Ravula, known locally as ''Yerava'' or '' Adiyan'', is a

Dravidian language The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

spoken by the Ravula and Adiyan. It is classified under the category ''Malayalam languages'' in both the linguistics and the

Census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

. However their language exhibits a number of peculiarities which marks it off from

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

as well as from other tribal speeches in the districts of

Kodagu Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupie ...

and

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the sout ...

. It is spoken by 25,000 Ravulas (locally called Yerava) in Kodagu district of Karnataka and by 1,900 Ravulas (locally called Adiyan) in the adjacent

Wayanad district Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

of Kerala. The term 'Yerava' is derived from the Kannada word ''Yeravalu'' meaning borrow.

Phonology

Adiya's phonology is similar to Malayalam with a few differences. * All vowels except for /ɪ,ə,ʊ,ɔ/ demonstrate contrastive vowel length.

Consonants

References

Dravidian languages {{Dr-lang-stub