Kodava (Kodava:[koɖɐʋɐ], natively: Koḍava takkï, Kodava:[koɖɐʋɐt̪ɐkːɨ], meaning 'speech of Kodavas', Anglicised name: Codava, Coorgi) is a Dravidian language spoken in Kodagu district (Coorg) in Southern Karnataka, India.
It is an endangered language. The language has two dialects: Mendele (spoken in Northern and Central Kodagu, i.e. outside Kodagu's Kiggat naadu) and Kiggat (spoken in Kiggat naadu, in Southern Kodagu).
Historically, it has been associated to Old Canarese or Hale Kannada However, it has been re-analysed as a language by early 20th century academics. Now it is known to be more closely related to Malayalam, Tamil, and Tulu in comparative linguistics.
It is traditionally written using the thirke script which is an abugida.
Native speakers
Castes and tribes
Previously, Kodava language was spoken as native language (L1) by 21 "castes and tribes", including the Kodagu Heggades, the Kudiyas, the Kembattis, the Airis, the Ammas, the Medas, the Gollas, the Koyuvas, and the Boonepxattas. However, in modern times, the number of communities was reduced to 17, as some of them had language shift to Malayalam and Kannada.
Population
The 2011 Census of India reports 96,918 persons who returned Kodava as their mother tongue and 16,939 who returned Coorgi/Kodagu, for a total of 113,857 persons coming under the parent group which is again identified as Coorgi/Kodagu (another name for Kodava) as the mother tongue.
Different names
Native to Kodagu (Coorg), the Kodava language is also known as Kodagu, Coorg, Coorgi, Kodaga, and Kodava thakk (literally meaning, a speech of the Kodavas).
In Kannada, the region was called Kodagu and the people Kodaga. Natively, the people were called Kodava and the land was called Kodavu in the folksongs. Comparative Dravidian studies show that the Kodava language belongs to the South Dravidian language group.
Dravidian vowel systems contain five vowel qualities i.e. those usually corresponding to a, e, i, o and u., with a short and long variants for each. However, Kodava has two more: the mid and high (close) back unrounded vowels, with corresponding long variants.
Kodava Takk is mostly written in the Kannada script, but can also be found written in the Malayalam script, especially along the borders with Kerala, and more recently, the Latin alphabet. Due to difficulties in properly rendering the sounds of Kodava, various other scripts were invented by Kodava writers like Iychettira M Muthanna, Koravanda Appayya, Appaneravanda Kiran Subbaiah.
Kodava Lipi (Muthanna script)
Official Script of the Kodava language developed by Dr IM Muthanna in 1971.
Dr. IM Muthanna, developed a script for Kodava in 1971, and as of 2022, the Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy, a government body for the development of the Kodava language, accepted and recommended that the script developed by Dr Muthanna as the official script of Kodava, as a proposal was sent to the CIIL, who as of now has yet to respond. Although around 7 scripts were developed between 1889 and 2008, only Dr Muthanna's script is considered the most acceptable for the Kodava Language.
The script is relatively simple in structure compared to other Brahmic scripts, with 16 vowels, 24 consonants and four diacritic marks. It has seen increasing but limited use across the Kodagu district since its inception.
Thirke script
A script, for a language assumed for an early stage of Kodava from the 14th century was discovered. It is now called the Thirke script. The script is a Brahmic abugida and is considered to be a mix of characters from neighboring scripts like Grantha, Tigalari, and Vatteluttu.
Coorgi–Cox alphabet
The Coorgi is an alphabet developed by the linguist Gregg M. Cox that is used by a number of individuals within Kodagu district of India to write the endangered Dravidian language of Kodava, also known sometimes as Coorgi.
The script uses a combination of 26 consonant letters, eight vowel letters and a diphthong marker. Each letter represents a single sound and there are no capital letters. A computer-based font has been created.
The script was developed out of the request by a group of Kodava individuals to have a distinct script for Kodava Takk, to distinguish the language. The new script is intended as a unified writing system for all Kodava Takk speakers.
History of Kodava Language - explained by Mr Bopanda Poonacha
Classification
Linguistically, Kodava/Kodagu language belongs to the South Dravidian subfamily of the Dravidian family. Further within the South Dravidian subfamily, it belongs to the subgroup Tamil-Malayalam-Kodagu-Kota-Toda. It is closely related to and influenced by Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu. A majority of the words are common between Kodava and Beary bashe, a dialect which is a mixture of Tulu and Malayalam spoken by the Beary Muslims and Kodava Thiyyar communities. Kodava is also closely related to the Kasaragod and Kannur dialects of Malayalam, which are in turn related to Beary.
The grammar of Kodagu has been systematically studied and documented since at least around 1867 when Captain R.A. Cole published the seminal work An Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language.
"Desha Katt" Song, Praising the provinces of Kodagu, written in the new script.
Nouns
These, as is typical in Dravidian languages, may be proper, common, verbal, derivative, or compound. A subclass of common nouns is that of relationship nouns.
Verbal nouns are formed from verbal roots with vadu, and express the act of the root; yeḷadu '(to) write' -> yeḷadu vadu 'the act of writing'.
Derivative nouns are formed from noun roots; -(k/g)ara indicates an actor or professional; paathre 'vessel' -> kumbaara 'potter'; angaḍi 'shop' -> angaḍikara 'shopkeeper'; boṭe '(the act of) hunting' -> boṭegara 'hunter'. -karu and -garu also indicate possession of a quality; budhi 'wisdom' -> budhikara 'wise man'; paṇa 'wealth' -> paṇagara 'rich man'.
Nouns, somewhat superficially, are said to be masculine, feminine, or neutral. Masculines represent males and male gods; feminines represent women and godesses; and neuterals represent everything else (including animals - although animals can be marked with a certain sex).
Masculine nouns may be marked with aṇu and feminines with ponṇu; also, masculine nouns in -ru may be feminised with -ti.
Literature
Mr Bopanada Poonacha explains the origin, design, and government certification of the Kodava logo
Family histories, rituals and other records were scripted on palm leaves called Pattole (patt=palm, ole=leaf) by astrologers in the ancient times. When Kodava was written, it was usually with Kannada script, sometimes with minor modifications. The folk songs of the Kodavas, called the Palame (also known as the Balo Patt or Dudi Patt), were orally transmitted across several generations. The language had no significant written literature until the twentieth century. Appachcha Kavi, a playwright, and Nadikerianda Chinnappa, a folk compiler, are the two important poets and writers of the Kodava language. Other important writers in the language were B D Ganapathy and I M Muthanna. In 2005, after requests from the Kodagu community, German linguist Gerard Cox created a script unique to Kodava called the Coorgi-Cox script. It uses straight lines for 5 vowels, and has circles for diphthongs.
The Pattole Palame, a collection of Kodava folksongs and traditions compiled in the early 1900s by Nadikerianda Chinnappa, was first published in 1924. The most important Kodava literature, it is said to be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, collection of folklore of a community in an Indian language. Nearly two-thirds of the book consists of folksongs that were handed down orally through generations, sung even today during marriage and death ceremonies and during festivals relating to the seasons and in honour of local deities and heroes. Traditionally known as Balo Pat, these songs are sung by four men who beat dudis (drums) as they sing. Kodava folk dances are performed to the beat of many of these songs. The Pattole Palame was written using the Kannada script originally; it has been translated into English by Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa, grandchildren of Nadikerianda Chinnappa, and has been published by Rupa & Co., New Delhi.
The Kodava Cinema industry is very small. A few movies portraying the native culture and traditions of the Kodavas have been produced in this language. The first Kodava film 'Nada Mann Nada Kool' was directed by S.R.Rajan and produced in the year 1972.
123Kushalappa, Nitin (12 August 2026). "Kodava: A Language Fighting for Recognition". Frontline. Retrieved 3 September 2026. ... scholars such as Prof. M. B. Emeneau of the University of California, Prof. P. S. Subrahmanyam of Annamalai University and Prof. Boverianda Nanjamma Chinnappa consider it older than Malayalam and Badaga but younger than Tamil, Kannada, Tulu, and Telugu. ...
↑"Census of India 2011"(PDF). Census of India: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
