Tamil language

Geographic distribution

Tamil is the first language of the majority in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and in northern and northeastern Sri Lanka. The language is also spoken in other parts of these two countries, most notably in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, and in Colombo and the hill country in Sri Lanka.

Related Topics:
India - Tamil Nadu - Sri Lanka - Karnataka - Kerala - Maharashtra - Colombo

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During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Tamil-speaking indentured servants from India and Sri Lanka were sent to many parts of the British empire where they founded Tamil-speaking communities. There are currently sizeable Tamil-speaking populations descended from them in Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, and Mauritius. Many people in Guyana, Fiji, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago have Tamil origins, but the language is spoken only by a small number there.

Related Topics:
19th - 20th centuries - Indentured servant - British empire - Singapore - Malaysia - South Africa - Mauritius - Guyana - Fiji - Suriname - Trinidad and Tobago

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Groups of more recent emigrants - refugees from the Sri Lankan civil war, as well as economic migrants such as engineering, IT, medical professionals and academics - exist in Canada (especially Toronto), Australia, the USA and most western European countries.

Related Topics:
Civil war - Canada - Toronto - Australia - USA - European

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Legal status

Tamil is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and is one of 22 nationally recognised languages under the Indian Constitution. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and has constitutional recognition in South Africa.

Related Topics:
Official language - India - Sri Lanka - Singapore - South Africa

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In addition, Tamil was recognised as a classical language by the Government of India in 2004, following a campaign by several Tamil associations supported by academics from India and abroad, most notably Professor George L. Hart, who occupies the Chair in Tamil Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. (See his statement.) It was the first Indian language to be so recognised. The recognition was announced by the President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of both houses of the Indian Parliament on June 6, 2004. (See item 41 of his address and the BBC news item on the formal approval by the Indian Cabinet.)

Related Topics:
Government of India - 2004 - George L. Hart - University of California, Berkeley - President of India - Abdul Kalam - Indian Parliament - June 6 - BBC

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Spoken and literary variants

In addition to its various dialects, Tamil also exhibits a rather sharp diglossia between its formal or classic variety, called centamil, and its colloquial form, called koduntamil, a broad term which traditionally referred to all spoken Tamil dialects rather than any one standard form. Diglossia has existed in the language since ancient times - the language used in early temple inscriptions differs quite significantly from the language of classical poetry. In consequence, standard centamil is not based on the speech of any one region, a fact which has helped keep the written language mostly the same across various Tamil speaking regions.

Related Topics:
Diglossia - Colloquial - Temple

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In modern times, centamil is generally used in formal writing and speech. It is, for example, the language of textbooks, of much of Tamil literature and of public speaking and debate. In recent times, however, koduntamil has been making inroads into areas that have traditionally been considered the province of centamil. Most contemporary cinema, theatre and popular entertainment on television and radio, for example, is in koduntamil, and many politicians use it to bring themselves closer to their audience.

Related Topics:
Tamil literature - Cinema - Theatre - Politician

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Spoken dialects did not have much prestige: The grammatical rules of literary centamil were believed to have been formulated by the gods and therefore seen as being the only correct speech (see, for example, Kankeyar, 1840). In contrast to most European languages, therefore, Tamil did not have a standard spoken form for much of its history. In modern times, however, the increasing use of koduntamil has led to the emergence of unofficial 'standard' spoken dialects. In India, the 'standard' koduntamil is based on 'educated non-brahmin speech', rather than on any one dialect (Schiffman, 1998), but has been significantly influenced by the dialects of Thanjavur and Madurai. In Sri Lanka the standard is based on the dialect of Jaffna.

Related Topics:
1840 - European - India - 1998 - Thanjavur - Madurai - Sri Lanka - Jaffna

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Dialects

Tamil dialects are mainly differentiated from each other by the fact that they have undergone different phonological changes and sound shifts in evolving from Old Tamil. Thus the word for "here" - inge in chentamil (the classic variety) - has evolved into inga in the dialect of Thanjavur, ingane in the dialect of Tirunelveli, inguttu in the dialect of Ramanathapuram, ingale and ingade in various northern dialects and ingai in some dialects of Jaffna.

Related Topics:
Thanjavur - Tirunelveli - Ramanathapuram - Jaffna

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Although most Tamil dialects do not differ very significantly in their vocabulary, there are a few exceptions. The dialects spoken in Sri Lanka retain many words that are not in everyday use in India, and use many other words slightly differently. The dialect of the Iyers of Palakkad has a large number of Malayalam loanwords, and has also been influenced by Malayalam syntax. Finally, the Hebbar and Mandyam dialects, spoken by groups of Tamil Vaishnavites who migrated to Karnataka in the 11th century, retains many features of the Vainava paribasai, a special form of Tamil designed in the 9th and 10th centuries to reflect Vaishnavite religious and spiritual values.

Related Topics:
Sri Lanka - India - Iyer - Palakkad - Malayalam - Hebbar - Mandyam - Vaishnavites - Karnataka - 11th century - Vainava paribasai - 9th - 10th centuries

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Tamil dialects vary according to both region and community. Several castes have their own dialects which most members of that caste traditionally used regardless of where they come from. Some of these differences have begun to fade away in recent years as a result of the anti-casteist movement, but many traces remain and it is often possible to identify a person's caste by their speech.

Related Topics:
Caste

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The Ethnologue lists twenty-two current dialects of Tamil, including Adi Dravida, Aiyar, Aiyangar, Arava, Burgandi, Kasuva, Kongar, Korava, Korchi, Madrasi, Parikala, Pattapu Bhasha, Sri Lanka Tamil, Malaya Tamil, Burma Tamil, South Africa Tamil, Tigalu, Harijan, Sanketi, Hebbar, Tirunelveli and Madurai. Other known dialects are Kongu and Kumari.

Related Topics:
Ethnologue - Adi Dravida - Aiyar - Aiyangar - Sanketi - Kongu - Kumari

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Although not a dialect, the Tamil spoken in Chennai (Capital of Tamil Nadu) infuses English words and is called Madras Bashai.

Related Topics:
Chennai - English - Madras Bashai

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