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How are the Dravidian languages divided into major groups?

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Thematic map of South Asia showing the distribution of Dravidian languages, with different regions shaded or marked to indicate where specific Dravidian languages and subgroups are spoken. Most languages are concentrated in southern and central India, with some northern outliers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and eastern India. A key identifies the languages by number and subgroup, and striped areas indicate regions where several subgroups overlap. — Dravidian languages Distribution of Dravidian languages.

The Dravidian languages are a family of approximately 70 languages spoken by over 215 million people across South Asia. Linguists classify this family into four major groups, which are further organized into 24 subgroups:1

South Dravidian: This group includes the major literary languages Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada, as well as nonliterary languages such as Tulu, Kodagu, Toda, and Kota.123
South-Central Dravidian: This group includes the literary language Telugu and various nonliterary languages, most notably Gondi, as well as Kui, Kuvi, and Konda/Kubi.124
Central Dravidian: This group consists of several nonliterary languages, including Kolami, Parji, Pengo, and Ollari.12
North Dravidian: This group includes languages such as Kurukh, Malto, and Brahui.2

These classifications are based on comparative linguistic research, including the study of cognates, sound correspondences, and the reconstruction of the hypothetical parent language, Proto-Dravidian.2