Let us Rectify Written Kannada
ಕನ್ನಡ ಬರಹವನ್ನು ಸರಿಪಡಿಸೋಣ — English Summary
Author: D. N. Shankara Bhat
Published: 2006 (1st ed.); 2009 (2nd revised ed.)
Publisher: Bhasha Prakashana, Heggodu, Sagara
Language: Kannada · Pages: 382
Source quality: Full text (Nudi PDF → wx_decode Unicode conversion)
Book Overview
Bhat argues that Kannada writing is unnecessarily complex, creating a barrier that keeps the written language out of reach for ordinary people — especially the working class. The complexity arises from two sources: too many letters (50 in current Kannada vs. the 31 needed for native Dravidian words), and too many Sanskrit loanwords. Bhat calls for two simultaneous reforms: a lipi-krānti (script revolution) to reduce the alphabet and write words phonetically, and a pada-krānti (word revolution) to replace Sanskrit-derived terms with native Kannada vocabulary. The book is his most comprehensive and polemical statement on these themes, going significantly further than the earlier Kannadakke Mahaprana Yake Beda (Book 08).
Table of Contents
- Overview (Ch. 1)
- Ch. 2 — Kannada Did Not Descend from Sanskrit
- Part One: Script Revolution (ಲಿಪಿಕ್ರಾಂತಿ)
- Part Two: Word Revolution (ಪದಕ್ರಾಂತಿ)
Chapter 1 — Overview (ಮುನ್ನೋಟ)
- Kannada writing must become the property of all Kannadigas, not just the upper classes — this is the motivation for the book.
- Two obstacles: (1) the script has too many letters — 50 vs. the 31 actually needed for native Kannada, (2) Sanskrit-derived words dominate written Kannada, making it alien to ordinary speakers.
- Two reforms needed: lipi-krānti (reduce the letter inventory by writing aspirates and Sanskrit letters phonetically) and pada-krānti (replace Sanskrit borrowings with native Kannada words).
- Bhat addresses the objection that he is “anti-Sanskrit”: he studied Sanskrit for a decade and has no hatred of it; the argument is purely functional — unnecessary complexity harms literacy.
- Section 1.6 warns that ignorance of the language-writing distinction causes damage: misguided reforms and purism based on the false belief that writing = language.
Chapter 2 — Kannada Did Not Descend from Sanskrit (ಕನ್ನಡ ನುಡಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕ್ರುತದಿಂದ ಬೆಳೆದು ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ)
- Establishes the Dravidian genealogy of Kannada through comparative linguistics: Kannada belongs to the Dravidian family (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam…), not Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi…).
- The language family concept: related languages share systematic sound correspondences in basic vocabulary and grammar. Kannada and Sanskrit share borrowed vocabulary but not systematic grammatical structure.
- Compares Kannada, Marathi, and Sanskrit across three dimensions: vocabulary patterns (2.3.1), verb structure (2.3.2), and overall grammar (2.3.5) — showing Kannada is structurally closer to Tamil than to Sanskrit.
- Section 2.4 considers alternative frameworks and dismisses them; 2.5 summarises: the grammatical argument for Kannada’s Dravidian origin is decisive.
Chapter 3 — The Spelling Problem in Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಪೆಲ್ಲಿಂಗ್ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ)
Part One: Script Revolution
- The core problem: Kannada forces writers to retain Sanskrit spellings for borrowed words (ಕೃಷ್ಣ not ಕ್ರುಶ್ಣ; ವಿಷ not ವಿಶ), even though speakers pronounce them differently. This adds ~19 extra letters to the script.
- Cross-linguistic comparison: Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Sindhi all handle Sanskrit loans differently — most have abandoned strict Sanskrit spelling. English spelling is also notoriously irregular (§3.4.1).
- The first Kannada book (Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa, §3.5.2) shows that early Kannada grammar already treated Sanskrit loans as phonologically adapted — the current rigid approach is a later imposition.
- §3.5.3–3.5.4: Solution is available — write words as they are pronounced; Sanskrit words have already changed in Kannada speech, so the script is simply recording a fiction.
Chapter 4 — A ‘New Script’ for Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೊಂದು ‘ಹೊಸ ಬರಹ’)
- Proposes the specific reforms of hosa baraha (the simplified orthography Bhat himself uses in this book and others):
- §4.2.1 Aspirates (mahāprāṇa): ಖ→ಕ, ಘ→ಗ, ಛ→ಚ etc. — 10 letters eliminated
- §4.2.2 Nasal cluster letters: write as consonant+nasal sequence
- §4.2.3 ಐ, ಔ: retain as diphthongs (no change needed)
- §4.2.4 ಋ, ಷ, visarga: eliminate or absorb into existing letters
- §4.2.5 Three forms of ರ: simplify to one
- §4.2.7: Bhat proposes the reforms as an optional orthographic choice, not a mandated change — let readers decide
- §4.3 — Speech before writing: Writing represents speech, not the reverse. A script should follow how people actually speak. The divergence between written and spoken Kannada is what makes literacy hard.
- §4.3.3–4.3.12: Refutes common objections — will ambiguity increase? Will old texts become unreadable? — with detailed counter-examples.
Chapter 5 — The Word Problem in Kannada Writing (ಕನ್ನಡ ಬರಹದ ಪದಸಮಸ್ಯೆ)
Part Two: Word Revolution
- The other reform: not just letters, but words. Kannada writing is saturated with Sanskrit-derived terms that ordinary speakers neither know nor use.
- §5.1: Why this habit formed — historical prestige of Sanskrit; §5.1.2: The habit causes confusion (readers must learn two vocabularies); §5.1.3: Speech–writing gap again.
- §5.2: The problem of Sanskrit loanwords — they displace native Kannada words with perfectly good equivalents; §5.2.1: Native Kannada words have their own sōgaḍu (charm); §5.2.4: Sanskrit’s special status is culturally constructed, not linguistic.
- §5.3: How to create new Kannada terminology — §5.3.1 revive old Kannada words; §5.3.2 extend everyday words; §5.3.4 use native grammar patterns.
Chapter 6 — Sanskrit Words in Kannada Texts (ಕನ್ನಡ ಬರಹಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕ್ರುತ ಪದಗಳು)
- An empirical survey of Sanskrit word density in different text types: ordinary speech (§6.2), newspapers (§6.3), new coinages (§6.4), popular science writing (§6.5), adult literacy materials (§6.6).
- Finding: Sanskrit density varies widely. Popular science writing and adult literacy materials — the texts most need to reach ordinary people — contain the highest Sanskrit density.
- §6.7: Conclusion — the texts that most need to be accessible are the most inaccessible. This is the practical argument for word reform.
Chapter 7 — Sanskrit Words in Science Writing (ವಿಜ್ನಾನ ಬರಹಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕ್ರುತ ಪದಗಳು)
- §7.1 Three approaches to science terminology: pure Sanskrit derivation, hybrid forms, or native Kannada coinage. Bhat argues for the third.
- §7.3 Triśaṅku words — half-Sanskrit, half-Kannada hybrids that fit neither grammar system well. These create the worst of both worlds.
- §7.3.1–7.3.2: Word-class mismatches between English and Sanskrit/Kannada — Sanskrit doesn’t cleanly distinguish nouns from adjectives the way English or Kannada does; this creates systematic problems in technical translation.
- §7.4–7.6: Meaning shifts and grammatical distortions introduced by Sanskrit-derived science terms. §7.7 summary.
Chapter 8 — Using Kannada Affixes (ಕನ್ನಡ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಯಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ)
- §8.1: Kannada has its own rich suffix system (ಒಟ್ಟು/oṭṭu) — the tools for word formation are already in the language.
- §8.2: Problem of ambiguity when Sanskrit-derived adjective forms are used in Kannada contexts — word-class confusion.
- §8.3: Solutions — §8.3.1 avoid the Sanskrit kṛ- causative entirely; §8.3.2–8.3.4: use native verb roots, stem forms, and compound strategies instead.
- §8.4: Native Kannada prefixes (ಪೂರ್ವಪ್ರತ್ಯಯ): alternatives to Sanskrit a- (negation), su- (good), dur- (bad) etc.
- §8.5: Sanskrit sandhi (euphonic combination) rules create grammatical incompatibilities when Sanskrit-derived words are embedded in Kannada sentences.
Chapter 9 — Using Kannada Words (ಕನ್ನಡ ಪದಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ)
- §9.2: Can Kannada words substitute for Sanskrit/Latin scientific terminology? Yes — §9.2.1 shows Sanskrit itself borrowed from Dravidian in the opposite direction; §9.2.3 Old Kannada has rich vocabulary that can be revived.
- §9.2.5 Spoken Kannada words: everyday vocabulary provides the foundation for technical terms.
- §9.2.6 Tamil example: Tamil has successfully created a native scientific vocabulary — Kannada can do the same.
- §9.3: Benefits of using Kannada words — §9.3.1 mother-tongue instruction aids scientific learning; §9.3.2–9.3.4 examples from medicine (ವಯ್ದ್ಯ), phonetics (ಉಲಿಯರಿಮೆ), and branch names for science disciplines.
Chapter 10 — Conclusion (ಮುಕ್ತಾಯ)
- §10.1–10.2: Summary of needed changes in Kannada writing (script level) and the Kannada script itself.
- §10.3: The case for native Kannada vocabulary — the reforms are complementary: simpler script + native words together make written Kannada accessible.
- §10.4: Speech and writing are distinct systems; writing should represent speech accurately, not the other way around.
- §10.5: A scientific attitude toward language is needed — descriptive, not prescriptive.
- §10.6: Rebel writers (ಬಂಡಾಯ ಬರಹಗಾರರು) must lead — only writers who choose to adopt the new script can normalise it; institutional mandate won’t work.
- §10.7: Survival of Kannada writing depends on this reform — §10.8: Kannada’s greatness (ಕನ್ನಡದ ಹಿರಿಮೆ) is its potential, not its current state.
Key Concepts
| Kannada Term | Eke | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ಲಿಪಿಕ್ರಾಂತಿ | lipikriAnti | Script revolution — reducing letter inventory |
| ಪದಕ್ರಾಂತಿ | padakriAnti | Word revolution — replacing Sanskrit borrowings |
| ಹೊಸ ಬರಹ | hosa baraha | New script — Bhat’s simplified orthography |
| ಸೊಗಡು | sogaDu | Charm, native flavour (of Kannada words) |
| ತ್ರಿಶಂಕು ಪದ | triSanku pada | Hybrid word — half Sanskrit, half Kannada |
| ಒಟ್ಟು | oTTu | Suffix/affix |
| ಬಂಡಾಯ ಬರಹಗಾರರು | banDAya barahagAraru | Rebel writers — those who choose the new script |
| ಅಚ್ಚಗನ್ನಡ | accagannaDa | Pure/original Kannada (term Bhat distances from) |
Cross-References to Other DNS Bhat Works
| Related Book | Connection |
|---|---|
| 08 — Kannadakke Mahaprana Yake Beda | The mahāprāṇa argument is Ch. 4.2.1 of this book, expanded to the full script system |
| 11 — Kannada Barahada Padasamasye | Companion: spelling problems in depth |
| 04 — Matu mattu Barahada Gondala | Speech vs. writing: the theoretical foundation of §4.3 |
| 31 — Inglish Padagalige Kannadadde Padagalu | Practical glossary companion to the pada-krānti argument |
| 16 — Nudiyarimeya Padagalige Kannadadde Padagalu | Linguistics-specific vocabulary reform |
| 28 — Kannadakke Beku Kannadade Vyakarana | Script and grammar reform as linked projects |