Basic Kannada for Travelers This is a brief introduction to Kannada

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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