Kurumba (also known as Kuruba in Karnataka and Kuruma in Kerala), is a group of

Southern Dravidian languages The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant im ...

of the Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the Kurumba tribes. Some of them are from different branches.

Etymology

Classification

Kannadoid

Alu Kurumba Alu Kurumba, also known as Hal Kurumba or alternatively Pal Kurumba, is a Southern Dravidian language of the Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the Alu Kurumba tribal people. It is often considered to constitute a dialect of Kannada; however, ...

* Betta Kurumba, also known as Urali Kurumba or Kadu Kurumba *

Jennu Kurumba Jenu Kurumba, also known as Jen Kurumba, is a Southern Dravidian language of the Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the Jennu Kurumba/Kattunayakan tribe. It is often considered to constitute a dialect of Kannada; however, ''Ethnologue'' clas ...

, also known as Ten Kurumba or Kattunaika Together they are known as Kannada Kurumba as they are similar to

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Irulic

* Attapady Kurumba - also known as Palu Kurumba, a dialect of Muduga as they are mutually intelligible.

Malayalamoid

* Mullu Kurumba, also known as Mullu Kuruma

Geographical distribution

Kannadoid Kurumba languages are spoken at the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. Irulic and Malayalamoid Kurumba languages are spoken in

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

district of Kerala.

References

* Dravidian languages Languages of Tamil Nadu Languages of Karnataka Languages of Kerala {{Dr-lang-stub