Language/Kannada/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken mainly by the people of Karnataka in the southwestern region of India. The Kannada alphabet (ಕನ್ನಡ ಲಿಪಿ) developed from the Kadamba and Cālukya scripts, descendents of Brahmi, which were used between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. Under the influence of Christian missionary organizations, Kannada and Telugu scripts were standardized at the beginning of the XIXth century.
Kannada Consonants
Letter | IPA |
---|---|
ಕ | [ka] |
ಖ | [kʰa] |
ಗ | [ɡa] |
ಘ | [ɡʱa] |
ಙ | [ŋa] |
ಚ | [tʃa] |
ಛ | [tʃʰa] |
ಜ | [dʒa] |
ಝ | [dʒʱa] |
ಞ | [ɲa] |
ಟ | [ʈa] |
ಠ | [ʈʰa] |
ಡ | [ɖa] |
ಢ | [ɖʱa] |
ಣ | [ɳa] |
ತ | [t̪a] |
ಥ | [t̪ʰa] |
ದ | [d̪a] |
ಧ | [d̪ʱa] |
ನ | [n̪a] |
ಪ | [pa] |
ಫ | [pʰa] |
ಬ | [ba] |
ಭ | [bʱa] |
ಮ | [ma] |
ಯ | [ja] |
ರ | [ra] |
ಲ | [l̪a] |
ವ | [ʋa] |
ಶ | [ça] |
ಷ | [ʂa] |
ಸ | [sa] |
ಹ | [ħa] |
ಳ | [ɭa] |
There are 2 categories of consonant letters: the structured consonants and the unstructured consonants.
Kannada Structured Consonants
The structured consonants are classified according to where the tongue touches the palate of the mouth and are classified accordingly into 5 groups.
Voiceless | Voiceless aspirate | Voiced | Voiced aspirate | Nasal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Velars | ಕ (ka) | ಖ (kha) | ಗ (ga) | ಘ (gha) | ಙ (ṅa) |
Palatals | ಚ (ca) | ಛ (cha) | ಜ (ja) | ಝ (jha) | ಞ (ña) |
Retroflex | ಟ (ṭa) | ಠ (ṭha) | ಡ (ḍa) | ಢ (ḍha) | ಣ (ṇa) |
Dentals | ತ (ta) | ಥ (tha) | ದ (da) | ಧ (dha) | ನ (na) |
Labials | ಪ (pa) | ಫ (pha) | ಬ (ba) | ಭ (bha) | ಮ (ma) |
Kannada Unstructured consonants
The unstructured consonants are consonants that do not fall into the above structures:
- ಯ (ya)
- ರ (ra)
- ಱ (ṟa; obsolete)
- ಲ (la)
- ವ (va)
- ಶ (śa)
- ಷ (ṣa)
- ಸ (sa)
- ಹ (ha)
- ಳ (ḷa)
- ೞ (ḻ; obsolete).
Kannada Vowels
There are 13 vowel letters. When a vowel follows a consonant, it is written with a diacritic rather than as a separate letter.
Letter | Diacritic | ISO | IPA |
---|---|---|---|
ಅ | ◌ | a | [a] |
ಆ | ಾ | ā | [aː] |
ಇ | ಿ | i | [i] |
ಈ | ೀ | ī | [iː] |
ಉ | ು | u | [u] |
ಊ | ೂ | ū | [uː] |
ಋ | ೃ | rū | [rɨ] |
ಎ | ೆ | e | [e] |
ಏ | ೇ | ē | [eː] |
ಐ | ೈ | ai | [eʲ] |
ಒ | ೊ | o | [o] |
ಓ | ೋ | ō | [oː] |
ಔ | ೌ | au | [oʷ] |