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102Webpages of Tamil Electronic Library (C)K. Kalyanasundaram <br><br><br>
103<br><font size= "+1" color="red">
104 <B>A brief History and Features of the Tamil Language <br>
105 (by Prof. M. Varadarajan) </B><br></font><br> </td>
106</tr>
107</table>
108<hr width="90%">
109<table width="100%" border="0">
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111
112<b>Acknowledgement: </b> <br>
113During the last few years there have been several requests and querries from 
114the Cyber Tamil community visiting the Tamil Electronic Library website to
115provide info. on the History and Features of Tamil Language .  Amongst 
116various sources that I have consulted most appealing is the following exposition 
117of (late) Prof. Mu.Varadarajanaar. It is fairly extensive yet concise, recent and 
118is a scholarly account. So I thought of reproducing it here for the benefit of the 
119Cyber Tamil community. If you are interested in Tamil Language and its Literature,
120the entire book is worth reading (a must I should say). English Translation of the
121original work in Tamil has been published by Sahitya Academy, New Delhi.<p>
122<b>Source of the article: </b><br>
123 "A HISTORY OF TAMIL LITERATURE", <br>
124by Mu. Varadarajan,<br>
125(Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan)<br>
126Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1988, p. 1- 17<p>
127----------------------<br>
128Transliteration Scheme used:<br>
129In place of the transliteration scheme used in the book (Tamil lexicon scheme with
130diacritical markers), I have used the following transliteration scheme:<br>
131a, aa/A, i,  ii/I,  u,  oo/U,  e,  ee/E,  ai, o,  O, au, q<br>
132k, g, c, j,  T, N, t, n, p/b, m, y, r, l, v, z, L, R, n2<br>
133Tamil script encoding TSCII is used for several tamil words quoted in the text.<br>
134----------------------<br>
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137Open the "Preferences" menu of the Web browser and select the TSCII font of your 
138choice for the "User-defined" encoding case. Reload the page if necessary. 
139You should be able to view this bilingual page correctly.<br>
140The text source of this html file is 8-bit raw text. <p>
141 <hr noshade>
142 <center>
143<h2><font color="blue"> Tamil Language  ( by Prof. M. Varadarajan)
144</font></h2></center>
145 
146<h3>Old Dravidian</h3>
147
148In the historical past Proto-Dravidian was spoken throughout India. When the Turanians 
149and the Aryans came to India through the Khyber and the Bolan Passes respectively, 
150and mingled with the local population of the North, the North Indian languages of 
151Proto-Dravidian origin changed to a great extent. As a consequence Praakrit and 
152Paali emerged as the languages of the masses in the northern part of India. Despite 
153the commingling of local and foreign ethnic elements, a section of Proto-Dravidians 
154maintained their ethnic and cultural identity in some isolated areas, spoke corrupt 
155forms of Proto-Dravidian languages and these have survived, to this day, as living 
156examples of ancient Dravidian languages. Languages such as Kolami, Parji, Naiki, Gondi, 
157Ku, Kuvi, Konda, Malta, Oroan, Gadba, Khurukh, and Brahui are examples of Dravidian 
158languages prevalent in the North. Today Proto-Dravidian speakers are increasingly 
159mingling with other linguistic groups and learning their languages. Therefore, the
159ir 
160numerical strength is on the decline. People living in the Rajmahal mountains in 
161Bengal and in the areas adjacent to Chota Nagpur are good examples of the intermingling.
162A section of people living in Baluchistan speak Brahui, which has many linguistic 
163features similar to the Dravidian languages spoken in South India. Scholars are 
164surprised today to note many linguistic similarities between Tamil and Brahui, 
165especially in numerals, personal pronouns, syntax and in other linguistic
166features. The Indian Census report of 1911 classified Brahui as a language 
167belonging to the Dravidian family. It was then spoken by about 170, 000 people, 
168although this number over the years dwindled to a couple of thousands. Whatever 
169be their numerical strength now, they are proof of the fact that the Dravidians 
170in some age of the historical past were spread in the region between Baluchistan 
171and Bengal and spoke the Proto-Dravidian idiom.
172<br>
173<h3>North Indian Languages</h3>
174
175Since the Dravidians lived throughout the Indian subcontinent at some historical past, 
176certain syntactical affinities are noticeable even today between the South and a 
177large number of North Indian languages.
178<p>
179When Praakrit and Paali became popular in the North, the Proto-Dravidian language 
180lost its ground there, and confined itself entirely to the South. Even in South 
181India it did not remain as one single language for a long time. Dialectical 
182differences arose partly due to the political division of the Tamil country into 
183three distinct Tamil kingdoms and partly due to the natural barriers created by 
184rivers and mountains. The absence of proper land communication among the three 
185Tamil kingdoms also accentuated this process of dialectal differences. As a result 
186the Dravidian language spoken by the people. who lived in the regions north and 
187south of the Tirupati mountains, varied to such an extent as to become two 
188independent languages, Tamil and Telugu. The language spoken in the region of 
189Mysore came to be known as Kannada. Malayalam emerged as yet another distinct 
190language in Kerala. All these far-reaching changes occurred at different periods 
191of time in the history of the Dravidian languages. Among these four languages, 
192it is only the Tamil language which has a long literary tradition.
193<p>
194The term Dravidian, which refers to the language of South India, is of a later 
195origin. Originally it was derived from the word <i>tamil /tamiz> </i>. This word in course of 
196time changed into <i>dravida </i> after undergoing a series of changes like <i>tamiza</i>, 
197<i>tramiza</i>, <i>tramiTa</i>, <i>trapida</i> and <i>travida</i>. At one time the 
198languages spoken in the  regions of Karnataka, Kongu and Malabar were respectively 
199known as <i>Karunaattut-tamil</i>, <i>Tulunattut-tamil</i> and <i>Malainattut-tamil</i>. 
200Today however, these regional languages are classified under the blanket term 
201"Dravidian family of languages".
202
203<h3>South Indian Languages</h3>
204<!--google_ad_section_start-->
205Many common linguistic features are still discernible among these Dravidian languages. 
206Some five thousand words are common to these languages. Many grammatical forms are 
207common. The overwhelming influence of Sanskrit scholars and the indiscriminate 
208borrowing of Sanskrit words resulted in the emergence of Kannada and Telugu as 
209distinct languages from Tamil some fifteen hundred years ago. The influence of 
210Sanskrit on Malayalam language came to be felt only about eight centuries ago, 
211and therefore, the areas of difference between Tamil and Malayalam are not many. 
212Tamil was the language of bureaucracy, of literati and of culture for several 
213centuries in Kerala. In fact, fifteen centuries ago the rulers of Kerala were all 
214Tamils. Up to the tenth century the Pandya kings ruled Kerala with royal titles 
215such as 'Perumaankal and 'Perumaankanar'. It was a Tamil poet from Trivandrum who 
216in fact presided over the academy of Tamil scholars, when they met to evaluate the 
217famous Tamil grammatical work <i>Tolkappiyam</i>.  From the third century 13.C. to the first 
218century A.D., many poets from Kerala composed poems in Tamil and their compositions 
219are included in Tamil anthologies such as <i>Akananaru</i> and <i>Purananaru</i>. 
220All the one hundred poems in the anthology <i>PatiRRuppattu</i>extol the greatness of 
221the kings of the Kerala region. The author of the famous Tamil epic <i>Cilappatikaram</i> 
222was a poet from Kerala. The shrine in honor of KaNNaki, the heroine of <i>Cilappatikaram,</i> 
223was built at Tiruvancikkulam in Kerala. Among the Saiva and Vaisnava composers, 
224CEramAn PerumAl Nayanaar and KulacEkara Alvaar respectively, belong to the 
225Kerala region. AiyanEritanaar, the author of the tenth century grammatical work 
226<i>PuRapporul VeNpaamaalai</i>, hailed from Kerala. Many scholars and pundits from Kerala 
227contributed much to the Tamil language and literature and the historical evidence 
228shows that the region now known as the State of Kerala was once an integral 
229part of Tamil Nadu at some period of time. Because of these reasons there is 
230greater affinity between Tamil and Malayalam than between Tamil and Kannada or 
231Telugu.<br>
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246
247<h3>Contact with Foreign Countries</h3>
248
249Tamil occupies a distinctive position among the Dravidian languages owing to its 
250geographical expansion, for it has spread beyond the frontiers of India. Apart 
251from being the language of forty million people in Tamil Nadu it is the spoken 
252and written language of several millions of Tamils living in Ceylon, Burma, Singapore, 
253Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Fiji Islands and Mauritius.<p>
254
255That the Tamils were well advanced in sea-borne and inland trade is evident both 
256from Tamil literary sources as also from the accounts of foreign travellers.* 
257Even as early as the tenth century B.C., articles of trade such as peacock feathers, 
258elephant tusks and spices intended for King Solomon were sent in ships belonging to 
259the Tamil country. Some words in Hebrew, Greek and English point to the existence of 
260trade between Tamil Nadu and the countries around the Mediterranean region. Classical 
261Hebrew terms like <i>tuki </i>and <i>ahalat</i> are close to the Tamil words <i>tokai</i> and <i>akil </i>
262respectively. Although English words like 'sandalwood' and 'rice' are borrowed 
263from the Greek language, their origin is in fact Tamil. Likewise the Greek words for 
264ginger and pepper also owe their origin to Tamil. Sea-borne trade flourished between 
265the Tamil country and the Roman Empire during the period of Emperor Augustus. 
266This fact is borne out by numerous coins issued during his reign, which were 
267unearthed by archaeologists in the Tamil country. Iron age finds in Philippines 
268also point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu and the Philippine Islands 
269during the ninth and tenth centuries B.C. This apart, Tamil traders frequented the 
270shores of Burma, Malaya and China with their wares and bartered them for Chinese 
271silk and sugar. The Tamil word <i>ciini </i>for sugar indicates its origin. In Tamil 
272classical works, Chinese silk is referred to as <i>ciinattupattu</i>.<p>
273--<br>
274* For an interesting account of the ancient Tamils refer, P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar, 
275History of the Tamil from the Earliest Times to 600 A.D., Madras, 1929, pp. 36-43.; 
276and A.L. Basham, The Wonder that was India, London, 1954, p. 62.
277--<p>
278
279Foreigners who toured India gave an account of the flourishing trade between the Tamil 
280regions of India and other countries. Periplus and Pliny mention that since articles 
281from Tamil Nadu such as pearls, elephant tusks and muslin were bartered for gold, 
282and that the trade balance was more in favour of the Tamils, the Emperor Vespasian 
283viewed especially the drain of gold as a serious threat to his country's economy 
284and took the extreme step of terminating the two-way trade between Rome and the 
285Tamil country. References to the ports of trade in the Tamil country such as ToNTi, 
286MuciRi, KoRkai and Kaavirippumpattinam are also found in the writings of Periplus. 
287Ptolemy writing in A.D. 150 speaks about Ceraas, Cholaas and Paandyas as the rulers 
288of Tamil Nadu. He also mentions the important trading centres like Karur, NagappaTTinam 
289and Pondicherry in his travel notes. Ali these references to the trading activities 
290of the Tamils in foreign writings correlate to those found in the early Tamil classics.
291<p>
292The business acumen of the Tamils is shown in the special terms used by them to refer 
293even to the minutest fractions in calculation. To cite some examples, the term <i>immi </i>
294referred to the fraction of 1/320 x 1/7. And one-seventh of this fraction was termed 
295as <i>anu</i>. One-eleventh of an <i>anu</i> was known as <i>mummi</i> and one 
296ninth of a <i>mummi</i> was termed <i>kuNam</i>.
297<p>
298The renowned Sanskrit epics the Raamayanaa and the Mahaabhaarata also speak about the 
299Tamil country and in particular the importance of Madurai as the capital of the 
300Paandyaa kings. Megasthenes, who came to India during the period of Chandragupta 
301Maurya, refers to the Paandya country and its polity. The edicts of the famous Indian 
302Emperor Asoka also mention that during his rule the Tamil kings in the far south 
303of India enjoyed political independence.
304
305<h3>Antiquity of Tamil Grammatical Works</h3>
306
307Among the ancient grammatical works available, the <i>Tolkappiyam</i> was the earliest and 
308it was written around the third century B.C. There are over two hundred and fifty 
309references in <i>Tolkaappiyam</i> which, provide substantial evidence of the existence 
310of many classical and grammatical works in Tamil prior to <i>Tolkaappiyam</i> itself. 
311It classifies Tamil words into four categories, <i>iyarcol</i>, <i>tiricol</i>, <i>ticaiccol</i>, and 
312<i>vatacol</i>. <i>Iyarcol</i> refers to the words in common use, while <i>tiricol</i> refers to the 
313words used specifically in poetry. Regional words are known as <i>ticaiccol</i>. Words 
314borrowed from Sanskrit are called <i>vatacol</i>. Certain specific rules were stipulated 
315in borrowing words from Sanskrit. The borrowed words were to strictly conform to 
316the Tamil phonetic system and to be written in the Tamil script. All these indicate 
317the sound grammatical basis on which the Tamil language has evolved over the years.
318<p>
319Besides, <i>Tolkaappiyam</i> also classifies the Tamil language into <i>centamil</i> and 
320<i>kotuntamil</i>. The former refers to the classical Tamil used exclusively by literati in their works 
321and the latter refers to the colloquial Tamil, spoken by the people. This shows that 
322even in those distant days differences had grown to such an extent as
323to enable the Tamil grammarians to classify the language into written and spoken.
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336<h3>Tamil Scripts</h3>
337
338The earlier Tamil inscriptions were written in braahmi, grantha and <i>vaTTezuttu </i>scripts.* 
339Inscriptions after the seventh century A.D. contain Tamil characters similar to the 
340one now in vogue. This prompted some scholars to argue that vatteluttu and Tamil 
341scripts originated from braahmi scripts. This view has no solid base, for one can 
342see a copious description of Tamil scripts in Tolkaappiyam, which belongs to third 
343century B.C. It is obvious therefore, that Tamil language had a distinct script of 
344its own even at that early period. In fact <i>vaTTezuttu </i> is none other than the old 
345Tamil script. Even the southern braahmi was a corrupt form of <i>vaTTezuttu </i>. Distinct 
346differences exist between the southern and the northern braahmi script, for the 
347southern one had its genesis in <i>vaTTezuttu </i>. Much before brahmi scripts could 
348become popular the Tamils possessed a script of their own which they put to use 
349in their commercial transactions and in their writings.<br>
350---<br>
351* According to Professor M. Varadarajan, <i>vaTTezuttu </i>was nothing but the scripts 
352inscribed on stones. They had been known as <i>veTTezuttu </i> or letters inscribed on stones. 
353But in course of time and by usage it was transformed into <i>vaTTezuttu </i>. For an in-depth 
354study of Tamil scripts refer, M. Varadarajan. <i> Moli Varalaaru </i>(The History of Tamil 
355Language), Madras, 1954, pp. 425~37. The view of a historian on the same subject 
356is as follows: "What the <i>vaTTezuttu </i> is and how it came into being and how it was 
357practiced we cannot say definitely. But we can say almost with some definiteness 
358that it represents a very ancient cursive alphabet, perhaps the primitive South 
359Indian alphabet which existed long, long before the inscriptions of Asoka."
360 V.R.R. Dikshitar, Pre-Historic South India, Madras, 1951, p. 218. Yet for another 
361 view of the origins of Tamil scripts refer, John R. Marr, "The Early Dravidians" 
362 in A.L. Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India, London. 1975, pp. 32-34.<br>
363--<p>
364
365The Tamii characters which are in use today also can be deemed to have originated from 
366vatteluttu. There are twelve vowels in Tamil consisting of five short vowels, 
367a, i, u, e, and o («, ­, ¯, ±, ´); their corresponding five long vowels, aa, ii, uu,  
368ee and oo (¬, ®, °, ², µ) and two letters ai and au (³, ´Ç) for the prevention of 
369hiatus. There are eighteen consonants made up of six surds k. c, T, t, p, and R 
370(ì, î, ð, ò, ô, ü) and their corresponding six sonants g, j, N, n, m, n2 (í, ï, ñ, ó, õ, ý)  
371and six medials  y, r, l, v, z and L ( ö, ÷, ø, ù, ú, û) .  The two short vowels e and o 
372(±, ´) which are not in Devanagari are essential to Tamil and other languages of 
373the Dravidian family. There is a world of difference in meaning between the words 
374eTu and ETu (±Î, ²Î); koTu and kOTu (¦¸¡Î, §¸¡Î), teL and tEL (¦¾û, §¾û ); 
375as well as koL and kOl (¦¸¡û, §¸¡ø). It is therefore, needless to emphasise the importance 
376of short and long vowels like e and ee/E (±, ²); as well as o and O (´, µ ) in 
377Tamil. There are no aspirated consonants like gha or cha in Tamil. Likewise the letter 
378h ( † ) is also absent in Tamil. But a corresponding leter k (· ), known as aytam 
379is used to soften the surds in Tamil. The trilled consonant  R (ü) is quite different 
380from r (÷).The consonant n (ý ) has a nasal sound and it is different from other 
381dentals. The consonant l ( ø ) is equally essential like that of the consonant L ( û ). 
382These two different l's exist both in Telugu and in Kannada. The consonant z (ú) 
383is found only in Tamil and Malayalam. It had existed in old Kannada but not now. 
384The two vowels ru ( Õ ) and lu ( Ö), which are there in Devanagari, are not 
385there in Tarr.ih The short-nature u (¯) and i ( ­ ) sounds are in Tamil, but 
386there are no letters to indicate them.
387<p>
388If the letters ka, ca, Ta, ta, pa (¸, º, ¼, ¾, À) appear at the beginning of a word, 
389after hard vowel consonants. and after doubling they will be pronounced like surds. 
390In other places they will be pronounced like sonants. Although there are no distinct 
391letters for surds and sonants in Tamil, the vowel consonants themselves are pronounced 
392like surds and sonants depending on the place in which they appear. Therefore the one 
393Tamil consonant ka (k) is pronounced like gha depending upon its placement in a word. 
394Likewise other hard vowel consonants ta (¾ ), ca (º), Ta (¼) and pa (À) 
395are pronounced differently like ( dha, cha, tha, bha) respectively according to the place 
396where they appear in a word. There are no sibilants like sa, sha, Sa in Tamil.
397<p>
398There are distinct letters in Tamil to indicate numerals and fractions. There are 
399evidences to show that the present roman numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 originated 
400from Tamil.
401
402<h3>Classification and Formation of Words</h3>
403
404There are four kinds of words in Tamil. Among them the root words or <i>uriccol</i> which 
405were used in ancient poems are not popular now. If we exclude them then there exist 
406only three types of words namely nouns, verbs and <i>itaiccol </i>or particles. The nouns 
407indicate animate and inanimate categories of things, gender, number and person. 
408<i>tiNai</i> is classified into <i>uyartiNai</i> (nouns denoting personal class of beings, including 
409men, gods and demons) and <i>akRiNai</i> (inferior class of beings whether animate, inanimate, 
410or neuter). Higher categories of animate beings like human beings fall under <i>uyortiNai</i>. 
411Others, both animate and inanimate come under the category of <i>akriNai</i>. There are three 
412genders in <i>uyartiNai</i>: masculine, feminine and neuter. <i>Palar paal </i>or neuter plural gender 
413indicates many in number. Masculine and feminine genders in Tamil indicate only 
414singular number. <i>AkRiNai</i> is classified into <i>onRan paal </i>(singular of the impersonal class) 
415and <i>palvin pal</i> (plural of the impersonal class).
416<p>
417Again, number is classified into one and many. Unlike Sanskrit there is no dual number 
418in Tamil. There are three 'persons' in Tamil, namely, first person, second person and third 
419person. Case inflexions are many in Tamil and their indicators form as suffixes in words.
420<p>
421Distinction between animate and inanimate things, and masculine and feminine genders 
422are usually made according to the meaning of words.
423<p>
424Verbs are classified into finite and infinite verbs. Most of the finite verbs are formed 
425with suffixes which indicates this animate or inanimate quality, as also gender. The gender
426is not distinguished both in abstract nouns and in relative participles. Both verbs and 
427nouns are formed from verbal roots. But very few verbs are formed from noun roots.
428<p>
429Particles have no meaning of their own but acquire meaning when added to other words 
430and help to differentiate their meanings too. Even meaningless words are regarded as particles.
431<p>
432Most of the words in Tamil are agglutinative in character, i.e. case indicators, time and 
433gender markers are affixed to root words. As a result, the formation of words become clear. 
434Even the words in the classical literature are agglutinative in character. There is no distinction 
435between the roots that were. used in ancient classics and those which are now in vogue. 
436The root word which was used to mean 'food' in ancient classics was <i>una</i>. The one used 
437in medieval period was either <i>uN</i> or <i>uNTi</i>. Whereas the modern word for 
438food is <i>uNavu</i>.  In all these words whether ancient, mediaeval or modern, the root word un is clear. 
439Only the suffixes differ. Therefore, the Tamil of ancient poetry too begins to seem 
440familiar after a while if one reads the ancient classical poetry for a time. This is the 
441reason why the Tamils of this century find little difficulty in understanding the 
442Cankam classics. It also accounts for the continuity that exists in Tamil literary growth. 
443One finds it used in the poems of the hymnodists and Kampan, composed in the 
444seventh century and the twelfth century respectively.
445<p>
446There is little difference in syntax between ancient and modern Tamil. Although over 
447a period of time word forms have changed the formation of syntax remains intact in 
448all the Dravidian languages. In this respect there exist similarity between the languages 
449of the South and the North, though they fall under a different category known as 
450Indo-European languages. The fact that syntax changes very little, while other aspects 
451of a language do, is brought out in the similarity one finds in the formation of syntax 
452between the Dravidian languages of the South and the languages of the North of India. 
453This explains why syntactical differences exist between the languages of North India 
454on the one hand and Sanskrit, Greek and Latin on the other; and why there exists 
455similarity between north and south Indian languages. This unity in syntactical formation 
456becomes obvious if one analyses all the four major Dravidian languages of South India. 
457If one analyses the continuos growth of Tamil language the perceivable truth is that 
458there is little change in the formation of syntax both in the classical Tamil and the 
459Tamil used in modern short stories.
460 
461<h3>Unnecessary Polemics</h3>
462
463Among the spoken languages of India, Tamil achieved perfection even during the 
464pre-historic period. Literary growth in Tamil took place at the same time when there was 
465similar growth in Sanskrit. Literary works came to be written only at a later period in 
466all other Indian languages. Therefore there was considerable antiquity for Tamil language 
467and literature. Besides, the ancient classical Tamil literature originated and blossomed 
468from the folk song and poetry of the Tamil country. The forms of such poetry were 
469also not borrowed from any other language, but were culled from the folk poetry and 
470songs that was in vogue among the people of Tamil Nadu. The existence of such 
471combination of antiquity and individuality in Tamil literature, was forgotten by 
472later day Sanskrit scholars. As such they not merely denied the greatness due to 
473the Tamil language but began to look upon it on the assumption that it borrowed 
474immensely from Sanskrit from its very inception. Therefore, Sanskritists indulged 
475in unwanted polemics by arguing that Tamil had no intrinsic merit of its own because 
476it borrowed heavily from Sanskrit. To establish this assumption, Caminata Desikar, 
477a Sanskrit scholar and author of a grammatical work entitled <i>ilakkaNakkottu </i>compared 
478the alphabets of Sanskrit and Tamil and found that all, expect five alphabets, the 
479two short vowels e (±) and o (´) and three consonants Ra, na and za (È, É, Æ  ) 
480are common to both the languages. Therefore he argued that all the characters common 
481to the two languages essentially belonged to Sanskrit and the five rare symbols which 
482are absent in Sanskrit belonged specifically to Tamil. Based on his findings he 
483wrote an unusual verse in which he posed insolently a question whether Tamil with 
484only five letters of its own could ever be called a language.
485<br><ul>
486Intelligent persons will be ashamed <br>
487To call it a language <br>
488That possesses only five letters.* <br>
489<br>
490* Arumuka Navalar (ed.), llakkanakkottu (Madras). p. 9, lines 27-28.<br>
491</ul>
492This scurrilous verse only indicates the irrational attitude of the Sanskrit scholars of 
493the seventeenth century.
494<p>
495Such unreasonable attitude became obvious in analysing the origin of words that were 
496common to Sanskrit and Tamil. Basic words like <i>niir </i>(water) and <i>miin</i> (fish) which 
497had been in use from time immemorial in Tamil language was interpreted by Sanskrit 
498scholars as having originated from Sanskrit roots. They refused to consider the possibility 
499that Sanskrit would have borrowed these common words from Tamil, the most ancient 
500language of the region, and even propagated that most of the words in Tamil had been 
501borrowed from Sanskrit. The Tamil scholars were perplexed by such unfounded claims. 
502However with the arrival of linguists like Caldwell from Europe, and with the 
503publication of books in English refuting the claims of Sanskritists, Tamil scholars 
504gained confidence in the intrinsic value of Tamil language. Despite this, the biased 
505views held by Sanskritists held sway ir the world of letters even up to this century 
506until linguists in England like Burrow falsified these erroneous claims by their researches. 
507This controversy persisted even in analysing the names of places in the Tamil region. 
508After translating certain names of places from Tamil to Sanskrit, the Sanskrit scholars 
509argued that they were borrowed from Sanskrit. One classic example was <i>Vriddhachalam </i>
510which is a literal translation of the Tamil place called <i>MutukunRam</i>. Likewise, several 
511names of deities were translated into Sanskrit. The devotional hymns of the Nayanmars 
512in fact mentioned these names in their pure Tamil form. Instances are not wanting that 
513while translating names of places from Tamil into Sanskrit, the Sanskrit scholars failed 
514to comprehend the real meaning of the criginal Tamil words and translated them erroneously. 
515Without knowing the actuai meaning of the name of a town <i>ArkkaTu</i> (Arcot), the Sanskrit 
516scholars translated it <i>Sataranyam</i>, which literally means six forests, whereas the Tamil 
517word <i>arkkaTu</i> literally means a forest of fig trees. To perpetuate these Sanskritised names, 
518they wrote stories as well. Despite their efforts Sanskritised names failed to gain currency 
519among the people. The Sanskrit scholars, for example, tried to Sanskritise the name of 
520the river <i>Paalaaru</i> as <i>Ksra Nati</i>. It could not be perpetuated. Thus the Sanskrit scholars 
521unnecessarily sowed the seeds of dissension in the Tamii country.
522
523<h3>Tanit-Tamil Iyakkam (Pure Tamil Movement)</h3>
524
525Sanskrit scholars attempted to Sanskritise Tamil several centuries ago by the liberal use 
526of Sanskrit words. They argued that such a liberal mixture enhanced the beauty of the 
527Tamil language and compared the hybrid language to an ornament made out of equal 
528number of pearls and corals. They called the hybrid style as manippravala style and 
529attempted to popularize it in the country. Some of the Jain and Vaisnava S
529anskrit 
530scholars employed that style using grantha  scripts Their attempts, however, failed 
531because of the naturally rich vocabulary and literary wealth of the Tamil language.
532<p>
533Sanskrit scholars, however, refused to acknowledge the real merit of Tamil literary 
534works. Although they were born in the Tamil country, spoke the Tamil language, 
535and lived as Tamilians, they seldom read such important works as the<i> TEvaram</i> and 
536the <i>Tiruvaacakam</i>. They treated lighty those who attained scholarship only in Tamil. 
537Even the hymns of Nayanmars, which found a pride of place in remple rituals during 
538the Chola period, lost their importance at a later stage. They went to the extent of 
539denigrating Tamil as the language of the mortal and extolling Sanskrit as the language 
540of gods. If the Sanskritists found laudable ideas in Tamil works, they tried to belittle 
541their merit saying that those were borrowed ideas from Sanskrit works. They tried 
542even to underrate the importance of Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural by running it down 
543as a compendium of ideas translated from Sanskrit works. Likewise they considered 
544that <i>Tolkaappiyam</i>, the first grammatical work by Tolkappiyar was based on Sanskrit. 
545To substantiate their view, they assigned the work of Tolkappiyar to Tiranatumakkini  
546who was a scholar in Sanskrit. The RaamayaNaa, Mahaabhaarata, PuraaNas and other 
547philosophical works were no doubt borrowed from Sanskrit but the Sanskrit scholars 
548tried to camouflage the very existence of great literary works in Tamil like the 
549Cankam classics, didactic and devotional literature. But their efforts were halted 
550only when scholars like V.K. Curiyanaraayana Sastriar and Maraimalaiyatikal 
551focussed the attention of the people on the literary treasures of the Tamil language.
552
553<h3>Two Different Types of Tamil Style</h3>
554
555Though the efforts to Sanskritise Tamil no longer exist, the repercussions of 
556those earlier efforts are still felt in society. One effect, of course, was the virulent 
557opposition to the use of Sanskrit words in Tamil, and this opposition has not subsided 
558even today. At a time when all merit and greatness were attributed to Sanskrit alone, 
559Tamil scholars like cUriyanarayana Sastriar and CuvAmi Vetaacalam preferred to 
560use only the Tamil equivalents of their Sanskrit names, Paritimarkalainjar and 
561MaRaimalaiyaTikal respectively. Despite their stance, their earlier Tamil prose works 
562contained many words of Sanskrit origin. When the Sanskritists claimed that Tamil 
563could not exist without Sanskrit, the two Tamil scholars addressed themselves to 
564the task of writing Tamil without borrowing from Sanskrit. Curiyanarayana Sastriyar, 
565the pioneer of this style of writing died at a very young age. His contemporary, 
566MaTaimalaiyaTikal lived longer and crystallized this attitude into a movement in 1916. 
567Since then the movement has been popularly known as the <i>Tanit-Tamil lyakkam</i> or 
568the Pure Tamil Movement among the Tamil scholars. Its impact still persists among 
569the Tamils. Those who have interest in m ai n tai n ing the purity of Tamil language 
570even now prefer to substitute a Tamil equivalent for Sanskrit names given by their 
571parents. With vengeance they totally reject borrowines from Sanskrit. Instead they 
572prefer to borrow from English. The Tamil scholars consider it their duty to write in 
573chaste Tamil free from Sanskrit and have been writing like this since the inception 
574of the Pure Tamil Movement. The virulence of the movement was due to the past 
575pride of the Sanskritists in their knowledge of Sanskrit language. The blunders 
576committed by them have given rise to two different views as well as controversies 
577in the use of Tamil. One group preferred to use as far as possible a pure Tamil 
578without the admixture of Sanskrit words; others preferred to write in a hybrid language. 
579Even now many writers to daily newspapers, weeklies and monthlies write in a 
580hybrid language. Therefore the Tamil scholars denounce their writing as faulty. 
581The writings of the Tamil scholars are criticised as too difficult to read, lifeless 
582and artificial. Thus the effect of the old controversy still exists, although in a 
583different form.
584<p>
585In the historic past, Sanskrit played the role of a communication language among 
586the scholars, who lived in different parts of the Indian sub-continent. Therefore 
587it was learnt avidly by scholars at Kanchipuram as well as at Banaras. The 
588sum-total of human knowledge available from Kaveri to the Gangetic plains 
589was written in the Sanskrit language. Ideas relating to literature, religion and 
590theories of art were found elaborately set forth in Sanskrit. Many forget that 
591quite a lot of authors of these Sanskrit works were scholars from South India. 
592For example Dandin the author of the Kavyadarga in Sanskrit, was a scholar 
593from Kanchipuram in the Tamil country. Sankara the exponent of Advaita 
594philosophy, was again a South Indian. He mentioned in his works Saint 
595Njanacampantar, the crusader against Jainism in South India. Raamanujar, the 
596originator of Visishtaadvaita philosophy was a Tamillian and he lived every close 
597to Kanchipuram. Scholars who analysed the life-style and arts of the people 
598of the Tamil country, wrote many works on the Bharata Naatyasastra, the 
599Carnatic music and on astrology. Therefore, if one considers these facts 
600dispassionately, it was unrealistic on the part of later day Sanskrit scholars 
601to denigrate Tamil language and literature. It is equally true in the case of 
602Tamil scholars to think that theories and ideas found in Sanskrit were alien 
603to Tamil.
604<p>
605The Tamil scholars took the cue from the old commentators for writing prose. 
606The commentators including Parimelazakar and others, who were known for
607 their scholarship in Sanskrit, wrote in pure Tamil with the least borrowing 
608 from Sanskrit. Their style of writing was similar to the one now in vogue, 
609 for the present-day Tamil scholars adopted only their style.
610<p>
611The journalists' style has been based on the spoken language of the Tarnils. 
612In spoken language, foreign loan words are mixed freely and syntax corresponds 
613to emotional situations. Poet Paaratiyaar composed pooms largely in pure Tamil. 
614He followed the same method while writing essays too.
615<p>
616Tiru. Vi. Kaliyanacuntaraar moved very closely with Tamil scholars and journalists. 
617He was himself a distinguished scholar and a seasoned journalist. He wrore many 
618literary works and also edited a number of daily newspapers and weeklies. He was 
619a link between the Tamil schoiars and the journalist of his day. His earlier writings 
620abound in Sanskrit words. With the advent of the Pure Tamil Movement, he 
621began to write without the admixture of Sanskrit words. He used foreign words 
622only when there were no suitable Tamil words to express a particular idea. 
623He gave up long and stilted sentences and largely used emotionally charged 
624short sentences common to spokon language. Thus his writings and speeches, 
625tried to bridge the chasm that existed between the scholars and journalists. 
626Even now two different types of styles exist: one adoptod by the scholars 
627and the other followed by the journalists.
628
629<h3>Dialectical Conventions</h3>
630
631There exist slight regional differences in the spoken Tamil of the people living 
632in various parts of the Tamil country. In the nineteenth century, in the absence 
633of transport facilities, dailectical differences would have been more pronounced 
634than it is now. Now they are on the decline because of increased transport and 
635educational facilities. Besides mass-media, such as daily newspapers, journals, 
636radio and television are also contributing factors. However, there are some 
637differences between the Tamil spoken at Tirunelveli and Coimbature. These 
638two dialects differ distinctly from the Tamil spoken in Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli. 
639The Tamil spoken in the city of Madras on the other hand differs from all of them, 
640because of the liberal borrowing of words from Telugu, Urdu and English languages.
641<p>
642Similar differences exist in the phonetics also. The vowel consonant ca ( º ) is 
643distinctly pronounced in Tirunelveli, whereas in the northern part of Tamil Nadu 
644it is pronounced as sa (… ) at the beginning of words. The letter za (Æ), which 
645is unique to the Tamil language is pronounced differently from one district to 
646another. In the southern districts it is pronounced as la (Ç ), in Salem as ya ( Â ) 
647and in the city of Madras it is pronounced in both the ways. The verb <i>izu </i>(­Ø) 
648is pronounced as<i> icu </i>(­Í ). In spoken language <i>vaazaippazam</i> (Å¡¨ÆôÀÆõ ) is 
649pronounced to the detestation of scholars as <i>vaaLappaLam </i>(Å¡ÇôÀÇõ) and 
650<i>Vaayappayam </i>(Å¡ÂôÀÂõ). Certain classes of people pronounce the verb <i>irukkiratu </i>
651(­Õ츢ÈÐ) as<i> irukku </i>(­ÕìÌ). Others pronounce it is<i> irukkutu</i> (­ÕìÌÐ)
652 and the illiterates as<i> kiitu </i>(¸£Ð). The verb <i>ceytuvittaar</i> (¦ºöÐÅ¢ð¼¡÷, has done it) 
653 is pronounced in spoken language as <i>ceynjiTTaar, cenjiTTaar and cenjipuTTaar </i>
654 (¦ºö»¢ð¼¡÷, ¦ºïº¢ð¼¡÷, ¦ºïº¢Òð¼¡÷). Likewise the verb <i>eTuttukkoNtan</i>
655  (±ÎòÐ즸¡ñ¼¡ý, has taken it) is pronounced as <i>etuttukkinan, etuttukNan, 
656  and etuttukkittan </i>(±ÎòÐ츢ɡý, ±ÎòÐìÉ¡ý, ±ÎòÐ츢ð¼¡ý).
657<p>
658Some words have altogether a different meaning in the Tamil used in Sri Lanka. 
659The known meaning for the word <i>aRutalaka</i> (¬Ú¾Ä¡¸) is comforting. But in Sri 
660Lanka 'calmly' and 'leisurely <i>(amaitiyaaka and kaalataamatamaaka)</i> («¨Á¾¢Â¡¸,
661¸¡Ä¾¡Á¾Á¡¸). The Tamils in Sri Lanka use the word <i>kataippOm</i> (¸¨¾ô§À¡õ) 
662instead of <i>pecikkoNTirappOm</i> (§À¡º¢ì¦¸¡ñÊÕô§À¡õ) which means 'will be talking'. 
663Likewise they use <i>caTanku</i> (º¼íÌ, rituals) for <i>tirumaNam</i> (¾¢ÕÁ½õ, marriage); 
664<i>kaNakka </i>(¸½ì¸¡, heavy or weightly) for <i>niRaiya</i> (¿¢¨ÈÂ, full); 
665<i>vaTivaai</i>(ÅÊÅ¡¸, beautiful) for <i>nanRaaka</i> (¿ýÈ¡¸, better or well); and 
666 <i>kantOr</i> (¸ó§¾¡÷, office) for <i>aluvalakarn </i>(«ÖÅĸõ, office).
667
668<h3>Foreign Loan Words in Tamil</h3>
669
670Words borrowed from English are phonetically changed and used as such in Sri Lanka. 
671For example <i>pan</i> (bun) is written as <i>pan</i> (Àý); <i>kappi </i>(coffee) 
672as <i>koppi</i> (¸¡ôÀ¢),  <i>kOrt </i>(court) as kot (§¸¡ð)</i>;  <i>Sart </i>(shirt) as set</i> (¦ºð), 
673<i>taarc </i>(torch) as rOc and<i> taval </i>(towel) as tuvaai. Likewise many Tamil 
674words are phonetically changed and used as such in spoken and written Tarnil of Sri Lanka.
675<p>
676English and Hindi words are used in spoken Tamil of the people who live in the 
677northern districts of Tamil Nadu. Such loan words are not phonetically changed 
678but written in the same way as they are pronounced in the concerned languages. 
679For example such words as bus, cycle, car, office, late, post, bank, and coffee 
680(pas/ÀŠ , caikkil/¨ºì¸¢û, kaar/¸¡÷, apis/¬À£Š, let/§Äð, post/§À¡Šð, 
681pank/À¡íì and kaappi/¸¡ôÀ¢ respectively) are written in 
682Tamil characters in the manner they are pronounced in English. Script writers, 
683novelists and short story writers use these Tamilised forms in their writings. 
684Some of them use such loan words frequently in their writings,.while others 
685use them only when their Tamil equivalents are non-existent. Although in 
686spokon Tamil such English words as leave, stamp, rail, station and telephone 
687are commonly used, in written Tamil their equivalents <i>vitumuRai</i> (Å¢ÎÓ¨È), 
688<i>tapaaltalai</i>(¾À¡ø¾¨Ä), <i>pukaivaNTi nilaiyam</i> (Ò¨¸ÅñÊ ¿¢¨ÄÂõ)
689 and <i>tolaipEci </i> (¦¾¡¨Ä§Àº¢) respectively are used. Some Urdu words 
690like <i>calam</i> and <i>capacu</i> found place in the devotional poems of saints Arunakirinˆtar 
691and Kumarakuruparar, who lived in the seventeenth century. As a result 
692of North Indian's contact some words from the Hindi language are used in 
693the present-day spoken Tamil. For the same reason many sweets prepared 
694in hotels of Tamil Nadu bear Hindi names.
695<p>
696From time immemorial a few Sanskrit words had been intermixed with Tamil. 
697Prior to the second century A.D., and during the Cankam period only one per 
698cent of Sanskrit words intermingled with Tamil. This increased to three to five
699 per cent in the devotional songs of Alvars and Naayanmaars who lived in the 
700 seventh and eighth centuries respectively. During the period of the epics also 
701 the intermixing of Sanskrit words with Tamil continued to increase. It reached 
702 its high water mark in the thirteenth century when the <i>maNippravaala</i> style 
703 became popular. As a result the number of Sanskrit loan words increased 
704 phenomenally in the religious prose works of the Jains and the Vaisnavites. 
705 But the commentators of grammatical and literary works wrote in chaste Tamil 
706 with the least number of Sanskrit loan words. As a result the <i>maNippravaala </i>
707 style fell into disuse. However in the Puranas, Talapuraanas, Ulaas and 
708 Kalambakams the percentage of Sanskrit loan words continued to remain at 
709 five to eight per cent. In the subsequent centuries the frequency increased with 
710 the advent of certain new types of versifications like yarnakam, ciletai and matakku. 
711 They, however, became obsolete in course of time. Most of the devotional songs 
712 of Raamalinka Cuvaamikal contain very few Sanskrit loan words. Their percentage
713  is very high in his prose work. Certain new usages peculiar to the Christians 
714  found their place in the Bible. A new translation of the Bible in chaste Tamil 
715  is now available. Certain Arabic words were frequently used by Muslim 
716  writers in their works. Even today stories written on Muslim families contain 
717  some words of Arabic origin. Stories about anglicized families or families 
718  living in metropolitan cities contain many words from English to reflect the 
719  spirit of their spoken Tamil as well as to give realism to the story. Though 
720  foreign loan words were used in Tamil in lesser or greater degree for various 
721  reasons and at different periods of time, the Tamil language itself retained 
722  its individuality. It can be said that among the living languages of India, 
723  it is the Tamil language which has the least number of foreign loan words.
724<p>
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