Basic Kannada for Travelers This is a brief introduction to Kannada, a south Indian language spoken in the Karnataka state of India. This introduction provides basic instruction about pronunciation and important words and phrases. Kannada is one of the official languages of India, predominantly spoken in the state of Karnataka, including the city of Bangalore. During your stay in Karnataka, the ability to communicate in Kannada will greatly enhance your experience. Even if you do not plan on studying the language in-dept, we strongly suggest learning and using the basic greetings and phrases. The locals will greatly appreciate your efforts and will be all the more welcoming to you during your stay. Pronunciation Kannada is written in the Kannada script, which is also used to write some of the other native languages of Karnataka: Tulu, Kodava, Takk, and Konkani. The script has fortynine characters; however different characters can be combined to form compound characters. In this guide we will not use the Kannada script, but a list of the Kannada characters can be found at the end of this document. Kannada has thirteen vowel sounds: a~ ea ai o O au /ou
‘a’ as in play ‘e’ as in hey ‘ai’ as in buy / high ‘o’ as in row ‘o’ as in row ‘au’ as in how / pout
p
‘p’ as in pig
d
‘b’ as in bed ‘s’ as in supper ‘k’ as in kid ‘d’ as in dog
q r
f
‘ph’ as in phone
s
‘q’ as in quest ‘r’ as in row ‘r’ as in feather ‘ss’ as in hiss ‘z’ as in haze
g
‘g’ as in go ‘j’ as in jello ‘h’ as in help ‘dg’ as in edge ‘c’ as in cat
t v w x
a aa / A i ee / I u oo / U Ru
‘u’ as in bud ‘a’ as in father ‘y’ as in happy ‘ea’ as in bead ‘oo’ as in good ‘oo’ as in food ‘r’ as in hurting
Kannada has 21 consonants: b c
h j k
‘t’ as in top ‘v’ as in victory ‘w’ as in weight ‘cks’ as in kicks ‘z’ as in haze
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‘l’ as in love ‘ie’ as in pie ‘ee’ as in flee ‘m’ as in mother ‘n’ as in nice
l
m n
y
‘y’ as in yes
z
‘z’ as in haze
There are also two characters that are called yogavaahac, which are part-vowel and partconsonant. They are the anusvara (am) and the visarga (ah). Greetings Hello How are you? I am fine. Fine, thank you. Goodbye
Namaskara Neevu Chennaagidira Naanu chennagiddene Chennagiddene. Dhanyavaada Hogibitt barthene Introductions
What is your name? My name is… Nice to meet you.
Nimma hessarenu? Nanna hesaru… Nimmannu nodi santhoshavaythu. Etiquette
Please Thank you You’re Welcome Yes No Excuse me (getting attention) Excuse me (begging pardon) I’m Sorry. Good morning Good evening Good night
Dayavit.t.u. Vandenegalo Tamage suswagatha Havdu Illa Illinodi K-shamisi Nannindha thappaihu Shubha munjane Shubha sanje Shubha ratri Relationships
Mother Father Son Daughter Elder Brother
Amma / taayi Appa / tande Maga magaLu aNNa
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Younger Brother Elder Sister Younger Sister Grandfather Grandmother Husband Wife Children
Tamma Akka Tangi Ajja / taata Ajji ganDa henDathi makkaLu Food and Drinks
Breakfast Lunch Eggs Rice Coffee Water Beans Potato Apple
Thindi Oota Motte Anna Kaapi Neeru huraLikaayi Aaloo geDDe sEbu Orange kittaLe Tarakaarigalu kOsaMbari beNNe Haalu Sakkare Chaa
Vegetables Salad Butter Milk Sugar Tea
Cost How much is this? I don’t want it. Expensive
Idhakke yeshtu Nanige beda. Dhubaari Time of Day
Now Before Morning Afternoon Evening Night
Iga Later Amele Modalu Beligge Madhyana Samje Ratri
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Useful Words and Phrases
I can’t speak Kannada (well). Do you speak English? Help! Look out! I don’t understand Where is the toilet? Police! I need your help. I’m lost. I lost my bag. I need a doctor Who? Where? When? Why? What? Which? I don’t know.
Nanage Kannada barodilla. Nimage English baruththaa? Sahaaya maadi Jopaana Nanage artha vaguthilla Shouchalaya Arakshaka Nimma sahaya bekagidhe. Nanage daari thappide. Nanna cheela kaledu hoyithu. Nanage doctor beku. Yaaru Elli Yaavaga Yaake/Eke Enu Yaava/yavudu Gottilla
Numbers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Ondhu Yeradu Mooru Naalku Aidhu Aaru Yelu Yentu Ombattu Hathu Hannondu Hanneradu Hadimooru Hadinalku Hadinaidhu
16 17 18 19 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1,000 1,000,000
Hadinaru Hadinelu Hadinentu Hathombathu Ipathu Muvathu Nalavathu Aivathu Arvathu Yapathu Embathu Tombathu Nooru Ondu savira Hathu laksha
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The Kannada Alphabet
Vowels
Consonants
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