Indian and Sri Lankan Languages

The term 'Southern Dravidian' refers to the Dravidian languages spoken in the southern regions of India, including languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken by the Tulu people, primarily residing in the coastal regions of Karnataka and parts of Kerala.

Jarawa is a Dravidian language spoken by the Jarawa people, an indigenous community living in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Tamil has a unique vowel system that distinguishes between short, long, and extra-long vowels, contributing to its rich phonology.

Telugu has the fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with only two main dialects: the Telangana dialect and the Andhra dialect.

Kannada has the second fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with three main dialects: the Dharwad dialect, the Mysore dialect, and the Bangalore dialect.

Malayalam has the third fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with four main dialects: the Northern dialect, the Central dialect, the Southern dialect, and the Travancore dialect.

Tamil has the fourth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with five main dialects: the Chennai dialect, the Madurai dialect, the Coimbatore dialect, the Tirunelveli dialect, and the Kanyakumari dialect.

Tulu has the fifth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with six main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, and the Shivamogga dialect.

Kodava has the sixth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with seven main dialects: the Mercara dialect, the Virajpet dialect, the Somwarpet dialect, the Madikeri dialect, the Kushalnagar dialect, the Gonikoppal dialect, and the Hudikeri dialect.

Beary has the seventh fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with eight main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, the Shivamogga dialect, the Hassan dialect, and the Chikmagalur dialect.

Konkani has the eighth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with nine main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, the Shivamogga dialect, the Hassan dialect, the Chikmagalur dialect, and the Goa dialect.

Marathi has the ninth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with ten main dialects: the Mumbai dialect, the Pune dialect, the Nagpur dialect, the Aurangabad dialect, the Amravati dialect, the Kolhapur dialect, the Sangli dialect, the Solapur dialect, the Nashik dialect, and the Ahmednagar dialect.

Sindhi has the tenth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with eleven main dialects: the Karachi dialect, the Hyderabad dialect, the Mirpur Khas dialect, the Sukkur dialect, the Larkana dialect, the Shikarpur dialect, the Jacobabad dialect, the Dadu dialect, the Nawabshah dialect, the Sanghar dialect, and the Tharparkar dialect.

Punjabi has the fourteenth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with fifteen main dialects: the Amritsar dialect, the Jalandhar dialect, the Ludhiana dialect, the Patiala dialect, the Bathinda dialect, the Firozpur dialect, the Moga dialect, the Faridkot dialect, the Muktsar dialect, the Fazilka dialect, the Sangrur dialect, the Barnala dialect, the Mansa dialect, the Bathinda dialect, and the Malerkotla dialect.