Jenu Kurumba, also known as Jen Kurumba or Jennu Kurumba, is a
Southern Dravidian language of the
Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the
Jenu Kuruba/
Kattunayakan tribe. It is often considered to constitute a dialect of
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
; however, ''
Ethnologue'' classifies it as a separate language. Jenu Kurumba speakers are situated on the
Nilgiri Hills cross-border area between
Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
,
Mysore and
Kodagu districts of
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, and
Wayanad district of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...
. The speakers of the language call it "nama basha" ().
See also
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Betta Kurumba language
The Betta Kurumba language (''Beṭṭa Kurumba'') is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language closely related to Kannada language, Kannada and Tamil language, Tamil, and is spoken by 32,000 people in the Nilgiri mountains and in adjoining areas ...
*
Alu Kurumba language
*
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian languages are a language family, family of languages spoken by 250 million people, primarily in South India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan, with pockets elsewhere in South Asia.
The most commonly spoken Dravidian l ...
*
List of languages by number of native speakers in India
*
Languages of South Asia
References
Sources
*
{{Languages spoken in Kerala
Tamil languages
Languages of Kerala
Jenu Kurumba