đĩī¸ Kannada ā˛ā˛¨āŗā˛¨ā˛Ą
About 44 million, chiefly in Karnataka, with inscriptions going back to the 5th century
âī¸ The script
Kannada script â rounded letters, very close to Telugu; the two were one script until about the 15th century
đ¯ Why learn it
Kannada is the language of Karnataka and of Bengaluru, where a large part of India's technology industry works. It holds eight Jnanpith awards, more than any other Indian language, and its literature runs unbroken from the 9th century Kavirajamarga to today.
đą How this course teaches
Bengaluru runs on English and Hindi in its offices and on Kannada everywhere else â at the vegetable stall, with the auto driver, with the security guard. So this course teaches the spoken Kannada of those exchanges first, and leaves the literary form for later, honestly marking which is which.
đ The sounds to get right first
| ā˛ŗ (ā˛šā˛ŗāŗā˛ŗā˛ŋ) | retroflex l | The curled-back l shared with Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi. |
|---|---|---|
| ā˛ / ā˛ and ā˛ / ā˛ | short vs long e and o | Length changes meaning: ā˛Ŧāŗā˛Ą (don't want) against ā˛Ŧāŗā˛Ą. Hindi has no short e or o, so this needs attention. |
| ā˛š | h, often dropped | Many speakers say 'ā˛ ā˛ŗāŗā˛ŗā˛ŋ' for ā˛šā˛ŗāŗā˛ŗā˛ŋ. Both are heard. |
| Final āŗ | a light 'u' | Almost every word ends in this short u: ā˛Žā˛¨āŗā˛¯āŗ, ā˛ā˛, ā˛¨āŗā˛°āŗ. Keep it light, not 'oo'. |
| Stacked consonants | â | A second consonant is written below the first: ā˛āŗā˛, ā˛¨āŗā˛¨. Read top to bottom. |
The lessons
The first words
Greet, thank, and ask how someone is.
Open â Lesson 26 phrasesWho you are
Introduce yourself and say where you live.
Open â Lesson 36 phrasesDoing things
Speak in the present, and ask questions.
Open â Lesson 46 phrasesNumbers and the market
Count, ask a price and settle it.
Open â Lesson 56 phrasesReading the Kannada script
Read your name and simple words.
Open â Lesson 66 phrasesKeeping Kannada
Build a habit, and find the writing that rewards it.
Open âđ Keeping it
The negative is an ending (-ā˛ā˛˛āŗā˛˛), the question is an ending (-ā˛), and politeness is an ending (-ā˛°ā˛ŋ). Learn the spoken forms for speaking, and remember ā˛ā˛ˇāŗā˛āŗ, ā˛Ŧāŗā˛āŗ, ā˛Ŧāŗā˛Ą and ā˛¸ā˛°ā˛ŋ before anything else.
đ§ Ask the Acharya
He answers from your own chapters and his Life & Wisdom library â including how to study a language without losing it.
