• languages which are now designated as Kannada dialects could be nearer to the earlier form of the language, with lesser influence from other languages.[27].
  • Also, there are over 12.9 million non-native speakers in Karnataka adding up to an overall of 56.9 million Kannada speakers.
  • Native speakers of Kannada are called Kannadigas and number roughly 38 million. It is one of the 40 most spoken languages in the world.
  • The earliest inscriptional records in Kannada are from the 6th century. Kannada script which is closely similar to Telugu script in origin.
  • Kannada is also spoken in the states that border Karnataka. Early 21st-century census data indicated that some 38 million individuals spoke Kannada as their first.
  • Check out in brief about Kannada Language History.The evolution of Kannada language began with early forms such as Old Kannada, Kannada.
  • It is also famously known as the Halmidi inscription, which is the oldest known Kannada language inscription, which dates back to the late 5th and early 6th century.
  • Kannada is a Dravidian language, which means that it belongs to the same family as the other South Indian languages Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Tulu.
  • Kannada is the official and administrative language of Karnataka, and was officially designated a classical language of India in 2011.
  • Kannada is spoken in the state of Karnataka in South India, and also in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.