Classical language status for Kannada still an issue

  Classical language status for Kannada still an issue

Staff Correspondent

Javare Gowda observed a dawn- to-dusk fast here on Saturday

---

A rally will be held in Bangalore to put pressure on the Centre

Two delegations will meet the Prime Minister

and the President

---

MYSORE: It is likely that the issue of according classical language status to Kannada, which has been dormant all these days, will bother the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government which will be sworn in Monday.

The issue resurfaced with former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore and writer D. Javare Gowda (Dejagow) observing a dawn to dusk fast here on Saturday, for the Centre to accede to the demand of according classical language status to Kannada.

Addressing presspersons here, the Padmashree recipient, who recently threatened to return the award if the Centre did not accede to the demand, set January 31 as the deadline for the Union Government to accede to the demand.

He also threatened to launch an indefinite fast in case the demand was not met.

Rally The president of the central committee of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), Narayana Gowda, said that the vedike would be organising a rally in Bangalore to put pressure on the Centre. A State-level convention of the vedike will be held in Bangalore on December 1 to appeal to the people of the State to ensure that the elected representatives put pressure on the Union Government.

Mr. Narayana Gowda said, “Two delegations — one comprising writers and another comprising pontiffs of various maths will be taken to New Delhi and a daylong dharna will be conducted at Jantar Mantar. The members of the delegation will also meet the Prime Minister and President and appeal to them to expedite the matter.” He said that failure on the part of the Centre to accede to the demand would force the vedike to resort to the extreme step of locking Central Government offices across the State and stopping the railways and airlines from functioning.

He urged B.S. Yeddyurappa who will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Monday, to employ every possible strategy to influence the Centre to get the classical language status for Kannada.

“We had taken a delegation to Delhi and conducted a dharna at Jantar Mantar to influence the Union Government. Home Minister Shivaraj Patil had assured us of conceding the demand. However, there is a delay because of the pressure from the Andhra Pradesh Government for classical language status for Telugu. We are not against the Centre granting classical language status to Telugu but that should not come in the way of granting similar status to Kannada,” he said.

Criticising the apathy of Members of Parliament representing the State in safeguarding the State’s interest, Mr. Narayana Gowda said that because of their laidback attitude the State was discriminated against.

“Unless, we lobby for our problems it will be difficult to get justice in the federal system,” he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111257260300.htm

Gangubai’s house in Dharwad renovated

  Gangubai’s house in Dharwad renovated

Staff Correspondent

Heritage building being converted into a museum and music school

---

Gangubai Hangal had sold her house in 1957

Rs. 25 lakh was allocated for acquiring the house

---

A landmark: Renovation work in progress at the house at Shukravarpet in Dharwad, where Gangubai Hangal was born and spent her childhood. DHARWAD: The house in Shukravarpet in Dharwad where Gangubai Hangal was born and spent her childhood days, which was in a dilapidated state, has been renovated and its inauguration will coincide with the Dharwad Zilla Utsav.

The then Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa allocated Rs. 25 lakh for acquiring the house which was almost in ruins and renovating it to preserve it as a heritage building.

Gangubai Hangal had sold her ancestral house in 1957 to Krishnaji Venkatacharya Kittur, who, in turn, sold it to Dasoi Kulkarni in 1963. Dasoi Kulkarni, who had a son and four daughters, died in 1989.

The district administration took up the issue with the legal heirs of the property for acquiring the house, who consented to sell it to the government. The authorities paid Rs. 10 lakh to the legal heirs for the acquisition after which the renovation was taken up.

The authorities proceeded further after it taking the opinion of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) on the renovation of the house and converting it into a heritage building.

Conservation architect Pankaj Moodi and experts from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, gave technical inputs on the renovation, based on which the Nirmiti Kendra, Dharwad began the work.

Deputy Commissioner M.S. Srikar told The Hindu that since a part of the house had collapsed, it had to be reconstructed and every effort had been made to retain the original look. Even the wooden pillars have been retained and some weak pillars were replaced with the same wood, he said. The work has been almost complete and the building will be converted into a museum and a music school within three days.

The main hall and two rooms will have rare photographs related to music and musicians and books on music. One of the rooms would be used for teaching music according to the wish of Gangubai Hangal.

A separate sound system would be installed to provide an ambience of music in the house, he said.

The “heritage building” would be inaugurated on November 16, the inaugural day of the Dharwad Zilla Utsav and would be one of the venues for the exhibitions being held as part of the event.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111256560400.htm

Kannada-The Next Computer Language?By: Ostom Ray

Kannada – The Next Computer Language?

By: Ostom Ray

Kannada, written using the Kannada script is ranked as the 29th most spoken and the 3rd oldest language in the world after Sanskrit and Tamil. It is one of the major Dravidian (of southern India) languages, spoken by 64 million speakers across the globe in its 20 odd various dialects. There are 55 million of them, who claim Kannada as their first language, or the mother tongue.

Kannada, one of the official languages, listed in the constitution of the Republic of India is at the same time the state language of Karnataka, one of India’s four southern or Dravidian language states.

King Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I (850 CE), author of Kavirajamarga, the earliest existing literary work of Kannada poetry refers to the entire area between the Kaveri and Godavari Rivers as Kannada country, implying the language was popular further north in present day Maharashtra. Even today, Kannada, besides Karnataka is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and to a certain extent in Goa too, but it is however, certainly not the language of Canada (official language English and French), which many often mistake with.

Latest in the evolution of Kannada language is use of its characters for computer coding and has thus it has made a special mark for itself, with a promising future in the overall growth of Information Technology in the state as well as the globalised world. It is not a coincidence that one finds harmony and resemblance between the Kannada-speaking and the fastest growing computer-age technology fields.

Already keyboards with Kannada characters are available for coding, where Input is through a transliteration based phonetic layout. Baraha (based on ITRANS) and Nudi, (the Karnataka government’s standard for Kannada transliteration) are two schemes, most often used to type Kannada characters using a standard keyboard.

Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state has recently shot into prominence due to development of everything related to computers from hardware to IT enabled services and therefore earned the distinction of an Indian cyber city, compared to the Silicon Valley. Other countries trying to cash in on IT boom, emulate and often quote Bangalore and Karnataka as examples they would like to follow to build their IT industry.

Kannada has one of the most ancient literatures, not only of South India, but of all India as well. Though, Kannada is approximately more than 2,500 years old, but, the Kannada alphabet has evolved only around 1,900 years ago. Kannada has been categorized into the Proto-Dravidian group of languages on account of its close affinity with Tamil. Kannada base character set, on the other hand has been the source for evolution of Telugu script too, implying its influence over latter’s evolution. The Kannada script is also used in other languages such as Tulu, Kodava Takk and Konkani.

The development cycle of Kannada language has followed the scheme of other Dravidian languages and spoken language evolving before the written system becomes available. Spoken Kannada varies from region to region; the written form rarely changing across the region where it is spoken. However, ethnologues has identified about 20 dialects of Kannada language. All these 20 different dialects are influenced by their regional and cultural background and regional affinity, i.e., spoken only in the particular area, where it has evolved.

Buddha and many of his other contemporaries in India spoke various dialects that were closely or vaguely related to Sanskrit. Some of these dialects like on proto-Tamil, proto-Kannada, etc., had southern Indian influence, while others had Persian and other influences. Significant influence of Buddhism over evolution of Kannada language can be concluded from this fact. Thus, Kannada in its evolution during the later centuries has been greatly affected by Sanskrit vocabulary and literary styles, absorbing many Sanskrit words and phrases.

The Kannada script, derived from Brahmi is syllabic and phonetic. The Kannada character set is almost identical to character sets of other Indian languages. Its, script is a complicated script like scripts of most other Indian languages due to existence of various “half-letters”(Glyphs), or symbols.

Kannada script has 52 basic sounds/ phonemic letters, of which 49 are present in the currently used script. Similar to the vowels and consonants in English language – all 49 characters are divided into three groups: Swaragalu or vowels, numbering 13 characters, 2 Yogavaahakagalu characters and 34 Vyanjanagalu, or consonants.

However, in contrast to a single phoneme in languages like English, every written symbol in the Kannada script corresponds to one particular syllable. Different Kannada characters can be combined to form compound characters (vattaksharas), because of which, the number of written symbols in reality far exceeds 49.

Until the thirteenth century, Kannada literary works used letters ‘rh’, ‘lh (zh)’, which were most likely articulated like to those in present day Malayalam and Tamil . The later Kannada works replaced ‘rh’ and ‘lh’ with a ra and a La respectively. These two characters are absent from the currently used Kannada script.

Another unclassified vyanjana or consonant that has become extinct now is ‘nh’ or ‘inn’. This has been replaced by consonant n (It too has its equivalent in Malayalam and Tamil). It was used until the 1980s in Kannada works of coastal Karnataka, but is hardly used in any major works today.

Kannada language has three gender forms – masculine, feminine, neutral or common, and two number forms – singular and plural. The number forms are based on many factors, including the gender, number and tense, of the subject in reference.

Kannada literature has historically supported every literary novelty that had developed over the ages. This characteristic ensured its primacy and popularity amongst the common people in the Kannada-speaking region. The history of Kannada language can be studied under three phases:
Old (Hale), Middle (Nadu) and Modern (Adhunika) Kannada.

In Old Kannada period, Jainism had a great influence on language, literature and the works of writers of that period. One of Kannada literature’s greatest authors, Pampa lived in our times and he wrote the “Vikramarjuna Vijaya” and “Adipurana”, both of which are considered as modern classical works.

Middle Kannada period works have great influence of Hindu and Jain philosophies. A secular philosophy that developed during this time had a deep impact on Kannada culture. This period was also witness to the birth of many different forms in Kannada literature – some new forms of compositions.

The Modern Kannada period has witnessed the rebirth of Kannada. It has revived the cultural consciousness and linguistic identity, bringing it close to the modern form, as found and employed today. This has been the result of domination of foreign powers in India.

Literature and Poetry
The Kannada writers of earlier periods (except Modern Kannada writers) have either been written by the king himself or mostly about their kings and spiritual leaders; either in praise of mother nature or as an official treatise on management of various aspects of king’s administration and finally on simplifying and standardizing grammar in an effort to bring together different Kannada dialects to help people of the land understand each other.

The earliest existing Kannada poetry is Kappe Arabhatta, written in 700 C.E. Kavirajamarga by King Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I (850 CE), the earliest existing literary work of Kannada poetry, identifying all region between the Kaveri and Godavari Rivers as Kannada country, including present day south Maharashtra. This treatise was written in complex grammar to standardize various Kannada dialects used in literature till then, often quoting earlier Kannada works like by some King Durvinita and other leaders before him. Many other Kannada works from 6th, 7th and 8th centuries mentioned in Kavirajamarga are still untraceable today. Existence of this work of King Nripatunga during this early period is itself an indicator that Kannada was then a fully developed literary language.

Gajastaka, an elaborate treatise on elephant management was written in 8th century by king Shivamara II of Western Ganga Dynasty. Chandraprabha-purana was Sri Vijaya’s work, written in the court of Amoghavarsha, who belonged to early 9th century.

Many Kannada works of this period have been written in praise of Kings and big dignitaries. An early existing prose work (900 CE) of Shivakotiacharya, Vaddaradhane describes the life of Bhadrabahu of Shravanabelagola elaborately. Karnateshwara Kathe, in praise of king Pulakesi II as its hero was also written in the 7th century.

Other ancient texts found in later centuries are works of 650 CE by Syamakundacharya who wrote Prabhrita and Tumubuluracharya who wrote Chudamani, a 96,000 verse as a commentary on logic Tatwartha-mahashastra.

Though, only Sanskrit and Tamil have an older written traditions than Kannada (based on available inscriptions and literature), Tamil Buddhist commentators of the 10th century CE (Comentary on Nemrinatham, a Tamil grammatical work) make references that show that Kannada literature must have flourished as early as 4th century CE

Since the earliest existing Kannada work is one of complex grammar and a guide how to unify existing Kannada grammar and literary styles, it can be safely assumed that literature in Kannada must have started several centuries earlier. As noted above and concluded from an epigraphical study, there is enough evidence that the spoken form of Kannada language evolved much earlier than the well-known Halmidi inscription of 450 A.D. – the first ever example of written form of Kannada.

Kannada language and script, as we see has been a prolific one, developing and evolving with time, meeting the needs of those times, like adopting Kannada characters for computer coding. This may have become necessary to accommodate those young computer operators, who were good at computer logic, but had no knowledge of English, the language, on which computers communicate currently. It would not be a surprise to find Kannada slowly replacing English, or being used side by side.

Article Source: http://www.123article.org

 

Ostom Ray is a linguist. His website provides informationon Indian languages and translation services, Culture, Travel, Outsourcing and more.

http://www.123article.org/Article/Kannada—The-Next-Computer-Language-/38465

 

The Kannadas : The People, Their History, and Culture

 The Kannadas : The People, Their History, and Culture/edited by R.A.P. Narasimhacharya. New Delhi, Cosmo, 2002, 5 volumes, 1572 p., figs., maps, tables, $242 (set). ISBN 81-7755-411-5.

Contents: Vol. 1. Kannada History and Society I: Introduction. 1. The origins of Kannada and the evolution of early Karnataka. 2. Aryo-Dravidian contacts. 3. History of Karnataka. 4. Geological evolution of Karnataka. 5. The races and peoples of Karnataka. 6. The great empires. 7. Martial life. 8. Army organization. 9. Administration. 10. Administration, civic life and trade guilds.

Vol. 2. Kannada History and Society II. 11. Economic history of Karnataka. 12. Karnataka unification. 13. Mysore before and after integration. 14. Religion, society and culture the impact of the west on Karnataka. 15. Religion, society and culture (Vijayanagar period). 16. Social life and economic condition. 17. Tamilian contribution to Karnataka (19 and 20 centuries). 18. Social condition. 19. Hindu society. 20. Religious history. 21. Religious tolerance. 22. Western impact on Kannads.

Vol. 3. Kannada Social Movements: 1. The early resistance movements. 2. Revenue agitation. 3. The peasant movements. 4. The rebellion of Kalyanaswamy (1837). 5. Major freedom movements. 6. The first sprouts of national consciousness. 7. Gandhi’s influence. 8. The Congress and Karnataka. 9. The national movement.

Vol. 4. Kannada Language and Literature: 1. Kannada literature (under Vijayanagara 1336-1565 A.D.). 2. Kannada literature (modern period). 3. Old Kannada literature. 4. Modern Karnataka and modern Kannada literature. 5. History of Kannada journalism. 6. History of Kannada language. 7. Antiquity of Kannada literature. 8. Extent and range of Kannada literature. 9. Kannada poetry.

Vol. 5. Kannada Society and Cultural Progress: 1. Education and science. 2. Education and science (Hoysala period). 3. Education and science mediaeval period. 4. Education-modern period. 5. Architecture and sculpture. 6. Christian Mission in Karnataka. 7. Social life. 8. Fine art. 9. Chalukyan architecture. 10. Architecture and sculpture. 11. Architecture and other fine art. 12. Culture and achievements. 13. Music (early period). 14. Dance in the (old) Mysore. 15. The Kannada stage (modern period). 16. Education and intellectual progress in Karnataka (1840-1916).

“India has been shown up too often as a country with a baffling diversity of regions and peoples, religions and languages. But she has always been a nation of nations with an underlying unity in all her apparent diversity. This unity is essentially a matter of the spirit, a deep understanding of life. The soul of Indian culture is and has always been a steady vision of synthesis and a ceaseless striving towards unity in diversity in all the movements of life.

“India is, today, seeking a greater synthesis than was ever possible before through the new dynamic nationalism, based on the best ideals of ancient Indian culture. The greater the diversity of circumstances and the divergence of outlook, the greater has been the urge towards unity of a lasting nature. The growing Indian nation of today is made up of several linguistic and cultural units, units that are both self-contained and interdependent. They are drawing on the common heritage of India and are yet making their own contribution to the building up of a United India on the basis of their past heritage and their present resources.

“The Kannadas, and the land they inhabit—Karnataka, are witnessing today a new awakening in all the fields of activity and have been buildings up their life as a vital unit of the Indian nation. The people of Karnataka have grown conscious of their past heritage and are showing an eagerness to know it in all its aspects. There has been, in recent years, a growing curiosity on the part of the people in the rest of India as well to get a glimpse of the The Kannadas, and indeed the heritage of Karnataka, and to know its contribution to Indian culture.

“An attempt has, therefore, been made in the following pages to outline the heritage of these great people of Karnataka, The Kannadas, with a view to discovering its uniqueness as a vital part of India, and its indebtedness as well as contribution to Indian culture as a whole.

“This reference work, perhaps the first of this kind, showcases the historical, social, political, and literary development of The Kannadas. The set will be a welcome addition to the study and understanding of this marvelous land and its people!” (jacket)

https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no29088.htm

 

Kannada – The Language of India’s Silicon Valley

 

Kannada – The Language of India’s Silicon Valley

With Bangalore being referred to as India’s Silicon Valley, Kannada, the language of the state Bangalore is a capital to, has a special place in the annals of Information Technology. This article traces the evolution and the history of this beautiful language.

Kannada has been estimated to be over 2,500 years old, ranking as the 3rd oldest language after Sanskrit and Tamil. However, the Kannada alphabet evolved around 1,900 years ago. The initial development of Kannada language has followed that of other Dravidian languages, with the development of a vocal identity preceding the written system. During later centuries, Kannada has been highly influenced by Sanskrit vocabulary and literary styles.

The ‘Kavirajamarga’ written by King Nripatunga around the 9th century A.D. is believed to be the earliest literary work in Kannada. This treatise on poetry also served as an indicator Kannada was a fully developed literary language But from an epigraphical study, it has been surmised evidence it can be surmised that the spoken form of Kannada language evolved much earlier than the famed Halmidi inscription, which serves to be the first example of Kannada in the written form (circa 450 A.D.). Kannada has been categorized into the Proto-Dravidian group of languages on account of its close affinity with Tamil.

The history of Kannada can be studied under three phases: Hale Kannada (Old Kannada), Nadu Kannada (Middle Kannada) and Adhunika Kannada (Modern Kannada).

The Old Kannada period showed a marked influence of Jainism, both in language and literature. One of Kannada literature’s greatest authors, Pampa, lived in this era and created the “Vikramarjuna Vijaya” and “Adipurana”, both considered classics to this day. The Middle Kannada period showed considerable influence from both Hindu and Jain philosophies. A secular philosophy also developed in this time and this had a profound impact on several aspects of Kannada culture. This period also witnessed the birth of several genres in Kannada literature, with new forms of composition like “Ragale” and meters like the “Sangatya” and “Desi” being developed as well. The Modern Kannada period witnessed the rebirth of Kannada, both in terms of cultural consciousness and linguistic identity to the modern form found employed. This period was the consequence of the occupation of India by foreign powers, when the need to reaffirm an identity was thought to be necessary.

Kannada is a highly inflected language with three gender forms, masculine, feminine, neutral or common, and two number forms, singular and plural. The number forms interestingly shows inflection based on the gender, number and tense, of the commodity of reference, among other factors.

Kannada has 52 basic sounds / letters (known as phonemes) of which 49 letters are present in the script. These 49 letters are divided into 2 groups : “Swaragalu” (comprising of 15 letters) and “Vyanjanagalu” (comprising of 34 letters) akin to the distribution of vowels and consonants in English. The character set is almost identical to that of other Indian languages. The script itself, though derived from the Brahmi script like most other Dravidian languages, is fairly complicated owing to the occurrence of various combinations of “half-letters” or symbols that attach to various letters in a manner similar to diacritical marks. The number of written symbols, however, exceeds the 52 characters in the alphabet because of the fact that different characters can be combined to form compound characters, called “ottaksharas”. Each written symbol in the Kannada script corresponds with one syllable, as opposed to one phoneme in languages like English. The script of Kannada is also used in other languages like Tulu, Kodava and Konkani.

Kannada literature has historically shown the adherence of every literary novelty that had developed over the ages. This characteristic has always ensured its primacy and popularity amongst the masses of the Kannada-speaking region throughout the ages. With the Kannada-speaking region’s concurrence with one of the fastest growing areas harbouring new-age technologies, Kannada shows a tremendous promise as a language to gain currency in the Information Technology era.

`Declare Kannada a classical language’

`Declare Kannada a classical language’

Staff Reporter

http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/27/stories/2005052703230500.htm

Scholars’ panel says language meets all four basic criteria set by the Union Government

 

 

---

The first record on Kannada language traced to 230 B.C. Kannada words found in Greek comedies Vachana Sahitya of the 12th century native and unique in world literature Kanakadasa’s `Ramadhanya Charite’ a rare work on `class struggle’ IN SUPPORT OF A DEMAND: M. Chidananda Murthy (left) and L.S. Seshagiri Rao (right) submitting the report on seeking classical language status to Kannada to the Union Minister of State for Planning, M.V. Rajashekharan, in Bangalore on Thursday. — ; Photo: K. Gopinathan     BANGALORE: Kannada meets all the four basic criteria set by the Union Government for recognising any scheduled language as a classical language, according to the consultative committee of scholars constituted by the State Government. The committee was constituted to strengthen the Government’s demand to the Centre to accord classical status on Kannada soon after it submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in that regard on February 11 last. It consists of L.S. Seshagiri Rao, M. Chidananda Murthy, B. Rajapurohit and N.S. Taranath. The committee today released a comprehensive report on the cultural and historical status of Kannada. It presented the report to the Union Minister of State for Planning, M.V. Rajashekharan. A copy of it was also sent to the Union Government. Speaking to presspersons, Prof. Seshagiri Rao and Dr. Chidananda Murthy explained the four basic criteria set by the Union Government and the merits of Kannada in fulfilling them. The four criteria are: High antiquity of a language’s early texts- recorded history of over a thousand years; a body of ancient literature, which is considered a valuable heritage by generation of speakers; The literary tradition has to be original and not borrowed from another speech community and the language could be distinct from its “later and current” forms or it could be continuous. The first record on Kannada language is traced to Emperor Ashoka’s Brahmagiri edict dated 230 B.C. Kannada words are found in Greek comedies of first and second century A.D. The first full- length Kannada edict is “Hanmidi” (also known as Halmidi) dated AD 450. The first-ever available literary work is “Kaviraja Maaraga” (AD 850), a text of literary criticism. There are references to many poets and writers such as Sri Vijaya, Kaveeshwara and Durvineeta in the text, which traces the history of Kannada literature even then for over 1,200 years. The “vachana sahitya” tradition of the 12th century is purely native and unique in world literature. It is the sum of contributions by all sections of society. The 15th century saw the advent of Haridasa Saahitya, which made rich contributions to Bhakti literature and Carnatic music. The 16th century composer Kanakadasa’s “Ramadhanya Charite” is a rare work on “class struggle” that marked the uninterrupted tradition of the language and its literature, Dr. Murthy explained. He said Kannada has been developing both as a language and a literature for over 2,000 years and eminently merits recognition as a classical language. Once so recognised, the Union Government is obliged to institute two international awards for Kannada, establish Kannada study centres in the country and abroad, and extend an annual grant of Rs. 20 crores for its development, he added. Mr. Rajashekharan is hopeful that the Centre will consider the State Government’s request to accord classical status to Kannada at the earliest. He was speaking to presspersons after receiving a copy of the committee’s report here on Thurdsay. Referring to the laborious process involved in according classical status to any language, he said: “Kannada-speaking people are known for their decency and patience.” Those concerned should make concerted efforts to prevent any delay in getting Kannada recognised as a classical language, he added.

India sets up classical languages

India sets up classical languages

The Indian cabinet has decided to create a category of “classical languages”, starting with Tamil. Information and Broadcasting Minister, Jaipal Reddy, said the government would consider Sanskrit and other languages for the category.

He said an expert committee, which has been set up to look into the subject, has suggested strict criteria for languages to qualify.

One would be that the language should have been in existence for 1,000 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm