Badaga language

Badaga (Tamil: படகா, Kannada: ಬಡಗ ) is a southern Dravidian language (Old Kannada language branch) spoken by approximately 400,000 people in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu. It is known for its retroflex vowels. It has similarities with neighbouring Kannada language and it was earlier considered as a dialect of Kannada and now identified as an independent language. The word Badaga refers to the Badaga language as well as the Badaga indigenous people who speak it.

Sounds

Badaga has five vowels qualities, /i e a o u/, all of which may be long or short and in the 1930s were contrastively half and fully retroflexed, for a total of 30 vowel phonemes. Current speakers only distinguish retroflection for a few vowels.

Note on transcription: rhoticity ⟨◌˞⟩ indicates half-retroflexion; doubled ⟨◌˞˞⟩ it indicates full retroflexion.

Badaga script

Several attempts were made at constructing an orthography based on English and Kannada. The earliest printed book using Kannada script was "Anga Kartagibba Yesu Kristana Olleya Suddiya Pustaka" by Basel Mission Press of Mangaluru in 1890.