Kanikkaran language

Kanikkaran
Kanikkaran
கணிக்காரன்/കണ്ണിക്കാരൻ
Native to	India
Region	Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari
Ethnicity	Kanikkaran
Native speakers	19,000 (2007)
Language family	Dravidian Southern Southern I Tamil–Kannada Tamil–Kota Tamil–Toda Tamil–Irula Tamil–Kodava–Urali Tamil–Malayalam Malayalamoid Kanikkaran; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Early forms	Old Tamil Middle Tamil ;
Writing system	Tamil script, Malayalam script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kev
Glottolog	kani1275

Kanikkaran, also known as Kani, is a Dravidian language spoken by about 19,000 Kanikkar tribals in southern India. They dwell in forests and hills of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts of Kerala, and Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu. It is called malambhāsha, or "hill-language."