Proto-Dravidian is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Dravidian languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian, and Proto-South Dravidian, although the date of diversification is still debated.
History As a proto-language, Proto-Dravidian is not itself attested in historical records. Its modern conception is based solely on reconstruction. It is suggested that the language was spoken in the 4th millennium BCE, and started evolving into various branches around 3rd-millennium BCE.
The origin and territory of the Proto-Dravidian speakers is uncertain, but some suggestions have been made based on the reconstructed Proto-Dravidian vocabulary. The reconstruction has been done on the basis of cognate words present in the different branches (Northern, Central and Southern) of the Dravidian language family.
According to , the botanical vocabulary of Proto-Dravidian is characteristic of the dry deciduous forests of central and peninsular India. For the Southern Dravidians, this region extends from Saurashtra and Central India to South India. It thus represents the general area in which the Dravidians were living before the separation of branches.
According to Franklin Southworth (2005), the Proto-Dravidian vocabulary is characteristic of a rural economy based on agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting. However, there are some indications of a society more complex than a rural one:
Words for an upper storey (mel) and beam (paṭṭa) Metallurgy Trade Payment of dues (possibly taxes or contributions to religious ceremonies) Social stratification
This evidence is not sufficient to determine with certainty the territory of the Proto-Dravidians. These characteristics can be accommodated within multiple contemporary cultures, including:
2nd and 3rd millennium BCE Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultures of Mehrgarh and present-day western Rajasthan, Deccan and other parts of the peninsula. Early Indus Valley civilisation sites in Pakistan and later ones in the Saurashtra (Sorath) area of present-day Gujarat. Asko Parpola identifies Proto-North Dravidians with the Indus Valley civilization (IVC) and the Meluhha people mentioned in Sumerian records, and has suggested that the word "Meluhha" derives from the Dravidian words mel(u)-akam ("highland country, high abode"). Loan words identified in Sumerian such as the words for ivory (zuamsi) and sesame (ĝeš-i₃) are considered to be derived from Proto-Dravidian and spread from Indus Valley civilisation to Mesopotamia due to trade.
Phonology
Vowels Proto-Dravidian contrasted between five short and long vowels: *a, *ā, *i, *ī, *u, *ū, *e, *ē, *o, *ō. The sequences *ai and *au are treated as *ay and *av (or *aw).
Consonants Proto-Dravidian has been reconstructed as having the following consonant phonemes:
LabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottalPlosives *p *t *ṯ *ʈ *c *k Nasals *m *n (*ṉ) *ɳ *ɲ Laterals *l *ɭ Rhotics *r *ɻ Semivowels *w *j *H
The singular alveolar plosive *ṯ developed into an alveolar trill in many of the South and South Central languages, it later merged with the tap in many of them; Tulu has /d͡ʒ, d̪, ɾ/ as reflexes, Manda-Kui made it /d͡ʒ/ and Hill-Maria Gondi made it /ʁ/. *ṯṯ and *nṯ became /r̥, nr/ in Konda and [tr, ndr] in many Tamil dialects. Apart from them, other languages did not rhotacize it, instead either preserving them or merging it with other sets of stops like dentals in Kannada, retroflexes in Telugu or palatals in Manda-Kui and some languages of Kerala. Central made all alveolars dental which is one of the features distinguishing it from South Central branch and North made it /r, s/. For example, Tamil āṟu, Tulu āji, Naiki sādi, Kui hāja; Tamil puṟṟu, Tulu puñca, Kannada huttu, Naiki puṭṭa, Konda puRi, Malto pute; Tamil onṟu, Tulu oñji, Pengo ronje, Brahui asi.
Velar nasal *ṅ occurred only before *k in Proto-Dravidian (as in many of its daughter languages). Therefore, it is not considered a separate phoneme in Proto-Dravidian. However, it attained phonemic status in languages like Malayalam, Gondi, Konda and Pengo because the original sequence *ṅk was simplified to *ṅ or *ṅṅ.
The glottal fricative *H has been proposed by to account for the Old Tamil Aytam (Āytam) and other Dravidian comparative phonological phenomena.
P. S. Subrahmanyam reconstructs 6 nasals for PD compared to 4 by Krishnamurti, who also does not reconstruct a laryngeal.
The Northern Dravidian languages Kurukh, Malto and Brahui cannot easily be derived from the traditional Proto-Dravidian phonological system. Bhadriraju and others traditionally proposes *c, *k retracting to *k, *q before vowels other than *i(:), and Brahui and Kurukh spirantized the *q, e.g. Tamil kaṇ, Malto qanu; Kananda kem-, Brahui xisun; but there are exceptions, Tamil cōr, Malto curg̣e; Koraga jōku, Brahui cōshing. proposes that they branched off from an earlier stage of Proto-Dravidian than the conventional reconstruction, which would apply only to the other languages. He suggests reconstructing a richer system of dorsal stop consonants:
Early Proto-Dravidian Late Proto-Dravidian(Proto-Non-North Dravidian) Proto-Kurukh-Malto Brahui *c *c *c *kʲ *c *k k *k *k *k k *q *k *q xk / _i(ː)
Numerals
Vocabulary
Crop plants Below are some crop plants that have been found in the Southern Neolithic complex of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, along with their Proto-Dravidian or Proto-South Dravidian reconstructions by . In some cases, the proto-form glosses differ from the species identified from archaeological sites. For example, the two Southern Neolithic staple grasses Brachiaria ramosa and Setaria verticillata respectively correspond to the reconstructed Proto-Dravidian forms for Sorghum vulgare and Setaria italica as early Dravidian speakers shifted to millet species that were later introduced to South India.
+Pulses Common name Scientific name Reconstruction level Proto-form Gloss of proto-form horsegram Macrotyloma uniflorum Late Proto-Dravidian *koḷ horsegram green gram Vigna radiata Late Proto-Dravidian *pacVṯ-/*pacVl green gram black gram Vigna cf. mungo; Vigna trilobata Late Proto-Dravidian *uẓ-untu, *min(t) black gram hyacinth bean Lablab purpureus Proto-Tamil *ava-rai Dolichos lablab pigeonpea Cajanus cajan Late Proto-Dravidian *tu-var pigeonpea
+Millets and related grasses Common name Scientific name Reconstruction level Proto-form Gloss of proto-form browntop millet Brachiaria ramosa Late Proto-Dravidian *conna-l sorghum bristly foxtail Setaria verticillata Late Proto-Dravidian *kot-V Setaria italica sawa millet Echinochloa cf. colona yellow foxtail Setaria pumila little millet Panicum sumatrense kodo millet Paspalum scrobiculatum Proto-South Dravidian *(v)ār/ar-Vk pearl millet millet Pennisetum glaucum Proto-South Dravidian *kam-pu bulrush millet finger millet Eleusine coracana Proto-South Dravidian *ira(k) ragi
+Large cereals Common name Scientific name Reconstruction level Proto-form Gloss of proto-form barley Hordeum vulgare wheat Triticum Late Proto-Dravidian? *kūli wheat rice Oryza sp. Late Proto-Dravidian? *war-iñci rice
+Other food/crop plants Common name Scientific name Reconstruction level Proto-form Gloss of proto-form jujube Zizyphus sp. Late Proto-Dravidian *irak- jujube fig Ficus sp. Late Proto-Dravidian *cuv- fig java plum cf. Syzygium cumini Late Proto-Dravidian *ñēr-al jambu globe cucumber Cucumis cf. prophetarum luffa cf. Luffa cylindrica Late Proto-Dravidian *pīr flax Linum usitatissimum Proto-South Dravidian *ak-V-ce cotton Gossypium sp. Proto-South Dravidian *par-utti okra Abelmoschus sp. parenchyma fragments Early Proto-Dravidian *kic-ampu date palm Phoenix sp. Early Proto-Dravidian*cīntu
+Not identified archaeologically in the Southern Neolithic Common name Scientific name Reconstruction level Proto-form Gloss of proto-form onion/garlic Allium sp. Early Proto-Dravidian *uḷḷi eggplant Solanum sp. Early Proto-Dravidian *waẓ-VtV sesame Sesamum indicum Late Proto-Dravidian *nū(v) sesame sugarcane Saccharum sp. Early Proto-Dravidian *cet-Vkk hemp Cannabis sp. Late Proto-Dravidian ? *boy-Vl tamarind Tamarindus indica Early Proto-Dravidian *cintta holy basil Ocimum tenuiflorum Proto-Peninsular *tuḷacV
Basic vocabulary Basic vocabulary of Proto-Dravidian selected from :
gloss Proto-Dravidian one *on-ṯu one (adj.) *ōr-/*or-V- two *īr/*ir-V three (adj.) *muH-/*mū- four (adj.) *nāl/*nal-V- five (adj.) *cay-m- six (adj.) *caṯ-V seven (adj.) *eẓ-V eight (adj.) *eṇ nine, 9/10 *toḷ-/*toṇ- ten minus one *on-patV ten (adj.) *paH- head, hair, top *tal-ay cheek *kap-Vḷ eye *kaṇ eyeball *kuṭ-V/*kuṇṭ-V ear *kew-i nose, beak *mū-nk(k)u/-nc- tooth *pal mouth *wāy hand, arm *kay leg, foot *kāl heart, kidney *kuṇṭV liver *taẓ-Vnk-/-nkk milk, breast *pāl bone *el-V-mp/-nk bone marrow *mūḷ-V- excrement *piy/*pī house *il husband *maẓc-a- man, husband *māy-tt-/*mā-cc- woman *peṇ name *pin-cc-Vr sky *wān-am sun *en-ṯ- sun *pōẓ/*poẓ-u-tu moon, moonlight *nel-a-nc/-ncc month *nel-V- star *cukk-V star *miHn cloud *muy-il water *nīr river, stream *yĀṯu lake *kuḷ- sea, ocean *kaṭ-al stone *kal wind *waḷi day *nāḷ night *nāḷ/*naḷ-V- year *yĀṇṭ-u tree *mar-an fruit, pod *kāy forest *kā(-n), kā-ṭu grass *pul thatched grass *pīr dog *naH-ay/-att/-kuẓi animal, beast, deer *mā deer *kur-V-c- tiger *pul-i rat *el-i snake *pāmpu meat *eṯ-ay-cci meat *ū/*uy oil, ghee *ney fish *mīn louse *pēn mosquito *nuẓ-Vḷ/-nk- wing *ceṯ-ank-/-ankk- black *cir- white *weḷ/*weṇ red *kem sweet (adj./n.) *in- sour *puḷ bitter; bitterness *kac- to eat, drink *uHṇ- to eat *tiHn- to come *waH-/*waH-r to walk *naṭ-a to give *ciy-/*cī- to die *caH- ~ *ceH- to sleep *kū-r- to sleep *tuñc- to count *eṇ
See also
Elamo-Dravidian languages Dravidian languages Sanskrit
References
Works cited
Further reading
.
External links