Kerala +2 Kannada key terms

Kannada prose. In this exam it covers the prescribed non-poetic lessons: short stories, essays and biographical sketches, studied for theme, character and the author's purpose rather than metre or rhyme.

Kannada poetry. The prescribed poems are studied for form, rasa, figure of speech, poet's message and the tradition the poem belongs to, such as bhakti, navodaya or modern free verse.

A lesson or text prescribed in the textbook. Candidates should be able to name its author, summarise its content, and explain its central idea with reference to specific passages.

A formal essay, either a prescribed literary essay or the essay a candidate writes in the examination. It has an introduction, developed body paragraphs and a conclusion, all tied to one controlling idea.

The meaning or purport of a passage, especially a poem. Writing the bhavartha means restating the content in plain prose while keeping the poet's tone, imagery and message intact.

Commentary or explanation of a text. It goes beyond summary, unpacking difficult words, allusions, imagery and implied meaning, and linking the passage to the work's overall theme.

Prosody, the system of Kannada metre. It covers syllable-count metres such as vrutta, and native metres such as kandapadi, with rules for gana, laghu and guru units.

The most common native Kannada metre, built of four feet (pada) in a stanza. Its rhythmic pattern makes it the standard metre of medieval devotional and narrative poetry.

Heavy and light metrical units. A guru is a long or heavy syllable, a laghu a short light one; their sequence determines whether a line conforms to the prescribed metre.

Poetic figure or ornament. Alankaras such as upama (simile), rupaka (metaphor) and shlesha (pun) are identified by name and explained when analysing a prescribed poem.

Simile. Two unlike things are compared explicitly, usually with words meaning 'like' or 'as'. The comparison is stated rather than implied, which distinguishes it from metaphor.

Metaphor. The comparison is implied or fused, so the subject is spoken of as if it were the image, without any word of likeness. Common in bhakti and modern Kannada verse.

The aesthetic emotion evoked in a reader by a well-wrought poem or scene. Classical theory names several, including karuna (compassion), veera (heroism), shringara (love) and hasya (humour).

Feeling or emotional state, the raw material that a poem shapes into rasa. Questions ask candidates to name the dominant bhava of a prescribed poem and justify it from the text.

A short, free-verse Kannada devotional composition of the twelfth-century Sharana movement. It is plain-spoken, often sharply critical of ritual and caste, and signed with the poet's ankita name.

Twelfth-century social reformer and devotional poet, a leading figure of the Sharana movement in Karnataka. His vachanas attack ritualism and untouchability and stress work and inner devotion.

The pen-name or signature a Kannada devotional poet uses in the final line of a composition. Recognising the ankita is the usual way of attributing a vachana to its author.

The devotional song literature of the Haridasa tradition, including Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa. Its kirtanas combine music, bhakti and moral instruction in simple, singable Kannada.

A central Haridasa composer, often called the father of Carnatic music teaching for his graded exercises. His kirtanas in Kannada teach devotion and ethical living through everyday imagery.

A devotional song composition, typically with a pallavi and charanas, sung in a raga and tala. Its text carries a moral or bhakti message addressed to the listener.

Kannada folk literature: songs, ballads, riddles and proverbs transmitted orally. It reflects rural life and belief, and questions often ask for the social values a folk song expresses.

A Kannada proverb, a short fixed sentence carrying folk wisdom or a moral observation. Candidates are asked to explain a gaade's meaning and use it appropriately in a sentence.

Another word for a proverb or maxim in Kannada. In grammar sections it appears in items asking for the equivalent meaning of a given saying or for filling a gap correctly.

Junction, the sound change that occurs when two words or morphemes meet. Kannada sandhi rules govern vowel coalescence and consonant assimilation, and questions ask candidates to split or join forms.

Compound formation, in which two or more words combine into one nominal unit. Candidates identify the compound type and give the vigraha, the expanded phrase that shows its meaning.

The expanded explanation of a compound word, showing the words it was built from and the relation between them. Writing the vigraha correctly is the standard test of understanding a samaasa.

Case, the grammatical marking of a noun's role in the sentence. Kannada has eight cases with characteristic suffixes, and questions ask candidates to name the case of a marked noun.

A suffix added to a root or stem to form a new word or mark a grammatical category. Recognising pratyayas helps candidates break long Kannada words into meaningful parts.

The verb of a Kannada sentence, carrying tense and person agreement. In sentence-correction items candidates check whether the kriyapada agrees with its subject in person and number.

A sentence. Grammar questions ask candidates to identify sentence type, correct agreement errors, and transform sentences between affirmative, negative, interrogative and passive forms.

Active voice, where the subject performs the action. It contrasts with karmani vaakyas, and transformation between the two is a common grammar exercise in the paper.

A summary or précis. The candidate condenses a passage to roughly one-third of its length, keeping the main argument in their own words and omitting examples and repetition.

A letter, either personal or formal. Formal letters follow a fixed layout of sender's address, date, receiver's address, salutation, body and closing, and must keep a consistent register.

A formal application, typically written to an official or institution to request something. It states the request clearly, gives supporting reasons, and closes with a polite formula.

Expanding a given topic or proverb into a short essay. The candidate states the idea, illustrates it with reasons or examples, and closes with a conclusion that returns to the topic.

Translation. In this paper it usually means rendering a short passage between Kannada and English or Malayalam, preserving meaning, tone and natural word order rather than translating word for word.

Meaning. Comprehension items test whether a candidate can supply the correct artha of a word or sentence in context, distinguishing it from a similar-looking word's other senses.

A word used with a shifted or idiomatic sense rather than its literal one. Recognising sonne pada usage prevents literal mistranslation and is tested in vocabulary and translation items.

A rare or secondary meaning of a word, tested when a familiar Kannada word carries an unexpected sense in a prescribed passage. Context decides which meaning applies.