Is Tulu one of the oldest living languages in the Dravidian family?
In short: Spoken by nearly 1.8 million people in southwestern India, Tulu is a distinct Dravidian language that may have branched off from its roots 2,500 years ago. While it thrives in oral traditions, the language faces modern pressures that threaten its survival as it navigates a transition toward new scripts.
Tulu is a Dravidian language primarily spoken in the Tulu Nadu region, which encompasses the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka and the northern part of Kerala’s Kasaragod district. Linguists such as S.U. Panniyadi and L.V. Ramaswami Iyer have argued that Tulu is among the oldest members of the Dravidian family. This theory suggests that Tulu separated from Proto-Dravidian nearly 2,500 years ago, a claim supported by the language's retention of ancient Proto-Dravidian features. Historical evidence, including mentions of Tulu Nadu in Sangam literature dating to 300 BC and references in Greek plays from the 2nd century BC, further bolsters the argument for its ancient origins.
The language is characterized by a complex grammatical structure, including three genders, two numbers, and eight cases. It notably features a pluperfect and future perfect tense formed without auxiliary verbs, a trait shared with languages like French or Spanish. Tulu also maintains a distinct phonology, including a specific [ɯ]-like vowel phoneme and a contrast between /l/ and /ɭ/ in certain dialects. Historically, Tulu was written in the Tigalari script, which was used for religious manuscripts and epics like the 17th-century Sri Bhagavato and Kaveri. However, the lack of print availability for this script in the 18th century led to the gradual adoption of the Kannada script for contemporary literature.
Today, Tulu faces significant challenges. Because it is primarily passed down through oral tradition, the language is susceptible to constant alteration, and many speakers are counted as Kannada speakers in census reports, complicating accurate population tracking. The influence of mainstream languages poses a persistent threat to its survival. While the Central Institute of Indian Languages approved a Tulu character set in 2021, the language remains vulnerable to extinction. Efforts to secure official status for Tulu in India continue, reflecting the community's desire to preserve a linguistic heritage that has survived for over two millennia.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Tulu language
- Also: Art Institute of Chicago — TAKEN FROM HERE TO WHERE IT CAME FROM AND TAKEN TO A PLACE AND USED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT CAN ONLY REMAIN AS A REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IT WAS WHERE IT CAME FROM · CC0 (data); description CC BY 4.0
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