Srinivas speaking Bijapur Kannada
This video was recorded by Krishna Rao in New Jersey, USA. Kannada, also known as Kanarese, is a Southern Dravidian language. It is spoken primarily in Karnataka, the Indian state in the southwest, by around 56 million people. It the official and administrative language of the state and is one of the scheduled languages of India. It is a member of the southern branch of the Dravidian language family, which also includes Tamil and Malayalam. Kannada has an extensive literary tradition, with the earliest inscriptions dating back to 230 BCE, and is designated as one of India's six classical languages. Kannada is recognized for its prominence during some of the most powerful empires of South and Central India: it was a court language during the Chalukya dynasty, the Rashtrakuta dynasty, the Vijayanagara Empire, and the Hoysala Empire. The Bijapur dialect is spoken in the northeastern districts of the state, centering around the city of Bijapur (Vijayapura), near the border with Maharashtra. The dialect is notable for its vowel reductions as well as its unique vocabulary and grammar. The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script. The Kannada script is syllabic, with 49 different symbols. In July 2011, a center for the study of classical Kannada was established in Mysore, as part of the Central Institute of Indian Languages. In this clip, Srinivas talks about his childhood and visiting Karnataka for the first time. It was then that he realized that there are many different types of Kannada, other than what he spoke at home in Mumbai. He explains that he learned to read and write in Kannada from his father. In the present day, although he's no longer in India, he continues to speak the language with his wife, children, and friends and is proud to be a Kannada speaker.