Irula language
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| Irula | |
|---|---|
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| Native to | India |
| Region | Nilgiri Mountains |
| Ethnicity | Irula |
Native speakers | 11,870 (2011 census)[1] Census conflates some speakers with Tamil |
| Dialects | Kasaba (north Irula), South Irula (Mele Nadu, Vette Kada), Urali Irula |
| Tamil script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | iru |
| Glottolog | irul1243 |
| ELP | Template:Endangered Languages Project |
| Linguasphere | Template:Infobox language/lingualist |
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| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Irula is classified as Vulnerable according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
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Irula (Natively: ër̠la/ïr̠la[citation needed], Script error: No such module "IPA".)Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. is a Dravidian language spoken by the Irulas who inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, India.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. It is closely related to Tamil. It is written in the Tamil script.
Etymology
Irula is derived from the term iruḷ "black" and -a/iga "people".[3][4]
Origins
The language was first described and classified by indologist Kamil Zvelebil, who in 1955 showed that the Irula language is an independent Southern Dravidian language that is akin to Tamil, particularly Old Tamil, with some Kannada-like features. Before that, it was traditionally denied or put to doubt, and Irula was described as a crude or corrupt mixture of Tamil and Kannada.
According to a tentative hypothesis by Kamil Zvelebil, a pre-Dravidian population that forms the bulk of the Irulas anthropologically began to speak an ancient pre- or proto-Tamil dialect, which was superimposed almost totally on their native pre-Dravidian speech. That then became the basis of the language, which must have subsequently been in close contact with the other tribal languages of the Nilgiri area as well as with the large surrounding languages such as Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam.[5]
Phonology
The tables present the vowelLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. and the consonantLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. phonemes of Irula.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| High | i | iː | ɨ | ɨː | ʉ | ʉː | u | uː |
| Mid | e | eː | ə | əː | ɵ | ɵː | o | oː |
| Low | a | aː | ||||||
Zvelebil and Perialwar had listed centralized <ä, ǟ> before in the phonology. The real quality distinguishing <ä, ǟ> and <a, ā> is not clear.
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k |
| voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | s | ||||||
| Approx. | median | ʋ | j | ||||
| lateral | l | ɭ | |||||
| Rhotic | ɾ, r | ɽ | |||||
- It is not clear how /d/ and /r/ are different phonemes.
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 31.
- ^ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Castes_and_Tribes_of_Southern_India/Irulas
- ^ https://kolichala.com/DEDR/search.php?esb=1&q=2552&lsg=0&emb=0&meaning=&tgt=unicode2
- ^ Das, Pauline. "The Irula Language and Literature." The Criterion Journal, April 2013 Vol 4 Issue 2.
Sources
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- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zvelebil, K. V. (1979), "Irula Riddles", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 42 (2): 361–368, doi:10.1017/S0041977X00145926, JSTOR 615027
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003), The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-77111-0
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perialwar, R. (1978), A Grammar of Irula, Annamalai University
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perialwar, R. (1979), Phonology of Irula with Vocabulary, Annamalai University
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zvelebil, Kamil V. (2001), "Irula Phonological System", Nilgiri Areal Studies, Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press, ISBN 80-7184-945-6
Further reading
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zvelebil, Kamil (1973), The Irula language, Volumes 1-3, Harrassowitz, ISBN 978-3-447-01520-2
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Darwin, L. (2007). Language of irulas a linguistic study (PhD). University of Kerala. hdl:10603/402546.
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