Editing Tulu language (section)

==History==
The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 7th and 8th century AD.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CF5Qo4NDE64C&pg=PA162 |title=The Dravidian languages - Sanford B. Steever - Google Books |date= 24 June 2003|isbn=9780203424353 |access-date=21 May 2012|last1=Steever |first1=Sanford B. |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA46 |title=A History of Ancient and Early ... - Upinder Singh - Google Books |isbn=9788131711200 |access-date=21 May 2012|last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |year=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsQc6oFXvPkC&pg=PA64 |title=Brahmanas of South India - Nagendra Rao - Google Books |isbn=9788178353005 |access-date=21 May 2012|last1=Rao |first1=Nagendra |year=2005 |publisher=Kalpaz Publications }}</ref><ref>[http://amazingudupi.com]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024041555/http://www.amazingudupi.com/|date=24 October 2009}}</ref> These inscriptions are in the Tulu script and are found in areas in and around [[Barkur]] which was the capital of Tulu Nadu during the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagar]] period. Another group of inscriptions is found in the ''Ullur'' ''Subrahmanya'' Temple near [[Kundapura]]. Many linguists like S.U. Panniyadi and [[L. V. Ramaswami Iyer]] as well as P.S. Subrahmanya suggested that Tulu is among the oldest languages in the Dravidian family which branched independently from its Proto-Dravidian roots nearly 2500 years ago. This assertion is based on the fact that Tulu still preserves many aspects of the [[Proto-Dravidian language]].{{fact|date=April 2024}}

This dating of Tulu is also based on the fact that the region where Tulu is natively spoken was known to the ancient Tamils as Tulu Nadu. Also, the [[Tamil people|Tamil]] poet Mamular who belongs to the Sangam Age (200 BCE) describes Tulu Nadu and its dancing beauties in one of his poems.<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/2002/07/16/stories/2002071602460300.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105070037/http://www.hindu.com/2002/07/16/stories/2002071602460300.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 November 2012 | location=Chennai, India | work=[[The Hindu]] | title=Tulu fit to be included in Eighth Schedule | date=16 July 2002}}</ref> In the poetical work "Akananuru," belonging to the Sangam literature (circa 300 BCE), there is a mention of Tulunad in its 15th poem. This indicates that the Tulu language is at least around 2,300 years old.[https://learnsangamtamil.com/akananuru/]  In the [[Kannada]] Halmidi inscriptions, one finds mention of the Tulu country as the kingdom of the [[Alupas]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Teaching-Tulu-at-primary-level-sought/articleshow/4030806.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024131607/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-01-25/mangalore/28038826_1_tulu-language-karnataka-tulu-sahitya-academy-tulu-nadu | url-status=live | archive-date=24 October 2012 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Teaching Tulu at primary level sought | date=25 January 2009}}</ref> The region was also known to the Greeks of the 2nd century as ''Tolokoyra'' (Tulu Country). The [[Charition mime]], a [[Greek language|Greek]] play belonging to the 2nd century BC, has its plot centered around the coastal Karnataka, where Tulu is mainly spoken. The play is mostly in Greek, but the [[India]]n characters in the play are seen speaking a language different from Greek. There is considerable ambiguity regarding the Indian language in the play, though all scholars agree the Indian language is Dravidian, there is considerable dispute over which form of it. Noted German Indologist [[E. Hultzsch]] (1857–1927) was the first to suggest that the language was Dravidian.{{clarify|date=June 2015}} The dispute regarding the language in the play is yet to be settled, but scholars agree that the dispute arises from the fact that Old Kannada, Old Tamil, and Tulu during the time when the play was written were perhaps dialectical variations of the same [[wiktionary:proto-language|proto-language]], and that over the years they evolved into their present forms as separate languages.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

=== Status ===
Found largely in Karnataka, it is spoken primarily within the Indian state. Dating back several hundred years, the language has developed numerous defining qualities. The Tulu people follow a saying which promotes leaving negative situations and finding newer, more positive ones. The language, however, is not as popular as others which means it could become endangered and extinct very soon. The influence of other mainstream languages is a present danger for the Tulu language.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Latham|first=R. G. (Robert Gordon)|url=https://archive.org/details/elementsofcompar00lathrich|title=Elements of comparative philology|date=1862|publisher=London, Walton and Maberly [etc.]|others=University of California Libraries}}</ref> Today, it is spoken by nearly 1.8&nbsp;million people around the globe. Large parts of the language are altered and changed constantly because it is commonly passed down through oral tradition. Oral traditions within Tulu have meant that certain phrases have not always maintained the same meaning or importance.