How to learn Kannada grammar?
Kannada is a Dravidian language that is spoken as a first language by 38 million people and as a second language by another 9 million people in southern India, in the state of Karnataka and neighboring states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, in South India. It is estimated that worldwide it is spoken by upwards of 44 million people, including those who speak it as a second language (Ethnologue).There are about 20 spoken dialects of Kannada (Ethnologue). There is a considerable difference between the spoken and written forms of the language with regard to its phonology, grammar, and lexicon. Spoken Kannada has many regional dialects, while the written form remains relatively uniform.
Kannada is one of the 22 official languages and 14 regional languages of India.
It has literature that dates from the ninth century. Dravidian languages like Telugu and Tamil share a lot of words, and similarities in the grammatical structure (colloquial speech) with Kannada. The literacy rate in Kannada is estimated to be about 60%. The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script. At the dawn of the 20th century, B. M. Srikantaiah (‘B. M. Sri’), regarded as the “Father of modern Kannada literature”, called for a new era of writing original works in modern Kannada while moving away from archaic Kannada forms. The same Kannada script is also used for writing Tulu language. Kannada letters have rounded shapes due to the fact that in ancient times writing was done by carving on palm leaves with a sharp point. Using this technique, it was apparently easier to produce curved lines than straight ones.
Kadamba Dynasty of Banavasi in modern Uttara Kannada district and the Western Ganga Dynasty in southern Karnataka, were the first kingdoms to give administrative status to Kannada language as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription of 450, attributed to King Kakusthavarma of the Kadamba Dynasty.
It has highest number of Janapeeta literary awards compared to any Indian language. Kannada had a huge boost during the Vijayanagar period. Shri Vinoba Bhave called “Kannada” script the “Queen of World Scripts” – “Vishwa Lipigala Raani”
Kannada grammar is primarily based on Keshiraja’s Shabdamanidarpana (c. 1260 CE) which provides the fullest systematic exposition of Kannada language. The earlier grammatical works include portions of Kavirajamarga (a treatise on alańkāra) of 9th century written by a Jain king from Rashtrakuta empire King Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga also known as Amoghavarsha I (814 A.D.-878 A.D.), Kavyavalokana and Karnatakabhashabhushana both authored by Nagavarma II in first half of the 12th century.