TULU LANGUAGE

(Redirected from Tulu)

'Tulu' (Kannada script: ತುಳು) is a Dravidian language of India with fewer than two million speakers, known as Tuluvas. Most Tuluvas live in the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the west of the state of Karnataka. It's also spoken in the Kasaragod taluk of Kerala.The original written script of the language, similar to Malayalam script, is rarely used today. It is normally written in the Kannada script now.

Contents
Geographic distribution
Script
Important works
Tulu Films
The language
References
See also
External links

Geographic distribution


There are indications in a few Malayalam works that 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 called Tulu Nadu. However, the present day Tulu linguistic boundary is confined to Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi district. Northern Kasaragod, Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi district (except Kundapur) are the major Tulu cultural regions.
Tuluvas have a saying: "Oorudu nanjaanda 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. Mumbai and Thane in Maharastra state has a sizable population of Tuluvas. Tulu is widely spoken in the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka state. Efforts are also being made to get Tulu included in the list of national languages of India[2].

Script


19th century German missionaries used the Kannada script to transcribe Tulu works, but it soon fell out of use. Tulu is mostly written in the Kannada script since most people study Kannada in Schools.. Attempts are being made to revive the original script Tulu Script. Unicode is an organization which codes the Tulu in Unicode. Tulu Script is similar to Malayalam script

Important works


The 'Bhagavata' (a purana katha) was partially written in Tulu script by a Brahmin belonging to Udyavara, Udupi, Karnataka. 'Mandara Ramayana' was also written in Tulu.
Some inscriptions in Tulu languages are found in and around the village of Barkur.

Tulu Films


Tulu has small film industry, with an average of about One Tulu film being released in a year. These movies are played in movie theatre all around South Canara and Udupi Districts.
The first Tulu film was 'Yenna Thangadi' (My Sister) released in 1971.
The latest Tulu flick is 'Kadala Mage' (Son of the sea) released 2006. Some of the famous films released are Bisati Babu, Adrushtavanthedi, Bangaar Patleru, Satya Volundu amongst others.

The language


The paucity of literary works has rendered the precise dating of the origin of this language very difficult. A claim that it predates Tamil is controversial, but Tulu has lot in common with Kannada[3] and also has some relation with Malayalam and Tamil.
Spoken Tulu changes as we move from South to North. There is a common perception that there are only two Tulu dialects, namely Shivalli and Common. But a study of the language and pronunciation suggests there are four distinct dialects of this language: Shivalli, Jain, Common, and Tribal.
; Shivalli dialect: Spoken by Tulu Brahmins (also known as Shivallis). Tulu Brahmins are known to be staunchest and most orthodox of all Brahmins in India.
; Jain dialect: Spoken by the Jains in the northern part of Tulu Nadu.
; Common dialect: Spoken by the majority of people of Tulu Nadu; the dialect of commerce, entertainment and art.
; Tribal dialect: Spoken by tribal people; closely resembles the Common dialect.
Tulu is not taught in schools. Schedule 8B of the Constitution of India does not recognize it as an official language.

References


1. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tcy Ethnologue
2. http://www.yakshagana.com/tulu-recog.htm
3. http://www.mangalore.com/documents/languages.html

See also



Languages of India

Madhava

Kanakana kindi

List of national languages of India

List of Indian languages by total speakers

Tuluva

Kasaragod Tulu

Kannadiga

Vellalar - Tuluvas are a sub sect of the social group in Tamil Nadu state.

Beary bashe

External links



The Tulu Script

Tulu Language: Its Script and Dialects



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