Hubbry Logo
Kiliki languageKiliki languageMain
Open search
Kiliki language
Community hub
Kiliki language
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Kiliki language
Kiliki language
from Wikipedia

Kiliki
Pronunciation[kɪɫɪkɪ]
Created byMadhan Karky
Date2015
Setting and usageBaahubali
Purpose
Language codes
ISO 639-3qkk (local use)
GlottologNone
IETF art-x-kiliki (local use)

Kiliki or Kilikili is a fictional language originally created by Madhan Karky for the 2015 Indian epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning.[1][2] It has 3000 words[3] and is written using 22 symbols.[4][5] In February 2020 on International Mother Language Day, the film's director SS Rajamouli launched the official website of Kiliki.[6] It reportedly has 40 grammar rules but the grammar section of the website is empty.

Usage

[edit]

In the film Baahubali: The Beginning, the Kalakeya tribe speak Kiliki.[7] After the success of the film in December 2015, singer Smita released "Baha Kiliki", the first song in Kiliki language, onto YouTube.[8] It has over 108 million views. In 2017, it was used in the film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, the sequel of Baahubali: The Beginning.[9]

The fictional language Kiliki (also referred to as Kilikili) spoken by the Kalakeyas, a ferocious warrior tribe, was created by Madhan Karky for the film. It is said to be the first fictional language to be created for Indian film.[10]

While Karky was pursuing a PhD in Australia, he took up a part-time job of teaching and baby-sitting children. During one such interaction, he thought it would be fun to create a new language that could be easily grasped. Basic words were first made up and opposites were represented by word reversals – me was min and you was nim. The language, with 100 words, was called "Click" to highlight its simplicity. This formed the foundation for Kiliki.[11]

  • Kilikili consists of at least 750 words and more than 40 concrete grammar rules.
  • It was designed to be an intuitive language: Karky said he used hard consonants and soft consonants depending on the nature of the words' meanings.
  • The language was created keeping in mind that the Kalakeya warriors had to be portrayed as terrifying brutes.

On 21 February 2020, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Rajamouli launched the official website of Kiliki language. He called the language as "world's youngest and easiest language."[12]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Kiliki is a developed by linguist , initially as a fictional tongue for the Kalakeya tribe in the Indian epic films Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and (2017), directed by . Originating from an earlier experimental language called Cliq, created during Karky's PhD in in collaboration with Tamil children, Kiliki was refined over three months to feature phonetic elements that convey emotions through sounds like rolled Rs for aggression or soft tones for simplicity, ensuring it could be understood intuitively without subtitles in the film. The language employs a minimalistic with an initial vocabulary of approximately 750 words, now expanded to over 3,000, and over 40 grammar rules, including unique click sounds to denote plurals and possessives, alongside heavy consonants, tones, and distinctive combinations that set it apart from natural languages. Its script consists of 22 symbols crafted to represent a wide range of sounds efficiently, emphasizing ease of use and emotional expressiveness while avoiding complex structures like gendered nouns. In Baahubali, Kiliki served to authentically portray the antagonistic tribe without appropriating real-world languages, contributing to the film's immersive world-building and earning acclaim for its innovative . Since its cinematic debut, Kiliki has evolved beyond fiction into a learnable promoted as the "world's easiest," with resources including an , numerals, guides, interactive games, and video tutorials available on its official , allowing enthusiasts to explore its structure and create content. This expansion reflects Karky's vision of accessible constructed languages, building on Cliq's initial 50-word foundation to foster broader linguistic experimentation.

History

Origins in Baahubali

The Kiliki language was conceived by lyricist and language inventor in 2013 specifically for the Kalakeya tribe, a fictional group of barbaric warriors depicted in the Indian epic films Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and (2017), directed by . Rajamouli sought a unique, invented tongue to avoid associating the antagonists with any real-world , emphasizing their raw and fearsome nature through phonetic design. Kiliki's development drew from Karky's earlier Cliq project, a simple he created around 2007 while teaching Tamil to children in , starting with an initial vocabulary of 50 words aimed at ease of learning and pronunciation. For the films, this evolved over 2013–2015 into a more robust system with 750 words and 40 grammar rules, incorporating hard consonants for aggression and soft ones for contrast to evoke the tribe's brutal persona. A key innovation was the phonetic reversal principle, where antonyms are derived by inverting the sounds of base words (e.g., "" for "you" becomes "min" for "I"), enhancing the language's alien and intuitive feel. The language's first public exposure came through the song "Baha Kiliki," a tribute composed with lyrics by Karky and performed by singer , featuring Kalakeya actor Prabhakar; uploaded to in December 2015, it has amassed over 165 million views. This musical debut highlighted Kiliki's rhythmic potential while aligning with the films' tribal chants and dialogues, solidifying its role in immersing audiences in the Baahubali universe.

Post-film development

Following the release of the Baahubali films in 2015 and 2017, the Kiliki language underwent significant expansion beyond its cinematic origins, evolving into a fully developed suitable for everyday use. By 2020, its vocabulary had grown to over 3,000 words, supported by a complete system and an orthographic script comprising 22 symbols. This development was spearheaded by lyricist , who aimed to make Kiliki accessible for public communication, emphasizing simplicity and universality. On February 21, 2020, coinciding with , filmmaker launched the official website kiliki.in to promote and teach the language. Rajamouli described Kiliki as the "world’s youngest and easiest language," highlighting its design principle of one word per meaning to eliminate and ensure clarity in expression. The site provides comprehensive resources, including downloadable fonts, an online converter for text translation between Kiliki and other languages, interactive games for practice, and a for vocabulary lookup. These tools facilitate self-paced learning and encourage adoption for casual interactions. To further support learners, a series of educational videos was released on YouTube starting in February 2020 by the channel KarefoIndia, covering foundational elements such as numerals, basic words, and typography. These short tutorials, often under two minutes for topics like numbers, demonstrate the language's phonetic simplicity and combo-based symbol formation. Complementing this, the official blog on kiliki.in began publishing articles in 2020, detailing grammatical expansions, common phrases (e.g., greetings and expressions of emotion), and practical applications, marking Kiliki's transition to a viable tool for real-world communication.

Phonology

Vowels and consonants

The Kiliki language features a vowel system consisting of six basic s in short form—a, i, u, e, o, ù—each of which can be extended into long forms (A, I, U, E, O, Á) to create distinctions in meaning and tone. plays a key role in ; for instance, the long ee in meekeelu-ja conveys , while shortening the vowels to form kimilu shifts the meaning to . Kiliki's consonant inventory comprises 22 symbols, categorized into 14 dual consonants (with distinct soft and hard pronunciations) and 8 mono consonants. The dual consonants include soft/hard pairs for b/g, s/sh, d/dh, l/L, p/k, z/ch, t/th, while the mono consonants are m, h, r, j, v, n, f, y. Hard consonants, such as k and g, are employed for words evoking fierceness or to reflect the primal nature of the Kalakeya tribe, whereas soft consonants like b and m are used for gentler concepts. This division aligns with the language's design principle of matching phonetic intensity to semantic content, as articulated by its creator, . Phonotactics in Kiliki emphasize simple combinations to ensure intuitive , often pairing vowels with in basic clusters; representative examples include bi (meaning "letter") and babi (meaning ""). A unique aspect of the language is its alteration of familiar word s through emphatic hard , lending an alien, aggressive quality suited to its fictional origins, while clicks are integrated as special phonetic elements for added expressiveness.

Clicks and phonetic features

The Kiliki language features a set of click consonants, known as "KiLik" clicks, which function as non-pulmonic sounds distinct from the pulmonic typical in most languages. These include dental, lateral, and other click types represented orthographically as *kle, *tta, *the, *rrr, and *kve, totaling five primary clicks. Clicks are employed for emphasis in utterances or to convey specific semantic nuances, such as urgency or affirmation, and are integrated into everyday words, including greetings like those used in tribal interactions. Mastering these clicks is noted as one of the most challenging aspects of the language, as they occur in only about 1% of the world's living languages, rendering them alien and unintuitive to non-native speakers. A hallmark of Kiliki phonetics is the use of reversal patterns, where conceptual pairs are formed by phonetically inverting root sounds to create intuitive associations. For instance, "footh" denotes "front" while its reversal "thoof" means "back"; similarly, "laar" signifies "left" and "raal" indicates "right." Other examples include "meek" for "up" and "keem" for "down," as well as "rae" for "sun" and its reversal "nae" for "star," which extend into directional compounds like "meekee" (north) and "keemeee" (south). This reversal system extends to emotions, such as "meekeelu" for happiness and "kimilu" for sadness, facilitating memorable word pairs that aid intuitive learning among speakers. Directional verbs also incorporate these patterns, as in "yoateni" for "go" modified with tense markers like "-de" for present continuous, emphasizing forward motion through phonetic mirroring. Guttural sounds, produced with in the , combine with other consonants to form complex clusters that support word-building in Kiliki. Consonants such as g, , and ch contribute to these guttural qualities, often appearing in "ababi" formations—compounds derived from roots like "abi" () and "babi" () to yield "ababi" ( or ). These combos enable expansive vocabulary creation, as seen in derivations like "yee" (wood) becoming "yeeti" () through suffixation. When including tonal variations and click accompaniments, Kiliki encompasses over 40 distinct sounds in total, building on foundational vowels and consonants to produce a rich, layered phonetic inventory. This design prioritizes ease of acquisition for native users while maintaining an exotic profile for outsiders.

Orthography

Alphabet and symbols

The Kiliki orthography is based on a set of 22 symbols collectively referred to as the "bibit," which serves as the of the language. These symbols are divided into basic letters known as "bi," encompassing designated as "abi" and as "babi," along with combinations called "ababi" that are created by overlaying a vowel symbol onto a consonant base. This structure allows for efficient representation of sounds through modular assembly, with the "ababi" enabling the formation of diphthongs and complex phonemes without additional markers. The symbols themselves are crafted for , featuring straightforward geometric shapes and that avoid diacritics entirely, promoting ease of learning and recall for users. Key terms within the language describe these elements: "leelaa" denotes the language as a whole, while "thu" refers to a word, highlighting the foundational role of the bibit in building linguistic units. The design emphasizes , with each symbol tied to core phonetic values that map to the language's , , and click inventory. Originally conceived as visual props for the 2015 film Baahubali: The Beginning, the Kiliki script evolved from rudimentary film-specific designs into a fully standardized system launched on February 21, 2020, coinciding with . This standardization, facilitated through an official website and learning resources, enables the encoding of more than 3000 words, expanding the script's utility beyond cinematic use.

Writing and typography

The Kiliki language is written from left to right, following standard conventions for readability in its constructed script. Punctuation in Kiliki includes specific terms for common marks, such as findaat for the full stop and shùdaat for the comma, which are used to structure sentences clearly. Hyphens play a key role in Kiliki writing, particularly for attaching case markers to nouns; for instance, the genitive case is indicated as noun-ta to denote possession. The question marker kve is appended with an asterisk to form interrogatives, as in kakve* meaning "what," allowing straightforward conversion of statements into questions. Typography in Kiliki emphasizes simplicity and accessibility, with dedicated fonts like KiLiKi Maa and KiLiKi Thithibin available for download to enable typing in standard applications; these support ligatures for combining symbols fluidly, such as in words like maemae (evening), without requiring additional software. Bold formatting is employed for emphasis, while simple, sans-serif-inspired designs promote learnability for new users. Kiliki orthography avoids capitalization entirely, treating all symbols uniformly regardless of context, and maintains consistent spacing in symbol combinations to ensure phonetic clarity. YouTube tutorials, such as those in the official KiLiKi playlist, demonstrate rendering names and words by inputting phonetic approximations into font tools for accurate script output.

Grammar

Parts of speech and morphology

The KiLiKi language classifies words into eight distinct parts of speech, each with a dedicated term and systematic morphological markers to ensure clarity and simplicity, particularly for young learners and non-native speakers. These categories are nouns (kathu), which denote objects without specific endings; verbs (nithu), which uniformly end in -ni; adjectives (jathu), ending in -ja; adverbs (vathu), ending in -va; pronouns (thaakathu), such as thaa for "" or living beings; conjunctions (nethu), like ne meaning "and"; prepositions (finkathu), attached to nouns via a (e.g., noun + -fin); and interjections (yaathu), expressing exclamations such as greetings. This structure adheres to over 40 rules designed for intuitiveness, drawing from principles that assign one primary role per word to avoid ambiguity. Morphology in KiLiKi emphasizes derivation from phonetic roots through affixation and sound manipulation, promoting a one-word-one-role principle inspired by isolating languages like Mandarin, where each carries a single function. For instance, verbs derive from base by adding the -ni , as in hoofaani ("come") and baahaani ("speak"), while antonyms often form via , such as fahuni ("go") from hoofaani. Adjectives and adverbs similarly tag with their respective endings, e.g., a descriptive term like pinyu-ja for "," without altering the core form for intensification. Nouns and other categories build from combinatory , like kathu from ka (object) + thu (word), ensuring derivational transparency. These morphological features extend to basic inflectional systems for nouns and verbs, such as case markers and tense indicators, but prioritize derivational simplicity to facilitate learning. Overall, the system's 40 rules focus on phonetic consistency and minimal complexity, making KiLiKi accessible for children through its root-based tagging and avoidance of overloaded forms.

Noun cases and verb tenses

The Kiliki language features a rich inflectional system for nouns, utilizing case markers inspired by Dravidian languages like Tamil for their agglutinative nature. Official documentation describes nine types of cases, marked by suffixes appended to the noun root, including distinctions for subtypes like ablative, dative, and locative. The cases include the nominative (no marker), used for the subject; accusative (-ya), for the direct object; genitive (-ta), indicating possession; ablative for separation (-fae) and origin (-chafae), expressing motion away from or source; instrumental (-jo), for means or instrument; dative for destination (-chatae) and beneficiary (-fatae), marking indirect object; locative for place (-chae) and time (-tikae), denoting location or time; and vocative (-hoa), for direct address. For example, the noun "bavgari" (dog) in the nominative is "bavgari," and in accusative "nim-ya" (you, as object). Kilikili nouns lack and handle plurality through the click marker kle added to the , such as "thukle" (words) from "thu" (word), which applies before adding case suffixes. Adjectives precede nouns but do not inflect for case. Verbs in Kiliki are conjugated for tense by adding suffixes to a base form ending in -ni, reflecting a simplified temporal system influenced by both Dravidian and structures. The three primary tenses are past (-ga), present (-de), and future (-fu). For instance, the verb root "hoofaan" (to come) yields "hoofaani-ga" (came) in the past, "hoofaani-de" (coming or comes) in the present, and "hoofaani-fu" (will come) in the future. These tenses are consistent across persons and numbers, with no for plurality. Question formation integrates the interrogative particle *kve attached to words or at the end of statements. For wh-questions, kve combines with roots like "ka" (object) to form "kakve" (what). For yes/no questions, kve is added at the end, e.g., "nimvaasoakve" (How are you?). Adverbs, including politeness markers like "liz-va" (please), are typically uninflected and placed before the .
CaseSuffixFunctionExample
Nominative(no marker)Subjectbavgari (dog)
Accusative-yaDirect objectnim-ya (you, object)
Genitive-taPossessionpamaa-ta (grandmother's)
Ablative (Separation)-faeSeparation fromhee-fae (from air)
Ablative (Origin)-chafaeOrigin from (from )
Instrumental-joMeans/instrumentjapijoo-jo (with knife)
Dative (To)-chataeDestinationbrisbaen-chatae (to )
Dative (For)-fataeBeneficiarynim-fatae (for you)
Locative (Place)-chaeLocationnyuyaark-chae (in New York)
Locative (Time)-tikaeTimemaemae-tikae (in evening)
Vocative-hoaDirect addressfen-hoa (Hey friend!)

Sentence structure and syntax

The Kiliki language employs a standard subject-verb-object (SVO) in its declarative sentences, which contributes to its logical and straightforward syntax designed for clarity. This structure aligns with many natural languages, facilitating easy comprehension by placing the subject first, followed by the verb, and then the object. For instance, a simple sentence might be structured as "liz-va baahaani thaa-chatae," translating to "Please speak to her," where the "liz-va" precedes the verb "baahaani" (speak) and the object uses the dative -chatae. Grammatical relations in Kiliki are indicated by case suffixes appended to nouns, functioning postpositionally to express , direction, and other relations. Conjunctions like "ne" (and) are separate words used to connect phrases. Questions are formed by adding the marker "kve" at the end of the statement without inverting , as in "nimvaasoakve" (How are you?), preserving the SVO base while signaling . Early developments of Kiliki avoided complex subordinate clauses, favoring simple, linear constructions to prioritize ; more intricate embeddings were introduced later through expansions. Emphasis is achieved through phonetic clicks or word repetition rather than syntactic shifts, allowing speakers to highlight key elements without altering the core structure—for example, repeating a for intensity or using a click like "*kle" for stress. A representative equative sentence is "meekeelu-ja min" (I am happy), where the "meekeelu-ja" precedes the "min" in a copular frame (copula often omitted), underscoring the language's one-meaning-per-word principle to minimize . Adjectives consistently precede the nouns they modify, as seen in adjectival phrases like "meekeelu-ja" (happy), while adverbs precede verbs to specify manner or time, such as in "liz-va baahaani" ( speak), ensuring predictable positioning for syntactic transparency. These rules, briefly referencing morphological markers like tense affixes from broader , support Kiliki's emphasis on clarity, with each word carrying a singular, unambiguous in sentence composition.

Vocabulary

Word formation principles

The Kiliki language employs root-based derivation as its primary method for , transforming base —often —into , adjectives, or other categories through systematic affixation. For instance, the "naa," meaning "eye," derives the "naani" (to look) through the verbal "-ni," with for emphasis (e.g., naanaani). Similarly, "voag" () forms "voagini" (to eat), illustrating how sensory or body-part extend to related actions while maintaining conceptual purity. This approach favors unique over extensive borrowing, with all invented to preserve the language's constructed integrity, expanding from the initial approximately 750 words developed for the film to over 3,000 through thematic derivation. A core principle of Kiliki word formation is the avoidance of , ensuring each root carries a single, precise meaning without extension to unrelated concepts—a design choice to enhance clarity and intuitiveness. For example, "mae" denotes exclusively "," and while derivations like "maemae" (evening) arise through , the root itself does not overload with multiple senses such as "month" or metaphorical uses. Opposites are systematically formed via of roots, providing a reversible that reinforces the language's logical consistency without introducing . Compounding exists but is rare, typically limited to simple juxtapositions like "thuthu" (sentence, from "thu" word + "thu"), prioritizing affixal derivation for efficiency. To further expand expressiveness, Kiliki uses intensifiers prefixed to adjectives and adverbs, scaling degree without new roots: "ule-" (slight), "dule-" (mild), "mole-" (average), "chole-" (super), and "file-" (extreme). For example, "file rariyu-ja" intensifies "rariyu-ja" () to "extremely red," allowing nuanced modification while adhering to the one-meaning rule for base terms. This system supports the language's growth for everyday use, all derivations grounded in phonetic and semantic transparency to reflect the Kalakeya tribe's fierce yet structured .

Thematic domains

The Kiliki language demonstrates comprehensive coverage of thematic domains through its constructed vocabulary, facilitating expression in natural, sensory, and social contexts. In the domain of , foundational terms draw from elemental concepts, with "nee" denoting as a core example among approximately 50 specialized words for environmental features like landforms, , and phenomena. The color domain features 11 basic terms, each formed with the suffix "-ja" for adjectival use, including rariyu-ja for , veeyu-ja for (evoking the ), pinyu-ja for , leeyu-ja for (from ), and yeeyu-ja for (linked to ). These are modifiable by five intensifiers: ule (slight), dule (mild), mole (), chole (super), and file (extreme), allowing nuanced descriptions such as ule veeyu-ja for a pale . Body parts, emotions, and spatial directions form interconnected lexical sets, reflecting cultural emphases on and feeling. For instance, naa refers to the eye, while include meekeelu-ja for happy and kimilu-ja for sad. Common phrases in social interaction highlight politeness and inquiry, with liz-va serving as "" in requests like "Please speak to her" (liz-va baahaani thaa-chatae). Question words include kakve* for "what," prefixed to objects in interrogatives such as "What is your name?" The vocabulary originated with around 750 core words developed for the 2015 film Baahubali: The Beginning, later expanded beyond 3,000 terms post- through community contributions and official resources (over 3,000 words as of 2020).

Usage and influence

Role in media

The Kiliki language found its primary application in the Baahubali film franchise, spanning Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), where it was spoken exclusively by the Kalakeya tribe through war cries and dialogue to underscore their depiction as barbaric, otherworldly antagonists. This constructed tongue, invented by lyricist Madhan Karky, added an layer of authenticity and menace to the tribe's invasion scenes, distinguishing them from the protagonists' more familiar linguistic milieu. A landmark musical incorporation came with the song "Baha Kiliki," released in December 2015 as a tribute to the Baahubali and , marking the first full integration of Kiliki into a non-diegetic musical piece with over 100 words from the language's lexicon. Performed by pop singer with rap contributions from and featuring Kalakeya actor Prabhakar, the track achieved over 100 million views on by 2020, amplifying Kiliki's visibility and cultural resonance beyond the films. Kiliki's phonetic profile—characterized by sounds and clicks—profoundly shaped the franchise's , fostering an immersive auditory experience that evoked primal intensity during Kalakeya sequences. To heighten this effect and sustain an aura of enigma, the films initially omitted for Kiliki utterances, compelling audiences to infer meaning from context and tone, which intensified the antagonists' terrifying presence. Pre-2020, Kiliki extended modestly into merchandise such as promotional posters and fan-generated content like translation videos and dialogue recreations, yet these remained tethered to the Baahubali's fictional narrative without broader real-world adaptation. Following the films' release, Kiliki evolved into a learnable with dedicated resources for enthusiasts. In 2025, the franchise saw renewed attention with the theatrical release of Baahubali: The Epic, a compilation of the first two films, bringing Kiliki back to cinemas.

Learning resources and community

The official for KiLiKi, launched on February 21, 2020, serves as the primary hub for learning resources, offering tools such as a text converter that translates between English, Tamil, Telugu, and KiLiKi script, an interactive for bidirectional word lookups, and games designed to practice vocabulary and script recognition. The site also includes downloadable fonts and image generation tools for creating KiLiKi text, enabling users to experiment with writing names or phrases in the language's unique script. Complementing the website, a dedicated KiLiKi mobile app is available for Android and iOS devices, providing structured lessons on pronunciation, grammar, and daily phrases to facilitate self-paced learning. Additionally, the official blog on kiliki.in features posts starting from 2020, covering thematic topics such as common greetings, noun cases, and sentence structures, with over a dozen articles aimed at building practical language skills. A YouTube playlist released in 2020 offers video tutorials on foundational elements, including an introduction to the language, numbers, vowels, consonants, click sounds, word formation, and typography, making phonology and basic vocabulary accessible to beginners. The KiLiKi community emerged prominently with its public launch on in 2020, organized by lyricist and director , which encouraged online learners to engage through the website and social media. Fan-driven activities include using the site's converter for personal translations and name-writing in KiLiKi script, shared on platforms like , fostering informal practice and creative expression among enthusiasts. Since its expansion beyond the films, KiLiKi has grown to include over 3,000 words suitable for everyday communication, with increasing interest in through online tutorials and community shares, though it lacks formal native speakers as a . Events such as workshops led by have indirectly supported linguistic engagement, but accessibility remains a challenge for non-Tamil speakers due to the language's roots in South Indian , with ongoing goals to position it as a globally learnable . As of 2025, the community remains active, with users on platforms like praising the website's tools for learning and script conversion.

References

Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.