Editing Dravidian languages (section)

===Proto-Dravidian and onset of diversification===
As a [[proto-language]], the [[Proto-Dravidian language|Proto-Dravidian]] language is not itself attested in the historical record. Its modern conception is based solely on reconstruction. It was suggested in the 1980s that the language was spoken in the 4th millennium BCE, and started disintegrating into various branches around the 3rd millennium BCE.<ref name=department>[https://books.google.com/books?id=chvjAAAAMAAJ&q=the+proto-+Dravidian+linguistic+community+disintegrated+at+the+beginning+of+the+4th+millennium+B.+C History and Archaeology, Volume 1, Issues 1–2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409105710/https://books.google.com/books?id=chvjAAAAMAAJ&q=the+proto-+Dravidian+linguistic+community+disintegrated+at+the+beginning+of+the+4th+millennium+B.+C |date=9 April 2023 }} p.234, Department of Ancient History, Culture, and Archaeology, University of Allahabad</ref> According to [[Bhadriraju Krishnamurti|Krishnamurti]], Proto-Dravidian may have been spoken in the Indus civilization, suggesting a "tentative date of Proto-Dravidian around the early part of the third millennium."{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=501}} Krishnamurti further states that South Dravidian I (including pre-Tamil) and South Dravidian II (including Pre-Telugu) split around the 11th century BCE, with the other major branches splitting off at around the same time.{{sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|pp=501–502}} Kolipakam et al. (2018) give a similar estimate of 2,500 BCE for Proto-Dravidian.<ref name=sciendaily>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180321090953.htm|title=Dravidian language family is approximately 4,500 years old, new linguistic analysis finds|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=18 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518195847/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180321090953.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historically Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sindh also had Dravidian speaking populations from the evidence of place names (like ''-v(a)li, -koṭ'' from Dravidian ''paḷḷi, kōṭṭai''), grammatical features in Marathi, Gujarati, and Sindhi and Dravidian like kinship systems in southern Indo–Aryan languages. Proto-Dravidian could have been spoken in a wider area, perhaps into Central India or the western Deccan which may have had other forms of early Dravidian/pre-Proto-Dravidian or other branches of Dravidian which are currently unknown.<ref name="auto"/>

Several geneticists have noted a strong correlation between Dravidian and the Ancestral South Indian (ASI) component of [[genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia|South Asian genetic makeup]].{{sfnp|Reich|Thangaraj|Patterson|Price|2009|p=493}} Narasimhan et al. (2019) argue that the ASI component itself formed in the early 2nd millennium BCE from a mixture of a population associated with the [[Indus Valley civilization]] and a population resident in peninsular India.{{sfnp|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019|p=11}} They conclude that one of these two groups may have been the source of proto-Dravidian.{{sfnp|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019|p=15}} An Indus valley origin would be consistent with the location of Brahui and with attempts to interpret the [[Indus script]] as Dravidian.{{sfnp|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019|p=15}}{{sfnp|Krishnamurti|2003|p=5}} On the other hand, reconstructed Proto-Dravidian terms for flora and fauna provide support for a peninsular Indian origin.{{sfnp|Krishnamurti|2003|p=15}}{{sfnp|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019|p=15}}{{sfnp|Southworth|2005|pp=255–256}}