Language Amongst The Kannada, Tamil Domiciled Population
Adherence to the Telugu language is still common in the community, which however has developed a distinct dialect of its own, one that features numerous loan-words from Tamil and Kannada, and a remarkable paucity, in comparison with standard Telugu, of loan words from Urdu. However, there are many differences between this dialect and standard Telugu that cannot be explained by the influence of other languages; one is led to speculate upon whether the community preserves features of a dialect of Telugu that was once common in some region of the Telugu country, and which is now forgotten in that area, while being preserved by the expatriate Mulukanadu community. The dialect spoken by the community is one of great anthropological significance, since it is a language defined by community rather than geography. This dialect has not received the attention it deserves from the scientific community; indeed, even the name Mulukanadu Telugu has not received recognition, although it differs significantly from standard Telugu.
Usage of the dialect is somewhat on the decline, since the community is of late required to speak not only the language of the area of residence (Tamil, Kannada) but also the English and Hindi languages.
Recent decades have witnessed the gradual erosion of the hold of tradition across India. The incidence of wedding alliances being arranged, even in orthodox Smartha brahmin families, in defiance of traditional norms that precluded marriage outside the specific sub-caste, are on the rise. Such weddings all too often result in the abandonment of the Mulukanadu Telugu dialect in favour of the language of the spouse. The relatively small size of the Mulukanadu community; its tendency, given its expatriate background, of settling in urban areas; the fact that it resides largely outside the Telugu-speaking country; and the absence of knowledge of writing in Telugu (most of its people cannot write in Telugu), have all united to render the Mulukanadu community perhaps more than ordinarily susceptible to this phenomenon. This is certainly another reason for decline in usage of the Mulukanadu Telugu dialect.
Sanskrit is used by the Vedic scholars as well as laymen of this community for religious reasons, e.g., chanting Vedas, performing rituals and studying theological and philosophical texts of the Smarta tradition.
Read more about this topic: Mulukanadu Brahmins
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