Editing Badaga language

{{Short description|Dravidian language spoken in Southern India}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox language
| name             = Badaga
| nativename       = {{lang|bfq-Taml|படக}}, {{lang|bfq-Knda|ಬಡಗ}}, {{lang|bfq-Mlym|ബഡഗ}}
| state            = [[India]]
| region           = [[Tamil Nadu]] ([[The Nilgiris District|The Nilgiris]]), [[Kerala]] ([[Palakkad district|Palakkad]])
| ethnicity        = [[Badaga people|Badaga]]
| speakers         = 134,000
| date             = 2011 census
| ref              = e24
| familycolor      = Dravidian
| fam2             = Southern
| fam3             = [[South Dravidian languages|Southern I]]
| fam4             = Tamil–[[Kannada dialects|Kannada]]
| fam5             = [[Kannada dialects|Kannada–Badaga]]
| iso3             = bfq
| glotto           = bada1257
| glottorefname    = Badaga
| script           = [[Grantha Script|Grantha script]] ([[Pallava Script|Pallava]], [[Vatteluttu script|Vatteluttu]] and [[Koleluttu|Koleluttu]])
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Badaga''' is a southern [[Dravidian language]] spoken by the [[Badagas|Badaga]] people of the [[Nilgiris district]] of [[Tamil Nadu]]. The language is closely related to the   [[Kannada]] language with heavy influence from the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] language.<ref>
{{Citation|last=Hockings|first=Paul|title=Badaga|date=2004|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World’s Cultures Volume I: Topics Volume II: Cultures|pages=572–578|editor-last=Ember|editor-first=Carol R.|place=Boston, MA|publisher=Springer US|language=en|doi=10.1007/0-387-29905-x_57|isbn=978-0-387-29905-1|editor2-last=Ember|editor2-first=Melvin}}</ref> Of all the tribal languages spoken in Nilgiris (Badaga, [[Toda language]], [[Kota language (India)]]), Badaga is the most spoken 
language.

== Origins ==
Badaga, like modern [[Kannada]], likely originates from [[Old Kannada]]. This is suggested by the fact that Badaga shares many common features with modern [[Kannada]]. One such feature shared by both Badaga and Kannada is initial {{IPA|/h/}} where other Dravidian languages, and Old Kannada, have an initial {{IPA|/p/}}, a process which began around the 13th century.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/409407 | jstor=409407 | title=The Vowels of the Badaga Language | last1=Emeneau | first1=M. B. | journal=Language | date=28 February 2024 | volume=15 | issue=1 | pages=43–47 | doi=10.2307/409407 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Phonology==
Badaga has five vowel qualities, {{IPA|/i e a o u/}}, where each of them may be long or short, and until the 1930s they were contrastively half and fully [[R-colored vowel|retroflexed]], for a total of 30 vowel [[phoneme]]s.{{efn|Emenau (1931) reports no tokens of {{IPA|/i˞˞/}}, but suggests this is an accidental gap.}} Current speakers only distinguish retroflection of a few vowels.<ref>{{cite web |title=Badaga |publisher=UCLA Phonetics Lab |url=http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/appendix/languages/badaga/badaga.html |access-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Example words<ref>{{cite web |title= Word List for Badaga |publisher=UCLA Phonetics Lab |url=http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/BFQ/bfq_word-list_1992_03.html |access-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>
! IPA
! Gloss
|-
|{{IPA|/noː/}}||disease
|-
|{{IPA|/po˞˞ː/}}||scar
|-
|{{IPA|/mo˞e˞/}} || sprout
|-
|{{IPA|/a˞e˞/}} || tiger's den
|-
|{{IPA|/ha˞ːsu/}} ||to spread out
|-
|{{IPA|/ka˞˞ːʃu/}} || to remove
|-
|{{IPA|/i˞ːu˞˞/}} ||seven
|-
|{{IPA|/hu˞˞ːj/}} ||tamarind
|-
|{{IPA|/be˞ː/}}|| bangle
|-
|{{IPA|/be˞˞ː/}}||banana
|-
|{{IPA|/huj/}}||to strike
|-
|{{IPA|/u˞˞j/}} ||chisel
|}

Note on transcription: rhoticity {{angbr IPA|◌˞}} indicates half-retroflexion; doubled {{angbr IPA|◌˞˞}} it indicates full retroflexion.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+
!colspan="2"|
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɳ}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
!{{Small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ}}
| {{IPA link|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
!{{Small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
| {{IPA link|ɖ}}
| {{IPA link|ɟ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|ɻ}}
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

== Writing system ==
Several attempts have been made at constructing an orthography based on [[English language|English]], [[Kannada]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]]. The earliest printed book using [[Kannada script]] was a Christian work, "Anga Kartagibba Yesu Kristana Olleya Suddiya Pustaka" by Basel Mission Press of [[Mangaluru]] in 1890.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://gospelgo.com/q/Badaga%20Bible%20-%20Gospel%20of%20Luke.pdf|title=The Gospel of Luke in Badaga|publisher=Basel Mission Press|location=Basel|year=1890}}</ref>
[[File:Badaga script- Vowels and Consonants (jeeva Swara and Dheha Swara).jpg|thumb|Use of vowels and consonants of Tamil-Kannada script to create Badaga script]]
[[File:Badaga script- Jeevadhehagalu.jpg|thumb|Use of [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-[[Kannada]] script to create Badaga script]]

Badaga can also be written in the [[Kannada script]] and [[Tamil script]].

== Linguistic documentation ==
Badaga has been studied and documented by linguists. Several Badaga-English Dictionaries have been produced since the latter part of the nineteenth century.<ref name="dictionary">{{Cite book |last1=Paul Hockings |first1=Christiane Pilot-Raichoor |title=A Badaga-English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a74HA_RX3rIC|edition=Reprint |year=1992 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn= 978-3-11-012677-8}}</ref>

A collection of [[proverb|proverbs]] and other traditional sayings of the Badaga has been collated and edited by [[Paul Hockings]].<ref>Hockings, Paul. ''"Counsel from the Ancients." A study of Badaga proverbs, prayers, omens and curses''. Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter (1988).</ref> It is the result of the work of many people, collecting material over many decades.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}

== Relevant literature ==
*Hockings, Paul. ''Counsel from the ancients: A study of Badaga proverbs, prayers, omens, and curses.''  Mouton de Gruyter, 1988. [https://archive.org/details/counselfromancie0000paul/page/n7/mode/2up Archive.org]
*Hockings, Paul, and Christiane Pilot-Raichoor. ''A Badaga and English dictionary — glossary and gazetteer.'' Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 2023. [ISBN 978-93-91928-17-9]

== External links ==
{{Incubator|code=bfq}}
* [http://www.badaga.com/ Online community of Badagas worldwide]
* [http://badaga.chilume.com/ Badaga literature]
* [https://www.badugaa.com/ A website on the Badaga]
* [http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/pangloss/corpus/list_rsc_en.php?lg=Badaga&name=Badaga Audio recordings in Badaga, with annotations in trilingual format (Badaga, English, French)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109062519/http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/pangloss/corpus/list_rsc_en.php?lg=Badaga&name=Badaga |date=9 November 2019 }} – transcribed and translated by C. Pilot-Raichoor – <small>site of the [[Pangloss Collection]], [[CNRS]]-[[LACITO]]</small>

{{Dravidian languages}}
{{Languages of India}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badaga Language}}
[[Category:Dravidian languages]]
[[Category:Endangered diaspora languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Tamil Nadu]]