Kurumba languages

Not to be confused with Koromfe language.

Kurumbas
Native to	India
Region	Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
Ethnicity	88,750 Kurumbar
Language family	Dravidian Southern Tamil–Kannada Kurumbas
Writing system	Tamil script, Kannada script, Malayalam script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kfi
Glottolog	kann1253

Kurumbas-Nilgiris (also known as Kuruba in Karnataka and Kuruma in Kerala), is a group of Southern Dravidian languages of the Tamil–Kannada subgroup spoken by the Kurumbas tribes. Some of them are from different branches.

Classification

Kannadoid

• Alu Kurumba
• Betta Kurumba, also known as Urali Kurumba or Kadu Kurumba
• Jennu Kurumba, also known as Ten Kurumba or Kattunaika

Together they are known as Kannada Kurumba as they are similar to Kannada.

Irulic

• Attapady Kurumba - also known as Palu Kurumba, a dialect of Muduga as they are mutually intelligible.

Malayalamoid

• Mullu Kurumba, also known as Mullu Kuruma

Geographical distribution

Kannadoid Kurumba languages are spoken at the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. Irulic and Malayalamoid Kurumba languages are spoken in Wayanad district of Kerala.

References

• "The Tribes of Palakkad, Kerala A Sociolinguistic Profile" (PDF).