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[[File:Tanjavur_Tamil_Inscription2.jpg|right|thumb|Tamil_Inscription on Tanjavur temple]]
[[Tamil language|Tamil language]] ( /ˈtæmɪl (தமிழ், tamiḻ, [t̪ɐmɨɻ] ?) also spelled '''Tamizh''' is a [[w:Dravidian language|Dravidian language]] spoken predominantly by [[w:Tamil people|Tamil people]] of [[w:Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It has [[w: Official language|official status]] in the [[w:States and union territories of India|Indian state of Tamil Nadu]], [[w:Puducherry|Puducherry]] and [[w: Andaman and Nicobar Islands|Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. Tamil is also an official and national language of Sri Lanka and one of the official languages of [[Singapore]]. It is legalised as one of the [[ languages]] of medium of [[education]] in [[Malaysia]] along with [[w:English language|English]], [[w:Malay language|Malay]] and [[w:Mandarin|Mandarin]]. It is also chiefly spoken in the states of [[w:Kerala|Kerala]], [[w:Karnataka|Karnataka]], [[w:Andhra Pradesh|Andhra Pradesh]], Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands as one of the secondary languages. It is one of the 22 [[w:Scheduled languages of India |scheduled languages of India]] and was the first Indian language to be declared a [[w:Classical languages of India|classical language]] by the [[w:Government of Indi|Government of India]] in 2004. Tamil is one of the longest surviving [[w:Classical language|classical languages]] in the [[ world]]. The 2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been found on Samanamalai. It has been described as "the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past.
==Quotes==
[[File:Sri_Kokarneshvarar_Temple_in_Tirukokarnam.JPG|right|thumb| 63 [[w:Nayanars|Nayanars]] in a [[Shiva]] temple - ... The twelve devotees of Vishnu who are recognized as poet-saints by the [[w:Srlvaishnava|Srlvaisnava community]] were called the [[w:Alwars|alvars]] and the sixty-three devotees of Siva were known as [[w:Nayanmars|nayanmars]]. Tirumankai alvar and NammaWar wrote over half of the four thousand verses [in Tamil language] that forms the [[w:Divya Prabandham|Divya Prabandham]] or Sacred Collect for the Srlvaisnava community. - John Carman]]
[[File:Int-mother-lang-day-monument.jpg|right|thumb|[[w:Mother language|Mother language]] day monument in [[Australia]].]]
*In the familiar milieu of the Tamil land, where [[musicians]] and devotees can [[sing]] and proclaim about the Lord who is wonderfully [[auspicious]], the [[w:Srivaishnava|Srivaisnava]] uses Tamil, the [[language]] that he is most accustomed to.
**John Carman in: ''[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=aP5PA2OyJbMC&pg=PA12 The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli]'', University of Chicago Press, 16 May 1989, p. 12.
*In...the cultural milieu, however, [[Sanskrit]] has greater [[Reputation|prestige]] than Tamil. It is the [[language]] of [[revelation ]](''sruti''), of the [[eternal]] [[Veda]].
**John Carman in: "The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli", p. 12.
*The [[bhakti]] movement began in [[w:South India|South India]] about the sixth century AD when several [[saints]] wandered from temple to temple [[singing]] the [[praise]] of [[Vishnu]] or [[Shiva]]. The twelve devotees of Vishnu who are recognized as poet-saints by the [[w:Srlvaishnava|Srlvaisnava community]] were called the [[w:Alwars|alvars]] and the sixty-three devotees of Siva were known as [[w:Nayanmars|nayanmars]]. Tirumankai alvar and NammaWar wrote over half of the four thousand verses [in Tamil language] that forms the [[w:Divya Prabandham|Divya Prabandham]] or Sacred Collect for the Srlvaisnava community.
**John Carman in: "The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli", p. 14.
*For the first time within [[Hinduism]], [[w:Devotion|devotion]] was expressed in a [[First language|mother tongue]], a [[language]] --- continuous with the language of one’s earliest [[childhood]] and [[family]], once folk and [[folklore]]. Unlike [[Sanskrit]], it was a spoken language, associated with powerful emotions, and the [[deity]] of the Tamil [[hymns]] was brought close to the [[worship]]ped by the language fraught with tender words used for beloved ones.
**John Carman in: "The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli", p. 14.
*The [[history]] of [[publishing]] and [[printing]] in Tamil is as interesting and rich as the language itself. The first book [Tamil] dates back to 20 October 1578. On the eventful day, Portuguese missionary [[w:Henrique Henriques|Henrique Henriques]] (also Anrique Anriquez) published ‘Thambiraan Vanakkam' with paper imported from [[China]].
**Karthik Madhavan in: ''[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-saw-its-first-book-in-1578/article476102.ece Tamil saw its first book in 1578]'', The Hindu, 13 November 2010
*From its [[inception]], [[w:Tamil people|Tamil]] [[w:Devotion|devotion]] meant that speakers of Tamil had to be at the service of the [[language]], to labor in its name and on its behalf. Glossed in devotional narratives as ''tamiḻppaṇi'', “Tamil work,” or ''tamiḻttoṇṭu'', “Tamil service,” this labor is presented as honorable, [[virtuous]], and [[merit]]orious. It is mandatory for all those who claim to be Tamilians for it is an [[obligation]] (''kaṭamai''), even a debt (''kaṭaṉ''), that they owe, by virtue of being speakers of Tamil, to their language.
**Sumathi Ramaswamy in: ''[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&brand=ucpress Passions of the Tongue]'', publishing.cdlib.org
*[[w:Dravidian|Dravidianism]], too, lent its support to the contestatory classicist project, motivated principally by the [[political]] imperative of countering ([[Sanskrit]]ic) [[w:Indian nationalism|Indian nationalism]].... It was not until the [[w:Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|DMK]] came to [[power]] in 1967 that such demands were fulfilled, and the pure Tamil cause received a boost, although purification efforts are not particularly high on the agenda of either the [[w:Dravidian movement|Dravidian movement]] or the Dravidianist idiom of ''tamiḻppaṟṟu''.
**Sumathi Ramaswamy in: "[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=ch4 Laboring for language]",publishing.cdlib.org.
*...considering most of the consequences of the rediscovery of classical Tamil [[literary]] and [[cultural]] [[heritage]], we feel we are entitled to characterize these consequences as the [[w:Tamil Renaissance|Tamil renaissance]]; that is, compared with the general cultural and even ... [[imaginative]] and [[erudite]] [[literature]] before roughly 1850, the Tamil linguistic and cultural scene exhibited unmistakable signs of vigorous revival.
**[[w:Kamil Zvelebil|Kamil Zvelebil]] in: ''[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA217 Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature]'', BRILL, 1992, p. 217.
===Tamil language===
[[File:சித்தன்னவாசல்4.jpg|right|thumb|A plaque in Tamil language]]
<small>[[w:Bhadriraju Krishnamurti|Bhadriraju Krishnamurti]] in: ''[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581953/Tamil-language Tamil language]'', Encylopedia Britannica</small>
*[[Literature]] in all [[w:Dravidian languages|Dravidian languages]] owes a great deal to [[Sanskrit]], the [[w:Magic wand|magic wand]] whose touch raised each of the [[language]]s from a level of [[w:Patois|patois]] to that of a [[w:Literary idiom|literary idiom]].
*The dating of [[w:Sangam literature|Sangam literature]] and the identification of its [[language]] with [[w:Old Tamil|Old Tamil]] have recently been questioned by Herman Tieken who argues that the works are better understood as 9th century [[w:Pāṇṭiyan dynasty|Pāṇṭiyan dynasty]] compositions, deliberately written in an archaising style to make them seem older than they were. Tieken's dating has, however, been criticised by reviewers of his work.
*In 2004 Tamil was declared a [[w:Classical language of India|classical language of India]], meaning that it met three criteria: its origins are ancient; it has an independent [[tradition]]; and it possesses a considerable body of ancient literature. In the early 21st century more than 66 million people were Tamil speakers.
*The earliest Tamil [[writing]] is attested in inscriptions and potsherds from the 5th century BCE. Three periods have been distinguished through analyses of grammatical and lexical changes: [[w:Old Tamil |Old Tamil]] (from about 450 BCE to 700 CE), [[Middle Tamil|Middle Tamil]] (700–1600), and [[w:Modern Tamil|Modern Tamil]] (from 1600).
*The Tamil writing system evolved from the [[w:Brahmi script|Brahmi script]]. The shape of the letters changed enormously over time, eventually stabilizing when [[printing]] was introduced in the 16th century CE. The major addition to the [[alphabet]] was the incorporation of [[w:Grantha|Grantha]] letters to write unassimilated [[Sanskrit]] words, although a few letters with irregular shapes were standardized during the modern period. A script known as [[w:Vatteluttu |Vatteluttu]] (“Round Script”) is also in common use.
*Spoken Tamil has changed substantially over time, including changes in the [[w:Phonological feature|phonological structure]] of words. This has created [[w:Diglossia|diglossia]]—a system in which there are distinct differences between [[colloquial forms]] of a language and those that are used in formal and written contexts. The major regional variation is between the form spoken in India and that spoken in [[w;Jaffna|Jaffna]] ([[Sri Lanka]]), capital of a former Tamil city-state, and its surrounds.
*Within [[w:Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] there are [[w:Phonological|phonological]] differences between the northern, western, and southern [[speech]]. Regional varieties of the language intersect with varieties that are based on social class or [[w:Caste|caste]].
*Like the other [[w:Dravidian languages|Dravidian languages]], Tamil is characterized by a series of of [[w:Retroflex consonants|retroflex consonants]] (/ḍ/, /ṇ/, and /ṭ/) made by curling the tip of the [[tongue]] back to the roof of the [[mouth]]. Structurally, Tamil is a verb-final language that allows flexibility regarding the order of the subject and the object in a sentence. [[w:Adjectives|Adjectives]] and relative, [[w:Adverb|adverb]]ial, and [[w:Infinitive|infinitive]] clauses normally precede the term they modify, while [[inflections]] such as those for [[w:Tense|tense]], number, person, and case are indicated with suffixes.
===Tamil Language, History and Literature===
[[File:திருவள்ளுவர்_சிலை.JPG|right|thumb|Many of the [[poems]] [in Tamil] seem to belong to the post-Sangham Age. It is widely accepted that among these, ''[[w:Tirukkuṛaḷ|Thirukkural]]'' was composed before the second century CE. The Thirukkural consists of 1330 Kural, which are short [[verses]] of seven words. [[w:Thiruvalluvar|Thiruvalluvar]] is the author of this book.
]]
[[File:Puhar-ILango.jpg|right|thumb|The famous Tamil work [[w:Silappatikaram|Silappathikaram]] belongs to the later [[w:Sangam period|Sangam period]]. [[w:Ilango AdigalSaint Ilango]], a Chera prince, wrote this epic. Silappathikaram is the story of a chaste woman, [[w:Kannaki|Kannaki]].]]
<small>[[Tamil language|Tamil]] in: ''[http://www.southasia.sas.upenn.edu/tamil/lit.html
Tamil Language, History and Literature]'', South Asia Studies At Penn! - University Of Pennsylvania.</small>
*The land of Tamil [[speech]] and people was in ancient times ruled by three famous lines of king, the [[w:Chera dynasty|Chera]], [[w:Chola dynasty|Chola]]], and [[w:Pandyan Dynasty|Pandiya]]. The land ruled by them was called Chera Nadu (Chera country), Chola Nadu (Chola country), and Pandiya Nadu (Pandiaya country) respectively.
*Tamils are of [[w:Dravidian|Dravidian]] origin. Many [[historians]] claim that the Dravidians, before the dawn of the [[history]] of the Tamils, were spread all over [[India]]. For various reasons they split into small groups. Consequently, the original language also split into different languages. Tamil is found to have retained about 80 per cent of the features of the original [[w:Dravidian language|Dravidian language]].
*There are three major sub-groups in the Dravidian family of [[language]], namely, South Dravidian, Central Dravidian, and North Dravidian
*The [[w:Tamil literature|Tamil literature]] may broadly be classified into:(i) [[w:Sangam literature|Sangam Classics]]; (ii) Bhakthi or Devotional Literature;(iii) [[Ethics]], and (iv) [[w:Literary modernism|Modern Literature]].
*The early Tamil literatures are called [w:Sangam literature|Sangam Classics]]. Though there are controversies over the time of the Classics, generally the period between 200 BCE and 500 CE is considered the period of Sangam. Sangam Classics are mostly descriptive.
*Many of the [[poems]] [in Tamil] seem to belong to the post-Sangham Age. It is widely accepted that among these, ''[[w:Tirukkuṛaḷ|Thirukkural]]'' was composed before the second century CE. The Thirukkural consists of 1330 Kural, which are short [[verses]] of seven words. [[w:Thiruvalluvar|Thiruvalluvar]] is the author of this book.
*The famous Tamil work [[w:Silappatikaram|Silappathikaram]] belongs to the later [[w:Sangam period|Sangam period]]. [[w:Ilango AdigalSaint Ilango]], a Chera prince, wrote this epic. Silappathikaram is the story of a chaste woman, [[w:Kannaki|Kannaki]].
*[[Bhakti]] [[literature]] deals with [[religious]] [[philosophy]], the [[history]] of [[saints]], etc. Most of these are devotional [[poems]]. [[Religious]] [[teaching]] entered [[w:Tamil literature|Tamil literature]] for the first time in [[w:Manimekalai|Manimekalai]]. Sathanar the author of this book believed in [[Buddhism]]. The [[philosophy]] of [[Buddha]] is extensively discussed in Manimekalai.
*[[w:Literary modernism|Modern literature]] must be dealt with under two sub-headings: (1) [[w:Prose|Prose]] and (2) [[Poetry]]. It may be noted that prose writings have gained more popularity in this century. Prose style is chosen as a better medium for novels, short stories, essays, etc.
*In general, [[w:Grammar|grammar]] includes [[phonology]], [[morphology]] and [[syntax]]. But Classical Tamil tradition seems to differ from this. The earliest grammar ''[[w:Tolkāppiyam|Tholkappiyam]]'' deals not only with phonology, morphology and syntax but also with personal and impersonal, internal and external dialects of life, beauty of literature, behavioral dialects of human life, Tamil linguistic traditions, etc., and this portion is termed ''Porulathikaram''.
*According to the [[tradition]] that Tholkappiyar followed a grammar is three fold: (1) ''Ezhuthu'' (sounds and letters), (2) ''Col'' (words), (3) ''Porul'' (meaning). Later it was five fold: (1) ''Ezhuthu'', (2) ''Col'', (3) ''Porul'', (4) ''Yappu'' (versification), and (5) ''Ani'' ([[beauty]] of [[literature]]).
*Works dealing exclusively with the [[science]] of [[music]] were written during the [[w:Sangam period|Sangam period]], but were lost long ago. The [[w:Silappthikaram|Silappthikaram]] of the second century AD throws flood of light on the music of the Tamils. Music in Tamil nomenclature is ''isai''. They had five kinds of ''Pans'' (specific [[melody]] type), namely ''Mullai'', ''Kurinji'', ''Marudham'', ''Neythal'' and ''Palai''. Apart from this, they had seven musical notes, viz., ''Kural'', ''Thuttam,'' ''Kaykkilai'', ''Uzhai'', ''Ili'', ''Vilari'' and ''Tharam''.
*There is a wide gap between spoken and written Tamil. [[w:Central Tamil dialect|Spoken Tamil]] is used for face-to-face [[communication]] or in informal occasions whereas written Tamil is used during official [[speeches]] and other formal occasions. Spoken Tamil is not generally written; thus, while writing, the written form is invariably used. While there is a wide gap between the two forms of Tamil, there are certain rules the use of that help the learner to derive one form of language from another.
*There are number of universities in [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] which have facilities for Tamil Studies.
===Tamil===
[[File:Brahmi_script_on_Ashoka_Pillar,_Sarnath.jpg|right|thumb|Tamil is written in an alpha-syllabic system like that of other [[w:Languages of South Asia|South Asian languages]]. It derives from the [[Ashoka]]n [[w:Brahmi script|Brahmi script]]...]]
<small>Centre for World Languages in: ''[http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?menu=004&LangID=99 Tamil]'', UCLA International Institute, Centre for World Languages</small>
*Tamil, a [[language]] with a long and ancient literary tradition, has been spoken in [[w:South India|southern India]] for several millennia.
*Tamil is a member of the [[w:Dravidian|Dravidian family]], whose members are nearly all spoken in southern India. Other relatives are [[w:Telugu language|Telugu]] (spoken in south central India to the east coast), [[w:Malayalam language|Malayalam]] (in [[w:Kerala|Kerala State]] on the [[w:Malabar Coast|Malabar Coast]] of southwest India), Kannada (in Mysore, a region of southern India), Brahui (in southern Pakistan), and several other less well-known languages.
*Tamil linguistic variation cross classifies through three dimensions: [[geography]], [[caste]], and [[w:Diglossia|diglossia]]. Six regional [[w:Dialects|dialects]] can be classified as: East, West, North, South, Central, and [[Sri Lanka]]. Sri Lanken Tamil is relatively [[conservative]], having retained older features while continental dialects have lost them or changed in different directions. Caste dialects mostly distinguish between [[w:Brahmin|Brahmin]] and non-Brahmin varieties. Overlaying all of this are diglossic variants.
*The high status non-Brahmin dialect--which is spoken in the Central dialect area, including the cities of [[w:Tanjore|Tanjore]], [[w:Tirichirapalli|Tirichirapalli]] and [[w:Madurai|Madurai]]--is apparently gaining ground as a standard language.
*Tamil is written in an alpha-syllabic system like that of other [[w:Languages of South Asia|South Asian languages]]. It derives from the [[Ashoka]]n [[w:Brahmi script|Brahmi script]]. [[w:Vowels|Vowels]] have two forms, once used at the beginning of a word, another used following [[w:International Phonetic Alphabet|consonant symbols]]. Each consonant graph symbolizes the consonant plus following vowel "a". When another vowel symbol is used the "a" vowel is suppressed. Consonant symbols with a [[w:Diacritic|diacritic]] are used to represent just the consonant itself.
*Tamil, like other [[w:Dravidian languages|Dravidian languages]], is an [[w:Agglutinative language|agglutinating language]] in which [[w:Morphemes|morphemes]] are transparently separable and analyzable affixes which are attached to roots or stems; such affixes in Tamil are nearly always suffixal. Words are made up of [[w:Lexical|lexical]] roots, or stems (roots that have been expanded by a derivational [[suffix]]), followed by inflectional suffix(es) which mark such categories as, for example, person, number, mood, tense, etc.
*[[w:Nouns|Nouns]], a broad classification in [[Tamil grammar|Tamil grammatical terminology]], include common and proper nouns, numerals, pronouns and some so-called adjectives; they inflect for case, person, number (singular and plural), and gender. There are two genders which are based on the referent's natural gender and correspond roughly to the distinction human/nonhuman; they are called "rational" (e.g., nouns referring to men, deities, women in some dialects) and "irrational" (e.g., women in some dialects, children, animals) respectively. There are 8 cases (nominative, accusative, dative, sociative, genitive, instrumental, locative, and ablative).
*Modern Tamil has no articles; definiteness and indefiniteness are signaled by other grammatical devices, such as the number "one," used as an indefinite article. Compound nouns are used as [[w:Deictic expression|deictic]] [[w:Pronouns|pronouns]] (demonstratives), which are used to indicate objects close by, at a distance, and a kind of neutral; [[w:Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Sri Lankan Tamil]] has a fourth indicating medial distance.
*[[w:Verbs|Verbs]] are formally inflected principally for mood and tense by a grammatical particle suffixed to the stem. Most verbs also mark affective and effective "voice" (not equivalent to the notions "[[w:Transitivity (grammar)|transitivity]]" or "causation") where the former indicates that the subject undergoes the action named by the stem, and the latter signals that the subject directs the action of the stem. [[Mood]] is also marked implicitly by grammatical formatives which also mark tense categories. These signal that the verbal event is, for example, unreal, possible, potential, or a real, and actual. There are three simple tenses (past, present, and future), and a series of perfects.
[[File:Tamil_language.png|right|thumb|700px|Example text in Tamil script]]
*Word order is [[w:Subject–object–verb|Subject-Object-Verb]] (SOV) and even though case and post positions are used to mark grammatical relations, word order is not completely free as it might be in similarly structured languages. Even where variation is allowed the verb in simple sentences must always come to the far right of the sentence.
*Tamil has a verbal category called "attitude" which is used to indicate the speaker's state of [[mind]] and subjective [[attitude]] about the narrated event. Verb auxiliaries are used for this purpose; examples of affected states projected are: [[w:Pejorative|pejorative]] opinion, [[w:Antipathy|antipathy]], relief that a unpleasant event has ended, undesirability about the result of an event, and so on.
**In: Steever (1987)
*Besides loans from [[Sanskrit]], and some borrowing from [[w:Persian language|Persian]] and [[w:Arabic language|Arabic]], [[w:English language|English]] in modern times has supplied a lot of loan words, but because of the emphasis on linguistic purism in Tamil grammatical tradition loans are assimilated to the [[w:Phonology|phonological system]].
*All Tamil speakers, including the uneducated, use two varieties of the language which only roughly correspond to the difference between literary and spoken Tamil. A high status variety is used in most writing, the media--including [[radio]] and [[television]] [[broadcasts]]--[[political]] [[speeches]] and other similar occasions. In contrast, a low status variety is used in every day discourse and conversations. It is also used in film and some authors of [[fiction]] use the variety as do some [[politicians]] and [[lecturers]] to create [[solidarity]], or enhance [[w:Intimacy|intimacy]], with their audiences.
*In both [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]], Tamil has the status of an [[w:Official language|official language]]. In India it is one of fourteen official languages, and in Sri Lanka it shares that status with [[w:Sinhalese language|Sinhalese]]. It is the first official language of India's [[w:Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] state.
*Among the four ancient literary languages of southern India (Tamil, [[w:Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]], and [[w:Telugu language|Telugu]]) Tamil has the longest tradition. The earliest records date from [[w:Epigraphy|inscriptions]] from 200 BC. Other early works exist which were preserved on [[w:Manuscripts|manuscripts]] made by palm-leaf and through oral transmission. Part of this rich and varied literary output includes a Tamil indigenous grammatical tradition independent of that of the ancient [[Sanskrit]] [[w:Grammarians|grammarians]]. The earliest text which describes the [[language]] of the classical period is the [[w:Tolkappiyam|Tolkappiyam]] (dating from around 200 BC); another dates from the year 1000.
*Three stages appear in the written records: ancient (200 BC to 700), medieval (700 - 1500) and modern (1500 to the present). Sometime between 800 and the turn of the millennium, Malayalam, a very closely related [[w:Dravidian language|Dravidian language]], split off and became a distinct language.
*During the [[w:Medieval period|medieval period]] Tamil absorbed many loan words from [[Sanskrit]] in the verbal system, but in the 1900s attempts were made to purge Tamil of its Sanskrit loans with the result that modern scientific and bureaucratic [[w:Terminology|terminology]] is Tamil-based and not Sanskrit-based as in other [[w:Indo-Aryan languages|Indic languages]].
==External links==
{{Wikipedia}}
[[Category: Languages]]
[[Category:India]]