The culture of India. New York, NY: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services. 2011. p.29. The Kadar population was estimated at approximately 2,000 individuals in the early 21st century
Zvelebil, Kamil V. (1997). "Language List for Dravidian". Archiv orientální. 65 (2): 175-190 [177, 179]. 2. The language list which follows id (sic) designated above as 'possibly exhaustive'. ... Second, it is very probable that there is quite some overlap in the sense that one language is designated by several terms, or that what is in the list qualified as a language is in fact a dialect of a language. ... Kadar [language] (Kada, Kāḍar, Kāṭan, Kādir, Kadir) ...
"Kadar Language". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol.2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. 1996. pp.92-93 [93]. ISBN9788185692166. The closest relationship [of Kadar language] is with Malayalam.
Mathur, P.R.G. (1996). "Kadar". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol.2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p.76. ISBN9788185692166. The word, kādan, in Malayalam, means the dweller in a forest (plural - kādar). The tribe obviously got the name because of their exclusively forest habitat.
Bijumon Varghese (2015) [2004]. "The Tribes of Palakkad, Kerala: A Sociolinguistic Profile (SIL)"(PDF). p.2. Menon further states that the Kada language [Kadar; [kej]] is identified as a separate language. The phonology of Kada is related to Tamil whereas the vocabulary has a closer relationship with Malayalam.
Thundyil, Zacharias[in German] (1975). "The language of the Kadars". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics. IV (2): 229-248 [246]. Therefore, the Kada language is a language in its own right and, on account of its close similarities with Malayalam, it belongs to the South Dravidian group
Zvelebil, K. (Jan 1970). "From Proto-South Dravidian to Malayalam". Archív Orientální. 38: 45-67 [59]. There is a number of speech-forms used by smaller or more numerous tribes or tribe-like communities in the jungles and other out-of-the-way or inaccessible areas in South India, mainly in the mountaineous regions of the South-West. We are still unable to say which of these tongues are dialects of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, ... [or] ... separate languages of the SDr sub-family. These doubts concern speechforms used by the Kadar, Irular, Kurumbar, Känikkärar etc.
Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich (1996). A Grammar of the Malayalam Language in Historical Treatment. Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen. Vol.1. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p.16. ISBN9783447038119. On the whole there are four groups of territorial dialects [of Malayalam] on the map of Kerala ... Besides, a number of the so-called social dialects are attested, i.e., the dialects spoken by members of various castes, religious communities and primitive tribes (e.g., the dialects of Mappilas, Tiya-Ezhavas, Pulayar, Adiyar, Vedar, Kadar, etc.).
Thundyil, Zacharias[in German] (1975). "The language of the Kadars". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics. IV (2): 229-248 [230]. The Kada children who go to school show greater influence of Malayalam or Tamil on their speech than the illiterate Kadars. It is likely that the Kada language will become extinct in the next 25 years through sheer disuse.
Chandramohan, P. (2025). "Kadar—An Endangered Dravidian Tribal Language of India". In N. S. Dash; S. Arulmozi; N. Ramesh (eds.). Handbook on Endangered South Asian and Southeast Asian Languages. Cham: Springer. pp.331–363 [331]. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80752-7_15. ISBN978-3-031-80751-0. The [Kadar] language is currently listed as critically endangered by UNESCO with only a few hundred speakers left. ... However, due to the influence of Tamil — the regional as well as the state language of Tamil Nadu — the Kadar language is rapidly declining in usage and is in danger of being lost forever.
Chandramohan, P. (2025). "Kadar—An Endangered Dravidian Tribal Language of India". In N. S. Dash; S. Arulmozi; N. Ramesh (eds.). Handbook on Endangered South Asian and Southeast Asian Languages. Cham: Springer. pp.331–363 [336]. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80752-7_15. ISBN978-3-031-80751-0. Like many other indigenous languages around the world, Kadar is at risk of disappearing. The Kadar community is small and their traditional way of life is being threatened by modernization. Kadar children are now studying at uɳɖu uRaiviʈep paɭɭi (Residential School for Tribal Children) where they are taught in Tamil, and as a result of this, they are not getting any scope to learn their native language.
Bijumon Varghese (2015) [2004]. "The Tribes of Palakkad, Kerala: A Sociolinguistic Profile (SIL)"(PDF). p.42. Kadar: The vitality of mother tongue seems questionable for the Kadar community. Some Kadar subjects said the children speak Malayalam first or at an early age, and some said that the young people in their community don't know their language as well as the old people. About half of the subjects believed their children will continue to speak their language, about 20 percent felt that they will not, and the rest were not quite sure whether the children will speak the vernacular when they grow up.
Chandramohan, P. (2025). "Kadar—An Endangered Dravidian Tribal Language of India". In N. S. Dash; S. Arulmozi; N. Ramesh (eds.). Handbook on Endangered South Asian and Southeast Asian Languages. Cham: Springer. pp.331–363. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80752-7_15.
Further reading
Ehrenfels, U. R. (1952). "XI. The Kadan Language". Kadar of Cochin. Anthropological series. Vol.1. Madras: University of Madras. pp.257–271.
Thundyil, Zacharias (1978). "The Language and Culture of the Kadar". Asian Profile. 6: 375–79.
Suresh, J. (1981). A Descriptive study of Kadar Language of Anaimalai Hills (Ph.D.). Annamalainagar: Centre of Advanced Study in Linguistics, Annamalai University.
