| Also Known As: Thalu,Tilu,Tullu,Thulu,Tal,Tuluva Bhasa,Tallu
Description:
Tulu (തുളു/ತುಳು) is a Dravidian language of India spoken by an estimated native speakers between 3 to 5 million speakers, known as Tuluvas. It is one of the oldest language born almost during the same time when Tamil & Prakrit was born. Most Tuluvas live in the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the west of the state of Karnataka. It is also spoken in the Kasaragod taluk of Kerala also known as the Tulu Nadu region. There are a sizeable number of Tuluvas in the gulf as well as in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The original written script of the language Tigalari, adapted from the Grantha Script, from which the present day Malayalam script is also adapted, is rarely used today. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has mostly been written in the modified Kannada script.
There are indications in a few Malayalam works that the region stretching from the Chandragiri river, now part of the Kasaragod district of Kerala, to Gokarna, now part of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, was called Tulu Nadu. However, the present day Tulu linguistic boundary is confined to Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi district. Northern Kasaragod, Dakshina Kannada and the Udupi..... full article at Wikipedia |
