# Kolami

Kolami (Northwestern Kolami/Southeastern Kolami) is a tribal Central Dravidian language spoken in Maharashtra and Telangana states of India. It falls under the Kolami–Naiki group of languages. It is the most widely spoken Central Dravidian language.

## Classification

Kolami language has been classified as a central dravidian language. It is well known as dravidian language of Maharashtra state. Well influenced by south central dravidian languages like Telugu and Gondi. It is also a tribal Dravidian language. Kolami is the dialect of the Kolam tribal group.
The Kolami dialect differs considerably from the Gond language of the neighboring district. In some respects, Kolami is closely related to Telugu and in others to Kannada. The influence of the Bhilli language is felt as the communication in the surrounding area comes into contact. Some other points of similarity are also important like the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris and according to Dr. Grierson, linguistically speaking, the Kolami may be the remaining descendants of the Dravidian tribes. who either never participated in the development of the main Dravidian language or who never adopted Dravidian language.

## Writing systems

Kolami language is written using Devanagari, Goykanadi and Telugu scripts for writing purposes.

## Numbers
### First ten numbers

| Modern Devanagari script | Kolami numeral | Kolami word and transliteration |
| ० | 0 | शून्यम् (Śūnyam) |
| १ | 1 | ऒक्कॊद् (okkod) |
| २ | 2 | इन्दिङ् (indiṅ) |
| ३ | 3 | मून्दिङ् (mūndiṅ) |
| ४ | 4 | नालिङ् (nāliṅ) |
| ५ | 5 | सेन्दि (sēndi) |
| ६ | 6 | साऱि (sār̠i) |
| ७ | 7 | एऴ् (ēẓ) |
| ८ | 8 | ऎंदि (eṁdi) |
| ९ | 9 | तॊंदि (toṁdi) |
| १० | 10 | पदि (padi) |
| २० | 20 | इरवै (iravai) |
| १०० | 100 | नूऱ् (nūr̠) |
| १००० | 1000 | सहस्रम् (Sahasram) |

## Verbs
### Present tense

| | Present tense | Present tense negative |
| 1st person singular आन् ān | वद्दुन् vaddun I am coming | वरॆन् varen I am not going |

## Characteristics

Kolami has a two-gender system, being either masculine or non-masculine. Kolami has developed aspirated stops, distancing itself from its ancestor Proto-Dravidian.

## Phonology

Vowels :
| | Front | Front | Central | Central | Back | Back |
| | short | long | short | long | short | long |
| High | i | iː | | | u | uː |
| Mid | e | eː | | | o | oː |
| Low | | | a | aː | | |
Consonants :
| | | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | ɳ | | ŋ | |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | t͡ʃ | k | |
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɖ | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | | s | | | | h |
| Fricative | voiced | | z | | | | |
| Approximant | central | ʋ | | | j | | |
| Approximant | lateral | | l | ɭ | | | |
| Rhotic | Rhotic | | r | | | | |

## Sample Text

The given sample text is Article 1 from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

### English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

### Kolami

ऎल् मन्ककॆर् स्वातन्त्र्यनड् पुट्टॆन्दन् वन्नॆर्. मरि समानं मरि अधिकारङ्कुळन् समानम् अण्डर्. अवर् तर्कङ्कुळ् मरि विवेकंलड् सम्पन्नं मरि ऒक्कॊरिक्कॊवॆण्ट बन्धूत्वंलॆ भावनालड् आडन् पाजे।

### Romanisation

El mankaker svātantryanaḍ puṭṭendan vanner. Iṇi samānam iṇi adhikāraṅkuḷan samānam aṇḍar. Avar tarkaṅkuḷ iṇi vivēkanlaḍ sampannam iṇi okkorikkoveṇṭa bandhutvamle bhāvanālaḍ āḍan pājē.
| Phrases | English Translation | Dēvanāgarī | Telugu |
| Inne pidir tāned ? | What is your name ? | इन्नॆ पिदिर् तानॆद् ? | ఇన్నె పిదిర్ తానెద్ ? |
| Anne pidir rāmak | My name is rāmand | अन्नॆ पिदिर् रामन्द् | అన్నె పిదిర్ రామన్ద్ |
| Rāmak, avar devar | Rāmak,they are god | रामक्, अवर् देवक् | రామక్,అపర్ దేవక్ |
| Āy | Yes | आय् | ఆయ్ |
| Tōted, Sillai | No | तोतॆद्, सिल्लै | తోతెద్, సిల్లై |
| var itti | Come (singular) here | वर् इत्ति | వర్ ఇత్తి |
| varrur | come (plural) | वर्रुर् | వర్రుర్ |
| Etti ini enaṅ | where and how | ऎत्ति इनि ऎनङ् | ఎత్తి ఇవి ఎనఙ్ |
Also see Kolami Swadesh list on wiktionary.