202 



MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CHAP. IX, times, were tlie palanquin-bearers to the giant Rdvana, and 



PART I. were expelled from Lanka on his being slain by Rama. A few 



Ethnology, legends, taken from the lips of the Todas, are related by 



Mr. Breeks and Mr, Metz_, but they are too long to repeat 



here. 

 Language. ^he Toda language is by no means peculiar to themselves as 



was once thought. It is a dialect of old Kanarese, and closely 

 allied to other Dravidian languages of the plains. There is no 

 trace of any written character having ever been used by the 

 Todas. 



Dr. Pope remarks : " This language, of which but a very scanty 

 fragment remains in use, has more sounds than any other Dravidian 

 dialect, and some of these are peculiar to it, seeming to have been 

 modified by the position and habits of the tribe. The Tudas chiefly 

 converse in the open air, calling to each other from one breezy hill-top 

 to another. Their speech sounds like old Kanarese spoken in the 

 teeth of a gale of wind." In concluding iiis analysis of the grammar, 

 he writes, " on the whole I venture to think (I) That the Tuda is a 

 language which was once highly inflectional, but having lost most 

 of its inflections, the people who have evidently degenerated in every 

 way as the result of isolation, have not replaced them by significant 

 particles or auxiliaries to the same extent as the other South Indian 

 tribes; and the language has thus dwindled down to a mere 

 skeleton. It now barely suffices for the pui'poses of a very barbarous 

 people. (2) The language seems to have been originally old Kanarese 

 and not a distinct dialect. The Tudas were probably immigrants from 

 the Kanarese country, and had dwelt on the Nilagiris for about 800 

 years. Their language was old Kanarese. A few Tamil forms were 

 introduced by the Poligars. Intercourse with the Badagas has 

 probably modernized a few of the forms and introduced some words. 

 Of Telugu influence I see no trace. It is true that the Tuda for tree 

 is man, and in Telugu manu, while in Tamil and Kanarese it is mara ; 

 but the soft r is always avoided by the Tudas who turn vdram into 

 vom. Nor can I trace any resemblance in Tuda to Malayalam in any 

 of the points where that dialect diifers from its sisters." ' 



This view of the Kanarese affinities of the Toda language 

 appears now to be endorsed by Dr. Caldwell, though he formerly 

 considered it more nearly connected with Tamil. ^ 



1 I learn from Dr. Oppert, Professor of Sanskrit, Madras, that in his opinion 

 the Toda dialect is probably more nearly allied to Telugu than any other Southern 

 dialect. 



