The Kōmatis everywhere speak Telugu, and are devoted to their mother-tongue. There is a common proverb among them, “Telugu thēta, Aravam adhvānam,” meaning that Telugu is easy (has an easy flow), and Tamil is wretched. “Of all Dravidian languages,” Mr. Henry Morris writes, “Telugu is the sweetest and most musical. It is exceedingly mellifluous, and sounds harmonious even in the mouth of the most vulgar and illiterate. It has justly been called the Italian of the East.” Kōmatis are clever at learning languages other than their own. In the Tamil and Canarese districts, they are conversant with the languages thereof, and in Bombay they speak Marāthi. In the Ganjam and Vizagapatam Agencies, they speak the Kondh and Savara languages very fluently.
As a commercial caste, the Kōmatis have a secret trade language of their own, which is substantially the same all over the country. It will be seen from the tables given how complete their numerical tables are, ranging, as they do, from one pie to a thousand rupees. It will be observed that the rupee is represented by the word thēlupu, which means white. Some Tamil trading castes in like manner call the rupee vellē (white):—
1. Pie table.
| Pies. | |
| Nakili batu | 1 |
| Ke batu | 2 |
| Kēvu nakili batu | 3 |
| Rāyam batu | 4 |
| Rāyam nakili batu | 5 |
2. Anna table.
| Annas. | |
| Thāpi kamanālu | ¼ |
| Nakili ana | ½ |
| Kēv ana | 1 |
| Kēvan nakili ana | 1½ |
| Rāyam anālu | 2 |
| Uddulam anālu | 3 |
| Uddulam nakili anālu | 3½ |
| Kungidu anālu | 4 |
| Sūlalu anālu | 12 |
The word sūlalu is connected with trisūlam, the trident emblem of Siva, and sometimes used to denote three annas.
3. Rupee table.
| Rs. | |
| Thāpi thēlupu | ¼ |
| Nakili thēlupu | ½ |
| Kē thēlupu | 1 |
| Rāyam thēlupu | 2 |
| Uddulam thēlupu | 3 |
| Uddulam nakili thēlupu | 3½ |
| Panam thēlupu | 4 |
| Mūlam thēlupu | 5 |
| Thīpam thēlupu | 6 |
| Māram thēlupu | 7 |
| Thāmam thēlupu | 8 |
| Navaram thēlupu | 9 |
| Gālam thēlupu | 10 |
| Rāyam gālālu | 20 |
| Uddulam gālālu | 30 |
| Panam gālālu | 40 |
| Mūlam gālālu | 50 |
| Thīpanam gālālu | 60 |
| Maram gālālu | 70 |
| Thāmam gālālu | 80 |
| Navaram gālālu | 90 |
| Kē savalu | 100 |
| Rāyam savalu | 200 |
| Uddulam savalu | 300 |
| Panam savalu | 400 |
| Mūlam savalu | 500 |
| Thīpanam savalu | 600 |
| Māram savalu | 700 |
| Thāmam savalu | 800 |
| Navaram savalu | 900 |
| Gālam savalu | 1,000 |
4. Varāham (pagoda) table.