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Glite Dictionary
South Dravidian

South Dravidian

9.5
A group of Dravidian languages spoken in southern India like Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Tulu
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : dravídico del sur
  • Kannada is the most widely spoken South Dravidian language.

Examples

  • Researchers study South Dravidian languages to understand their historical development.

  • Many South Dravidian languages share similar grammatical structures and vocabulary.

  • The South Dravidian languages include Kannada and Tamil.

  • Many people in India speak South Dravidian languages.

  • Kannada is the most widely spoken South Dravidian language.

  • The South Dravidian languages include Kannada and Tamil.

  • Many South Dravidian languages share similar grammatical structures and vocabulary.

Synonyms

South Dravidian language
vsSouth Dravidian
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of languages spoken in southern India, like Tamil or Kannada

has the same meaning but is named with a singular language label

Surface Forms

South Dravidian singular
South Dravidian languages plural

Morphology

South + Dravidian

The noun phrase combines the geographic modifier 'South' (southern part) with 'Dravidian' (the language family), so its meaning as the southern subgroup of Dravidian languages follows directly from the constituents. This is a regular compositional pattern (e.g., South German, Southern Romance) common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

South Dravidian may come from the old word 'Dravida' for southern India and the word South, which shows the place where these languages are spoken. So South Dravidian means the 'group' of related Dravidian languages spoken in the south of India, such as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu.