# Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ)
**Kannada** (ಕನ್ನಡ, [ˈkɐnːɐɖa]; also called Kanarese or Canarese) is a Southern Dravidian language spoken mainly in the Indian state of [Karnataka](https://www.edgepedia.org/karnataka), where it is the official language, and it is one of the four main [Dravidian languages](https://www.edgepedia.org/dravidian-languages)[1](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_knd) • [2](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada) • [3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada). It is listed in the [Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India](https://www.edgepedia.org/eighth-schedule-to-the-constitution-of-india) and holds statutory provincial status in Karnataka[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7) • [5](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Classification | Southern Dravidian; one of the four main Dravidian languages[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada) • [3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada) |
| Codes and names | ISO 639-3 `kan`; Glottocode `nucl1305`; WALS code `knd`; alternate names include Havyaka, Kanarese, Canarese[1](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_knd) • [7](http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/kan) |
| Speakers | About 56.9 million per India's 2011 Census; published estimates range from about 35 million to more than 50 million[2](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada) • [8](https://snl.no/kannada) • [3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada) |
| Official status | Official language of Karnataka; listed in the Eighth Schedule; EGIDS level 2 (Provincial), classified not endangered[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7) • [5](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305) |
| Earliest attestation | Oldest known Kannada language monuments are inscriptions from the 5th century CE; the Halmidi inscription anchors the experts' classical-language case[8](https://snl.no/kannada) • [9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC) |
| First literary work | *Kavirajamarga* (c. 840 CE) by King Nripatunga, a poetics handbook on the Sanskrit model[8](https://snl.no/kannada) |
| Grammar | Agglutinative; nouns inflect for case, number and gender; seven cases in the Routledge analysis, three to seven depending on the count[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada) • [4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7) |
| Script | The Kannada script stands very close to the Telugu script and is also used for writing Tulu[8](https://snl.no/kannada) • [10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/) |
## Identity and classification
Kannada belongs to the Southern Dravidian branch of the Dravidian family[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada). Cornell University's Department of Asian Studies describes it as one of the four main Dravidian languages[3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada). The language is registered under [ISO 639-3](https://www.edgepedia.org/iso-639-3) as `kan` and Glottolog as `nucl1305`[1](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_knd), and Glottolog records the native name ಕನ್ನಡ[5](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305). English-language references also use the names Kanarese and Canarese[7](http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/kan) • [11](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/kannada).
## Geographic and demographic distribution
Karnataka is the core area: Kannada is the official language of the state, and most Karnataka state government business is conducted in it[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7) • [3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada). Outside Karnataka it is spoken to some extent in the neighboring states of [Andhra Pradesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/andhra-pradesh), Tamil Nadu and [Maharashtra](https://www.edgepedia.org/maharashtra)[10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/) • [8](https://snl.no/kannada) • [11](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/kannada).
Speaker counts differ across credible references. India's 2011 Census gives roughly 56.9 million speakers[2](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada). The [Routledge](https://www.edgepedia.org/routledge) reference gives over 46.7 million people speaking it throughout Karnataka[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7); the Norwegian encyclopedia SNL estimates about 43 million in India[8](https://snl.no/kannada); Cornell says more than 50 million in Karnataka and surrounding regions[3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada); and an undated University of Pennsylvania estimate gives 35,346,000 speakers with about 60 percent literacy[10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/).
## History and periodization
The oldest known Kannada language monuments are inscriptions from the 5th century CE[8](https://snl.no/kannada). Attestation earlier than that is contested: the Karnataka government's experts' report grounds its classical-language case in the Halmidi inscription and cites figures from [Durvinita](https://www.edgepedia.org/durvinita) onward[9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC), while Cornell's program page claims the language is more than 2000 years old and was mentioned in accounts of [Alexander the Great](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-the-great)'s exploits in the 3rd century BC[3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada).
From early centuries the language served courts and literature together. The great dynasties of the region, the Rashtrakuta, Chalukya, Hoysala and [Vijayanagara](https://www.edgepedia.org/vijayanagara), embraced Kannada as the language of their kingdoms[3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada), and Old Kannada was used to articulate political, social and religious ideas; its Vijayanagara capital was a city larger even than Paris in the 16th century[2](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada). Kannada has a literature that dates from the ninth century[10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/).
## Writing system
The [Kannada script](https://www.edgepedia.org/kannada-script) stands very close to the [Telugu script](https://www.edgepedia.org/telugu-script)[8](https://snl.no/kannada). The same script is also used for writing Tulu[10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/).
## Phonology and grammar
Kannada is typologically agglutinative and synthetic: words are built by attaching morphemes in sequence[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada). Its vowel system has three height degrees (close, mid and open) and two length degrees, and the only diphthongs are falling (descending) ones; the language has no labialization or nasalization oppositions[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada).
A distinctive structural feature is the fundamental distinction between independent words and dependent postclitic particles: words stand alone, while clitics attach to them[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7). Nouns inflect for case, number and gender. The Routledge grammar counts seven cases, nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, source, and vocative[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7), while the [Russian Academy of Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-academy-of-sciences) database records three to seven cases depending on the analysis[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada). Genitive marking of possessives is noted in both accounts[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada) • [4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7).
## Dialects and variation
Linguistic catalogs record a set of named varieties. OLAC lists dialect and alternative names including Aine Kuruba, Banglori, Bellary, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Jeinu Kuruba, Kumta, Madrassi and Nanjangud, alongside the language-level names Canarese and Kanarese[7](http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/kan). WALS separately lists Havyaka as an alternate name for the language[1](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_knd).
## Literature and cultural heritage
The classical canon runs in recognizable stages. The oldest literary work is King Nripatunga's *Kavirajamarga* (c. 840 CE), a handbook of poetics on the Sanskrit model[8](https://snl.no/kannada). In the 10th century Pampa wrote the Jain epic *Adipurana* in champu style, a mixture of verse and prose[8](https://snl.no/kannada); the experts' report also names Ponna, Ranna and Nagavarma among the Old Kannada literary figures[9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC).
The [Virashaiva movement](https://www.edgepedia.org/virashaiva-movement) produced the vachana collections, short devotional verse attributed to Basavanna (c. 1160), [Allama Prabhu](https://www.edgepedia.org/allama-prabhu), Devara Dasimayya and Mahadevi[8](https://snl.no/kannada). In the 15th century Kumaravyasa retold the Mahabharata in Kannada, and around 1550 Purandaradasa wrote kirtane songs; yakshagana theater, which draws on this literary tradition, dates from the 18th century[8](https://snl.no/kannada). The experts' report presents this line, from Durvinita through Basavanna, Kumaravyasa and Purandaradasa, together with the Halmidi inscription, the *Kavirajamarga* and the inscriptional corpus, as the evidentiary basis for classical recognition[9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC).
Modern Kannada literature includes Kuvempu's *Shri Ramayana Darshanam*, a retelling of the Ramayana in 23,000 verses; U. R. Anantamurti's novel *Samskara* (1965); the writers Masti Venkatesha Iyengar and D. R. Bendre; and Girish Karnad's play *Tughlaq*[8](https://snl.no/kannada). Translation of novels from English, Bengali and Marathi into Kannada began in the 1920s[8](https://snl.no/kannada).
## Status, policy and official use
Kannada is the official language of Karnataka, and the state's government business is conducted largely in it[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7) • [3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada). Kannada is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7). Glottolog assigns the language EGIDS level 2 (Provincial) and classifies it as not endangered[5](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305).
In 2008 the Government of Karnataka's Department of Kannada & Culture published an experts' report on the recognition of Kannada as a classical language, 296 pages long, with M. Chidananda Murthy and L. S. Seshagiri Rao among the contributors[9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC).
## By the numbers
A consolidated quantitative picture, with the divergences flagged:
- Speakers: 56.9 million (2011 Census)[2](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada); over 46.7 million in Karnataka (Routledge)[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7); about 43 million (SNL)[8](https://snl.no/kannada); more than 50 million (Cornell)[3](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada); 35,346,000 with about 60 percent literacy (undated UPenn estimate)[10](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/).
- Noun cases: seven (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, source, vocative) in the Routledge analysis[4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7); three to seven depending on analysis in the RAS database[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada).
- Vowel system: three height degrees, two length degrees, falling diphthongs only[6](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada).
- Literary landmarks: inscriptions from the 5th century CE; *Kavirajamarga* c. 840; Pampa's *Adipurana* in the 10th century; vachanas around 1160; Kumaravyasa in the 15th century; Purandaradasa c. 1550; yakshagana from the 18th century[8](https://snl.no/kannada).
- Status: EGIDS 2 (Provincial), not endangered; Eighth Schedule listing[5](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305) • [4](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7).
- Classical-language report: 296 pages, published 2008[9](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC).
## References
1. [Kannada, WALS Online (Max Planck Institute)](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_knd)
2. [Kannada, Princeton NLP](https://newnlp.princeton.edu/language/kannada)
3. [Kannada, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University](https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/research/kannada)
4. [Kannaḍa, Routledge language reference chapter](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722580-7)
5. [Kannada, Glottolog 5.3](https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nucl1305)
6. [Kannada language, Languages of the World, Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences](https://langworld-db.iling-ran.ru/en/doculect/kannada)
7. [OLAC resources in and about the Kannada language](http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/kan)
8. [Kannada, Store norske leksikon](https://snl.no/kannada)
9. [Experts' Report Submitted to the Government of Karnataka on the Subject of the Recognition of Kannada as a Classical Language (2008)](https://books.google.com/books?id=HkKivoFzBiQC)
10. [A Grammar of Spoken Kannada, University of Pennsylvania](https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/kannada/)
11. [Kannada, Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/kannada)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Languages and dialects › Named languages by region › Languages of Asia*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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