Waddar, or Vadari, is a
Dravidian language which belongs to the Telugu branch of its South-Central family, spoken among social caste of
Waddars scattered over South India, especially in
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...
, where it has a status of Scheduled caste. 200,000 people reported their languages as 'Vadari' in the 2011 census. Ethnologue treats it as separate
Dravidian language closely related to Telugu, but without clear grounds. Waddars show their close relevance to Kaikadis.
References
* Chandrashekhar Bhat
Ethnicity and Mobility: Emerging Ethnic Identity and Social Mobility Among the Waddars of South India Concept Publishing Company, 1984.
Agglutinative languages
Dravidian languages
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