Kannada

Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken in the state of Karnataka in southern India. According to the 2001 census, it is the 27th most spoken language in the world with over 38 million speakers. It is one of the official languages of India and the official language of the state of Karnataka. Kannada is written using the Kannada script. The Kannada script is an abugida of the Brahmic family and is closely related to the Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam scripts. The Kannada script is written from left to right and has forty-nine letters, which are divided into three groups: swaras, vyanjanas and yogavahas. The first group, the swaras, consists of fourteen letters and represents the seven musical notes of the Indian classical music. The second group, the vyanjanas, consists of thirty-three letters and represents the various consonants of the language. The third group, the yogavahas, consists of two letters and represents the semivowels. The Kannada script is also used to write the Tulu and Konkani languages. Kannada is a highly Sanskritised language. It has a rich literature dating back to the ninth century. Kannada literature is predominantly religious in nature and includes the works of great saints like Basavanna and Sarvajna. Kannada is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.