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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"> 110<tr><td class="left"> 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> 135<b>This web page text is based on the bilingual TSCII encoding.</B><br> 136To view the webpage in Tamil script correctly, please set the browser as follows: 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> 232<!--google_ad_section_end--> 233<hr width="60%">
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244 245<hr width=60%"> 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. 324<center>
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334 335</center> 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 (  ) 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/À , caikkil/¨ºì¸¢û, kaar/¸¡÷, apis/¬À£, let/§Äð, post/§À¡ð, 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 Arunakirintar 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> 725<!-- Start of StatCounter Invsible Code --> 726<a href="http://www.statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c19.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=2022925&java=0&invisible=1&security=53718066" alt="web site hit counter" border="0"></a> 727<!-- End of StatCounter Invisible Code --> 728<br> 729<a href="http://www.fropper.com/index.php?ptnr=cu7pf"><img src="http://www.fropper.com/partners/get-banner.php?banner_type=banners-buttons&banner_size=468x60" border="0"></a> 730<br><br> 731<hr noshade width="50%"> 732<td valign="top" width="200"> 733<!-- SiteSearch Google --> 734<center> 735<form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="google_window"> 736<table border="0" bgcolor="#cccccc"> 737<tr><td nowrap="nowrap" valign="top" align="left" height="32"> 738<a href="http://www.google.com/"> 739<img src="http://www.google.com/logos/Logo_25gry.gif" border="0" alt="Google" align="middle"></img></a> 740<br/> 741<input type="hidden" name="domains" value="tamilelibrary.org"></input> 742<input type="text" name="q" size="20" maxlength="255" value=""></input> 743<input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search"></input> 744</td></tr> 745<tr> 746<td nowrap="nowrap"> 747<table> 748<tr> 749<td> 750<input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" checked="checked"></input> 751<font size="-1" color="#000000">Web</font> 752</td> 753<td> 754<input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="tamilelibrary.org"></input> 755<font size="-1" color="#000000">tamilelibrary.org</font> 756</td> 757</tr> 758</table> 759<input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-5601044942994414"></input> 760<input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1"></input> 761<input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8"></input> 762<input type="hidden" name="oe" value="UTF-8"></input> 763<input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"></input> 764<input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;"></input> 765<input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en"></input> 766</td></tr></table> 767</form> 768</center> 769<!-- SiteSearch Google --> 770 771<br><center>
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