Dravidian languages facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dravidian |
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|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
South Asia, mostly South India |
| Linguistic classification: | One of the world's major language families |
| Proto-language: | Proto-Dravidian |
| Subdivisions: |
Central
Eastern
Southern
|
| Ethnologue code: | 1282-16 |
| ISO 639-2 and 639-5: | dra |
 Places where Dravidian languages are spoken
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The Dravidian languages are a group of languages spoken by the Dravidian peoples. Think of a language family like a family tree for languages. All languages in this family grew from a common ancestor. Most Dravidian languages are spoken in South India. You can also find them in parts of western Bangladesh, northern Sri Lanka, and southern Pakistan.
There are about 26 different languages in the Dravidian family. Around 215 million people speak these languages today. That's a lot of people!
In the past, Dravidian languages were likely spoken across an even larger area of India. Today, some special groups in India called "Scheduled Tribes" still speak their own unique Dravidian languages. One interesting language is Brahui. About 2.2 million people speak Brahui in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Another language, Dhangar, is a dialect of Kurukh. It is spoken in parts of Nepal and Bhutan.
Main Dravidian Languages
The Dravidian language family includes some very widely spoken languages. Here are the four biggest ones:
- Telugu language: Spoken by about 85 million people.
- Tamil language: Spoken by about 75 million people.
- Kannada language: Spoken by about 49 million people.
- Malayalam language: Spoken by about 38 million people.
There are also about 30 other Dravidian languages. These have fewer speakers. Examples include Tulu language and the Brahui language. Brahui is special because it is the only Dravidian language not mainly spoken in India.
Images for kids
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Linguistic Survey of India (1906) map of the distribution of Dravidian languages
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Language families in South Asia
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The oldest known Tamil-Brahmi inscription, near Mangulam in Madurai district
See also
In Spanish: Lenguas drávidas para niños
