Paniya is one of the
Dravidian languages of
India. It is spoken by the
Paniya people, a
scheduled tribe with a majority of its speakers in the state of
Kerala. The language is also known as Pania, Paniyan and Panyah. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. According to the 1981 Census, there were 63,827 speakers of Paniya which includes 56,952 in Kerala, 6,393 in
Tamil Nadu, 482 in
Karnataka. Most of its speakers are found in the
Wayanad,
Kozhikode,
Kannur and
Malappuram districts of Kerala, and to the west of the
Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu.