Kadar language

Kadar
Native to	India
Region	Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Ethnicity	2,000 Kadar[1]
Native speakers	2,000 (2004 survey)[2]
Language family	Dravidian Southern Southern I Tamil–Kannada Tamil–Kota Tamil–Toda Tamil–Irula Tamil–Kodava–Urali Tamil–Malayalam Malayalamoid Kadar
Early forms	Old Tamil Middle Tamil
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kej
Glottolog	kada1242

Kadar (IPA: [kaːɖɐr]), also written in scholarly literature as Kada and Kadan, is a Dravidian language of Kerala and Tamil Nadu that is closely related to Malayalam.^[3][4][5] It is spoken by the Kadar people.

References

1. The culture of India. New York, NY: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services. 2011. p. 29. The Kadar population was estimated at approximately 2,000 individuals in the early 21st century
2. Kadar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
3. "Kadar Language". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. 1996. pp. 92-93 [93]. ISBN 9788185692166. The closest relationship [of Kadar language] is with Malayalam.
4. Mathur, P.R.G. (1996). "Kadar". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p. 76. ISBN 9788185692166. The word, kādan, in Malayalam, means the dweller in a forest (plural - kādar). The tribe obviously got the name because of their exclusively forest habitat.
5. Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich (1996). A Grammar of the Malayalam Language in Historical Treatment. Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen. Vol. 1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 16. ISBN 9783447038119. On the whole there are four groups of territorial dialects [of Malayalam] on the map of Kerala ... Besides, a number of the so-called social dialects are attested, i.e., the dialects spoken by members of various castes, religious communities and primitive tribes (e.g., the dialects of Mappilas, Tiya-Ezhavas, Pulayar, Adiyar, Vedar, Kadar, etc.).

Bibliography

• "Kadar Language". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. 1996. pp. 92–93. ISBN 9788185692166.

Further reading

• Ehrenfels, U. R. (1952). "XI. The Kadan Language". Kadar of Cochin. Anthropological series. Vol. 1. Madras: University of Madras. pp. 257–271.
• Thundyil, Zacharias (1975). "The language of the Kadars". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics. IV (2): 229–248.
• Indira, R. (1976). Descriptive analysis of Kadar (Thesis). Savitribai Phule Pune University. hdl:10603/154343.
• Thundyil, Zacharias (1978). "The Language and Culture of the Kadar". Asian Profile. 6: 375–79.
• Suresh, J. (1981). A Descriptive study of Kadar Language of Anaimalai Hills (Ph.D.). Annamalainagar: Centre of Advanced Study in Linguistics, Annamalai University.
• Chandramohan, P. (2025). "Kadar—An Endangered Dravidian Tribal Language of India". In N. S. Dash; S. Arulmozi; N. Ramesh (eds.). Handbook on Endangered South Asian and Southeast Asian Languages. Cham: Springer. pp. 331–363. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80752-7_15.