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The population of Karnataka is predominantly
Kannada-speaking as Kannada also is the state's official language.
Belonging to the Dravidian family of languages, it is spoken by 65% of the
population of Karnataka.
Though home of pure Kannada, in many parts of the state, different styles
of speaking the language can be seen, influenced by the languages of the
neighbouring States.
Kannada is one of the Dravidian languages and has a large number of words
derived from Sanskrit. Perhaps being the oldest language next to Sanskrit,
Prakrit, and Tamil, Kannada country and language have a rich heritage.
`Kaviraja Marga', ascribed to 9th century, is the earliest work extant in
Kannada. However, use of Kannada script has been found in inscriptions
dating to earlier period also. Later, it developed to be called as 'Hale
Kannada' and subsequently 'Hosa Kannada' came into use.
The language borrowed words from Marathi and Urdu also, as a result of
various external influences. A large number of English words have entered
into the Kannada vocabulary which are commonly used today, both in written
as well as spoken language.
Kannada has many poets and it has the highest number of the prestigious
Jnanapeeth award winners for their literary contributions. Kannada is
followed by Urdu-speaking population.
Mysore City alone accounts for the major density of Urdu-speaking people
in the state. A considerable number of people also speak Telugu, Tamil,
Marathi, Malayalam,
and Tulu. Kodava language and also Konkani are spoken in a few areas of
the state.