What should I learn first when I start learning Kannada?
Kannada, also called Canarese or Kanarese, is a member of the Dravidian language family’s southern branch. 38 million people in South India, mostly in the state of Karnataka, communicate it as a first language and another 9 million people in a second language. It is also spoken in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in neighbouring countries. The number of people in the world, including those who speak it as a second language, is estimated as being up to 44 million.
Kannada is one of India’s 22 official languages and 14 languages. In Hindi, there is official bridge communication and English still plays a dominant place in education, particularly at the university level.
Though many people have the curiosity to learn a new language such as Kannada for which they research several books, dialects to know the perfect ways to approach the language.
For Every learner, there are several simple ways to start their journey in learning the Kannada language easily and effectively. Before knowing the ways we must know several important facts of approaching or learning the language.
Dialects
Spoken vs. written
There is a substantial difference in phonology, grammar and lexicon between the spoken and written forms of the Kannada language. The Spoken Kannada has numerous regional dialects while the written form remains very consistent.
Regional
There are nearly 20 Kannada spoken dialects at present. They are normally composed of three main groups: North, South and Central. The nearby languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and others influence all dialects.
Structure
Sound system
The Kannada sound system is similar to the others in Dravidian languages. It is also one of the oldest sound structures in Sanskrit.
Vowels
The Mysore dialect of Kannada has 15 phonemes of vowels, meaning sounds that change the meaning of words which is difficult to understand if we don’t have the knowledge of the language. All but one vowel (/ə/) may be short or long. Vowel length changes the sense of the expression. Furthermore, two diphthongs are usable: /ai/ and /au/.
Consonants
The Mysore Kannada has an abundant number of consonant phonemes, i.e., sounds that modify the meaning of the word. The consonant system consists of several characteristics, typical of Indo-Aryan languages, in addition to a Dravidian inventory.
Grammar
Kannada is a highly modulated language and has a Tamil-like syntax. It is agglutinative, as other Dravidian languages, which adds suffixes to stems to extract new words and to convey different grammatical connections. This language has basic grammar forms which are very deep and concise. This can lead to long terms like Shiva Tattva Ratnakara, the first encyclopaedia in the world. Kannada uses different forms and, typically after a case marker, added to the end of substantive phrases for indicating time, place, devices etc. Postpositions are similar to prepositions in other languages in their purpose and context.
Word order
Subject-Object-Verb is the standard word order for the Kannada language. However, other orders may be made since inflectional ends ensure that simple grammatical connections and functions are maintained throughout the sentence. There are special conceptual markers (what the sentence is about or old information) and the focus (new information). Constituents who have old information come first, followed by those who have new information or those who get the most attention. Since the verb corresponds with the subject in person and number, the subject is often omitted. Modifiers are also placed before the words they modify.
These are basic forms; a learner should know before going to the depth of the language. It will definitely help you to learn the Kannada language quite effectively.
Step to Step Guide to learn basic Kannada
Namaskara, Hegiddeera, Chennagide Era, and other salutations, greetings, and phrases should be learned.
Watching Kannada movies can be a great aid to your learning (preferably with subtitles). This is an effective and fun way to enhance your language skills.
Do not hesitate to do so. At any opportunity, speak the language.
Watch news concerning the Kannada language to improve your basic understanding. Not only is this helpful in language learning, but it will also allow you to better know your area.
Involve in an Online coaching course with the proper guidance of a mentor. Multibhashi is one of the best online language learning platforms that will help you throughout your necessity and learning types issues with experienced teachers of respective languages such as Kannada.
Finally,
Nothing is better than learning to speak in an ancient or foreign language that allows you to better understand the words. If you follow the above steps, at least broken Kannada will be able to communicate and speak meaningfully within a shorter period of time.
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