Languages: Tamil
* Location: India, Sri Lanka
* “I grew up in a Tamil-speaking household.” — Adhithi is a high school junior from New Jersey.
My parents are from the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Years ago, they immigrated to America where I was born. However, we have made trips back to India every two to three years, the bustling traffic and chatter always imminent as soon as I step out of the airport into the humid Chennai night. My grandmother inevitably presses Cadbury’s chocolate into my palm upon greeting me and chatters with my mother on the car ride home. In the morning, my cousin pats my head as she dashes out the door in her neatly plaited hair and ironed blue uniform to go to school. These are customs that almost never change every time we go back.
It was different last year, though. I flew to India alone. On a connecting flight to Chennai, I happened to be seated next to an elderly woman who had just visited her daughter and was flying back to India. She had limited English and predominantly spoke Tamil. During that flight, I served as somewhat of a translator for her and the air hostesses, despite my lack of fluidity. At the end of the flight, the woman smiled and thanked me for translating. It got me thinking—Tamil had served to be so useful, but where did it come from and what exactly is this language?
Tamil is a language belonging to the Dravidian family. These languages are primarily spoken in the southern region of the Indian subcontinent and primarily include Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. There are over 70 million speakers, mostly concentrated in India and Sri Lanka. However, there is also a sizable diaspora in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, etc. It has also been granted classical language status. This is due in part to its ancient origins dating back to 450 BCE-700 CE, or the era of Old Tamil. This transitioned into Middle Tamil (700 CE-1600 CE) and finally into Modern Tamil. The language uses the Brahmi writing system, although the script was significantly altered over time to the modern one that is known today. The alphabet is syllabic with twelve vowels and eighteen consonants, and these are combined in the script to form various sounds.
Many literary works also came into existence from an early period. Some are classified as Sangam literature, which denote Tamil historical poems written within the time frame of 500 BCE to 300 CE. Some famous pieces of Tamil literature include the Tolkappiyam (தொல்காப்பியம்) and the Thirukkural (திருக்குறள்), which are among the most ancient. The former discussed grammar, while the latter is made up of 1,330 couplets that discuss various morals and virtues that one should have.
Other unique features of Tamil include its retroflex consonants, which involve curling the tongue in a certain way to produce distinct sounds. There are also characteristic differences in the context in which the language is spoken, namely between the highly formal sentamizh (செந்தமிழ்) and colloquial petcha tamizh (பேச்சுத் தமிழ்). Sentamizh is typically used for news or historical dramas and reenactments. So, Tamil features this fascinating phenomenon of using varieties of the same language in different situations — also known as diglossia.
Tamil, being such an ancient language filled with a rich history that continues to this day, is truly beautiful. As with all languages, it is of utmost importance to preserve and continue speaking the language so that the sound of Tamil and other languages never fade.
Thank you for keeping up with our latest New Semantics Volume 2 piece! Be sure to keep an eye out for next week! :)
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