|states = India - [[Karnataka]], [[Kasargod|Kasaragod, Kerala]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Andhra pradesh]], [[Goa]], [[Tamil Nadu]] and significant communities in [[Mauritius]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=115832 |title=Mallige Kannada balaga: spreading fragrance of Karnataka in Mauritius |publisher=Daijiworld.com |accessdate=2013-02-12 |archive-date=2019-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107031637/http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=115832 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=97803 |title=Dubai: Kannada Koota UAE to hold 'Sangeetha Saurabha' |publisher=Daijiworld.com |accessdate=2013-02-12 |archive-date=2019-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107031648/http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=97803 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Thailand]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thaikannadabalaga.com |title=Kannada Balaga |publisher="Kannada Balaga" |accessdate=2013-02-12 |archive-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228070409/http://www.thaikannadabalaga.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|intro = true
|region =
|speakers = 60 million
|date = 2011
|ref = <ref>Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007</ref>
|speakers2 = 11.4 million as a second language<ref>{{cite web|author=TNN |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-14/india/28117934_1_second-language-speakers-urdu |title=Indiaspeak: English is our 2nd language |work=Times of India |date=14 March 2010 |accessdate=2013-02-12}}</ref>
|ethnicity = Kannadiga
|familycolor = Dravidian
|fam2 = [[Southern Dravidian languages|Southern]]
|fam3 = [[Tamil–Kannada languages|Tamil–Kannada]]
|fam4 = Kannada–Badaga
|iso1=kn
|iso2=kan
|iso3=kan
|nation = [[Karnataka]]
|agency = Various academies and the [[Government]] of [[Karnataka]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Karnataka official language act, 1963{{spaced ndash}}Karnataka Gazette (Extraordinary) Part IV-2A |year=1963 |publisher=Government of Karnataka|pages=33}}</ref>
|mapcaption=Distribution of native Kannada speakers in India<ref>Distribution of native Kannada speakers in India. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/overview/languages/himal1992max.jpg]</ref>
}}
}}
[[File:8th century Kannada inscription on victory pillar at Pattadakal.jpg|thumb|180px|Old Kannada script on a victory pillar, 8th century]]
'''Kannada''' ({{lang|kn|ಕನ್ನಡ}}) is a language,<ref>sometimes called 'Canarese'</ref> and it is a [[writing system|script]] used for [[writing]] the language. Most people in the southern [[India]]n state of [[Karnataka]] speak Kannada, and there are speakers in [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Kerala]] and [[Goa]]. There are some differences in the way Kannada is spoken in these places. There are about 44 million people who speak the language.<ref name=omniglot>{{cite web |url= http://www.omniglot.com/writing/kannada.htm |title=Kannada alphabet, pronunciation and language |first= |last=|work=omniglot.com |year=2011 |accessdate=7 November 2011}}</ref>
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{{Uncategorized stub|date=February 2021}}
Kannada is a [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian language]], which is a different language family from the [[Indo-European]] or [[Aryan]] languages of the north, such as [[Hindi]] but close to the other southern languages like [[Telugu]]. It has about 1500 years of written history. The first version is known as the Old Kannada script. By about 1500 it had morphed into the Kannada and [[Telugu]] scripts. Printing presses introduced by Christian [[Missionary|missionaries]] at the beginning of the 19th century standardized the Kannada and Telugu scripts.
The Kannada script is a type of writing system called an alpha[[syllabary]]. All consonants have a built-in vowel. Other vowels are indicated with [[diacritic]]s, which appear next to the consonants.<ref>above, below, before or after</ref> When they appear at the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as separate letters. When consonants appear together without intervening vowels, the second consonant is written as a special joint symbol, usually below the first. The direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.<ref name=omniglot/>
It has highest number of Janapeeta literary awards compared to any Indian language. Kannada had a huge boost during the [[Vijayanagar]] period. Shri [[Vinoba Bhave]] called "Kannada" script the "Queen of World Scripts" {{ndash}} "Vishwa Lipigala Raani".
