Kolami

Not to be confused with Kol Ami.

Kolami
Kolāmi
कॊलामि, కొలామి
'Kolāmi' in Devanagari alphabet (top) and Goykanadi alphabet (center) and Telugu alphabet (bottom)
Native to	India
Region	Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh
Ethnicity	239,583 Kolam (2011 census)[1]
Native speakers	128,451, 54% of ethnic population (2011 census)[2]
Language family	Dravidian Central Kolami–Naiki Kolami
Writing system	Devanagari Telugu script Goykanadi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kfb – Northwestern Kolami nit – Southeastern Kolami (Naiki)
Glottolog	nort2699

Kolami (Northwestern Kolami/Southeastern Kolami) is a tribal Central Dravidian language spoken in Maharashtra and Telangana states of India. It falls under the Kolami–Naiki group of languages. It is the most widely spoken Central Dravidian language.

Person	Kolavand,kolavak
People	Kolavader, kolavaker
Language	Kolāmi
Country	Maharashtram, India

Classification

Kolami language has been classified as a central dravidian language. It is well known as dravidian language of Maharashtra state. Well influenced by south central dravidian languages like Telugu and Gondi. It is also a tribal Dravidian language. Kolami is the dialect of the Kolam tribal group.

The Kolami dialect differs considerably from the Gond language of the neighboring district. In some respects, Kolami is closely related to Telugu and in others to Kannada. The influence of the Bhilli language is felt as the communication in the surrounding area comes into contact. Some other points of similarity are also important like the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris and according to Dr. Grierson, linguistically speaking, the Kolami may be the remaining descendants of the Dravidian tribes. who either never participated in the development of the main Dravidian language or who never adopted Dravidian language.

Writing systems

Kolami language is written using Devanagari, Goykanadi and Telugu scripts for writing purposes.

Numbers

First ten numbers

Modern Devanagari script	Kolami numeral	Kolami word and transliteration
०	0	शून्यम् (Śūnyam)
१	1	ऒक्कॊद् (okkod)
२	2	इन्दिङ् (indiṅ)
३	3	मून्दिङ् (mūndiṅ)
४	4	नालिङ् (nāliṅ)
५	5	सेन्दि (sēndi)
६	6	साऱि (sār̠i)
७	7	एऴ् (ēẓ)
८	8	ऎंदि (eṁdi)
९	9	तॊंदि (toṁdi)
१०	10	पदि (padi)
२०	20	इरवै (iravai)
१००	100	नूऱ् (nūr̠)
१०००	1000	सहस्रम् (Sahasram)

Nouns

Verbs

Present tense

	Present tense	Present tense negative
1st person singular आन् ān	वद्दुन् vaddun I am coming	वरॆन् varen I am not going

Characteristics

Kolami has a two-gender system, being either masculine or non-masculine. Kolami has developed aspirated stops, distancing itself from its ancestor Proto-Dravidian.

Phonology

Vowels[3]

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i	iː			u	uː
Mid	e	eː			o	oː
Low			a	aː

Consonants[3]

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɳ		ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	ʈ	t͡ʃ	k
	voiced	b	d	ɖ	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless		s				h
	voiced		z
Approximant	central	ʋ			j
	lateral		l	ɭ
Rhotic			r

Sample Text

The given sample text is Article 1 from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[4]

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Kolami

ऎल् मन्ककॆर् स्वातन्त्र्यनड् पुट्टॆन्दन् वन्नॆर्. मरि समानं मरि अधिकारङ्कुळन् समानम् अण्डर्. अवर् तर्कङ्कुळ् मरि विवेकंलड् सम्पन्नं मरि ऒक्कॊरिक्कॊवॆण्ट बन्धूत्वंलॆ भावनालड् आडन् पाजे।

Romanisation

El mankaker svātantryanaḍ puṭṭendan vanner. Iṇi samānam iṇi adhikāraṅkuḷan samānam aṇḍar. Avar tarkaṅkuḷ iṇi vivēkanlaḍ sampannam iṇi okkorikkoveṇṭa bandhutvamle bhāvanālaḍ āḍan pājē.

Phrases	English Translation	Dēvanāgarī	Telugu
Inne pidir tāned ?	What is your name ?	इन्नॆ पिदिर् तानॆद्  ?	ఇన్నె పిదిర్ తానెద్ ?
Anne pidir rāmak	My name is rāmand	अन्नॆ पिदिर् रामन्द्	అన్నె పిదిర్ రామన్ద్
Rāmak, avar devar	Rāmak,they are god	रामक्, अवर् देवक्	రామక్,అపర్ దేవక్
Āy	Yes	आय्	ఆయ్
Tōted, Sillai	No	तोतॆद्, सिल्लै	తోతెద్, సిల్లై
var itti	Come (singular) here	वर् इत्ति	వర్ ఇత్తి
varrur	come (plural)	वर्रुर्	వర్రుర్
Etti ini enaṅ	where and how	ऎत्ति इनि ऎनङ्	ఎత్తి ఇవి ఎనఙ్

Also see Kolami Swadesh list on wiktionary.

References

1. "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
2. "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
3. Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2003). The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-43533-8.
4. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". www.un.org. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

Further reading

• Emeneau, Murray B (1961). Kolami: A Dravidian Language. Annamalainagar: Annamalai University. p. 302.