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DRAVIDIAN FAMILY.

The number of speakers of the various Dravidian languages is exhibited in the table which follows. It is based on the reports of the Census of 1891 and on local estimates made for the purposes of this Survey. The figures returned at the Census of 1901 have been added in a second column:-

	Estimated number.	Census of 1901.
Tamil...	16,223,700	17,494,901
Malayam...	5,425,979	6,022,131
Kanarese...	9,710,832	10,368,515
Tuu...	491,728	535,210
Koagu...	37,218	39,191
Toda...	736	805
Kta...	1,201	1,300
Kuru...	503,980	609,721
Malto...	12,801	60,777
G...	1,322,190	1,123,974
Kui...	318,592	494,099
Klm and Naik...	23,295	1,505
Telugu...	19,783,901	20,697,264
Brh...	165,500	48,589
TOTAL.	54,021,653	57,497,982

　In addition to the Dravidian languages proper, specimens will be given of two dialects which have now become Aryan forms of speech, though the tribes in question appear to have formerly used a form of G. They are spoken by 2,452 individuals in Berar and the Central Provinces. If we add these figures to the total for the Dravi- dian family, we arrive at the following grand total:-

　It has already been mentioned that the Dravidian languages do not belong to any other linguistic family but constitute a group of their own. The remarks which follow are an attempt to collect and arrange a few facts which seem to throw light on the mutual relationship of the various languages of the group, and above all such features as constitute the principal character- istics of the whole family.

　There is in most Dravidian languages a strong tendency to pronounce a short vowel after every final consonant. This sound is shorter than an ordinary short vowel and is considered by native gram- marians to be equal to a fourth of a long vowel. It should be compared with the so-called off-glide of modern phonetics, the indistinct sound uttered when the tongue is moved from one position to another.

　 In Tamil a short u is heard after every final k, , , t, p, and ; in Kanarese and in grammatically written Telugu every word must end in a vowel, and a short n is added after every final consonant. It is, however, often dropped in Kanarese and colloquial Telugu. Thus Telugu gurramu, a horse, is usually pronounced gurram. In Malayam the short final sound is often an a, and in Northern Malayam it is so indistinct as to be scarcely audible. The case in Tuu is similar. With regard to the remaining Dravidian languages we have no trustworthy information.