Kannada is a Dravidian language, spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas , number roughly 50 million, making it the 25th most spoken language in the world.It is one of the scheduled languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.
Kannada is a sourhern Dravidian language and belongs to Tamil-Kannada inner-branch. The history of Kannada is conventionally divided in three periods, Old Kannada (6th to 13th centuries), Middle Kannada (14th to 18th century) and Modern Kannada (19th century to present).
Loanwords in Kannada are mainly from Tamil,Sanskrit and several other languages, such as Persian, Arabic Prakri t/Mara thi and from Telugu. Also Kannada words and influence can be found in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tulu, Marathi and Konkani.
Yakshagana, a theatre art form from Karnataka, which is also prevalent in north Kerala, is usually staged in Kannada. Yakshagana as an art form preserves the finest aspects of the Kannada language. Kannada films and plays usually cater to the modern masses and the Kannada used in them is influenced by modernity. This form of Kannada enjoys relative popularity.
Kannada is mainly spoken in Karnataka in India and to a good extent in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharah tra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa, as well as in sizeable communities in the USA, Europe, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Middle Eastern countries, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, the UK, and Singapore..
Kannada is one of the twenty-two official languages of India and is the sole administrative language of the State of Karnataka. It is also one of the four classical languages of India.
