| Kolami | |
| Nativename: | कॊलामि, కొలామి |
| Also Known As: | Kolāmi |
| Imagealt: | Kolāmi' in Devanagari alphabet (top) and Goykanadi alphabet (center) and Telugu alphabet (bottom) |
| States: | India |
| Region: | Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh |
| Ethnicity: | 239,583 Kolam (2011 census)[1] |
| Speakers: | 128,451, 54% of ethnic population |
| Date: | 2011 census |
| Ref: | [2] |
| Familycolor: | Dravidian |
| Fam2: | Central |
| Fam3: | Kolami–Naiki |
| Script: | |
| Glotto: | nort2699 |
| Glottorefname: | Northwestern Kolami Kolam |
| Ld1: | Northwestern Kolami |
| Lc1: | kfb |
| Lc2: | nit |
| Ld2: | Southeastern Kolami (Naiki) |
Kolami (Northwestern Kolami/Southeastern Kolami) is a tribal Central Dravidian language spoken in Maharashtra and Telangana states of India. It falls under the Kolami–Naiki group of languages. It is the most widely spoken Central Dravidian language.
Sathupati Prasanna Sree has developed a unique script for use with the language.
Kolami language has been classified as a central dravidian language. It is well known as dravidian language of Maharashtra state. Well influenced by south central dravidian languages like Telugu and Gondi. It is also a tribal Dravidian language. Kolami is the dialect of the Kolam tribal group.
The Kolami dialect differs considerably from the Gond language of the neighboring district. In some respects, Kolami is closely related to Telugu and in others to Kannada. The influence of the Bhilli language is felt as the communication in the surrounding area comes into contact. Some other points of similarity are also important like the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris and according to Dr. Grierson, linguistically speaking, the Kolami may be the remaining descendants of the Dravidian tribes. who either never participated in the development of the main Dravidian language or who never adopted Dravidian language.
Kolami language is written using Devanagari, Goykanadi and Telugu scripts for writing purposes.
| Modern Devanagari script | Kolami numeral | Kolami word and transliteration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ० | lang | शून्यम् | |
| १ | ऒक्कॊद् | ||
| २ | Tamil: इन्दिङ् | ||
| ३ | Tamil: मून्दिङ् | ||
| ४ | Tamil: नालिङ् | ||
| ५ | Tamil: सेन्दि | ||
| ६ | Tamil: सादि | ||
| ७ | Tamil: एड् | ||
| ८ | Tamil: ऎनुंदि | ||
| ९ | Tamil: तॊंदि | ||
| १० | Tamil: पदि |
Kolami has a two-gender system, being either masculine or non-masculine. Kolami has developed aspirated stops, distancing itself from its ancestor Proto-Dravidian.
| Front | Central | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| High | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Low | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Phrases | English Translation | Dēvanāgarī | Telugu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inne pidir tāned ? | What is your name ? | इन्नॆ पिदिर् तानॆद् ? | ఇన్నె పిదిర్ తానెద్ ? |
| Anne pidir rāmak | My name is rāmand | अन्नॆ पिदिर् रामन्द् | అన్నె పిదిర్ రామన్ద్ |
| Rāmak, avar devar | Rāmak,they are god | रामक्, अवर् देवक् | రామక్,అపర్ దేవక్ |
| Āy | Yes | आय् | ఆయ్ |
| Tōd, Sillai | No | तोद्, सिल्लै | తోద్, సిల్లై |
| var itti | Come (singular) here | वर् इत्ति | వర్ ఇత్తి |
| varrur | come (plural) | वर्रुर् | వర్రుర్ |
| Etti ini enāṅ | where and how | ऎत्ति इनि ऎनाङ् | ఎత్తి ఇవి ఎనాఙ్ |
Also see Kolami Swadesh list on wiktionary.