Dravidian languages

A group of pre-indo european languages, native to south asia. They are classified into three sub groups. The northern group, includes Brahui as the only language not quite extinct, in Pakistan. The central group in central India has several partly extinct languages and a developed prosperous language called Telugu. The southern group in south India has five highly developed languages namely, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu and Kodagu with long literary traditions. Tamil is the most popular in the southern group with the most ancient literature. As of 2005, the Indian Government officially recognizes, Tamil (Dravidian) and Sanskrit (Indo European) as the two classical languages of India.

Several modern languages of the region, extending from middle east asia to Australia have borrowed several Dravidian structures and Dravidian words. The Australian aboriginal languages are also believed to have some links to the Dravidian language group.

Most researchers consider Classical Dravidian root language as the most promising for the still only partly deciphered Indus Valey Civilization writings.