Tulu () in
Kannada script
The Kannada script ( IAST: ''Kannaḍa lipi''; obsolete: Kanarese or Canarese script in English) is an abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write Kannada, one of the Dravidian languages of South India especially in the state of Karnataka. ...
, ml, തുളു ഭാഷെ in
Malayalam script. ''bhāṣe'', , ''bhāśe'', and ''bāśe'' are alternative spellings for the Tulu word ''bāse'' in the Kannada script. The correct spelling for the word "language" in
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 ...
is kn, ಭಾಷೆ ''bhāṣe'', but that is not necessarily true in Tulu. Männer's ''Tulu-English and English-Tulu Dictionary'' (1886) says, " bāšè, bāsè, ''see'' ." (vol. 1, p. 478), " bhāšè, bhāshè, ''s''. Speech, language." (vol. 1, p. 508), meaning that the four spellings are more or less acceptable. The word is actually pronounced ''bāse'' in Tulu. Note that š and sh in his dictionary correspond to ''ś'' and ''ṣ'', respectively, in
ISO 15919
ISO 15919 (Transliteration of Devanagari and related Indic scripts into Latin characters) is one of a series of international standards for romanization by the International Organization for Standardization. It was published in 2001 and uses dia ...
is a
Dravidian language
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 ...
whose speakers are concentrated in
Dakshina Kannada and the southern part of
Udupi of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...
in south-western
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and in the northern parts of the
Kasaragod district of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...
. The native speakers of Tulu are referred to as ''
Tuluva'' or Tulu people and the geographical area is unofficially called
Tulu Nadu.
The
Indian census report of 2011 reported a total of 1,846,427 native Tulu speakers in India.
The
2001 census had reported a total of 1,722,768 native speakers. There is some difficulty in counting Tulu speakers who have migrated from their native region as they are often counted as
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 ...
speakers in
Indian census reports.
Separated early from
Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in
Tamil–Kannada. For example, it has the
pluperfect and the
future perfect, like
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
or
Spanish, but formed
without an auxiliary verb.
Tulu is the primary spoken language in Tulu Nadu, consisting of the
Dakshina Kannada and
Udupi districts in the western part of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...
and the northern part of
Kasaragod district
Kasaragod ( and Malayalam: , English: ''Kassergode'', Tulu: ''Kasrod'', Arabic: ''Harkwillia'') is one of the 14 districts in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its northern border Thalappady is located just 10 km south to Ullal, ...
of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...
.
A significant number of native Tulu speakers are found in
Kalasa and
Mudigere taluks of
Chikkamagaluru district and also found in
Thirthahalli taluks of
Shivamogga district. Non-native speakers of Tulu include those who are residents in the Tulunadu region but who speak the
Beary language, the
Havyaka language and also
Konkani and
Koraga as their mother tongues.
Apart from
Tulu Nadu, a significant emigrant population of Tulu speakers are found in
Maharashtra,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
,
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
, the
English-speaking world
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
, and the
Gulf countries
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
.
The various medieval inscriptions of Tulu from the 15th century are in the
Tulu script
Tulu () in Kannada script, ml, തുളു ഭാഷെ in Malayalam script. ''bhāṣe'', , ''bhāśe'', and ''bāśe'' are alternative spellings for the Tulu word ''bāse'' in the Kannada script. The correct spelling for the word " ...
.
Two Tulu epics named ''Sri Bhagavato'' and ''Kaveri'' from the 17th century were also written in the same script.
The Tulu language is known for its
oral literature in the form of epic poems called ''pardana''. The ''
Epic of Siri
The ''Siri Sandhi'' also Siri Paddana (pronounced: ''Siri Paadhdhana'') or ''Epic of Siri'' is an epic poem in the Tulu language. Consisting of 15,683 lines of poetry, it is the longest poem in Tulu. The epic is essentially a biography of a leg ...
'' and the legend of
Koti and Chennayya belong to this category of Tulu literature.
Classification
Tulu belongs to the southern branch of the family of
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 i ...
. It descends directly from Proto-South Dravidian, which in turn descends directly from
Proto-Dravidian, the hypothesized language from which all extant Dravidian languages ultimately descend. The Tulu language originates in the southern part of India.
Etymology
Linguist
P. Gururaja Bhat
Paduru Gururaja Bhat (1924 – 27 August, 1978) was a teacher, historian and archaeologistPedarapu Chenna Reddy and Inguva Karthikeya Sarma, ''Mahāsenasiri: Riches of Indian Archaeological & Cultural Studies: A felicitation volume in honour of ...
specified in ''Tulunadu'' (a research book) that originated from the word (), where means 'cow' and refers to the place dominated by the or cowherd ().
Linguist
Purushottama Bilimale (ಪುರುಷೋತ್ತಮ ಬಿಳಿಮಲೆ) has suggested that the word means 'that which is connected with water'. (
jackfruit) means 'watery' in Tulu. Other water-related words in Tulu include , , , , , and . In Kannada, there are words such as meaning 'that which has characteristics of water' and .
Official status
Tulu is not an official language of India or any other country. Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. In December 2009, during the First Vishwa Tulu Sammelan organized at Ujire-Dharmastala, then Karnataka Chief Minister
B. S. Yediyurappa promised to send a fresh proposal on including the Tulu language in the eighth schedule of the constitution. In August 2017, an online campaign was organized to include Tulu in 8th schedule of constitution In October 2017, when prime minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...
, visited
Dharmasthala Temple the same demand was presented in front of him. Similarly, in 2018, a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
from the
Kasargod constituency,
P. Karunakaran
P. Karunakaran (born 20 April 1945) is an Indian communist politician and a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India.
He represented the Kasargod constituency of Kerala and is a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) political p ...
, also raised the same demand for inclusion of Tulu language in the 8th schedule of the constitution. On 19 February 2020, Vedavyas Kamath who is a member of the
Mangaluru (south) segment of the Legislative Assembly, submitted a memorandum to chief minister B. S. Yediyurappa and to the minister for tourism, Kannada and culture, C. T. Ravi, seeking official status for the Tulu language. In February 2020, another MLA from Moodbidri Umanath Kotian urged the state government to put pressure on the union government to add the Tulu language to the eighth schedule during the assembly session. In July 2021, members of the three main parties in Karnataka politics: BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), lent their support to the idea.
History
The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 7th and 8th century AD. These inscriptions are in the Tulu script and are found in areas in and around
Barkur which was the capital of Tulu Nadu during the
Vijayanagar period. Another group of inscriptions is found in the ''Ullur'' ''Subrahmanya'' Temple near
Kundapura. Many linguists like S.U. Panniyadi and
L. V. Ramaswami Iyer
L. Vishwanatha Ramaswami Iyer (25 October 1895 – 31 January 1948), popularly known as L. V. R, was an Indian linguist who specialized in Dravidian languages. He is remembered as a pioneer of Malayalam and Tulu linguistics.
Personal life ...
as well as P.S. Subrahmanya suggested that Tulu is among the oldest languages in the Dravidian family which branched independently from its Proto-Dravidian roots nearly 2500 years ago. This assertion is based on the fact that Tulu still preserves many aspects of the
Proto-Dravidian language.
This dating of Tulu is also based on the fact that the region where Tulu is natively spoken was known to the ancient Tamils as Tulu Nadu. Also, the
Tamil poet Mamular who belongs to the Sangam Age (200 BCE) describes Tulu Nadu and its dancing beauties in one of his poems.
In the
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 ...
Halmidi inscriptions, one finds mention of the Tulu country as the kingdom of the
Alupas
The Alupa dynasty (ಅಳುಪೆರ್, ಆಳ್ವೆರ್) (circa 2nd century C.E to 15th century C.E) was an ancient ruling dynasty of India. The kingdom they ruled was known as ''Alvakheda Arusasira'' and its territory spanned the coa ...
. The region was also known to the Greeks of the 2nd century as ''Tolokoyra'' (Tulu Country). The
Charition mime, a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
play belonging to the 2nd century BC, has its plot centered around the coastal Karnataka, where Tulu is mainly spoken. The play is mostly in Greek, but the
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n characters in the play are seen speaking a language different from Greek. There is considerable ambiguity regarding the Indian language in the play, though all scholars agree the Indian language is Dravidian, there is considerable dispute over which form of it. Noted German Indologist
E. Hultzsch (1857–1927) was the first to suggest that the language was Dravidian. The dispute regarding the language in the play is yet to be settled, but scholars agree that the dispute arises from the fact that Old Kannada, Old Tamil, and Tulu during the time when the play was written were perhaps dialectical variations of the same
proto-language
In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unatte ...
, and that over the years they evolved into their present forms as separate languages.
Status
Found largely in Karnataka, it is spoken primarily within the Indian state. Dating back several hundred years, the language has developed numerous defining qualities. The Tulu people follow a saying which promotes leaving negative situations and finding newer, more positive ones. The language, however, is not as popular as others which means it could become endangered and extinct very soon. The influence of other mainstream languages is a present danger for the Tulu language. Today, it is spoken by nearly 1.8 million people around the globe. Large parts of the language are altered and changed constantly because it is commonly passed down through oral tradition. Oral traditions within Tulu have meant that certain phrases have not always maintained the same meaning or importance.
Geographic distribution

According to
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...
works like the
Keralolpathi, the region stretching from the
Chandragiri river
The Chandragiri River also known as Perumpuzha River is the longest river in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. It was named after the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya.
The 17th century Chandragiri Fort is located on the river.
Perumpuzha r ...
, now part of the
Kasaragod district
Kasaragod ( and Malayalam: , English: ''Kassergode'', Tulu: ''Kasrod'', Arabic: ''Harkwillia'') is one of the 14 districts in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its northern border Thalappady is located just 10 km south to Ullal, ...
, Kerala, to
Gokarna, now part of
Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, was ruled by the Alupas and was known as Alva Kheda. This kingdom was the homeland of the Tulu-speaking people.
However, the present-day Tulu linguistic majority area is confined to the region of
Tulu Nadu, which comprises the districts of part of
Dakshina Kannada and
Udupi in the Indian state of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...
and the northern part of Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the river Payaswani, also known as Chandragiri. The cities of
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...
, Udupi and
Kasaragod are the centres of Tulu culture.
Even today Tulu is widely spoken in the Dakshina Kannada, partially in
Udupi district of Karnataka state and to some extent in Kasaragod of Kerala. Efforts are also being made to include Tulu in the list of
official languages of India. As a whole, Tulu is largely contained to the southern part of India. The Indian state of Karnataka is where the language seems to thrive in the present day. Some of the major cities within the Tulu culture include Mangalore and Kasaragod.
Writing system

The various historical inscriptions of Tulu found around Barkur and Kundapura are in the
Tigalari script. Historically, Brahmins of Tulu Nadu and
Havyaka Brahmins used the Tigalari script to write
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
and other
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
works. The Tigalari script is descended from the
Brahmi
Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' o ...
through the
Grantha script. It is a sister script of the
Malayalam script. However, very few works written in vernacular languages like Kannada and Tulu are available. Hence, the Tigalari script was employed by Tulu Brahmins to write Tulu and Kannada languages apart from the Kannada script. The National Mission for Manuscripts has conducted several workshops on this script with the help of a scholar, Keladi Gunda Jois. In the 18th century, the use of the Kannada script for writing Tulu and non-availability of print in the Tigalari script contributed to the marginalization of the Tigalari script. The script is studied by few scholars and manuscriptologists for research and religious purposes. The
Kannada script
The Kannada script ( IAST: ''Kannaḍa lipi''; obsolete: Kanarese or Canarese script in English) is an abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write Kannada, one of the Dravidian languages of South India especially in the state of Karnataka. ...
has become the contemporary script for the Tulu language gradually. All contemporary works and literature are done in the Kannada script.
The Tulu alphabet resembles the Malayalam script in many ways. It is also similar to many characters found in the Tigalari alphabet. This is from the same region in the state of Karnataka. The Tigalari and Kannada alphabets include a stress on vowels with "a" and "o" sounds. Other vowels include sounds such as "au" "am" and "ah". Numerous consonants have their own origin from the Dravidian languages like "kha" "gha" "dha" and "jha". These are derived from the Tigalari alphabet.
Dialects
Tulu language has four dialects, which are broadly similar, with slight variations.
The four dialects are:
;Common Tulu
:Spoken by the majority includes the
Bunts,
Billava,
Mogaveera, Tulu Madivala (Madialnakl),
Tulu Gowda,
Kulala,
Devadiga,
Jogi,
Padmashali communities and others. This is the dialect of commerce, trade and entertainment and is mainly used for inter-community communication. It is further subdivided into seven groups:
:#Northwest Tulu: spoken in
Udupi
:#Central Tulu: spoken in
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...
:#Northeast Tulu: spoken in
Karkala and
Belthangady
:#Northern Tulu: spoken in
Kundapura, also known as
KundaTulu because of
Kundagannada dialect influence
:#Southwest Tulu: spoken in
Manjeshwar and
Kasaragod, known as Kasaragod Tulu influencing Malayalam
:#Southcentral Tulu: spoken in
Bantwal
:#Southeast Tulu: Spoken in
Puttur Sullia and in some villages/Taluks of Coorg (Kodagu).
:#Southern Tulu: spoken in South of
Kasaragod and
Payaswini (Chandragiri) river influencing Malayalam known as Thenkaayi Tulu
;Brahmin Tulu
:Spoken by the Tulu Brahmins who are subdivided into
Shivalli Brahmins,
Sthanika Brahmins and
Tuluva Hebbars
Tuluva Hebbars are a Tulu-speaking Brahmin community from Karnataka, India. The name "Hebbar" comes from the Kannada, "hebbu/hiridhu" (meaning big) + "haruva" (meaning Brahmin).
The Tuluva Hebbar community is originally from Puttur, Dakshina ...
. It is more influenced by Sanskrit.
;Jain dialect
:Spoken by the
Tulu Jains. It is a dialect where the initial letters 'T' and 'S' have been replaced by the letter 'H'. For example, the word is pronounced as , is pronounced as .
;Adivasi dialect
:Spoken by the
Koraga, Mansa, and other tribals of Tulu Nadu
Phonology
Vowels
Five short and five long vowels (''a'', ''ā'', ''e'', ''ē'', ''u'', ''ū'', ''i'', ''ī'', ''o'', ''ō'') are common in Dravidian languages. Like
Kodava Takk
The Kodava (''Kodava takk'', meaning 'speech of Kodavas', in the Kodava language, alternate name: Coorgi, Kodagu) is an endangered Dravidian language and it is spoken in Kodagu district in Southern Karnataka, India. The term Kodava has ...
(and also like
Konkani and
Sinhala), Tulu also has an like vowel, generally occurring word-finally which is from the old ai. The Kannada script does not have a symbol to specifically represent this vowel, which is often written as a normal ''e''.
[Bhat (1998), p. 163.] For example, the first person singular form and the third person singular masculine of a verb are spelled identically in all tenses, both ending in ''e'', but are pronounced differently: the terminating ''e'' in the former sounds nearly like ‘a’ in the English word ‘man’ ( , "I make"), while that in the latter like ‘e’ in ‘men’ ( , "he makes").
In his grammar of 1932, S. U. Paniyadi used a special vowel sign to denote Tulu /ɛ/ in the Kannada script: according to Bhat, he used two s for this purpose (usually, a means the crest that a Kannada character like has), and the same convention was adopted by Upadhyaya in his 1988 Tulu Lexicon.
The long counterpart of this vowel occurs in some words.
[Bhat (1998), p. 161.] In all dialects, the pair /e/ and /ɛ/ contrasts.
Additionally, like Kodava Takk and
Toda, and like Malayalam and Tamil , Tulu has an -like vowel (or
schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English ...
) as a
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...
, which is
romanized as ''ŭ'' (ISO), ''ɯ'', or ''u̥''. Both J. Brigel and A. Männer say that it is pronounced like ''e'' in the French ''je''. Bhat describes this phoneme as /ɯ/. However, if it is like Malayalam "half-u", or may be a better description. /ɛ/ formed from previous ai and previous /u/ split into modern /u, ɯ/; long versions of /ɛ, ɯ/ are extremely restricted. In the Kannada script, Brigel and Männer used a
virama
Virama ( ्) is a Sanskrit phonological concept to suppress the inherent vowel that otherwise occurs with every consonant letter, commonly used as a generic term for a codepoint in Unicode, representing either
# halanta, hasanta or explicit virā ...
(halant), , to denote this vowel. Bhat says a is used for this purpose, but apparently he too means a virama.
Consonants
The following are consonant phonemes in Tulu:
The contrast between and is preserved in the South Common dialect and in the Brahmin dialect, but is lost in several dialects.
Additionally, the Brahmin dialect has and . Aspirated consonants are sometimes used in the Brahmin dialect, but are not phonemic.
In the
Koraga and
Holeya dialects, ''s'' and ''ś'' merge with ''c'' (the Koraga dialect of the Tulu language is different from the Koraga language).
Word-initial consonant clusters are rare and occur mainly in Sanskrit loanwords.
Grammar
Morphology
Tulu has five
parts of speech:
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Organism, Living creatures (including people ...
s (substantives and
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...
s),
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would n ...
s, numerals,
verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
s, and
particle
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, fro ...
s.
Substantives have three
grammatical gender
In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...
s (masculine, feminine, and neuter), two
numbers (singular and plural), and eight
cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative or instrumental, communicative, and vocative). According to Bhat, Tulu has two distinct locative cases. The communicative case is used with verbs like ''tell'', ''speak'', ''ask'', ''beseech'', ''inquire'', and denotes at whom a message, an inquiry, or a request is aimed, as in "I told ''him''." or "I speak ''to them''." It is also used to denote the relationship with whom it is about, in a context like "I am on good terms ''with him''." or "I have nothing ''against him''." Bhat calls it the
sociative case. It is somewhat similar to the
comitative case, but different in that it denotes communication or relationship, not physical companionship. The plural suffix is ''-rŭ'', ''-ḷu'', ''-kuḷu'', or ''-āḍḷu''; as in ('table'), ('tables'). The nominative case is unmarked, while the remaining cases are expressed by different suffixes.
The following table shows the declension of a noun, based on Brigel and Bhat (''u̥'' used by Brigel and ''ɯ'' used by Bhat are both shown as ''ŭ'' for clarity): when two forms are given, the one in parentheses is by Bhat, and the other is by Brigel. Some of these differences may be dialectal variations.
The personal pronouns are irregularly inflected: 'I' becomes ''yen-'' in
oblique cases. Tulu makes the distinction between the
inclusive and exclusive ''we'' (see
''Clusivity: Dravidian languages''): 'we (including you)' as opposed to 'we (not including you)'.
[Brigel (1872), p. 33.] For verbs, this distinction does not exist. The personal pronouns of the second person are (oblique: ) 'you (singular)' and 'you (plural)'. Three genders are distinguished in the third person, as well as proximate and remote forms. For example, 'he (proximate)', 'he (remote)'. The suffix ''-rŭ'' makes a polite form of personal pronouns, as in 'you (respectfully)', 'he (remote; respectfully)'.
Postpositions are used usually with a noun in the genitive case, as in 'on the hill'.
Tulu verbs have three forms:
active,
causative
In linguistics, a causative ( abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...
, and
reflexive (or middle voice).
They
conjugate for
person
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
, number, gender,
tense (present, past,
pluperfect, future, and
future perfect),
mood
Mood may refer to:
*Mood (psychology), a relatively long lasting emotional state
Music
*The Mood, a British pop band from 1981 to 1984
* Mood (band), hip hop artists
* ''Mood'' (Jacquees album), 2016
* ''Moods'' (Barbara Mandrell album), 1978
...
(indicative, imperative, conditional, infinitive, potential, and subjunctive), and
polarity
Polarity may refer to:
Science
* Electrical polarity, direction of electrical current
* Polarity (mutual inductance), the relationship between components such as transformer windings
* Polarity (projective geometry), in mathematics, a duality of o ...
(positive and negative).
Syntax
Each sentence is composed of a subject and a predicate and every sentence is a full speech or thought in words. There is both singular and plural while being expressed in first through third person. There are several exceptions to each of these depending on the instance. For example: the verb has to be in a plural style if there are numerous nominatives within a sentence or of different genders that agree with the previous sentence. The verb may also be omitted in some sentences. Present tense and past tense may change and their perception.
Written literature
The written literature of Tulu is not as large as the literature of other literary Dravidian languages such as Tamil. Nevertheless, Tulu is one of only five literary Dravidian languages, the other four being
Tamil,
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
,
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 ...
and
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...
. The earliest available Tulu literature that survives to this date is the Tulu translation of the great
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
epic of
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
called (). It was written by ''Arunabja'' (1657 AD), a poet who lived in
Kodavur
Kodavooru is a small town belonging to the temple city of Udupi in Karnataka, India. Home to Lord Shankaranarayana Temple and many other small sacred Hindu temples, it has a long history of its own.
History
Legend has it that Kroda Muni, a ...
near
Udupi around the late 14th to early 15th century AD.
Other important literary works in Tulu are:
*
Devi Mahatmyam's () 1200 AD – Tulu translation
* Sri Bhagavata () 1626 AD – written by Vishnu Tunga
* Kaveri (1391 AD)
This script was mainly used to write religious and literary works in Sanskrit.
[http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf ][Burnell (1874), p. 35.] Even today the official script of the eight Tulu monasteries (
Ashta Mathas of Udupi
The Tulu Ashta Mathas of Udupi ( kn, ಉಡುಪಿಯ ತುಳು ಅಷ್ಟ ಮಠಗಳು) are a group of eight '' mathas'' or Hindu monasteries established by Madhvacharya, the preceptor of the Dvaita school of Hindu thought with hi ...
) founded by
Madhvacharya
Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the '' Dvaita'' (dualism) sch ...
in Udupi is Tulu.
The pontiffs of the monasteries write their names using this script when they are appointed.
Modern-day Tulu literature is written using the Kannada script. ''Mandara Ramayana'' is the most notable piece of modern Tulu literature. Written by Mandara Keshava Bhatt, it received the
Sahitya Akademi Award for best poetry. ''Madipu'', ''Mogaveera'', ''Saphala'' and ''Samparka'' are popular Tulu periodicals published from Mangalore. The Tulu Sahitya Academy, established by the state government of Karnataka in 1994, as also the Kerala Tulu Academy established by the Indian State Government of Kerala in
Manjeshwaram in 2007, are important governmental organisations that promote Tulu literature. Nevertheless, there are numerous organisations spread all over the world with significant Tulu-migrated populations that contribute to Tulu literature. Some notable contributors to Tulu literature are
Kayyar Kinhanna Rai,
M. K. Seetharam Kulal
M. K. Seetharam Kulal (1940 – 28 July 2019) was an Indian Tulu-Kannada dramatist known for his work in the field of Tulu-Kannada dramas and also in the Tulu film world. He has given several skit performances at Sri Sharav Maha Ganapathi Templ ...
, Amruta Someshwara, B. A. Viveka Rai, Kedambadi Jattappa Rai, Venkataraja Puninchattaya, Paltadi Ramakrishna Achar, Dr. Sunitha M. Shetty, Dr. Vamana Nandavara, Sri. Balakrishna Shetty Polali.
Tulu-Book-Kaveri.jpg, One of the old Tulu works ''Kaveri''
Tulu-Book-Mahabharato.jpg, One of the old Tulu works ''Mahabharato''
File:Tulu-Book-Shree-Bhagavato.jpg, One of the old Tulu works ''Shree Bhagavato''
File:Tulu-Book-Mandara-Ramayana.jpg, ''Mandara Ramayana''
Oral traditions
The oral traditions of Tulu are one of the major traditions that greatly show the finer aspects of the language. The following are various forms of Tulu oral tradition and literature.
*
Paddanas: A form of oral
epic poem sung in a highly stylised manner during the
Hindu rituals of
Bhuta Kola and
Nagaradhane, which are peculiar to the Tulu people. These Paddanas are mostly legends about gods or historical personalities among the people. The longest of them being
Siri Paddana, which is about a woman called Siri who shows strength and integrity during adverse times and in turn attains divinity. The Paddana greatly depicts the independent nature of the Tulu womenfolk. The entire Paddana was written down by
Finnish scholar
Lauri Honko of the
University of Turku and it falls four lines short of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...
's
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
.
*Riddles: They are another important aspect of Tulu oral traditions. These riddles are largely tongue twisting and mostly deal with kinship and agriculture.
*
Bhajans: Bhajans sung in numerous temples across the Tulu region are varied and are dedicated to various gods and goddesses. Most of these are of the Hindu tradition, others being
Jain. They are sung in both the
Carnatic style as well a style similar to what is used in
Yakshagana.
*Kabitol: Songs sung during the cultivation of crops, the traditional occupation of the people. O Bele is considered the finest among them.
Theatre

Theatre in the form of the traditional
Yakshagana, prevalent in coastal Karnataka and northern Kerala has greatly preserved the finer aspects of the Tulu language. Yakshagana which is conducted in Tulu is very popular among the Tuluva people. It can also be seen as a form of temple art, as there are many Yakshagana groups that are attached to temples, for example that of
Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple as also the
Udupi Krishna Temple.
Presently, eight professional Yakshagana troupes perform Tulu-language Yakshagana not only during the Yakshagana season but also during the off-season in various places in Karnataka and outside. In
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
, Tulu Yakshagana is very popular among the Tulu audiences. More than 2,000 Yakshagana artistes take part in the performance in various places in Mumbai annually. Notable performers include Kalladi Koraga Shetty, Pundur Venkatraja Puninchathaya, Guru Bannanje Sanjiva Suvarna and Pathala Venkatramana Bhat.
Tulu plays are among the major entertainment for admirers of art and culture in Tulu Nadu. Tulu plays, generally centered on the comic genre, are very popular in Mumbai and
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
outside Tulu Nadu.
Tulu cinema
The
Tulu cinema industry is fairly small; it produces around five films annually. The first film, ''Enna Thangadi'', was released in 1971. Usually these films are released in theatres across the Tulu Nadu region and on DVD. The critically acclaimed film ''
Suddha'' won the award for Best Indian Film at the
Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...
in 2006. As of 2015, ''
Oriyardori Asal'' (2011) has been the most commercially successful Tulu film.
Chaali Polilu
''Chaali Polilu'' is a Tulu language film directed by Virendra Shetty Kavoor starring Devadas Kapikad, Naveen D Padil and Bhojaraj Vamanjoor in lead roles. Chaali Polilu is produced under the banner of Jayakirana films by Prakash Pandeshwar.The ...
is the longest-running film in Tulu film history, as well as the highest-grossing film in the Tulu film industry. It has successfully completed 470 days at
PVR Cinemas
PVR Ltd (formerly Priya Village Roadshow Ltd), doing business as PVR Cinemas, is an Indian multiplex chain based in Gurgaon. PVR pioneered the multiplex revolution in India by establishing the first multiplex cinema in 1997 at Saket, New Delh ...
in Mangalore. The 2014 film ''
Madime'' was reported to be remade in Marathi, thereby becoming the first Tulu film to be remade in another language. ''Shutterdulai'' was the first remake in Tulu cinema. ''
Eregla Panodchi'' is the second remake in Tulu cinemas. A suit for damages of Rs. 25 lakh was filed against the makers of the Telugu film ''
Brahmotsavam'' for copying the first 36 seconds of the song by Dr. Vamana Nandaavara found in the ''Deepanalike'' CD composed for the Siri channel. ''Prajavani'' reported that with its dubbing rights sold to Hindi for Rs. 21 lakh, the 2018 movie ''
Umil
''Umil'' is a Tulu language film directed by Ranjith suvarna
Ranjit or Renjith may refer to:
Religion
* Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam (born 1966), Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colombo
* Malcolm Ranjit ...
'' became the first Tulu movie to achieve the feat. Ashwini Kotiyan (Chaya Harsha) became the first female director in the Tulu industry after directing and releasing her first movie ''Namma Kudla''.
''Brahmashree Narayana Guruswamy'' released on 2 May 2014 was the 50th Tulu film. ''Panoda Bodcha'' marked the 75th release anniversary of a Tulu film.
The 100th Tulu movie ''Karne'' was released on 16 November 2018.
Guddada Bhootha, a television series aired in 1990, was one of the successful ventures of Tulu entertainment. This mini-series has a suspense storyline based on a Tulu drama, showing the country life of
Tulu Nadu region of India. It was one of the popular TV series of that time. This series has a very famous title song ''Dennana Dennana'' sung by
B. R. Chaya
Bengaluru Ramamurthy Chaya, known as B. R. Chaya, is an Indian, Kannada playback singer, stage performer and a popular Sugama Sangeetha singer from Karnataka state. She has performed pop, folk, devotional and bhavageethe (light music). She is ...
. This song along with the music were used in
Rangitaranga, a
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 ...
movie.
Centres of Tulu study and research
Tulu as a language continues to thrive in coastal Karnataka and Kasaragod in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...
.
Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, an institute established by the state government of Karnataka in 1994, has introduced Tulu as a language in schools around coastal Karnataka, including Alva's High School,
Moodbidri; Dattanjaneya High School, Odiyoor; Ramakunjeshwara English-medium High School, Ramakunja; and Vani Composite Pre-University College, Belthangady. Initially started in 16 schools, the language is now taught in over 33 schools, of which 30 are in Dakshina Kannada district. More than 1500 students have opted to study this language.
The Government of Kerala established the
Kerala Tulu Academy in 2007. The academy focuses on the retrieval and propagation of Tulu language and culture in Kerala through various activities such as organising seminars and publishing Tulu periodicals, etc. The academy is based in Hosangadi, Manjeshwar in Kasaragod.
Tulu is also taught as a language at the post-graduate level in
Mangalore University, and there is a dedicated department for Tulu studies, translation and research at
Dravidian University in
Kuppam Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...
.The Government Degree College at Kasaragod in Kerala also introduced a certificate course in Tulu for the academic year 2009–2010. It has also introduced Tulu as an optional subject in its Kannada post-graduation course. It has adopted syllabi from the books published by the Tulu Sahitya Academy.
German missionaries Kammerer and Männer were the first people to conduct research on the language. Kammerer collected about 3,000 words and their meanings before his death. Later his work was carried on by Männer, who completed the research and published the first dictionary of the Tulu language in 1886 with the help of the then-Madras government. The effort was incomplete, as it did not cover all aspects of the language. The Govinda Pai Research Centre at MGM College, Udupi started an 18-year Tulu lexicon project in the year 1979.
Different
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...
s, special vocabularies used for different occupational activities, rituals, and folk literature in the forms of
Paād-danāas
Būta Kōlā,/buːt̪ʌ/ is the local pronunciation while the standardised Kannada pronunciation is /bʱuːt̪ʌ koːlɑː/ also referred to as daiva kōlā or nēmā, is a ritual dance performance prevalent among the Hindus of Tulu Nadu a ...
were included in this project. The Centre has also released a six-volume, trilingual, modestly priced Tulu-Kannada-English lexicon. The Tulu
lexicon was awarded the Gundert Award for the best
dictionary in the country in 1996. In September 2011, the Academic Council of Mangalore University accepted a proposal, to allow the university and the colleges affiliated to it to offer certificates, diplomas and postgraduate diploma courses in Tulu, both in regular and correspondence modes
See also
*
Gokak agitation
*
List of Tulu films
*
Aliya Kattu
Notes
References
Further reading
*
Caldwell, R., ''
A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian family of languages'', London: Harrison, 1856.; Reprinted London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., ltd., 1913; rev. ed. by J. L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai, Madras, University of Madras, 1961, reprint Asian Educational Services, 1998.
* C. (1875). ''
A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian family of languages''. London: Trübner and Co., Ludgate Hill.
*
Danielou, Alain (1985), ''Histoire de l'Inde'', Fayard, Paris.
* Hall, Edith (2002), "The singing actors of antiquity" in Pat Easterling & Edith Hall, ed., ''Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
*
Lauri Honko, ''Textualisation of Oral Epics''.
* William Pais, ''Land Called South Canara''.
* Bhat, S.L. ''A Grammar of Tulu: a Dravidian language''.
* Männer, A. ''Tuḷu-English dictionary'', Mangalore: Printed at the Basel Mission Press 1886
* Männer, A. ''English-Tuḷu dictionary'', Mangalore: Printed at the Basel Mission Press 1888
* Brigel, J. ''A Grammar of the Tulu language'', Mangalore, published by C. Stolz, Basel Mission Book & Tract Depository, 1872
*
* Bhat D. N. S. (1967). Descriptive analysis of Tulu. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.
*
Vinson, Julien (1878), , Maisonneuve et cie., Paris
*
Burnell, Arthur Coke (1874), ''Elements of South-Indian Palæography from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D.'', Trübner & Co.
*
Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003), ''The Dravidian Languages'', Cambridge University Press.
* G., L. R. (2013). Elements of comparative philology. Place of publication not identified: Hardpress Ltd.
* Bhatt, S. L. (2005). A grammar of Tulu: a Dravidian language. Thiruvananthapuram: Dravidian linguistics association.
* Goddard, C. (2009). The languages of East and Southeast Asia: an introduction. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Padmanabha, Kekunnaya. K. (1994). A comparative study of Tulu dialects. Udupi.
* Narayana, S. B. (1967). Descriptive analysis of Tulu. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.
* Upadhyaya, U. P. (n.d.). Tulu Lexicon: Tulu-Kannada-English Dictionary. Udupi.
* Aiyar, L. R. (1936). Materials for a sketch of Tulu phonology. Lahore.
*
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External links
Official Website of Karnataka Government's Tulu AcademyTuluver.comKopparige Tulu Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tulu Language
Dravidian languages
Udupi
Culture of Kasaragod district
Agglutinative languages
Vowel-harmony languages
Dakshina Kannada district
Tulu Nadu
Culture of Tulu Nadu