Havigannada dialect

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Havigannada, also called as Havyaka Bhaashe and Havyaka Kannada, is the dialect of

coastal region of Karnataka.[1][2]

Havigannada
ಹವಿಗನ್ನಡ
Pronunciation[hɐviˈgɐnːɐɖa]
Native toIndia
RegionKarnataka
EthnicityHavyakas
Dravidian
Early form
Kannada script
Kannada Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-1kn
ISO 639-2kan
ISO 639-3kan
Glottologhavy1234
Linguasphere49-EBA-a

Characteristics

Havigannada differs substantially from mainstream Kannada, in terms of vocabulary, pronouns and verb-endings. It preserves many features of

Old Kannada which are lost in other Kannada dialects. This is the reason why even native Kannadigas
of other regions find it difficult to comprehend it.

In 1883, the dialect was described by James Campbell in the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, where it was said to be Kannada spoken with a strong Malayalam influence. The Malayalam influence was assumed due to the similarities between the Havigannada dialect and Malayalam in terms of accent and words. For example, Havigannada uses eṅgaḷ‍ for "our" or "we" and this is comparable to Malayalam eṅṅaḷ‍ and Tamil eṅgaḷ‍; similarly, naṅgaḷ is used for "we" in Havigannada, comparable to Malayalam ñaṅṅaḷ and Tamil nāṅgaḷ. On the other hand, standard Kannada uses namma and nāvu for "our" and "we" respectively. This supposed Malayalam influence was then used as a basis to theorize that the Malayalam language was perhaps initially prevalent along the Kanara coast before it was settled by Kannada speakers from inland regions. However, this theory is not true as it does not explain the lack of Malayalam influence on other languages and Kannada dialects spoken along the Kanara coast.

It is now known that these similarities are not due to Malayalam influence but rather due to the fact that because Havigannada is closer to

Old Kannada
than the modern Kannada dialects are, it preserves many archaic features which are lost in other Kannada dialects but are parallelly preserved in Tamil and Malayalam.

The Havigannada spoken in Uttara Kannada differs from the Havigannada spoken in Dakshina Kannada. The Havigannada spoken in Dakshina Kannada is influenced by Tulu (due to its prevalence in South Canara) and Malayalam (due to its close proximity to Kerala). In some parts of Uttara Kannada, especially in Gokarna, where there is a high concentration of Havyaka Brahmin priests, a Marathi influence has been observed in terms of vocabulary: āi for "mother", pyele for "drinking glass", etc. This might be because of the patronage of Marathi clients who regularly come to Gokarna to have their religious rituals performed by Havyaka priests.

In Havigannada, /o/ and /e/ are pronounced /wa/ and /ye/ respectively when they occur at the beginning of a word. For example, ole (stove/fireplace) is pronounced /ole/ in standard Kannada but /wale/ in Havigannada; ondu (one) as /wandu/ and ele (leaf) is pronounced /ele/ in standard Kannada but /yele/ in Havigannada. This is also observed in other non-standard Kannada dialects.

The difference between Havigannada and standard Kannada is mainly observed in the inflection of verbs. For example, in standard Kannada, māḍalu means "[in order] to do", which is an infinitive form. Havigannada uses māḍale or māḍule. While standard Kannada uses ide for "[it] is", Havigannada uses iddu. In standard Kannada, one would say avaḷu bandiddāḷe for "she has come" but in Havigannada it would be adu banju or adu baindu (the Havyakas of Uttara Kannada say banju, while those from Dakshina Kannada say baindu). The Havigannada spoken in

Kundagannada, a Kannada dialect spoken in Kundapura and other Kannada-speaking regions of the Udupi
district.

Havigannada has retained many words and features from Old Kannada. Some examples are the word kūsu which means "little girl" which comes from Old Kannada kūsu which means "little child/little girl". This word is not seen elsewhere in other Kannada dialects. The verb oragu in Havigannada means "to sleep" and is inherited from Old Kannada oṟagu; this verb is likewise not seen elsewhere in other Kannada dialects.

Usage

It is spoken in the

Bangalore Kannada
, especially among the younger generation who were born and brought up in Bangalore.

In some parts of

feminine
gender.

Havigannada was partly used in Sandalwood films: Bettada Jeeva, Nammoora Mandara Hoove and Naayi Neralu, which was shot in and around Yana.

Examples

Pronouns

English Kannada
Havigannada
I ನಾನು (Naanu) ನಾನು / ನಾ (Naa) / ಆನು (Aanu)
We ನಾವು (Naavu) ನಾವು / ನಂಗ (Nanga) / ಎಂಗ (yanga)
You (Singular) ನೀನು (Neenu) ನೀನು / ನೀ (Nee)
You (Plural) ನೀವು (Neevu) ನೀವು / ನಿಂಗ (Ninga)
He ಅವನು (Avanu) ಅವನು / ಅವ (Ava) / ಅಂವ (Amva)
She ಅವಳು (Avalu) ಅವಳು / ಅದು (Adu) / ಅವ (Ava)/ ಅವಳ್ (Avalu)
It ಅದು (Adu) ಅದು
They (Neutral) ಅವು (Avu) ಅವು

Verbs

English Kannada Havigannada
will go Hoguttene(ಹೋಗುತ್ತೇನೆ ) Hogti(ಹೋಗ್ತಿ)/Hogte(ಹೋಗ್ತೆ)/Hovthe(ಹೋವ್ತೆ)
will come Baruttene(ಬರುತ್ತೇನೆ) Batte(ಬತ್ತೆ)/Batti(ಬತ್ತಿ)
will do Maaduttene(ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ) Maadte(ಮಾಡ್ತೆ)/Maadti(ಮಾಡ್ತಿ)

Interrogative

English Kannada Havigannada
Why yaake(ಯಾಕೆ) Entakke(ಎಂತಕೆ)
How hege(ಹೇಗೆ) Henge(ಹೇಂಗೆ)
What enu(ಏನು) Entadu(ಎಂತದು)/Enta(ಎಂತ)/Entu(ಎಂತು)/Ensu(ಎನ್ಸು)

References

  1. ^ "Windy Skies: A Sacred Confluence and Serpents in Stone". 25 March 2008.
  2. ^ "Language in India".
  3. ^ Zvelebil (fig. 36) and Krishnamurthy (fig. 37) in Shapiro and Schiffman (1981), pp. 95–96

External links