kodava Script in Kannada

Author: Areyada Raja

Guide for pronouncing kodava letters written in roman script:

This is a guide compiled  to help kids who haven’t learnt Kannada script to correspond in kodava pājé. Many of our children are born and brought up in the US & Europe nowadays. This guide will be of use to them.

Also Check Check Kodava Thakk Padikana to learn the same in kannada scripts and Biddanda Varun Devaiah to learn the pronounciations and words

Vowels (ಸ್ವರ)

ಅ = a = a as in accomplish
ಆ = ā = a as in argue
ಇ = i = i as in ink
ಈ = ee = ee as in week
ಉ = u = u as in put
ಊ = oo = oo as in Cool
ಋ = ṛ = ṛ as in ṛ’shi (ಋಷಿ – Ascetic)
ಎ = é = e as in net
ಏ = ae = a as in make
ಐ = ai = i as in mile
ಒ = o = o as in bonanza
ಓ = ō = o as in dome
ಔ = ou = ou as in out
ಅಂ= am = um as in umbrella
ಅಃ = aha = aha as in mukhyataha (ಮುಖ್ಯತಃ – mainly)
Classifiable Consonants (ವರ್ಗೀಯ ವ್ಯಂಜನ)
ಕ = k = k as in king
ಖ = kh = kh as in khaki
ಗ = g = g as in gun
ಘ = gh = gh as in ghost
ಙ = ñg = ñg as in ಮೋಙೆ
ಚ = ch = ch as in chin
ಛ = cch = cch as in cchala (ಛಲ)
ಜ = j = j as in jam
ಝ = jh = jh as in Jhansi 
ಞ = ñh = ñh as in kuñhi (ಕುಞಿ‌ – child)
ಟ = ṭ = t as in tug
ಠ = ṭh = ṭh as in haṭh (ಹಠ – obstinacy)
ಡ = ḍ = d as in dog
ಢ = ḍh = ḍh as in mooḍh (ಮೂಢ – fool)
ಣ = ṇ = ṇ as in gaṇit ( ಗಣಿತ – math)
ತ = t = th as in thin
ಥ = th = th as in thug
ದ = d = th as in this
ಧ = dh = dh as in vidhi (ವಿಧಿ – fate)
ನ = n = n as in now
ಪ = p = p as in pan
ಫ = ph = ph as in physics
ಬ = b = b as in but
ಭ = bh = bh as in Bhopal
ಮ = m = m as in mom
Unclassifiable consonants (ಅವರ್ಗೀಯ ವ್ಯಂಜನ):
ಯ = y = y as in yet
ರ = r = r as in run
ಲ. = l = l as in let
ವ = v = v as in van
ಸ = s = s as in sit
ಷ = sh = sh as in show
ಶ = ssh = ssh as in sshambhu (ಶಂಭು)
ಹ = h = h as in her
ಳ = ḷ = ḷ as in keraḷa
In addition we have two letters from haḷégannada  (old kannada) which aren’t in vogue now. They are:
ṟ = ಱ = retroflex r
ḻ = ೞ = retroflex l
In retroflex consonants, the tongue doesn’t touch the palate; it is held back folded. Eg: Kōḻikoḍe (Calicut) ಕೋೞಿಕೋಡ್
There are certain letters that need to be paused or extended (dragged) like in Arabic usage. Use ‘ to indicate pause and ” for extension:

Example: ನಿಪ್ಪ್‌ಚಿಡ್ (stop) Nipp’chiḍ’, ಕ್ಽದಲ್ (below) K”dal’

Typing kodava pājé using Kannada script:

As most people type using the notes function in mobiles, let me explain how to activate Unicode script in Android mobiles. Android mobile devices inherently support the Unicode standard and have preloaded fonts that cover a wide range of common scripts including English, Hindi, and all major South Indian scripts.

Of course, the silly and unnecessary kodava script isn’t available. One has to use Kannada script with additional special characters to type effectively in kodava pājé.

Let’s first learn to enable Unicode in our android mobiles:

Go to settings and search for keyboards. If keyboard option is not found, select ‘system’ or ‘system and update’. The current keyboard will displayed. If not, select ‘Input Method’. Under that, select ‘current keyboard’. The default keyboard type will be shown. Select Unicode keyboard and press the radio buttons for English, Hindi, Kannada and any other Indian keyboard of your choice.

If you find it difficult, ask the neighborhood mobile shop guy. He’ll do it in a jiffy.

Now on the English keyboard in notes, Email, WhatsApp, Facebook etc, a globe sign will appear as shown in the screenshot below:

Press on the globe sign and the next script apoears. Keep pressing until the Kannada script is displayed as shown below:

There are two screens. To toggle between the screens, press the up arrow to the left of ಞ. The second screen will appear as follows:

Press the up arrow to go back to the first screen.

Have you noticed the small characters above the large ones? For instance, ಋ on top of ರ? This indicates that if you press ರ and hold, ಋ will appear. You will notice that all characters in Kannada are covered in either of the two screens.

Consonants appear in their standard forms like ಕ,‌ಜ,ಲ etc in the keyboard. If you want to type say ಕೀ, ಜೌ or ಲು, you should type ಕ and then type ೀ, ಜ & ೌ, and ಲ & ು.

If you want to type  Kannada numbers or special characters, press ೧೨೩ on the bottom left of the first screen. If you want more special characters, press =\< key on the number screen.

But some special characters also appear on the first and second screen. Let’s focus on a few that matter to us.

Theres a letter ಽ on top of ಮ. This is very useful for us. Kannada doesn’t have a drawn out vowel sign (ದೀರ್ಘ) for ್ like in kodava pājé. We have words like k”dal’ (viz below) that can’t be written as ಕ್‌ದಲ್. One should write it as ಕ್ಽದಲ್ indicating that the ್ is drawn out (ದೀರ್ಘ). Other examples are ನ್ಽಟುವ, ತ್ಽಟುವ, ಕ್ಽಳ್‌ಬಾಳ್ etc. Normally, if you write ಕ್ಽಳ್‌ಬಾಳ್, it will come out as ಕ್ಽಳ್ಬಾಳ್. To avoid this, use the sign marked in red in the following screenshot.

Type ಕ್ಽಳ್ then type the above sign and then type ಬಾಳ್. It will come out as ಕ್ಽಳ್‌ಬಾಳ್.

Now let’s look at the second screen.

Look at the character ಼ between ಙ and ಛ. This is called Nukta. It is actually used to type out English letters like Z and F in Kannada. Fun is written as ಫ಼ನ್ and Zone as ಝ಼ೋನ್.

We can use nukta while typing kodava pājé to indicate that a letter should be pronounced differently from its Kannada pronunciation. Here are just a few exampkes :

ಕೇಪ (to listen) , ಎಣ್ಣುವ (to tell), ಏರ (too much), ಮೇಲೆ (above), ಚೇಲೆ (cummerbundh), ಇಪ್ಪ (to be), ಅಂವ (he). We can use nukta as shown below, to indicate that they have to be pronounced differently from Kannada:

ಕ಼ೇಪ಼, ಎ಼ಣ್ಣುವ಼, ಏ಼ರ, ಮೇ಼ಲೆ, ಚೇ಼ಲೆ, ಇಪ಼್ಪ, ಅಂವ಼. For ಇಪ಼್ಪ, you have to type nukta after ಇಪ್, and then type ಪ. Otherwise it will come out as ಇಪ್ಪ಼.

Then there are words like ಅನ಼್ನನೆ (that way) ಇನ಼್ನನೆ‌ (this way) and ಎನ಼್ನನೆ (how?). Here nukta is used to show that it isn’t ನ್ನ but ನ಼್ನ. Many kodavas don’t know how to pronounce ನ಼್ನ and end up using ನ್ನ.

To pronounce it correctly, you have to say ನ‌ with the tongue pressed against the teeth like when you say ತ or ದ. When we say ನ‌, we don’t press the tongue against the teeth. Instead, the tip of the tongue lightly hits the teeth.