Paniya is one of the

Malayalamoid languages The Malayalamoid languages, also known as the Malayalam languages, are the group of Dravidian languages most closely related to Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala ...

spoken in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is spoken by the

Paniya people The Paniya, also known as Paniyar, Panyer, and Paniyan, are an ethnic group of India. They constitute the single largest Scheduled Tribe in Kerala and are mainly found in the Wayanad District and the neighbouring areas of Karnataka. They primari ...

, a scheduled tribe with a majority of its speakers in the state 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 language is also known as ''Pania'', ''Paniyan'' and ''Panyah''. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. According to the 1981 Census, there were 63,827 speakers of Paniya which includes 56,952 in Kerala, 6,393 in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, 482 in

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 ...

. Most of its speakers are found in the

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

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

and

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

districts of Kerala, and to the west of the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu.

See also

References

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