Tamil language: Difference between revisions

| region = [[Tamil Nadu]]{{efn|as well as the enclaves of the  [[Puducherry district|Puducherry]] and [[Karaikal district]]s in the Union territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]}} (India)<br>[[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern]] and [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]]s (Sri Lanka)

| speakers        = {{sigfig|75|2}} million<!--68.9M India 2011, 5.5M Sri Lanka 2019, ethnic 1.9M Malaysia 2021, remainder from Ethn.-->

| ref              = <ref name="Ethnologue_tam">{{e24|tam}}</ref><ref name=2011census>{{cite web |title=Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength - 2011 |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf |url-status=live |publisher=[[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India]] |access-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114073426/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2018}}</ref>

| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2 speakers]]: {{sigfig|8|1}} million (2011)<ref name="Ethnologue_tam"/>

| minority        = {{flag|Malaysia}}<ref name="MS">{{citation |title=School languages |url=http://www10.gencat.net/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall_print.jsp?id=632&idioma=5 |url-status=dead |publisher=LINGUAMON |access-date=26 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902021816/http://www10.gencat.net/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall_print.jsp?id=632&idioma=5 |archive-date=2 September 2015}}</ref><br />{{flag|South Africa}}{{efn|protected language}}<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions|title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions |publisher= South African Government|website=www.gov.za}}</ref>

'''Tamil''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|æ|m|ɪ|l}}; {{lang|ta|தமிழ்}} ''{{transl|ta|ISO|Tamiḻ}}'' {{IPA-ta|t̪amiɻ|}}, {{Audio|Tamil.ogg|pronunciation|help=}}) is a [[Classical language| classical]] [[Dravidian language]] natively spoken by the [[Tamil people]] of [[South Asia]]. Tamil is an [[official language]] of the [[India]]n state of [[Tamil Nadu]], the sovereign nations of [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Singapore]],<ref name="languagesdept" /><ref name="statutes.agc.gov.sg"/> and the [[Union Territory]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other [[South India]]n states of [[Kerala]], [[Karnataka]], [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Telangana]], and the Union Territory of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. It is also spoken by the [[Tamil diaspora]] found in many countries, including [[Malaysian Tamil|Malaysia]], [[Myanmar Tamils|Myanmar]], [[Tamil South Africans|South Africa]], [[British Tamils|United Kingdom]], [[Tamil Americans|United States]], [[Tamil Canadians|Canada]], [[Tamil Australians|Australia]] and [[Tamil Mauritians|Mauritius]]. Tamil is also natively spoken by [[Sri Lankan Moors]]. One of 22 scheduled languages in the [[Constitution of India]], Tamil was the first to be classified as a [[Languages of India|classical language of India]].

Tamil is one of the longest-surviving [[classical language]]s in the world.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tamil to be a classical language |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tamil-to-be-a-classical-language/article27670864.ece |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=New Delhi |date=18 September 2004 |access-date=14 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="Circulation and the Historical Geog" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|1998|pp=6–9}}</ref> [[A. K. Ramanujan]] described it as "the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past".<ref name="richestClassical">{{citation |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |title=The Smile of Murugan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF2VMUoY_okC&pg=PA11 |publisher=BRILL |year=1973 |pages=11–12 |isbn=978-90-04-03591-1}}</ref> The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as "one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world".<ref>Hart, George L. [http://southasia.berkeley.edu/tamil-classes "Statement on the Status of Tamil as a Classical Language"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110040519/http://southasia.berkeley.edu/tamil-classes |date=10 November 2018}}, University of California, Berkeley, Department of South Asian Studies – Tamil</ref> A recorded [[Tamil literature]] has been documented for over 2000 years.<ref name="companion">{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=12}}: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems to me to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 – AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature – AD 1800 to 1900"</ref> The earliest period of Tamil literature, [[Sangam literature]], is dated from {{circa}} 300 BC until AD 300.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100707000020/http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html Definitive Editions of Ancient Tamil Works]. Classical Tamil, Government of India</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Abraham |first=S.A. |title=Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17189/1/AP-v42n2-207-223.pdf |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=42 |issue=2 |page=207 |year=2003 |s2cid=153420843 |doi=10.1353/asi.2003.0031 |hdl=10125/17189 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> It has the oldest extant literature among [[Dravidian languages]].<ref name="Circulation and the Historical Geog">{{citation |last=Stein |first=B. |title=Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=7–26 |year=1977 |jstor=2053325 |doi=10.2307/2053325}}</ref> The earliest [[Epigraph (literature)|epigraphic]] records found on rock edicts and '[[hero stone]]s' date from around the 3rd century BC.<ref name="Maloney1970">{{citation |last=Maloney |first=C. |title=The Beginnings of Civilization in South India |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=603–616 |year=1970 |jstor=2943246 |doi=10.2307/2943246}} at p. 610</ref><ref name="Palani">{{citation |last=Subramaniam |first=T.S. |title=Palani excavation triggers fresh debate |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2408091.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India |date=29 August 2011}}</ref> About 60,000 of the 100,000 odd inscriptions found by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] in India are in Tamil Nadu. Of them, most are in Tamil, with only about 5 percent in languages other than Tamil.<ref>{{citation |title= Students get glimpse of heritage |url= http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/22/stories/2005112215970400.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060518064346/http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/22/stories/2005112215970400.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 May 2006 |date = 22 November 2005|work= [[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> [[Tamil Brahmi|Tamil language inscriptions]] written in Brahmi script have been discovered in [[Sri Lanka]] and on trade goods in Thailand and Egypt.<ref name=Egypt /><ref name="Foreign locations">{{Citation |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |title=An epigraphic perspective on the antiquity of Tamil |date=24 June 2010 |newspaper=The Hindu |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/an-epigraphic-perspective-on-the-antiquity-of-tamil/article482654.ece |location=Chennai, India }}</ref> The two earliest [[manuscript]]s from India,<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-8/the-ias-tamil-medical-manuscript-collection/#c187096 |title=The I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-8/saiva-manuscript-in-pondicherry/ |title=Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> acknowledged and registered by the [[Memory of the World Programme|UNESCO Memory of the World register]] in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/access-by-region-and-country/in/#c184233 |title=Memory of the World Register: India |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref>

In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named ''[[Thambiran Vanakkam]]'', thus making Tamil the first Indian language to be printed and published.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-saw-its-first-book-in-1578/article476102.ece|title=Tamil saw its first book in 1578|author=Karthik Madhavan|newspaper=The Hindu|date=2010-06-20}}</ref> The ''[[Tamil Lexicon]],'' published by the [[University of Madras]], was one of the earliest [[dictionary|dictionaries]] published in Indian languages.<ref>{{citation|last = Kolappan |first = B. |title = Delay, howlers in Tamil Lexicon embarrass scholars |newspaper = The Hindu| location = Chennai| date = 22 June 2014| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/delay-howlers-in-tamil-lexicon-embarrass-scholars/article6138747.ece |access-date = 25 December 2014}}</ref> According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, of which 353 were dailies.<ref>''India 2001: A Reference Annual 2001''. Compiled and edited by Research, Reference and Training Division, Publications Division, New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.</ref>

According to [[Bhadriraju Krishnamurti]], Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from [[Proto-Dravidian language|Proto-Dravidian]], a [[proto-language]]. Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third [[millennium]] BC, possibly in the region around the lower [[Godavari]] river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the culture associated with the [[Neolithic]] complexes of [[South India]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Southworth|2005|pp=249–250}}</ref> The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from  905 BC to 696 BC in [[Adichanallur]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology|title=Adichanallur|url=https://www.tnarch.gov.in/archaeological-excavation-adichanallur-thoothukudi-district}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=https://ia600201.us.archive.org/30/items/catalogueofprehi00reaauoft/catalogueofprehi00reaauoft.pdf|title=|url=}}</ref><ref name=":2b">{{Cite journal|last=Christy|first=Agatha|date=2019|title=A Study About Archaeological Survey in Adichanallur|url=https://www.ijresm.com/Vol.2_2019/Vol2_Iss11_November19/IJRESM_V2_I11_33.pdf|journal=International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management|volume=2|pages=158–169}}</ref>  

In 2004, a number of skeletons were found buried in earthenware [[urn]]s in [[Adichanallur]]. Some of these urns contained writing in [[Tamil Brahmi]] script, and some contained skeletons of Tamil origin.<ref name=":2b" />

Between 2017- 2018, 5,820 artifacts have been found in [[Keezhadi excavation site|Keezhadi]]. These sent to Beta Analytic in [[Miami]], [[Florida]] for [[Accelerator Mass Spectrometry]] (AMS) dating. One sample containing [[Tamil-Brahmi]] inscriptions dated to around 580 BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=KEELADI |url=https://www.tnarch.gov.in/keeladi|url-status=live|website=Government of Tamil Nadu Department of Archeology}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Gershon |first2=Livia |title=Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Dagger Linked to Enigmatic Indian Civilization |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/excavation-india-may-hold-clues-ancient-civilization-180978414/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

 

 

On March 18, 2019, the report of some of the artifacts were sent to Beta Analytic in [[Miami]], [[Florida]] for [[Accelerator Mass Spectrometry]] (AMS) dating Carbon dating of samples excavated from revealed that they belonged to the period between 905 BC to 696 BC.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2b" />

[[File:Satavahana Bilingual Coin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Tamil-Brahmi|Tamil Brahmi]] script in the reverse side of the bilingual silver coin of king [[Vashishtiputra Sātakarni]] (c. AD 160) of [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]. '''Rev:''' Ujjain/Sātavāhana symbol, crescented six-arch chaitya hill and river with Tamil Brahmi script<ref>{{Citation|last=Nagaswamy |first=N |title=Roman Karur |publisher=Brahad Prakashan |year=1995 |oclc=191007985 |url=http://www.tamilartsacademy.com/books/roman%20karur/chapter04.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720024602/http://www.tamilartsacademy.com/books/roman%20karur/chapter04.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=199–205}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Panneerselvam|first=R|year=1969|title=Further light on the bilingual coin of the Sātavāhanas|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=4|issue=11|pages=281–288|doi=10.1163/000000069790078428}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Yandel|first=Keith|title=Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India |publisher=Routledge Curzon |year=2000 |page=235 |isbn=978-0-7007-1101-7}}</ref> '''Obv:''' Bust of king; [[Prakrit]] legend in the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script]]

The earliest extant Tamil literary works and their commentaries celebrate the [[Pandiyan Kingdom|Pandiyan Kings]] for the organization of long-termed [[Tamil Sangams]], which researched, developed and made amendments in Tamil language. Even though the name of the language which was developed by these [[Tamil Sangams]] is mentioned as Tamil, the period when the name "Tamil" came to be applied to the language is unclear, as is the precise etymology of the name. The earliest attested use of the name is found in [[Tholkappiyam]], which is dated as early as late 2nd century BC.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=x}}</ref><ref name="Zvelebil 1973">{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1}}</ref>

Southworth suggests that the name comes from {{IAST|tam-miḻ}} > {{IAST|tam-iḻ}} "self-speak", or "one's own speech".<ref name="Southworth 1998 129–132">{{Harvnb|Southworth|1998|pp=129–132}}</ref> [[Kamil Zvelebil]] suggests an etymology of {{IAST|tam-iḻ}}, with {{IAST|tam}} meaning "self" or "one's self", and "{{IAST|-iḻ}}" having the connotation of "unfolding sound". Alternatively, he suggests a derivation of {{IAST|tamiḻ}} < {{IAST|tam-iḻ}} < *{{IAST|tav-iḻ}} < *{{IAST|tak-iḻ}}, meaning in origin "the proper process (of speaking)".<ref>{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=ix–xvi}}</ref> However, this is deemed unlikely by Southworth due to the contemporary use of the compound 'centamiḻ', which means refined speech in the earliest literature.<ref name="Southworth 1998 129–132"/>

The Tamil Lexicon of [[University of Madras]] defines the word "Tamil" as "sweetness".<ref>{{Citation|publisher=University of Madras |title=Tamil lexicon |place=Madras |year=1924–36 |url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.5.tamillex.2763513 |access-date=26 February 2012 |postscript=.}} (Online edition at the University of Chicago)</ref> S. V. Subramanian suggests the meaning "sweet sound", from ''tam'' — "sweet" and ''il'' — "sound".<ref>{{Citation|last=Subramanian|first=S.V|title=Heritage of Tamils; Language and Grammar|year=1980|publisher=International Institute of Tamil Studies|pages=7–12}}</ref>

Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning the 10th century BC to the 8th century AD. The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from  905 BC to 696 BC in [[Adichanallur]].<ref name=":2b"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=https://ia600201.us.archive.org/30/items/catalogueofprehi00reaauoft/catalogueofprehi00reaauoft.pdf|title=|url=}}</ref> These inscriptions are written in a variant of the [[Brahmi script]] called [[Tamil-Brahmi]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=90–95}}</ref> The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]'', an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the late 2nd century BC.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name="Zvelebil 1973"/> Many literary works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as [[Sangam literature]]. These poems are usually dated to between the 1st century BC and 5th century AD.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name="Zvelebil 1973"/>

[[File:Goddess Meenakshi Wedding.JPG|thumb|An 18th-century [[Madurai Nayak dynasty|Nayaka era]] sculpture depicting the wedding of Goddess [[Meenakshi]]|left]]The [[Nannūl]] remains the standard normative grammar for modern literary Tamil, which therefore continues to be based on Middle Tamil of the 13th century rather than on Modern Tamil.<ref>{{Harvnb|Shapiro|Schiffman|1983|p=2}}</ref> Colloquial spoken Tamil, in contrast, shows a number of changes. The negative conjugation of verbs, for example, has fallen out of use in Modern Tamil<ref>{{Harvnb|Annamalai|Steever|1998|p=100}}</ref> – instead, negation is expressed either morphologically or syntactically.<ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|2005|pp=107–8}}</ref> Modern spoken Tamil also shows a number of sound changes, in particular, a tendency to lower high vowels in initial and medial positions,<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|p=125}}</ref> and the disappearance of vowels between plosives and between a plosive and rhotic.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=122–123}}</ref>

Tamil is the primary language of the majority of the people residing in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], (in India) and in the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern]] and [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern]] provinces of [[Sri Lanka]]. The language is spoken among small minority groups in other states of India which include [[Karnataka]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Kerala]], [[Maharashtra]] and in certain regions of Sri Lanka such as [[Colombo]] and [[Central Province, Sri Lanka|the hill country]]. Tamil or dialects of it were used widely in the state of Kerala as the major language of administration, literature and common usage until the 12th century AD. Tamil was also used widely in inscriptions found in southern [[Andhra Pradesh]] districts of [[Chittoor district|Chittoor]] and [[Nellore district|Nellore]] until the 12th century AD.<ref>{{Harvnb|Talbot|2001|pp=27–37}}</ref> Tamil was used for inscriptions from the 10th through 14th centuries in southern Karnataka districts such as [[Kolar District|Kolar]], [[Mysore]], [[Mandya]] and [[Bangalore]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Murthy|Rao|Veluthat|Bari|1990|pp=85–106}}</ref>

In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the [[Government of India]] and following a political campaign supported by several Tamil associations,<ref name="dmkpolitics2">{{citation | url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040928/asp/frontpage/story_3813391.asp | title= Classic case of politics of language | access-date =20 April 2007 |work=The Telegraph | place = [[Kolkata]], India | quote= Members of the committee felt that the pressure was being brought on it because of the compulsions of the Congress and the UPA government to appease its ally, M. Karunanidhi's DMK. | first=Sujan | last=Dutta | date=28 September 2004}}</ref><ref name="historyofdemand">{{Citation|last=Viswanathan|first=S.|date=October 2004|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl2122/stories/20041105004310600.htm |title=Recognising a classic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212522/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2122/stories/20041105004310600.htm |archive-date=26 September 2007 |work=The Hindu}}</ref> Tamil became the first legally recognised [[Languages of India#Classical languages|Classical language]] of India. The recognition was announced by the contemporaneous [[President of India]], [[Abdul Kalam]], who was a Tamilian himself, in a joint sitting of both houses of the [[Parliament of India|Indian Parliament]] on 6 June 2004.<ref name="LanguageInIndia">{{Citation |last= Thirumalai |first= MS |date=November 2004 | title = Tradition, Modernity and Impact of Globalization&nbsp;– Whither Will Tamil Go? | journal = Language in India | volume = 4 |url= http://www.languageinindia.com/nov2004/tamilglobalization1.html |access-date=17 November 2007}}</ref><ref name = "BBC Classical language">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3667032.stm India sets up classical languages]. BBC. 17 August 2004.</ref><ref name = "The Hindu Classical language">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051030050314/http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/28/stories/2005102809281200.htm "Sanskrit to be declared classical language"]. ''The Hindu''. 28 October 2005.</ref>

The dialect of the district of [[Palakkad]] in Kerala has many [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] loanwords, has been influenced by Malayalam's syntax, and has a distinctive Malayalam accent. Similarly, Tamil spoken in Kanyakumari District has more unique words and phonetic style than Tamil spoken at other parts of Tamil Nadu. The words and phonetics are so different that a person from [[Kanyakumari district]] is easily identifiable by their spoken Tamil. [[Hebbar Iyengars|Hebbar]] and [[Mandyam]] dialects, spoken by groups of Tamil [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnavites]] who migrated to [[Karnataka]] in the 11th century, retain many features of the ''Vaishnava paribasai'', a special form of Tamil developed in the 9th and 10th centuries that reflect Vaishnavite religious and spiritual values.<ref>Thiru. Mu (1978). Kovintācāriyar, ''{{IAST|Vāḻaiyaṭi vāḻai}}'' Lifco, Madras, pp. 26–39.</ref> Several [[caste]]s have their own [[sociolect]]s which most members of that caste traditionally used regardless of where they come from. It is often possible to identify a person's caste by their speech.<ref name="EB 2007">Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2013) [http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581953/Tamil-language "Tamil dialects"] in ''Tamil language''. Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref> Tamil in Sri Lanka incorporates [[Loan words in Sri Lankan Tamil|loan words]] from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Dutch Language|Dutch]], and English.

[[File:Tirukkural manuscript.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|[[Tirukkural|Thirukkural]] [[palm leaf manuscript]]]]

Tamil employs [[Agglutination|agglutinative]] grammar, where suffixes are used to mark [[noun class]], [[grammatical number|number]], and [[Grammatical case|case]], verb [[grammatical tense|tense]] and other grammatical categories. Tamil's standard [[metalanguage|metalinguistic]] terminology and scholarly vocabulary is itself Tamil, as opposed to the [[Sanskrit]] that is standard for most [[Indo-Aryan languages|Aryan languages]].<ref name="metalanguage_zvelbil">{{citation |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |title=The Smile of Murugan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF2VMUoY_okC&pg=PA4 |publisher=BRILL |year=1973 |page=4 |isbn=978-90-04-03591-1}}</ref><ref>Ramanujam, A. K.; Dharwadker, V. (eds.) (2000) ''The collected essays of A.K. Ramanujam'', Oxford University Press, p. 111. {{ISBN|0-19-563937-5}}</ref>

Much of Tamil grammar is extensively described in the oldest known grammar book for Tamil, the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]''. Modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th-century grammar ''{{IAST|Naṉṉūl}}'' which restated and clarified the rules of the ''Tolkāppiyam'', with some modifications. Traditional Tamil grammar consists of five parts, namely ''{{IAST|eḻuttu}}'', ''sol'', ''{{IAST|poruḷ}}'', ''yāppu'', ''{{IAST|aṇi}}''. Of these, the last two are mostly applied in poetry.<ref name="five_parts_grammar">{{citation |title=Five fold grammar of Tamil |url=http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil/lit.html |url-status=dead |work=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=1 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609115617/http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil/lit.html |archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref>

|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavar''<br />They who did

The vocabulary of Tamil is mainly Dravidian. A strong sense of [[linguistic purism]] is found in Modern Tamil,<ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.1017/S0010417500018673| title = En/gendering Language: The Poetics of Tamil Identity| journal = Comparative Studies in Society and History| volume = 35| issue = 4| page = 683| year = 2009| last1 = Ramaswamy | first1 = S. }}</ref> which opposes the use of foreign loanwords.<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=480}}.</ref> Nonetheless, a number of words used in classical and modern Tamil are loanwords from the languages of neighbouring groups, or with whom the Tamils had trading links, including [[Munda languages|Munda]] (for example, {{IAST|tavaḷai}} "frog" from Munda {{IAST|tabeg}}), [[Malay language|Malay]] (e.g. {{IAST|cavvarici}} "sago" from Malay {{IAST|sāgu}}), Chinese (for example, {{IAST|campān}} "skiff" from Chinese san-pan) and Greek (for example, {{IAST|ora}} from Greek ὥρα). In more modern times, Tamil has imported words from [[Urdu]] and [[Marathi language|Marathi]], reflecting groups that have influenced the Tamil area at times, and from neighbouring languages such as [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]], and Sinhala. During the modern period, words have also been adapted from European languages, such as Portuguese, French, and English.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=169–193}}</ref>

The strongest impact of purism in Tamil has been on words taken from Sanskrit. During its history, Tamil, along with other Dravidian languages like [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]], [[Malayalam]] etc., was influenced by [[Sanskrit]] in terms of vocabulary, grammar and literary styles,<ref name="influence">"Literature in all Dravidian languages owes a great deal to Sanskrit, the magic wand whose touch raised each of the languages from a level of patois to that of a literary idiom" (Sastri 1955, p. 309); Trautmann, Thomas R. (2006). ''Languages and nations: the Dravidian proof in colonial Madras''. Berkeley: University of California Press. "The author endeavours to demonstrate that the entire Sangam poetic corpus follows the "Kavya" form of Sanskrit poetry" – {{Harvnb|Tieken|2001|p=18}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.2307/597587| jstor = 597587| title = Indo-Aryan Loan Words in the Cīvakacintāmaṇi| journal = Journal of the American Oriental Society| volume = 87| issue = 4| pages = 430–434| year = 1967| last1 = Vaidyanathan | first1 = S.}}</ref><ref name="caldwell">{{Harvnb|Caldwell|1974|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref name="takahashi">Takahashi, Takanobu. (1995). ''Tamil love poetry and poetics''. Brill's Indological Library, v. 9. Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 16, 18. {{ISBN|90-04-10042-3}}.</ref> reflecting the increased trend of [[Sanskritisation]] in the Tamil country.<ref>Pollock, Sheldon (1996). "The Sanskrit Cosmopolis 300–1300: Transculturation, vernacularisation and the question of ideology" in Jan E. M. Houben (ed.), ''The ideology and status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the history of the Sanskrit language''. E. J. Brill, Leiden. pp. 209–217. {{ISBN|90-04-10613-8}}.</ref>  Tamil vocabulary never became quite as heavily Sanskritised as that of the other Dravidian languages, and unlike in those languages, it was and remains possible to express complex ideas (including in science, art, religion and law) without the use of Sanskrit loan words.<ref>{{Citation|last=Trautmann|first=Thomas R.|title=Hullabaloo About Telugu|journal=South Asia Research| volume=19| issue=1 |year=1999 | pages=53–70|doi=10.1177/026272809901900104|s2cid=144334963}} at p. 64</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Caldwell|1974|p=50}}</ref><ref>Ellis, F. W. (1820), "Note to the introduction" in Campbell, A.D., ''A grammar of the Teloogoo language.'' Madras: College Press, pp. 29–30.</ref>  In addition, Sanskritisation was actively resisted by a number of authors of the late medieval period,<ref>''See'' Ramaswamy's analysis of one such text, the ''{{transl|ta|ISO|Tamiḻ viṭututu}}'', in {{Citation | doi = 10.2307/2659024| jstor = 2659024| title = Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation| journal = The Journal of Asian Studies| volume = 57| issue = 1| pages = 66–92| year = 1998| last1 = Ramaswamy | first1 = S. }}</ref> culminating in the 20th century in a movement called ''[[Tanittamil Iyakkam|{{IAST|taṉit tamiḻ iyakkam}}]]'' (meaning "pure Tamil movement"), led by [[Parithimaar Kalaignar]] and [[Maraimalai Adigal]], which sought to remove the accumulated influence of Sanskrit on Tamil.<ref>Varadarajan, M. ''A History of Tamil Literature'', transl. from Tamil by E. Sa. Viswanathan, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1988. p. 12: "Since then the movement has been popularly known as the ''tanittamil iyakkam'' or the Pure Tamil movement among the Tamil scholars."</ref>  As a result of this, Tamil in formal documents, literature and public speeches has seen a marked decline in the use Sanskrit loan words in the past few decades,<ref>{{harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997|loc = "[http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=ch4 Laboring for language]"}}: "Nevertheless, even impressionistically speaking, the marked decline in the use of foreign words, especially of Sanskritic origin, in Tamil literary, scholarly, and even bureaucratic circles over the past half century is quite striking."</ref> under some estimates having fallen from 40 to 50% to about 20%.<ref name="Krishnamurti 2003 p=480"/>  As a result, the Prakrit and Sanskrit loan words used in modern Tamil are, unlike in some other Dravidian languages, restricted mainly to some spiritual terminology and [[abstract noun]]s.<ref>Meenakshisundaram, T. P. (1982) ''A History of Tamil Language'', Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai. (translated) pp. 241–2</ref>

Words of Tamil origin occur in other languages. A notable example of a word in worldwide use with Dravidian (not specifically Tamil) etymology is ''[[:wikt:orange|orange]]'', via Sanskrit ''{{IAST|nāraṅga}}'' from a Dravidian predecessor of Tamil ''nartaṅkāy'' "fragrant fruit". One suggestion as to the origin of the word ''anaconda'' is the Tamil ''anaikkonda,'' "having killed an elephant".<ref>[https://www.etymonline.com/word/anaconda “Origin and Meaning of Anaconda.”] ''Online Etymology Dictionary''.</ref> [[Words of Tamil origin|Examples in English]] include ''cheroot'' (''{{IAST|churuṭṭu}}'' meaning "rolled up"),<ref name="OED">{{Citation| url = http://dictionary.oed.com| title = Oxford English Dictionary Online| access-date =14 April 2007| work = Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> ''mango'' (from ''māngāi''),<ref name="OED"/> ''mulligatawny'' (from ''{{IAST|miḷaku taṇṇīr}}'', "pepper water"), ''pariah'' (from ''paraiyan''), ''curry'' (from ''kari''),<ref name="oed-curry">"curry, n.²", ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 14 August 2009</ref> ''catamaran'' (from ''{{IAST|kaṭṭu maram}}'', "bundled logs"),<ref name="OED"/> and ''congee'' (from ''kanji'' – rice porridge or gruel).<ref>{{citation|title=congee|url=http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/mwc/12703/congee|website=academic.ru}}</ref>

* {{Citation |last=Freeman |first=Rich |date=February 1998 |title=Rubies and Coral: The Lapidary Crafting of Language in Kerala |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=38–65 |doi=10.2307/2659023 |jstor=2659023 }}