Badagas speak language called ”Badugu”, language has no script. It was generally thought to be dialect of the Canaries . But recent evidence shows that it is different from Canaries and cannot be labelled as ‘dialect of Canaries’ and must be recognized as a separate Lanuage.
Badaga language not a dialect of Canaries, It was the language of communication of Ancient South Dravidian, say’s Christian Pilot-Raichoor, a French Linguist. It is an evident from her research that the Badaga community was created in the Nilgiris with small local groups in ancient time. LACITO in Paris houses numerous varieties of Badaga stories and songs collected over the past two decades by Pilot-Raichoor.
The Nilgiris is the most polyglot area in the Presidency. The Badagas, Todas, Kotas and Kurumbas, each speak a tongue which has been classified as a separate language. (1908- Gazetteer – page-124)
Due to lack of script, to write and speak with others they adopted Tamil Language. Even today their Badugu language is the cultural identity of their community on the hill. This is the one of the Tribal characteristics. Their children socialize only through Badugu language.
