Top 10 greetings in Kannada for Beginners

There are several regional dialects of Kannada spoken, but the written version is relatively standardised. There are also a variety of social groups based on caste or social status. Brahmin, non-Brahmin, and Untouchable are the three dialects of colloquial Kannada, dependent on social origin. The normal, or prestigious, variety is built on the Mysore-Bangalore area’s middle-class, educated Brahmin dialect. In terms of phonology, syntax, and lexicon, there is a significant contrast between the spoken and written versions of the language.

• Hello –   ನಮಸ್ತೆ (namaste): This is the most basic greeting. Use this to simply start or participate in a conversation. 

• How are you? – ಹೇಗಿದ್ದೀರಾ? (hegiddērā?): Once you have greeted people, it is courtesy to ask them how they are. Use this to do the same. 

• Long-time no see – ತುಂಬಾ ದಿವಸಗಳಿಂದ ಕಾಣಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ (tumba divasagalinda kānisalilla): If you’re planning on talking to someone you haven’t seen for a while, then use this when greeting them.

• Pleased to meet you – ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂತೋಷ (nimmannu bheti mādiddakke santosha): There is no harm in being humble and letting people know you appreciate them. Therefore, use this to make someone smile. 

• Good morning – ಶುಭೋದಯ (shubhodaya): Use this to greet someone during the morning hours.

• Good afternoon – ಶುಭ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನ (shubha madhyahna): Use this to greet someone during the afternoon hours.

• Good evening – ಶುಭ ಸಾಯಂಕಾಲ (shubha sāyankāla): Use this to greet someone during the evening hours.

• Good night – ಶುಭರಾತ್ರಿ (shubharātri): Use this to either end a conversation or simply wish someone before bed. 

• New Year greetings – ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷದ ಶುಭಾಶಯ (hosa varṣada śubhāśaya): Use this to wish someone a happy new year. 
• Birthday greetings – ಹುಟ್ಟು ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಶಯ (huṭṭu habbada śubhāśaya): Use this to wish someone on their birthday.

Kannada is one of the 22 official languages and 14 regional languages of India. The number of Kannada online users is expected to grow to 25 million by 2021.  There are about 20 spoken dialects of Kannada (Ethnologue). They are usually grouped into three major groups: Northern, Southern, and Central. It is one of the scheduled languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka, the most for any Dravidian language and the second-highest for any Indian language. All the dialects are influenced by the neighbouring languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and others.  Kannada has an unbroken literary history of over a thousand years.

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