Kota language (India)

Kota
Kō mānt
Native to India
Region Nilgiri Hills
Ethnicity Kotas
Native speakers
 930 (2001 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 kfe
Glottolog kota1263[2]

Kota is a language of the Dravidian language family with about 900 native speakers in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu state, India. It is spoken mainly by the tribal Kota people. In the late 19th century, the native speaking population was about 1,100.[3] In 1990, the population was only 930, out of an ethnic population of perhaps 1,400, despite the great increase in the population of the area.[1] The language is 'critically endangered' due to the greater social status of neighbouring languages.[4] The Kota language may have originated from Old Kannada and is closely related to Toda. The Kota population is about 2500. The origin of the name Kota is derived from the Dravida root word 'Ko' meaning Mountain.[5][6]

Phonology

Consonants[7]
Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless p t̪ t ʈ c (t͡ʃ) k
voiced b d̪ d ɖ ɟ (d͡ʒ) ɡ
Nasal m n̪ ɳ ɲ
Approximant central ʋ j
lateral l m
Tap ɾ ɽ
Fricative ɳ

[ɳ] and [z] occur in free variation with /c (t͡ʃ)/ and /ɟ (d͡ʒ)/. [ʂ] occurs as an allophone of /ɳ/ before retroflexes.

References

  1. 1 2 Kota at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Kota (India)". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Caldwell, Robert. 1875. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages. London: Trübner & Company
  4. ↑ Prema, S. n.d. "Status of Dravidian Tribal Languages in Kerala" University of Kerala
  5. ↑ Raju, Jamuna (30 June 2012). "The Kota Tribes of Nilgiris". Breeks Chatter.
  6. ↑ Narasimhacharya, R. (1990). History of Kannada Language. New Delhi, Madras: Asian Educational Services. p. 37. ISBN 9788120605596.
  7. ↑ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian languages (null ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-511-06037-3.

Further reading

External links

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