Sankethi (, sometimes spelled Sanketi) is a South Dravidian language that is closely related to Kannada. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Kannada or Tamil, but there are considerable differences that make each language unintelligible to speakers of the other language. It has strong lexical influences from Kannada (particularly in the colloquial form), as well as borrowings from Sanskrit. It is most commonly spoken in Karnataka, India by the Sankethi people, who migrated from Sengottai in Tamil Nadu.
The language is most often written in the Kannada script. However, Sankethi (especially in the spoken form) has relatively higher frequencies of consonant clusters of more than two consonants and semivowels. This makes it difficult to write in the Kannada script, which would require multiple subscripted letters (ಒತ್ತಕ್ಷರ - ottakṣara). As a result, Sankethi is rarely found in printed or any written form, and has no standardized form.
Three main dialects exist of the Sankethi language: Kaushika, Bettadpura and Lingadahalli, each associated with the three primary Sankethi communities located in Karnataka. These dialects are all located in a sprachbund which includes not only Kannada but also Tulu, due to Sankethi villages being located in the Malnad region. As Sankethi has no standardized form, it can be difficult to assess what the "true" grammar and features of Sankethi is, as evidenced in the literature by H.S. Ananthanaryana and Kikkeri Narayana. The grammar and semantic features of Kannada are those most often assimilated into Sankethi, as many Sankethis are bilingual in Kannada.
Phonology Sankethi phonology is very similar to Kannada and Tamil, with the classical Sanskrit aspirates and retroflex laterals characteristic of many Dravidian languages. Like a few other South Indian languages including Konkani, Marathi, and Saurashtra, the language has a few uncommon aspirates: [], [nʰ], and [ʃʰ], though both most often appear in their palatalized forms. Its presence is often marked by the presence of long vowels, as well as syllable finally (where they are often palatalized in that position). See the table below for the range of Sankethi consonants. LabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottalNasalplain ಮ ನ ಣ ಞ ಙ aspiratedʰ ನ್ಹ Stopplain ಪ ಬ ತ ದ ಟ ಡ ಚ ಜ ಕ ಗ aspirated ಫ ಭ ಥ ಧ ಠ ಢ ಛ ಝ ಖ ಘ Fricative ಸ ಷ ಶ ಹ aspirated ಶ್ಹ Approximantcentral ವ ಯ aspirated ವ್ಹ lateral ಲ ಳ Rhotic ರ Sankethi vowels are very similar to Tamil and Kannada vowels: VowelISO 15919IPAಅಆಇಈಉ, ಊಎಏಐಒಓಔ In Sankethi, some nouns that end in ಒ (o) have a final nasal sound, which is not indicated with the anusvāra when written down. This is especially prevalent in the Lingadahalli dialect.
Vocabulary Below is a table comparing some basic words in Sankethi, Kannada, Tamil and Thigala. Sankethi Kannada Tamil Thigala Englishಪಲ್ಯು/ತಾಳ್ದು (palyu/tāḷdu)ಪಲ್ಯ (palya)பொரியல் (poriyal)ಪಲ್ಯು (palyu)sauteed/fried vegetable dishಚಾರು (cāru)ಸಾರು (sāru)ரசம் (rasam)ಸಾರು (sāru)broth/soupತಯಿರು (tayiru)ಮೊಸರು (mosaru)தயிர் (tayir)ತಯಿರು (tayiru)curd / yoghurtಮೋರು (mōru)ಮಜ್ಜಿಗೆ (majjige)மோர் (mōr)ಮೋರು (mōru)buttermilkನೆಲ್ಲ್ (nell)ಭತ್ತ (bhatta)நெல் (nel)ನೆಲ್ಲ್ (nell)unhusked riceಅರಶಿ (araśi)ಅಕ್ಕಿ (akki)அரிசி (arici)ಅರಶಿ (araśi)uncooked riceಸಾಂ (sāṃ)ಅನ್ನ(anna)சாதம்(sādam)cooked riceತೇನು (tēnu)ಜೇನಿನತುಪ್ಪ (jēnina tuppa)தேன் (tēn)ತೇನು (tēnu)honeyವಣ್ಣ (vaṇṇa)ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ (beṇṇe)வெண்ணெய் (veṇṇey)ವಣ್ (vaṇ)butterನೈ (nai)ತುಪ್ಪ (tuppa)நெய் (ney)gheeವೆಲ್ಲು (vellu)ಬೆಲ್ಲ (bella)வெல்லம் (vellam)jaggeryಮಂಜ (mañja)ಅರಶಿನ (araśina)மஞ்சள் (maṇjaḷ)turmericಪರ್ಪು (parpu)ಬೇಳೆ (bēḷe)பருப்பு (paruppu)lentilಕಾವೇರಿ (kāvēri)ನದಿ (nadi)ஆறு (āṟu), நதி (nati)river
Word formation strategies One peculiar feature of Sankethi is its use of words and structures of both Sanskrit and Dravidian origin to form new words. A study by H.S. Ananthanarayana details a number of noun formation strategies in Sankethi.
-ಮಯು - "full of" (ex. ಪೂವಮಯು - full of flowers)
Grammar Nouns
Sankethi grammar is fairly similar to those of most other Dravidian languages, with six cases: nominative (unmarked), accusative, instrumental-ablative, dative, genitive, and locative. The vocative is not fully functional case, and not all nouns have a separate form for it, and as such is not included in the traditional list. The grammar detailed below pertains to the Kaushika dialect.
As in Tamil and Malayalam, there is clusivity distinction for first person plural pronouns in Sankethi: ನಾಂಗ (nānga; exclusive) VS ನಾಂಬು (nāmbu/ inclusive), though the frequency usage varies. A good example of its usage is the Sankethi endonym for the language: ಎಂಗಡೆ ವಾರ್ಥೆ (eṃgaḍe vārthe), which implies that the language belongs to the speaker and the Sankethi community, so as to distinguish it from a shared language.
Below is a table of pronouns: ನಾ - na - Iನಾಂಗ/ನಾಂಬ - nānga/nāṃba - we (exclusive/inclusive)ನೀ - ni - youನೀಂಗ/ತಾಂಗ - nīnga/tānga - (you all/you (polite))/you (very polite)(ಇವು/ಅವು)/(ಇವೆ/ಅವೆ) - (ivu/avu)/(ive/ave) - (proximal/distal) he/sheಇವ್ಹಾ(ಳು)/ಅವ್ಹ(ಳು)- ivhāḷu/avhāḷu- they (human)ಇದು/ಅದು- idu/adu - this/that (non-human) (it/[this/that])ಇವ್ಹ್ಯ/ಅವ್ಹ್ಯ - ivhya/avhya - they (non-human) Polite versions of he and she are ಇವ್ಹು/ಅವ್ಹು (ivhu/avhu) and ಇವ್ಹೆ/ಅವ್ಹೆ (ivhe/avhe), which are increasingly considered archaic. They are most frequently replaced by ಇವ್ಹಾ/ಅವ್ಹಾ (ivhā/avhā), perhaps as an influence from Kannada. Tānga is usually found only in religious contexts, and even then, nīnga is often preferred. Tānga and nīnga have the same inflections and verb conjugations. The use of ಇವ್ಹ್ಯ/ಅವ್ಹ್ಯ is rare, since the word was historically used to refer to people outside the Sankethi community. Eventually it acquired a more general, pejorative meaning of “those people (outsiders)”, and as such is rarely used.
Case Declension
The declensional classes are similar to Kannada, marked by animate versus inanimate and weak (ಇ, ಈ, ಎ, ಏ, ಐ) versus strong vowel (ಅ, ಆ, ಉ, ಊ, ಒ, ಓ, ಔ, ಋ) endings. Gender only exists for human nouns, and is only relevant in the third person verb conjugations. Generally, the verb classes are delineated as 1st (animate strong vowel ending), 2nd (inanimate strong vowel ending), 3rd (animate weak vowel ending), and 4th (inanimate weak vowel ending).
Though Sankethi vocabulary is not systematized, there are some general rules for taking nouns from Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada, or Malayalam.
Most words of Dravidian origin in Kannada that end in ಅ (a) in Kannada and Tamil/Malayalam words ending in உ/ന് (the half u), including proper nouns, end in the half ಉ in Sankethi. Words of Sanskrit origin (though there are exceptions) tend to end in ಒ (oṃ); a way to tell if this is the case is to see if the Telugu, Tamil, or Malayalam cognate ends in the anusvāra (the ṃ) or the ending -am. If it does, the word will most likely end in the nasalized oṃ, which is usually written with ಒ because there is no way to indicate a nasalized vowel in the Kannada script (as noted before). Ex. Sankethi ಪಳೊ is related to Tamil பழம், which ends in -am. Therefore, ಪಳೊ is pronounced with a final ಒಂ. However, as a rule, most words that end in e in Kannada and ai in Tamil end in a in Sankethi (even if the second rule applies; is especially true of Sanskrit loans). Ex. Compare Kannada ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ (prārthane) and Tamil பிரார்த்தனை (prārthanai), which is ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನ (prārthana) in Sankethi.
See the table below for case declensions. The nominative is the base form of a given noun, and as such is not included in the table below. Case1st Class2nd Class3rd Class4th ClassAccusative-ಅ/-ನ್ (singular)
-ಅಂಗಳ (plural)-ತ-ಯ-ವInstrumental-Ablative -ೊಣ್ಣು/- ್ನಣ್ಣು (singular) -ಂಗಳಣ್ಣು (plural) -ತಣ್ಣು-ಯಣ್ಣು-ಅಣ್ಣುDative -ಂಕ್ಕು(singular) -ಗಳಕ್ಕು(plural)-ತಕ್ಕು-ಕ್ಕು-ಅಕ್ಕಾಹGenitive-ಂದು/ಂದೆ (singular)
-ಗಡು/ಗಡೆ (plural)-ತದು/ತದೆ/ತೆ-ಂದು/ಂದೆ-ಅದು/ಅದೆ/ಅತ್ತೆ/ಅತ್ತುLocative - ್ನಲ್ಲೆ (singular) -ಂಗಳಲ್ಲೆ (plural)-ತಲ್ಲೆ-(ಯ)ಲ್ಲೆ-ಅಲ್ಲೆ Verbs
Verbs in Sankethi have two kinds of verbs stems. There are verbs that end in ಉ/ಒ (u/o) and ಇ/ಎ (i/e). Generally speaking, they undergo the following changes during conjugation
-ಉ/ಒ verbs (strong vowel stems) simply drop their final vowel before taking endings -ಇ/ಎ verbs (weak vowel stems) add the euphonic ಯ್ (y) before adding the endings. However, in speech, the ಎ is reduced to ಇ, and even then the final vowel disappears, resulting in a palatalized consonant between the stem and ending.
Below are tables that show different tenses, given for the verb ಸಾಪಡು (to eat/drink):
Non-Past Simple ನಾ ಸಾಪಡಣಿ - nā sāpaḍaṇiಅದು ಸಾಪಡಂದು - adu sāpaḍandu*ನೀ ಸಾಪಡಂಡ್ಯ/ಸಾಪಡಾಂದೆಯ - nī sapaḍaṇḍya/sāpaḍāṇdeyā (statement/question)ನಾಂಗ ಸಾಪಡಣೂಂ/ಸಾಪಡಣೊ - nanga sāpaḍaṇūṃ/sāpaḍaṇoಅವು ಸಾಪಡಣ/ಸಾಪಡಣು - avu sāpaḍaṇa*ನೀಂಗ ಸಾಪಡಂಢ್ಯೊ/ಸಾಪಡಂಢಿಳ - nīnga sāpaḍaṇḍhyo/sāpaḍaṇḍhiḷa (statement/question)ಅವೆ ಸಾಪಡಂಡ - ave sāpaḍaṇḍaಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಸಾಪಡಂಡ - avhāḷa sāpaḍaṇḍa *In all tenses, the ನೀ form's final -್ಯ (-ya) becomes -ಎಯ (-eya) as a question, and the ನೀಂಗ form changes from -್ಯೊ (-yo) to -ಿಳ (-iḷa) as a question.
Imperfective and Perfective Aspects
The imperfective aspect is marked by taking the gerundial form of a verb (the stem takes the ending -āṇḍu), and then attaching the conjugated form of iru in its auxiliary form (rāṇi, rāṇḍeya, etc.). ನಾ ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಣಿ- nā sāpaḍānḍrāṇiಅದು ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಂದು - adu sāpaḍānḍrānduನೀ ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಂಡ್ಯ - nī sāpaḍāṇḍrānḍya ನಾಂಗ ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಣೂಂ- nanga sāpaḍānḍrāṇūṃಅವುಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಣು - avu sāpaḍāṇḍrāṇuನೀಂಗ ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಂಢ್ಯೊ- nīnga sāpaḍāṇḍrānḍhyoಅವೆ ಸಾಪಡಡ್ರಾಂಡ - ave sāpaḍāṇḍrānḍaಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಸಾಪಡಾಂಡ್ರಾಂಡ - avhāḷa sāpaḍāṇḍrānḍa This is contrasted with the perfect aspect, where the past participle is placed first instead of the gerundial aspect. In addition, because ನಾ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಣಿ- nā sāpaḍrāṇiಅದು ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಂದು - adu sāpaḍrānduನೀ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಂಡ್ಯ - nī sāpaḍrānḍya ನಾಂಗ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಣೂಂ- nanga sāpaḍrāṇūṃಅವುಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಣು - avu sāpaḍrāṇuನೀಂಗ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಂಢ್ಯೊ- nīnga sāpaḍrānḍhyoಅವೆ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಂಡ - ave sāpaḍrānḍaಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಸಾಪಡ್ರಾಂಡ - avhāḷa sāpaḍrānḍa Past
The past tense in Sankethi is complex due to a number of stem rules inherited from Tamil. The past tense is also notable in that the ನೀಂಗ (nīnga) form is where Sankethi's uncommon aspirates are most visible. There a number of different kinds of past tense endings associated with certain verb endings. There are also a number of irregular verbs, with no necessarily discernible pattern.
ಪಣ್ಣು - -ಉ ending verbs ನಾ ಪಣ್ಣಿನೆ - nā paṇṇineಅದು ಪಣ್ಣಿತು - adu paṇṇituನೀ ಪಣ್ಣಿನೆಯ -
nī paṇṇine/paṇṇinya (statement/question)ನಾಂಗ ಪಣ್ಣಿನೊಂ - nanga paṇṇinoṃಅವುಂ ಪಣ್ಣಿನಾ - avu paṇṇināನೀಂಗ ಪಣ್ಣಿನ್ಹ್ಯೊ - nīnga paṇṇinhyoಅವೆ ಪಣ್ಣಿನಾ - ave paṇṇināಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಪಣ್ಣಿನಾ - avhāḷa paṇṇinā ಉಡು - -ಡು ending verbs without a stressed penultimate syllable (change to -ಟ್ಟ-) ನಾ ಉಟ್ಟೆ - nā uṭṭeಅದು ಉಟ್ಟದು - adu uṭṭaduನೀ ಉಟ್ಟೆಯ - nī uṭṭeya/uṭṭya (statement/question)ನಾಂಗ ಉಟ್ಟುಂ - nanga uṭṭuṃಅವುಂ ಉಟ್ಟಾಂ - avu uṭṭāṃನೀಂಗ ಉಟ್ಠ್ಯೊ - nīnga uṭṭhyoಅವೆ ಉಟ್ಟಾ - ave uṭṭāಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಉಟ್ಟಾ - avhāḷa uṭṭā ಸಾಪಡು - -ಡು ending verbs with an unstressed penultimate syllable ನಾ ಸಾಪಟೆ - nā sāpaṭeಅದು ಸಾಪಟುದು - adu sāpaṭuduನೀ ಸಾಪಟೆಯ/ಸಾಪಟ್ಯ -
nī sāpaṭeya/sāpaṭya (statement/question)ನಾಂಗ ಸಾಪಟುಂ - nanga sāpaṭuṃಅವುಂ ಸಾಪಟಾಂ - avu sāpaṭāṃನೀಂಗ ಸಾಪಠ್ಯೊ - nīnga sāpaṭhyoಅವೆ ಸಾಪಟಾ - ave sāpaṭāಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಸಾಪಟಾ - avhāḷa sāpaṭā ಪಾರು - stressed long vowel as the penultimate syllable (change the final syllable to -ತು) ನಾ ಪಾತೆ - nā pāteಅದು ಪಾತದು - adu pātaduನೀ ಪಾತ್ಯ/ಪಾತೆಯ -
nī pātya/pāteya (statement/question)ನಾಂಗ ಪಾತೊಂ - nanga pātoṃಅವು ಪಾತಾಂ - avu pātāṃನೀಂಗ ಪಾಥ್ಯೊ - nīnga pāthyoಅವೆ ಪಾತಾ - ave pātāಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಪಾತಾ - avhāḷa pātā ಇಳಿ - -ಇ ending verbs ನಾ ಇಳಿಂಜೆ - nā iḷiṃjeಅದು ಇಳಿಂಜುದು - adu iḷimjuduನೀ ಇಳಿಂಜೆಯ - nī iḷiṃjeyaನಾಂಗ ಇಳಿಂಜುಂ - nanga iḷimjuṃಅವು ಇಳಿಂಜಾಂ - avu iḷiṃjāṃನೀಂಗ ಇಳಿಂಝ್ಯೊ - nīnga iḷiṃjhyoಅವೆ ಇಳಿಂಜಾ - ave iḷimjāಅವ್ಹಾಳ ಇಳಿಂಜಾ - avhāḷa iḷiṃjā ಉಳು (uḷu to fall) (also ಅಳಿ, ನಡಿ) ನಾ ಉಳಂದೆ - nā uḷundeಅದುಉಳುಂದದು- adu uḷuṃdaduನೀ ಉಳುಂದ್ಯ/ಉಳುಂದೆಯ - nī uḷuṃdya/uḷuṃdeyaನಾಂಗಉಳುಂದುಂ- nanga uḷunduṃಅವು ಉಳುಂಡಾಂ - avu uḷuṃdāṃನೀಂಗಉಳುಂಢ್ಯೊ- nīnga uḷuṃḍhyoಅವೆ ಉಳುಂಡಾ - ave uḷuṃḍāಅವ್ಹಾಳಉಳುಂಡಾ - avhāḷa uḷuṃḍā