Kannada script is used for writing Kannada, a South Dravidian language spoken by approximately 45 million people and the official language of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Kannada script is also used to write multiple minority languages spoken in Karnataka, including Tulu, Konkani, Byari and Kodava. It is closely related to the Telugu script. The two scripts were largely indistinguishable from one another throughout much of their history. Special vowel marking conventions exist for minority languages written in the script, to represent vowel phonemes absent in Standard Kannada itself. The oldest recorded sample in Kannada is the Halmīḍi inscription of c. 450–500 CE. The script was also traditionally used to write Sanskrit.