Kannada
/ˈkɑːnədə/noun
A Dravidian language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Did you know?The name Kannada is tied to the long historical identity of the Kannada-speaking people and appears in early inscriptions, showing how language names can preserve a civilization’s memory across centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Dravidian
PDr
*kann-*
“likely a base related to the Kannada language/people, though the deepest prehistory is not fully certain”
Early Historic India
Old Kannada
kannaḍa
“the Kannada language and Kannada-speaking people”
Medieval Sanskrit
Sanskrit
kannaḍa / karṇāṭa
“Kannada or the Kannada region/people in literary and administrative usage”
14th Century
Middle Kannada / Persianate usage
kannaḍa
“the language and its speakers, increasingly used in regional and court contexts”
Modern English
English
Kannada
“the Dravidian language of Karnataka”