- Official language in
- India
- Script
- Kannada
Where it's spoken
Kannada is the official language of the Indian state of Karnataka: the state's Official Language Act provides that the official language of the State of Karnataka shall be Kannada. The same Act also provides that English continues to be used for the official purposes of the State for which it was used before the Act began, until the state government directs otherwise by notification.
Sources
Script & pronunciation
Unicode describes the Kannada script as a South Indian script used to write the Kannada language of the state of Karnataka in India. Unicode says the South Indian scripts are derived from Brahmi and share many structural characteristics. Its introduction to the scripts of South Asia says they are all abugidas in which most symbols stand for a consonant plus an inherent vowel. For Kannada, Unicode says the halant, also known as the virama or vowel omission sign, nominally serves to suppress the inherent vowel of the consonant to which it is applied. This app's card ನೀವು ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತೀರಾ? (Nīvu iṃgliṣ mātanāḍuttīrā?, "Do you speak English?") shows the app's romanization, which marks long vowels and retroflex consonants with diacritics and writes the nasal sign as ṃ. This app's card ಹೇಗಿದ್ದೀರಿ? (Hēgiddīri?, "How are you?") is written as one word, because ಹೇಗೆ and ಇದ್ದೀರಿ fuse in writing.
Sources
- The Unicode Standard, Version 16.0.0 — Core Specification, Chapter 12: South and Central Asia-I: Official Scripts of India — Chapter 12 introduction; 12.8 Kannada (12.8.1, 12.8.2)
Grammar essentials
Kannada's basic word order is subject–object–verb, and it uses postpositions rather than prepositions. This app's card ನನಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ (Nanage kannaḍa gottilla, "I don't know Kannada") is explained in its card note as "to-me + knowledge + not" (ನನಗೆ … ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ), where ಗೊತ್ತು and ಇಲ್ಲ fuse into the single word ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. This app's card ನನ್ನ ಹೆಸರು ___ (Nanna hesaru ___, "My name is ___") needs no verb, according to its card note: just "my name" followed by the name. The note on the app's card ನೀವು ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೀರಿ? (Nīvu elliṃda baṃdiddīri?, "Where have you come from?") says the question word ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ stays before the verb. The note on the app's card ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತೀರಾ? (Dayaviṭṭu iṃgliṣinalli mātanāḍuttīrā?, "Could you please speak in English?") says a yes/no question ends the verb in -ಆ.
Sources
- WALS Online — Dryer, Matthew S., "Order of Subject, Object and Verb" (Feature 81A), Kannada datapoint — Kannada datapoint (value SOV)
- WALS Online — Dryer, Matthew S., "Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase" (Feature 85A), Kannada datapoint — Kannada datapoint (value Postpositions)
Politeness & etiquette
Kannada distinguishes the pronoun ನೀವು (nīvu) from ನೀನು (nīnu). A typological survey (WALS) describes ನೀವು as used to express politeness to higher-ranking people and among equals who do not know each other very well, and describes ನೀನು as used among equals who are intimate and to address lower-ranking people. The same survey lists further honorific second-person forms, one of them described as ultrahonorific. This app's card for ನೀವು translates it as "You (polite)" (Nīvu). The note on the app's card ನೀವು ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತೀರಾ? says never to use the familiar ನೀನು with strangers. The note on the app's card ಹೇಗಿದ್ದೀರಿ? says the ending -ಈರಿ goes with the polite ನೀವು.
Sources
- WALS Online — Helmbrecht, Johannes, "Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns" (Feature 45A), Kannada datapoint — Kannada datapoint, Notes (ni:vu, ni:nu, further 2nd-person forms)