The Dravidian Languages

The Dravidian languages are spoken by nearly 200 million people in South Asia and in diaspora communities around the world. They include Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu, as well as over 20 non-literary languages. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, one of the most eminent Dravidianists of our time, provides a linguistic overview of the Dravidian language family. He describes its history and writing system, discusses its structure and typology, and considers its lexicon. Distant and more recent contacts between Dravidian and other language groups are also covered.

This book provides a linguistic overview of the Dravidian language family.

The Dravidian languages are spoken by nearly 200 million people in South Asia and in diaspora communities around the world. They include Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu, as well as over 20 non-literary languages. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, one of the most eminent Dravidianists of our time, provides a linguistic overview of the Dravidian language family. He describes its history and writing system, discusses its structure and typology, and considers its lexicon. Distant and more recent contacts between Dravidian and other language groups are also covered.

Bh. Krishnamurti is a leading linguist in India and one of the world's renowned historical and comparative linguists, specialising in the Dravidian family of languages. He has published over 20 books in English and Telugu and over 100 research papers. His books include Telugu Verbal Bases: A Comparative and Descriptive Study (1961), Konda or Kubi, a Dravidian Language (1969), A Grammar of Modern Telugu (with J. P. L. Gwynn, 1985), Language, Education and Society (1998), and Comparative Dravidian Linguistics: Current Perspectives (2001).

Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Phonology: descriptive; 3. The writing systems of the literary languages; 4. Phonology: historical and comparative; 5. Word formation: roots, stems, formatives, derivational suffixes and nominal compounds; 6. Nominals: nouns, pronouns, numerals and time and place adverbs; 7. The verb; 8. Adjectives, adverbs and clitics; 9. Syntax; 10. Lexicon; 11. Conclusion; Bibliography; Indexes.