
* Maku (Maku-Auari/Jukude)
* Movima
* Mura-Pirahã
* Nukak?
* Páez
* Puinave
* Huaorani/Waorani
* Trumai
* Urarina
* Warao
* Yamana
* Yuracaré

Sign
languages|

* Arab
* BANZSL
* Chinese
* Francosign
* Germanosign
* Indo-Pakistani
* Japanese
* Original Thai
* Swedish
* Tanzanian?

Isolates|

* See list of sign languages

See also|

* Constructed languages
* Creoles
* Language isolates
* Mixed languages
* Pidgins
* Unclassified languages

* Families with question marks (?) are disputed or controversial.
* Families in italics have no living members.
* Families with more than 30 languages are in bold.

* v
* t
* e

Language families of Eurasia

Europe|

* Indo-European
* Uralic
* Basque
* Iberian
* Tartessian
* Paleo-Corsican
* Paleo-Sardinian
* Camunic
* Ligurian
* North Picene
* Sicani
* Tyrsenian
* Eteocretan
* Eteocypriot
* Minoan

West Asia|

* Indo-European
* Afroasiatic
* Hattic
* Kaskian
* Hurro-Urartian
* Kassite
* Gutian
* Philistine
* Sumerian
* Proto-Euphratean ?
* Elamite

Caucasus|

* Kartvelian
* Northeast Caucasian
* Northwest Caucasian

South Asia|

* Indo-European
* Dravidian
* Sino-Tibetan
* Austroasiatic
* Nihali
* Burushaski
* Kusunda
* Harappan ?

East Asia|

* Sino-Tibetan
* Austroasiatic
* Hmong–Mien
* Kra–Dai
* Austronesian
* Turkic
* Mongolic
* Tungusic
* Koreanic
* Japonic

Indian Ocean rim|

* Great Andamanese
* Ongan
* Sentinelese
* Kenaboi

North Asia|

| "Paleosiberian"|

* Ainu
* Nivkh
* Chukotko-Kamchatkan
* Yukaghir
* Yeniseian

|

Other North Asia|

* Uralic
* Ruanruan ?
* Eskaleut

Proposed groupings|

* Alarodian
* Altaic
* Borean
* Nostratic
* Dené–Caucasian
* Eurasiatic
* Dené–Yeniseian
* Dravido-Korean
* Elamo-Dravidian
* Ibero-Caucasian
* Indo-Hittite
* Indo-Pacific
* Indo-Semitic
* Indo-Uralic
* Karasuk
* Serbi–Mongolic
* Pontic
* Turanian
* Ural-Altaic
* Uralo-Siberian
* Uralic–Yukaghir
* Eskimo–Uralic
* Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric

Arunachal|

* Greater Siangic
* Siangic
* Digaro
* Miju
* Hrusish
* Kho-Bwa

East and Southeast Asia|

* Andamanese
* Austric
* Austro-Tai
* Austronesian–Ongan
* East Asian
* Sino-Austronesian

Substrata|

* Atlantic
* Pre-Celtic
* Pre-Germanic
* Pre-Goidelic
* Pre-Greek
* Vasconic
* Pre-Vedic
* Pre-Finno-Ugric
* Paleo-Laplandic

* Families in italics have no living members.
* Families with more than 30 languages are in bold.

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