View source for Tamil language

{{Short description|Dravidian language}}
{{distinguish|Tamilou language}}
{{pp-move}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Tamil
| nativename       = {{langx|ta|தமிழ்
|Tamiḻ|label=none}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|ta|t̪amiɻ||ta-தமிழ்.oga|help=}}
| states           = {{ubl
  |  [[Languages of India|India]]
  |  [[Languages of Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]]
  |  [[Languages of Malaysia|Malaysia]]
  |  [[Languages of Singapore|Singapore]]
  }}
| region           = * [[India]]
** [[Tamil Nadu]]
** Union territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] ([[Puducherry district|Puducherry]] and [[Karaikal district]]s)
** [[Kerala]]
** [[Karnataka]] (south)
** [[Andhra Pradesh]] (south)
** [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]<ref name="Talbot 2001 27–37">{{Harvnb|Talbot|2001|pp=27–37}}</ref>  
* [[Sri Lanka]]
** [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern Province]]
** [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]]
** [[Central Province, Sri Lanka|Central Province]]
| ethnicity        = *[[Tamils]]
*[[Sri Lankan Moors]]
| speakers         = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|78.721340|2}} million
| date             = 2011–2019
| ref              = <ref name="Ethnologue28|tam">{{Ethnologue28|tam}}</ref>
| speakers2        = [[second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|7.623000|2}} million (2011)<ref name="Ethnologue28|tam">{{Ethnologue28|tam}}</ref><br/>Total: {{sigfig|86.344340|2}} million (2011–2019)<ref name="Ethnologue28|tam">{{Ethnologue28|tam}}</ref>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Dravidian
| fam2             = Southern
| fam3             = [[Southern Dravidian languages|Southern I]]
| fam4             = Tamil–[[Kannada dialects|Kannada]]
| fam5             = Tamil–[[Kota language (India)|Kota]]
| fam6             = Tamil–[[Toda language|Toda]]
| fam7             = Tamil–Irula
| fam8             = Tamil–[[Kodava language|Kodava]]–[[Urali language|Urali]]
| fam9             = [[Tamiloid languages|Tamil]]–[[Malayalamoid languages|Malayalam]]
| fam10            = [[Tamiloid languages|Tamiloid]]
| fam11            = Tamil–[[Paliyan language|Paliyan]]
| ancestor         = [[Old Tamil language|Old Tamil]]
| ancestor2        = [[Middle Tamil language|Middle Tamil]]
| script           = {{ubl
  | [[Tamil script]]
  | [[Tamil-Brahmi script]] (historical)
  | [[Grantha script]] (historical)
  | [[Vatteluttu script]] (historical)
  | [[Pallava script]] (historical)
  | [[Kolezhuthu|Kolezhuthu script]] (historical)
  | [[Arabic script]] ([[Arwi]])
  | [[Latin script]] (informal)
  | [[Tamil Braille]] ([[Bharati Braille|Bharati]])
  }}
| nation           = *[[Official languages of India|India]]
**[[Tamil Nadu]]<ref name="TN">{{citation |title=Official languages of Tamil Nadu |url=http://www.tn.gov.in/welcometn.htm |url-status=dead |publisher=Tamil Nadu Government |access-date=1 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021154022/http://www.tn.gov.in/welcometn.htm |archive-date=21 October 2012}}</ref>
**[[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]<ref>{{citation |url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |title=Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India: 50th report (delivered to the Lokh Sabha in 2014) |page=155 |publisher=National Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. |access-date=8 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708012438/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
*[[Languages of Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Languages Policy |url=http://www.languagesdept.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=163&lang=en |website=languagesdept.gov.lk |publisher=Department of Official Languages |access-date=20 May 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412193905/http://languagesdept.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=163&lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Languages of Singapore|Singapore]]<ref name="statutes.agc.gov.sg">{{Singapore legislation|title=Republic of Singapore Independence Act|ed=1985}}, s7.</ref>
| minority         = {{plainlist|
*[[Languages of South Africa|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>
*[[Languages of Malaysia|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>}}
| agency           = [[India]]
* [[Central Institute of Classical Tamil]]
* [[Department of Tamil Development and Information (Tamil Nadu)]]
* [[International Institute of Tamil Studies]]
* [[Tamil University]]
* [[World Tamil Sangam]]
[[Sri Lanka]]
* [[Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government|Department of Official Languages]]
[[Singapore]]
* [[Ministry of Digital Development and Information|Tamil Language Council]]
[[Malaysia]]
* [[Ministry of Education (Malaysia)|Malaysian Tamil Language Standardisation Council]]
[[Canada]] and [[United States]]
* [[Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America]]
| iso1             = ta
| iso2             = tam
| lc1              = tam
| ld1              = Modern Tamil
| lc2              = oty
| ld2              = Old Tamil
| linglist         = oty
| lingname         = Old Tamil
| lingua           = 49-EBE-a
| image            = Word Tamil.svg
| imagecaption     = The word ''Tamil'' in the [[Tamil script]]
| image_class      = skin-invert-image
| map              = Idioma tamil.png
| mapcaption       = 
| map_class        = skin-invert-image
| dia1             = [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Eelam]]
| dia2             = [[Malaysian Tamil|Malesiyat]]
| dia3             = [[Bangalore Tamil dialects|Bunagurr]]
| dia4             = [[Iyengar Tamil|Iyengar]]
| dia5             = [[Kongu Tamil|Kongu]]
| dia6             = [[Madras Bashai|Chennai]]
| dia7             = [[Madurai Tamil|Madurai]]
| dia8             = [[Tirunelveli Tamil|Tiruneveli]]
| dia9            = [[Indian Tamil dialect of Sri Lanka|Estate]]
| dia10            = [[Central Tamil dialect|Central]]
| dia11            = [[Brahmin Tamil|Brahmin]]
| dia12            = [[Arwi]]
| dia13            = [[Lingua Malabar Tamul|Malabar]] {{Extinct}}
| notice           = IPA
| sign             = [[Signed Tamil]]
| glotto           = tami1289
| glottoname       = Modern Tamil
| glottorefname    = Tamil
| glotto2          = oldt1248
| glottoname2      = Old Tamil
}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

{{Tamil transliteration}}'''Tamil'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|æ|m|ɪ|l|,_|ˈ|t|ɑː|m|-}} {{respell|TAM|il|,_|TAHM|-}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tamil, n. and adj. |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197399?redirectedFrom=tamil |website=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>}} ({{lang|ta|தமிழ்}}, {{Transliteration|ta|ISO|Tamiḻ}}, {{IPA|ta|t̪amiɻ|pron|ta-தமிழ்.oga}}) is a [[Dravidian language]] spoken by the [[Tamil people]] of [[South Asia]] where they are concentrated in [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Pondicherry]]. It is one of the longest-surviving [[classical language]]s in the world,<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 |year=1977 |pages=7–26 |jstor=2053325 |doi=10.2307/2053325|s2cid=144599197 }}. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7).</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|1998|p=6}}. "one of India's two classical languages, alongside the more widely known Indo-Aryan language Sanskrit".</ref> attested since {{circa}} [[300 BC|300 BCE]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100707000020/http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html Definitive Editions of Ancient Tamil Works]}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Abraham |first1=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><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><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|s2cid=162291987 }} 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>

Tamil was the [[lingua franca]] for early maritime traders in South India, with [[Tamil inscriptions]] found outside of the Indian subcontinent, such as [[Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], and [[Egypt]]. The language has a well-documented history with literary works like [[Sangam literature]], consisting of over 2,000 poems. Tamil script evolved from Tamil Brahmi, and later, the vatteluttu script was used until the current script was standardized. The language has a distinct grammatical structure, with agglutinative morphology that allows for complex word formations.

Tamil is the official language of the state of Tamil Nadu and union territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] in India. It is also one of the official languages of [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Singapore]]. [[Tamil diaspora|Tamil-speaking diaspora communities]] exist in several countries across the world. Tamil was the first to be recognized as a [[classical languages of India|classical language of India]] by the [[Government of India|Central Government]] in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-06 |title=Haryana's South connect: When it made Telugu second language in school |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/haryanas-south-connect-when-it-made-telugu-second-language-in-school-5570917/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The earliest extant Tamil literary works and their commentaries celebrate the [[Pandiyan Kingdom|Pandiyan Kings]] for the organization of long-term [[Tamil Sangams]], which researched, developed and made amendments to the Tamil language. Although 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 also the oldest extant Tamil text, dated as early as the 2nd century BCE.<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> The [[Hathigumpha inscription]], inscribed around a similar period (150 BCE) by [[Kharavela]], the Jain king of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]], also refers to a ''Tamira Samghatta'' (''Tamil confederacy'').<ref name="Allen">{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Charles |title=Coromandel : a personal history of South India |date=2017 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=London |isbn=9781408705391 |page=9}}</ref>

The [[Samavayanga Sutra]], dated to the 3rd century BCE, contains a reference to a Tamil script named 'Damili'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jain|first=Sagarmal|title=Aspects of Jainology: Volume VI|year=1998|chapter=Jain Literature [From earliest time to c. 10th A.D.]}}</ref>

[[Franklin Southworth|Southworth]] suggests that the name comes from {{IAST|tam-miḻ}} > {{IAST|tam-iḻ}} "self-speak", or "our 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 the [[University of Madras]] defines the word "Tamil" as "sweetness".<ref>{{Citation|publisher=University of Madras |title=Tamil lexicon |place=Madras |year=1924–36 |url= https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/tamil-lex_query.py?qs=%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact|access-date=26 October 2022 |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>

David Shulman cites Cuntaramurti's ''[[Tevaram]]'', in which he writes to [[Shiva]], "Do you know proper Tamil?" and ascribes it the meaning "Do you know how to behave properly as a male lover should? Can you understand the hints and implicit meaning that a proficient lover ought to be able to decipher?" He also states that at some point in history, Tamil meant something like "knowing how to love", in a poetic sense, and that to "know Tamil" could also mean "to be a civilized being".<ref>{{Citation|publisher = Harvard University Belknap Press | title = Tamil: A Biography | year = 2016 | url = https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674059924 | pages = 2}}</ref>

== Classification ==
{{Main|Dravidian languages}}
''Tamil'' belongs to the [[Southern Dravidian languages|southern]] branch of the [[Dravidian languages]], a family of around 26 languages native to the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=19}}</ref> It is also classified as being part of a [[Tamil languages|Tamil language family]] that, alongside Tamil proper, includes the languages of about 35 ethno-linguistic groups<ref>Perumal, A. K. (2005) ''Manorama Yearbook'' (Tamil), pp. 302–318.</ref> such as the [[Irula language|Irula]] and [[Yerukala language|Yerukula]] languages (see [[SIL Ethnologue]]).

The closest major relative of Tamil is [[Malayalam]]; the two began diverging around the 9th century CE.<ref>{{citation|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World|date=2010|publisher=Elsevier|page=297}}</ref> Although many of the differences between Tamil and Malayalam demonstrate a pre-historic divergence of the western dialect,<ref name="malayalamorigin">{{Citation | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00021285| title = Some observations on the sub-group Tamil-Malayalam: Differential realizations of the cluster * ṉt| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies| volume = 53| page = 87| year = 2009| last1 = Menon | first1 = A. G. | s2cid = 131480876}}</ref> the process of separation into a distinct language, Malayalam, was not completed until sometime in the 13th or 14th century.<ref name="andronov">{{Harvnb|Andronov|1970|p=21}}</ref>

Additionally Kannada is also relatively close to the Tamil language and shares the format of the formal ancient Tamil language. While there are some variations from the Tamil language, Kannada still preserves a lot from its roots. As part of the southern family of Indian languages and situated relatively close to the northern parts of India, Kannada also shares some Sanskrit words, similar to Malayalam. Many of the formerly used words in Tamil have been preserved with little change in Kannada. This shows a relative parallel to Tamil, even as Tamil has undergone some changes in modern ways of speaking.{{sfn|Mahadevan|2003}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}

== History ==
[[File:Civiltà_thamirabani,_reperti_da_adhichanallur,_02.jpg|thumb|Findings from [[Adichanallur]] in the [[Government Museum, Chennai]]|left]]
[[File:Keezhadi excavation.jpg|thumb|[[Keezhadi excavation site]]|left]]

=== Legendary origins ===
[[File:Tamil Inscriptions.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Explanation for [[Mangulam]] Tamil Brahmi inscription in Mangulam, [[Madurai district]], Tamil Nadu, dated to Tamil [[Sangam period]] ({{Circa|400 BCE|200 CE}})]]
[[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]] ({{Circa|160 CE}}) 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|doi-access=free}}</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]]

According to Hindu legend, Tamil or in personification form [[Tamil Thai|Tamil Thāi]] (Mother Tamil) was created by Lord [[Shiva]]. [[Murugan]], revered as the Tamil God, along with sage [[Agastya]], brought it to the people.{{sfn|Ramaswamy|1997|p=87}}

===Historical origins===
Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, ultimately descends from the [[Proto-Dravidian language]], which was most likely spoken around the third millennium BCE, possibly in the region around the lower [[Godavari]] river basin. 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>

Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods: Old Tamil (300 BCE–700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75">{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|pp=75–76}}</ref>

===Brahmi script===
About 60,000 of the approximately 100,000 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 other languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit and Marathi.<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>
 
In 2004, a number of skeletons were found buried in earthenware [[urn]]s dating from at least 696 BCE in [[Adichanallur]]. Some of these urns contained writing in [[Tamil Brahmi]] script, and some contained skeletons of Tamil origin.<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> Between 2017 and 2018, 5,820 artifacts have been found in [[Keezhadi excavation site|Keezhadi]]. These were sent to Beta Analytic in [[Miami]], [[Florida]], for [[Accelerator Mass Spectrometry]] (AMS) dating. One sample containing [[Tamil-Brahmi]] inscriptions was claimed to be dated to around 580 BCE.<ref>{{cite web |title=KEELADI |url=https://www.tnarch.gov.in/keeladi|website=Government of Tamil Nadu Department of Archeology}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gershon |first1=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>

[[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] states that Tamil was the [[lingua franca]] for early maritime traders from India.<ref name="scroll.in">{{citation|url=http://scroll.in/article/704603/Step-aside,-Gujaratis:-Tamilians-were-India's-earliest-recorded-maritime-traders|title=Scroll.in – News. Politics. Culture.|date=6 February 2015 |publisher=scroll.in}}</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> In November 2007, an excavation at Quseir-al-Qadim (likely the classical-era port town [[Myos Hormos]]) revealed Egyptian pottery dating back to first century BCE with ancient Tamil Brahmi inscriptions.<ref name="Egypt">{{citation|title=Tamil Brahmi script in Egypt|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tamil-brahmi-script-in-egypt/article1952611.ece|access-date=5 January 2015|work=The Hindu|date=21 November 2007|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141126154601/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tamil-brahmi-script-in-egypt/article1952611.ece|archive-date=2014-11-26}}</ref> There are a number of apparent [[Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew]] dating to before 500 BCE, the oldest attestation of the language.<ref name=Rabin438>Rabin, C. ''Proceedings of the Second International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies'', p. 438</ref>

=== Old Tamil ===
{{Main|Old Tamil language}}
[[File:Mangulam inscription.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Mangulam]] [[Tamil-Brahmi|Tamil Brahmi]] inscription in Mangulam, [[Madurai district]], Tamil Nadu, dated to Tamil [[Sangam period]] ({{Circa|400 BCE|200 CE}})|left]]

Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions 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 BCE.<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 BCE and 5th century CE.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name="Zvelebil 1973"/>

=== Middle Tamil ===
[[File:Tanjavur Tamil Inscription2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Middle Tamil]] inscriptions in [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] in stone during [[Chola empire|Chola]] period {{circa|1000}} CE at [[Brahadeeswara temple]] in [[Thanjavur]], Tamil Nadu|left]]
{{Main|Middle Tamil language}}
The evolution of [[Old Tamil]] into [[Middle Tamil]], which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century,<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/> was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme,<ref>{{Harvnb|Kuiper|1958|p=194}}</ref> the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals,<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=132–133}}</ref> and the transformation of the alveolar [[plosive]] into a [[Rhotic consonant|rhotic]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kuiper|1958|pp=213–215}}</ref> In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb ''{{IAST|kil}}'' ({{lang|ta|கில்}}), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an [[Grammatical aspect|aspect marker]] to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ''{{IAST|ṉ}}'' ({{lang|ta|ன்}}). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – ''{{IAST|kiṉṟa}}'' ({{lang|ta|கின்ற}}) – which combined the old aspect and time markers.<ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.2307/601707| jstor = 601707| title = The Duration of an Action-Real or Aspectual? The Evolution of the Present Tense in Tamil| journal = Journal of the American Oriental Society| volume = 105| issue = 2| pages = 277–291| year = 1985| last1 = Rajam | first1 = V. S.}} at pp. 284–285</ref>

=== Modern Tamil ===
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>

Contact with European languages affected written and spoken Tamil. Changes in written Tamil include the use of European-style punctuation and the use of consonant clusters that were not permitted in Middle Tamil. The syntax of written Tamil has also changed, with the introduction of new aspectual auxiliaries and more complex sentence structures, and with the emergence of a more rigid word order that resembles the [[Theta role|syntactic argument structure]] of English.<ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.1515/ijsl.1978.16.59| title = Standard Language and Socio-Historical Parameters: Standard Lankan Tamil| journal = International Journal of the Sociology of Language| issue = 16| year = 1978| last1 = Kandiah | first1 = T. | s2cid = 143499414}} at pp. 65–69</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 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>

A strong strain of [[linguistic purism]] emerged in the early 20th century, culminating in the [[Pure Tamil Movement]] which called for removal of all Sanskritic elements from Tamil.<ref name="thaniththamizh">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997}}</ref> It received some support from [[Dravidian parties]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997}}: "Dravidianism, too, lent its support to the contestatory classicist project, motivated principally by the political imperative of countering (Sanskritic) Indian nationalism... It was not until the DMK came to power in 1967 that such demands were fulfilled, and the pure Tamil cause received a boost, although purification efforts are not particularly high on the agenda of either the Dravidian movement or the Dravidianist idiom of tamiḻppaṟṟu."</ref> This led to the replacement of a significant number of [[Sanskrit]] loanwords by Tamil equivalents, though many others remain.<ref name="Krishnamurti 2003 p=480">{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=480}}</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>

== Geographic distribution ==
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]], [[Telangana]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Kerala]], [[Maharashtra]],  [[Gujarat]], [[Delhi]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] in India 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 CE. 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 CE.<ref name="Talbot 2001 27–37">{{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 [[Bengaluru]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Murthy|Rao|Veluthat|Bari|1990|pp=85–106}}</ref>

There are currently sizeable [[Tamil diaspora|Tamil-speaking populations]] descended from colonial-era migrants in [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Philippines]], [[Mauritius]], [[Tamil South Africans|South Africa]], Indonesia,<ref>{{Harvnb|Ramstedt|2004|p= 243}}</ref> Thailand,<ref>{{Harvnb|Kesavapany|Mani|Ramasamy|2008|p= 60}}</ref> [[Burma]], [[Brunei]], and [[Vietnam]]. Tamil is used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin.<ref name="Tamil Schools">[http://www.indianmalaysian.com/education.htm Tamil Schools]. Indianmalaysian.com. Retrieved 28 July 2013.</ref><ref>Ghazali, Kamila (2010). [https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/national-identity-and-minority-languages UN Chronicle – National Identity and Minority Languages]. United Nations, accessed 28 Jan 2021.</ref> A large community of [[Tamils in Pakistan|Pakistani Tamils]] speakers exists in [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]], which includes Tamil-speaking Hindus<ref name="TNP">{{Citation
 |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-98530-Strangers-to-their-roots-and-those-around-them
 |title=Strangers to Their Roots and Those Around Them
 |author=Shahbazi, Ammar
 |date=20 March 2012
 |work=The News (Pakistan)
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617043012/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-98530-Strangers-to-their-roots-and-those-around-them
 |archive-date=17 June 2013
}}</ref><ref name="PHP">Sunny, Sanjesh (21 September 2010) [https://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2010/09/picture-of-tamil-hindus-in-karachi.html Tamil Hindus in Karachi]. ''Pakistan Hindu Post''</ref> as well as Christians and Muslims – including some Tamil-speaking Muslim refugees from Sri Lanka.<ref name="HBL">Raman, B. (15 July 2002) [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2002/07/15/stories/2002071500050800.htm Osama's shadow on Sri Lanka?]. ''The Hindu Business Line''</ref> There are about 100 Tamil Hindu families in [[Madrasi Para]] colony in Karachi. They speak impeccable Tamil along with Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paul |first=Sumit |date=2018-11-03 |title=For Tamil cuisine, away in Pakistan |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/for-tamil-cuisine-away-in-pakistan/article25414464.ece |access-date=12 July 2019 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Many in [[Réunion]], [[Guyana]], [[Fiji]], [[Suriname]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]] have Tamil origins,<ref name="ucberkeleydiaspora">{{Citation|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/overview.html |title=Overview of the South Asian Diaspora |access-date=23 April 2008 |last=McMahon |first=Suzanne |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20110327123838/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/overview.html|archive-date=2011-03-27}}</ref> but only a small number speak the language. In Reunion where the Tamil language was forbidden to be learnt and used in public space by [[France]] it is now being relearnt by students and adults.<ref name="ucberkeleydiaspora1">{{Citation|url= http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/tamil.html |title= Indentured immigration and social accommodation in La Réunion |access-date=8 January 2010 |last= Ghasarian |first=Christian |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20110511142452/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/tamil.html|archive-date=2011-05-11}}</ref> Tamil is also spoken by migrants [[Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora|from Sri Lanka]] and India in [[Tamil Canadians|Canada]], the [[Tamil Americans|United States]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], the [[British Tamils|United Kingdom]], South Africa, and [[Tamil Australians|Australia]].

== Status ==
{{see also|States of India by Tamil speakers}}

=== Official status ===
Tamil is the [[official language]] of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the [[Languages with official status in India|22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India]].<ref name="Eight">{{cite web|title=Eighth Schedule|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S8.pdf|publisher=[[Government of India]]|access-date=5 December 2023}}</ref> It is one of the official languages of the union territories of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] and the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].<ref>{{citation | last = Ramamoorthy | first = L | publisher = Language in India | url = http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2004/multilingual.html | date = February 2004 | title = Multilingualism and Second Language Acquisition and Learning in Pondicherry | access-date =16 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{citation | last = Sunwani | first = Vijay K | publisher = Language in India | url = http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2007/northeasternstates.pdf | date = February 2007 | title = Amazing Andamans and North-East India: A Panoramic View of States, Societies and Cultures | access-date =16 August 2007}}</ref> Tamil is also one of the official languages of [[Singapore]]. Tamil is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, along with [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]].<ref name="languagesdept">{{citation|url=http://www.languagesdept.gov.lk/|title=Department of Official Languages|publisher=Government of Sri Lanka|access-date=13 September 2012|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106094214/http://www.languagesdept.gov.lk/%20|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was once given nominal official status in the Indian state of [[Haryana]], purportedly as a rebuff to [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], though there was no attested Tamil-speaking population in the state, and was later replaced by [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], in 2010.<ref>Bharadwaj, Ajay (7 March 2010) [http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1356124/report-punjabi-edges-out-tamil-in-haryana Punjabi edges out Tamil in Haryana]. DNA India</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 |last=Dutta |first=Sujan |title=Classic case of politics of language |date=28 September 2004 |work=The Telegraph |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040928/asp/frontpage/story_3813391.asp |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203214540/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040928/asp/frontpage/story_3813391.asp |archive-date=3 February 2013 |url-status=dead |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.}}</ref><ref name="historyofdemand">{{Citation |last=Viswanathan |first=S. |title=Recognising a classic |date=October 2004 |work=The Hindu |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl2122/stories/20041105004310600.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212522/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2122/stories/20041105004310600.htm |archive-date=26 September 2007}}</ref> Tamil became the first legally recognised [[Languages of India#Classical languages of India|Classical language]] of India. The recognition was announced by the contemporaneous [[President of India]], [[Abdul Kalam]], who was a Tamil 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 |title=Tradition, Modernity and Impact of Globalization&nbsp;– Whither Will Tamil Go? |date=November 2004 |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">{{Cite news |date=2004-09-17 |title=India sets up classical languages |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3667032.stm |language=en-GB}}</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>

=== Education ===
In Malaysia, 543 primary education government schools are available fully in [[Tamil primary schools in Malaysia|Tamil as the medium of instruction]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/sparadox/sparadox.html |title=Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: the Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> The establishment of Tamil-medium schools has been in process in [[Myanmar]] to provide education completely in Tamil language by the Tamils who settled there 200 years ago.<ref name="bbc.com">{{Cite news |date=2014-03-06 |title=Myanmar's Tamils seek to protect their identity |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Tamil language is available as a course in some local school boards and major universities in [[Canada]] and the month of January has been declared "Tamil Heritage Month" by the [[Parliament of Canada]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2017/01/14/statement-prime-minister-canada-thai-pongal|title=Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on Thai Pongal|date=13 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/canada-officially-declares-pride-its-tamils-passes-bill-calling-tamil-heritage-month-51059|title=Canada officially declares pride in its Tamils, passes Bill calling for Tamil Heritage Month|date=8 October 2016|work=The News Minute|access-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> Tamil enjoys a special status of protection under Article 6(b), Chapter 1 of the [[Constitution of South Africa]] and is taught as a subject in schools in [[KwaZulu-Natal]] province.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch1.html|title=Constitutional Court of South Africa – The Constitution|website=www.constitutionalcourt.org.za|access-date=5 August 2017|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060518064102/http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch1.html|archive-date=2006-05-18}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/five-indian-languages-reinstated-as-official-subjects-in-south-african-schools-1395392591-1|title=Five Indian languages reinstated as official subjects in South African schools|date=21 March 2014|work=Jagranjosh.com|access-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> Recently, it has been rolled out as a subject of study in schools in the [[Overseas France|French overseas department]] of [[Réunion]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/For-these-islanders-a-reunion-with-Tamil/article17009446.ece|title=For these islanders, a reunion with Tamil|work=The Hindu|date=8 January 2017|access-date=6 August 2017|last1=Srivatsa|first1=Sharath S.}}</ref>

=== Mass media ===
{{See also|Tamil cinema}}
Tamil-language paper media such as [[newspaper]]s are very common, with a 2001 survey claiming there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil (including 353 dailies). Tamil-language digital media is also abundant, with films being especially common.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Linguistic Survey of India Tamil Nadu |publisher=Language Division Office of the Registrar General, India |pages=48–66 |language=en}}</ref>

== Dialects ==
[[File:Jambai Tamil Brahmi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|[[Athiyamān Nedumān Añci|Jambai Tamil Brahmi inscription]] near [[Tirukkoyilur]] in [[Villupuram district]], Tamil Nadu dated to the early [[Tamil Sangam]] age ({{Circa|400 BC}})]]
{{Listen
| type          = speech
| header        =
| filename      = Oppaari Song.ogg
| title         = Colloquial Tamil 'Oppaari song'
| description   = Oppaari song lamenting death, sung by women during a death ceremony. Here it is the death of a son lamented by the mother.
| filename2     = Ta-ponnagaram.ogg
| title2        = Pudumaipithan's short story 'Pon Nagaram'
| description2  = Audio recording of [[Pudumaipithan]]'s short story 'Pon Nagaram' (showing a few loanwords).
}}

=== Region-specific variations ===
{{see also|Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Indian Tamil dialect of Sri Lanka}}
The [[Socio-linguistics|socio-linguistic]] situation of Tamil is characterised by [[diglossia]]: there are two separate registers varying by [[socioeconomic status]], a high register and a low one.<ref>Arokianathan, S. [http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/piil/acharya2.html Writing and Diglossic: A Case Study of Tamil Radio Plays] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928092717/https://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/piil/acharya2.html |date=28 September 2007 }}. ciil-ebooks.net</ref><ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.2307/414796| jstor = 414796| title = Diglossia: A Study of the Theory, with Application to Tamil| journal = Language| volume = 64| issue = 1| pages = 152–155| year = 1988| last1 = Steever | first1 = S. B. | last2 = Britto | first2 = F. }}</ref> Tamil dialects are primarily differentiated from each other by the fact that they have undergone different phonological changes and sound shifts in evolving from Old Tamil. For example, the word for "here"—''{{IAST|iṅku}}'' in ''Centamil'' (the classic variety)—has evolved into ''{{IAST |iṅkū}}'' in the Kongu dialect of [[Coimbatore]], ''inga'' in the dialects of [[Thanjavur]] and [[Palakkad]],  and ''{{IAST |iṅkai}}'' in some [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|dialects of Sri Lanka]]. Old Tamil's ''{{IAST|iṅkaṇ}}'' (where ''{{IAST|kaṇ}}'' means place) is the source of ''{{IAST |iṅkane}}'' in the dialect of [[Tirunelveli]], Old Tamil ''{{IAST |iṅkiṭṭu}}'' is the source of ''{{IAST |iṅkuṭṭu}}'' in the dialect of [[Madurai]], and ''{{IAST |iṅkaṭe}}'' in some northern dialects. Even now, in the Coimbatore area, it is common to hear "{{IAST|akkaṭṭa}}" meaning "that place". Although Tamil dialects do not differ significantly in their vocabulary, there are a few exceptions. The dialects spoken in Sri Lanka retain many words and grammatical forms that are not in everyday use in India,<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name=as>{{Harvnb|Annamalai|Steever|1998|pp=100–28}}</ref> and use many other words slightly differently.<ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.1163/000000066790086440| title = Some features of Ceylon Tamil| journal = Indo-Iranian Journal| volume = 9| issue = 2| page = 113| year = 1966| last1 = Zvelebil | first1 = K. }}</ref> Tamil dialects include [[Central Tamil dialect]], [[Kongu Tamil]], [[Madras Bashai]], [[Madurai Tamil]], [[Nellai Tamil]], Kumari Tamil in India; [[Batticaloa Tamil dialect]], [[Jaffna Tamil dialect]], [[Negombo Tamil dialect]] in Sri Lanka; and [[Malaysian Tamil]] in Malaysia.

==== Loanword variations ====
{{See also|Indo-Aryan loanwords in Tamil|Loan words in Sri Lankan Tamil}}
The dialect of the district of [[Palakkad]] in Kerala has many [[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> For example, [[Tamil Brahmin]]s tend to speak a variety of dialects that are all collectively known as [[Brahmin Tamil]]. These dialects tend to have softer consonants (with consonant deletion also common). These dialects also tend to have many [[Sanskrit]] loanwords. Tamil in Sri Lanka incorporates [[Loan words in Sri Lankan Tamil|loan words]] from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Dutch Language|Dutch]], and English.

== Spoken and literary variants ==

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{{Listen

| type          = speech
| header        =
| filename      = Thiruppugazh - Umbartharu - Hamsadhwani.wav
| title         = Thiruppugazh – Umbartharu – Hamsadhwani
| description   = Literary Tamil in hymn 'Umbartharu' (Hamsadhwani) on lord [[Ganesha]] from [[Thiruppugazh]] (c. 1400s).
| filename2      =Ta - குளிர் காய நேரமில்லை - அறிவுக் கதைகள் - ம.பொ.சிவஞானம்.ogg
| title2         = Sivagnanam's 'Arivuk kadhaigal'.
| description2   =Literary Tamil pronunciation. Reading an excerpt from [[Ma. Po. Si.]]'s book 'Arivuk kadhaigal' (1900s).
| filename3      = Ta-Senthamizh Nadu.ogg
| title3         = Bharathi's 'Senthamil nadu ennum' song
| description3   =Literary Tamil pronunciation in song written by [[Subramanya Bharathi]], 'Senthamizh naadennum pothinile' (1900s ).
}}
In addition to its dialects, Tamil exhibits different forms: a classical literary style modelled on the ancient language (''{{IAST|sankattamiḻ}}''), a modern literary and formal style (''{{IAST|centamiḻ}}''), and a modern [[colloquial]] form (''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}''). These styles shade into each other, forming a stylistic continuum. For example, it is possible to write ''{{IAST|centamiḻ}}'' with a vocabulary drawn from ''{{IAST|caṅkattamiḻ}}'', or to use forms associated with one of the other variants while speaking ''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}''.<ref>Schiffman, Harold (1997). "[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/messeas/diglossia/handbuk.html Diglossia as a Sociolinguistic Situation]", in Florian Coulmas (ed.), ''The Handbook of Sociolinguistics''. London: Basil Blackwell, Ltd. pp. 205 ff.</ref>

In modern times, ''{{IAST|centamiḻ}}'' is generally used in formal writing and speech. For instance, it is the language of textbooks, of much of [[Tamil literature]] and of public speaking and debate. Modern written Tamil also has a conservative appearance, and it is possible to read eight-century Tamil inscriptions with it.<ref>Tienken, Herman, Metaphony, or height harmony, in written Tamil and Malayalam pp. 53-66 https://hermantieken.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/doc.pdf</ref> In recent times, however, ''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}'' has been making inroads into areas that have traditionally been considered the province of ''{{IAST|centamiḻ}}''. Most contemporary cinema, theatre and popular entertainment on television and radio, for example, is in ''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}'', and many politicians use it to bring themselves closer to their audience. The increasing use of ''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}'' in modern times has led to the emergence of unofficial 'standard' spoken dialects. In India, the 'standard' ''{{IAST|koṭuntamiḻ}}'', rather than on any one dialect,<ref name="Standard restandard">{{Citation | last1 = Schiffman | first1 = Harold | year = 1998 | title = Standardization or restandardization: The case for 'Standard' Spoken Tamil  | url =http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/public/stantam/STANTAM.HTM | journal = Language in Society | volume = 27 | issue = 3| pages = 359–385 |doi=10.1017/S0047404598003030 | postscript = .| url-access = subscription }}</ref>{{clarify|date=May 2022}} but has been significantly influenced by the dialects of [[Thanjavur]] and [[Madurai]]. Spoken Tamil in India is often mixed with English to create the hybrid language [[Tanglish]], which has been growing in popularity, especially in cities. In Sri Lanka, the standard is based on the dialect of [[Jaffna]].

=== Lexical differences ===
There are some words that are only used in Literary Tamil such as: ''annai'' (mother), ''ali'' (offer), ''iyalum'' (possible), ''illam'' (house), and ''karpi'' (teach).<ref name=":0" />

There are also some words only used in Colloquial Tamil, such as: ''Le:cu'' (easy), ''rompa'' (much), ''vantava:''lam ''(unpleasant facts)'', ''tatave'' (times/occasion).<ref name=":0" />

=== Comparative text ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Literary Tamil<ref name=":0" />
!Colloquial Tamil
!English
|-
|''atu avaratu panam.''
''na:n pe:na:vai avanitam kotutten.''
|''atu avaro:da panam.'' 
''na: pe:na:va avankitte kututtæn.''
|It is his money.
I gave the pen to him.
|}

== Writing system ==
<!---
NOTE:
Before editing this page for unicode errors please check your OS configuration for complex character support. You can check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:INDIC and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)
--->
{{main|Tamil script|Tamil braille}}
{{see also|Vatteluttu|Grantha script|Pallava script|Arwi|}}
[[File:History of Tamil script.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Historical evolution of Tamil writing from the earlier [[Tamil Brahmi]] near the top to the current [[Tamil script]] at bottom]]
[[File:Tirukkural manuscript.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|''[[Tirukkural|Tirukkuṟaḷ]]'' [[palm leaf manuscript]]]]
After [[Tamil Brahmi]] fell out of use, Tamil was written using a script called [[Vatteluttu alphabet|{{IAST|vaṭṭeḻuttu}}]] amongst others such as [[Grantha script|Grantha]] and [[Pallava script|Pallava]]. The current [[Tamil script]] consists of 12 [[vowel]]s, 18 [[consonant]]s and one special character, the ''[[āytam]]''. The vowels and consonants combine to form 216 compound characters, giving a total of 247 characters (12 + 18 + 1 + (12 × 18)). All consonants have an inherent vowel ''a'', as with other [[Indic scripts]]. This inherent vowel is removed by adding a [[tittle]] called a ''{{IAST|puḷḷi}}'', to the consonantal sign<!--, whereas no such distinction is there in other Indic scipts-->. For example, {{lang|ta|ன}} is ''ṉa'' (with the inherent ''a'') and {{lang|ta|ன்}} is ''ṉ'' (without a vowel). Many Indic scripts have a similar sign, generically called [[virama]], but the Tamil script is somewhat different in that it nearly always uses a visible ''puḷḷi'' to indicate a 'dead consonant' (a consonant without a vowel). In other Indic scripts, it is generally preferred to use a ligature or a half form to write a syllable or a cluster containing a dead consonant, although writing it with a visible virama is also possible. The Tamil script does not differentiate voiced and unvoiced [[plosive]]s. Instead, plosives are articulated with voice depending on their position in a word, in accordance with the rules of [[Tamil phonology]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tamil Language/Letters - Wikiversity |url=https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Tamil_Language/Letters |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=en.wikiversity.org |language=en}}</ref>

In addition to the standard characters, six characters taken from the [[Grantha script]], which was used in the Tamil region to write Sanskrit, are sometimes used to represent sounds not native to Tamil, that is, words adopted from Sanskrit, [[Prakrit]], and other languages. The traditional system prescribed by classical grammars for writing loan-words, which involves respelling them in accordance with Tamil phonology, remains, but is not always consistently applied.<ref>{{citation|last=Fowler|first=Murray|title=The Segmental Phonemes of Sanskritized Tamil |journal=Language |volume=30 |pages=360–367 |doi=10.2307/410134 |year=1954 |jstor=410134 |issue=3}} at p. 360.</ref> [[ISO 15919#Overview|ISO 15919]] is an international standard for the [[Tamil script#Letters|transliteration of Tamil]] and other [[Indic scripts]] into Latin characters. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of [[Brahmic scripts|Brahmic consonants and vowels]] to [[Latin script]], and thus the alphabets of various languages, including English.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Daniels |first1=Peter T. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937/mode/2up |title=The world's writing systems |last2=Bright |first2=William |date=1996 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-507993-7}}</ref>

=== Numerals and symbols ===
{{main|Tamil numerals}}
Apart from the usual numerals, Tamil has numerals for 10, 100 and 1000. Symbols for day, month, year, debit, credit, as above, rupee, and numeral are present as well. Tamil also uses several historical fractional signs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=V |first=Selvakumar |date=13 May 2025 |title=History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations |url=https://scispace.com/pdf/history-of-numbers-and-fractions-and-arithmetic-calculations-mv5r8z0ojx.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=13 May 2025 |website=History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513133748/https://scispace.com/pdf/history-of-numbers-and-fractions-and-arithmetic-calculations-mv5r8z0ojx.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2025 }}</ref>
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!  zero || one || two || three || four || five || six || seven|| eight || nine|| ten || hundred || thousand
|- style="font-size: 150%"
| {{lang|ta|௦}} || {{lang|ta|௧}} || {{lang|ta|௨}} || {{lang|ta|௩}} || {{lang|ta|௪}} || {{lang|ta|௫}} || {{lang|ta|௬}} || {{lang|ta|௭}} || {{lang|ta|௮}} || {{lang|ta|௯}} || {{lang|ta|௰}} || {{lang|ta|௱}} || {{lang|ta|௲}}
|}
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!  day || month || year || debit || credit || as above || rupee || numeral
|- style="font-size: 150%"
| {{lang|ta|௳}} || {{lang|ta|௴}} || {{lang|ta|௵}} || {{lang|ta|௶}} || {{lang|ta|௷}} || {{lang|ta|௸}} || {{lang|ta|௹}} || {{lang|ta|௺}}
|}

== Phonology ==
<!---
NOTE:
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--->
{{Main|Tamil phonology}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Tamil consonants<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Keane|2004|p=111}}</ref>
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}} {{lang|ta|ம்}}
|({{IPA link|n̪}}) {{lang|ta|ந்}}
|{{IPA link|n}} {{lang|ta|ன்}}
|{{IPA link|ɳ}} {{lang|ta|ண்}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}} {{lang|ta|ஞ்}}
|({{IPA link|ŋ}}) {{lang|ta|ங்}}
|
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]/[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|{{IPA link|p}} {{lang|ta|ப்}}
|{{IPA link|t̪}} {{lang|ta|த்}}
|({{IPA link|t|trː}} {{lang|ta|ற்ற}})
|{{IPA link|ʈ}} {{lang|ta|ட்}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ɕ}} ~ {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{lang|ta|ச்}}
|{{IPA link|k}} {{lang|ta|க்}}
|
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|({{IPA link|f}})<sup>1</sup>
|
|({{IPA link|z}}, {{IPA link|s}})<sup>1</sup> {{lang|ta|ஸ்}}
|({{IPA link|ʂ}})<sup>1</sup> {{lang|ta|ஷ்}}
|({{IPA link|ɕ}})<sup>1</sup> {{lang|ta|ஶ்}}
|({{IPA link|x}})<sup>1</sup>
|({{IPA link|h}})<sup>1</sup> {{lang|ta|ஹ்}}
|-
![[Tap consonant|Tap]]
|
|
|[[ɾ]] {{lang|ta|ர்}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|r}} {{lang|ta|ற்}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|ʋ}} {{lang|ta|வ்}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɻ}} {{lang|ta|ழ்}}
|{{IPA link|j}} {{lang|ta|ய்}}
|
|
|-
![[Lateral consonant|Lateral approximant]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|l}} {{lang|ta|ல்}}
|{{IPA link|ɭ}} {{lang|ta|ள்}}
|
|
|
|}
{{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/x/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/ʂ/}} and {{IPA|/ɕ/}} are only found in loanwords and may be considered marginal phonemes, though they are traditionally not seen as fully phonemic.
{| class="wikitable"
|+[[Monophthong]]s<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Keane|2004|pp=114–115}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
!<small>short</small>
!<small>long</small>
|- style="text-align: center;"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}} '''{{lang|ta|இ}}'''
|{{IPA link|iː}} '''{{lang|ta|ஈ}}'''
|
|
|{{IPA link|u}} '''{{lang|ta|உ}}'''
|{{IPA link|uː}} '''{{lang|ta|ஊ}}'''
|- style="text-align: center;"
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}} '''{{lang|ta|எ}}'''
|{{IPA link|eː}} '''{{lang|ta|ஏ}}'''
|
|
|{{IPA link|o}} '''{{lang|ta|ஒ}}'''
|{{IPA link|oː}} '''{{lang|ta|ஓ}}'''
|- style="text-align: center;"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|ä}} '''{{lang|ta|அ}}'''
|{{IPA link|äː}} '''{{lang|ta|ஆ}}'''
|
|
|}
Tamil has two [[diphthong]]s: {{IPA|/aɪ̯/}} '''{{lang|ta|ஐ}}''' and {{IPA|/aʊ̯/}} '''{{lang|ta|ஔ}}''', the latter of which is restricted to a few lexical items.

=== Phonotactics ===
Tamil has no [[consonant cluster]]s at the beginning of words  and the consonant clusters which do occur are: /mp/, /rt/, /ɳʈ/, /ŋk/, /ṇt/, /ll/, /ɭɭ/, /pp/, /cc/, /tt/, /kk/, /rr/, /ɾk/, /mm/, and /nn/.<ref name=":0" />

== Grammar ==<!---
NOTE:
Before editing this page for unicode errors please check your OS configuration for complex character support. You can check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:INDIC and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)
--->
{{Tamils}}
{{Dravidian}}
{{Listen
| type          = speech
| header        = Tamil tongue twisters.
| filename      = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி வாக்கியம் 7.ogg
| title         = ல-கரம், ழ-கரம்.
| description   = <small>'குலை குலையாய் வாழைப்பழம், மழையில் அழுகி கீழே விழுந்தது.'</small>
| filename2     = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி 2.ogg
| title2        = (பேச்சுத் தமிழில்)  ந-கரம், ட-கரம்.
| description2  =<small>கொக்கு நெட்ட கொக்கு. நெட்ட கொக்கு இட்ட முட்ட, கட்ட முட்ட.</small>
| filename3     = Tamil tongue twister.ogg
| title3        =  ழ-கரம்.
| description3  = <small>ஏழை கிழவன் வாழைப் பழத் தோல் மேல் சருசருக்கி வழுவழுக்கி கீழே விழுந்தான்.</small>
| filename4     = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி வாக்கியம் 10.ogg
| title4        = ல-கரம், ள-கரம்.
| description4  =<small>'அவள் அவலளந்தால், இவள் அவலளப்பாள். இவள் அவலளந்தால், அவள்  அவலளப்பாள். அவளும் இவளும் அவல் அளக்காவிட்டால்,  எவள் அவலளப்பாள் ?'</small>
}}

{{main|Tamil grammar}}

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]].<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}}'', ''{{IAST|col}}'', ''{{IAST|poruḷ}}'', ''{{IAST|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>

Tamil words consist of a [[lexeme|lexical root]] to which one or more [[affix]]es are attached. Most Tamil affixes are [[suffix]]es. Tamil suffixes can be [[Morphological derivation|derivational]] suffixes, which either change the part of speech of the word or its meaning, or [[inflection]]al suffixes, which mark categories such as [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical mood|mood]], [[Grammatical tense|tense]], etc. There is no absolute limit on the length and extent of [[agglutination]], which can lead to long words with many suffixes, which would require several words or a sentence in English. To give an example, the word ''pōkamuṭiyātavarkaḷukkāka'' (போகமுடியாதவர்களுக்காக) means "for the sake of those who cannot go" and consists of the following [[morpheme]]s:

{{fs interlinear|indent=2
|போக  முடி  ஆத்  அ  வர்  கள்  உக்கு  ஆக
|pōka  muṭi  āt  a  var  kaḷ  ukku  āka
|go accomplish {{gcl|NEG|negation}}.IMPRS PTCP {{gcl|NMLZ|nominalizer ("he/she who does")}} PL to for
|}}

=== Morphology ===

<!---
NOTE:
Before editing this page for unicode errors please check your OS configuration for complex character support. You can check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:INDIC and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)
--->

Tamil nouns (and pronouns) are classified into two super-classes (''{{IAST|tiṇai}}'')—the "rational" (''{{IAST|uyartiṇai}}''), and the "irrational" (''{{transliteration|ta|ISO|akṟiṇai}}'')—which include a total of five classes (''pāl'', which literally means "gender"). Humans and [[deity|deities]] are classified as "rational", and all other nouns (animals, objects, abstract nouns) are classified as irrational. The "rational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of three classes (''pāl'')—masculine singular, feminine singular, and rational plural. The "irrational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of two classes: irrational singular and irrational plural. The ''pāl'' is often indicated through suffixes. The plural form for rational nouns may be used as an [[honorific]], gender-neutral, singular form.<ref name="classes_of_nouns">{{Citation

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AfwCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Classes+of+nouns+in+Tamil%22&pg=RA1-PA156
| title = Classes of nouns in Tamil
| access-date =1 June 2007
| publisher = Trübner
| last1 = Caldwell | first1 = Robert
| year = 1875}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|-
|colspan="5" style="background: #f2f2f2;"  align="center"|'''peyarccol (Name-words)'''<ref name="classes_of_nouns2">{{citation
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AfwCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Classes+of+nouns+in+Tamil%22&pg=RA1-PA156
| title = Classes of nouns in Tamil
| access-date = 1 June 2007| last1 = Caldwell
| first1 = Robert
| year = 1875
}}</ref>
|-
|colspan="3" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''''uyartiṇai'''''<br />(rational)
|colspan="2" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''''aḵṟiṇai'''''<br />(irrational)
|-
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''āṇpāl''<br />Male
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''peṇpāl''<br />Female
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''palarpāl''<br />Collective
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''oṉṟaṉpāl''<br />One
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''palaviṉpāl''<br />Many
|-
|colspan="5" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''Example: the Tamil words for "doer"'''
|-
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavaṉ''<br />He who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavaḷ''<br />She who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavar(kaḷ)''<br />They who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytatu''<br />That which did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavai''<br />Those ones which did
|}

Suffixes are used to perform the functions of [[Grammatical case|cases]] or [[postposition]]s. Traditional grammarians tried to group the various suffixes into eight cases corresponding to the cases used in [[Sanskrit]]. These were the [[nominative case|nominative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[dative case|dative]], [[sociative case|sociative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], [[instrumental case|instrumental]], [[locative case|locative]], and [[ablative case|ablative]]. Modern grammarians argue that this classification is artificial,<ref name='CaseMarkerZvelebil'>{{citation|title=Dravidian Case-Suffixes: Attempt at a Reconstruction|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|date=April–June 1972|first=K. V.|last=Zvelebil|volume=92|issue=2|pages=272–276 |jstor=600654|quote=The entire problem of the concept of "case" in Dravidian will be ignored in this paper. In fact, we might posit a great number of "cases" for perhaps any Dravidian language once we departed from the familiar types of paradigms forced upon us by traditional, indigenous and European grammars, especially of the literary languages. It is, for instance, sheer convention based on Tamil grammatical tradition (influenced no doubt by Sanskrit) that, as a rule, the number of cases in Tamil is given as eight.|doi=10.2307/600654}}</ref> and that Tamil usage is best understood if each suffix or combination of suffixes is seen as marking a separate case.<ref name="Standard restandard" /> Tamil nouns can take one of four [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefixes]]: ''i'', ''a'', ''u'', and ''e'' which are functionally equivalent to the [[demonstrative]]s in English. For example, the word ''vazhi'' (வழி) meaning "way" can take these to produce ''ivvazhi'' (இவ்வழி) "this way", ''avvazhi'' (அவ்வழி) "that way", ''uvvazhi'' (உவ்வழி) "the medial way" (only used in [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Sri Lanka]]) and ''evvazhi'' (எவ்வழி) "which way".

Tamil verbs are also inflected through the use of suffixes. A typical Tamil verb form will have a number of [[suffix]]es, which show person, number, mood, tense, and voice.
* Person and number are indicated by suffixing the [[oblique case]] of the relevant pronoun. The suffixes to indicate tenses and voice are formed from [[grammatical particle]]s, which are added to the stem.
* Tamil has two voices. The first indicates that the subject of the sentence ''undergoes'' or ''is the object of'' the action named by the verb stem, and the second indicates that the subject of the sentence ''directs'' the action referred to by the verb stem.
* Tamil has three simple tenses—past, present, and future—indicated by the suffixes, as well as a series of perfects indicated by compound suffixes. Mood is implicit in Tamil, and is normally reflected by the same [[morpheme]]s which mark tense categories. Tamil verbs also mark [[evidentiality]], through the addition of the hearsay [[clitic]] ''{{IAST|ām}}.''<ref name="steeverevidentiality">{{Citation |first=Sanford B. |last=Steever | editor-last=Güldemann | editor-first=Tom | editor2-last=von Roncador | editor2-first=Manfred | contribution=Direct and indirect discourse in Tamil |title=Reported Discourse: A Meeting Ground for Different Linguistic Domains |year=2002 |page=105 | place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company   |isbn=978-90-272-2958-8}}</ref> Verb inflection is shown below using example ''aḻintukkoṇṭiruntēṉ''; (அழிந்துக்கொண்டிருந்தேன்); "(I) was being destroyed".

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|-
|align="center"|''அழி''
|align="center"|''ந்து''
|align="center"|''கொண்டு''
|align="center"|''இரு''
|align="center"|''ந்த்''
|align="center"|''ஏன்''
|-
|align="center"|''aḻi''
|align="center"|''ntu''
|align="center"|''koṇṭu''
|align="center"|''iru''
|align="center"|''nt''
|align="center"|''ēn''
|-
|align="center"|'''root'''<br />destroy
|align="center"|'''transitivity marker'''<br />intransitive
|align="center"|'''aspect marker'''<br />continuous
|align="center"|'''aspect marker'''<br />continuous
|align="center"|'''tense marker'''<br />past tense
|align="center"|'''person marker'''<br />first person,<br />singular
|-
|}

Traditional grammars of Tamil do not distinguish between [[adjective]]s and [[adverb]]s, including both of them under the category ''uriccol'', although modern grammarians tend to distinguish between them on morphological and syntactical grounds.<ref name="lehmann1989">{{Citation |last=Lehmann |first=Thomas |title=A Grammar of Modern Tamil |year=1989 |publisher=Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture |location=Pondicherry|pages= 9–11}}</ref> Tamil has many [[ideophone]]s that act as adverbs indicating the way the object in a given state "says" or "sounds".<ref>{{Citation |last=Swiderski |first = Richard M. |title=The metamorphosis of English: versions of other languages |publisher=Bergin & Garvey |location=New York |year=1996 |page=61 |isbn=978-0-89789-468-5 }}</ref>

Tamil does not have [[article (grammar)|articles]]. Definiteness and indefiniteness are either indicated by special grammatical devices, such as using the number "one" as an indefinite article, or by the context.<ref name="steeversummary">{{Harvnb|Annamalai|Steever|1998|p=109}}</ref> In the first person plural, Tamil makes a distinction between [[Clusivity|inclusive]] pronouns {{lang|ta|நாம்}} ''{{IAST|nām}}'' (we), {{lang|ta|நம்}} ''{{IAST|nam}}'' (our) that include the addressee, and exclusive pronouns {{lang|ta|நாங்கள்}} ''{{IAST|nāṅkaḷ}}'' (we), {{lang|ta|எங்கள்}} ''{{IAST|eṅkaḷ}}'' (our) that do not.<ref name="steeversummary"/>

=== Syntax ===
Tamil is a consistently [[head-final]] language. The verb comes at the end of the clause, with a typical word order of [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV).<ref name="SOV_language">{{Citation|url=http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/lx001/Discussion/d02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030919235821/http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/lx001/Discussion/d02.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 September 2003 |title=Tamil is a head-final language |access-date=1 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_tml |title=WALS – Tamil |publisher=Wals.info |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> However, word order in Tamil is also flexible, so that surface permutations of the SOV order are possible with different [[pragmatics|pragmatic]] effects. Tamil has [[postposition]]s rather than [[prepositions]]. Demonstratives and modifiers precede the noun within the noun phrase. Subordinate clauses precede the verb of the matrix clause.

Tamil is a [[null-subject language]]. Not all Tamil sentences have subjects, verbs, and objects. It is possible to construct grammatically valid and meaningful sentences which lack one or more of the three. For example, a sentence may only have a verb—such as ''{{IAST|muṭintuviṭṭatu}}'' ("completed")—or only a subject and object, without a verb such as ''{{IAST|atu eṉ vīṭu}}'' ("That [is] my house"). Tamil does not have a [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] (a linking verb equivalent to the word ''is''). The word is included in the translations only to convey the meaning more easily.

== Vocabulary ==
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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. | s2cid = 145729544}}</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 [[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]], 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 effect 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]], [[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 ''{{transliteration|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. | s2cid = 162469583}}</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>

In the 20th century, institutions and learned bodies have, with government support, generated technical dictionaries for Tamil containing [[neologism]]s and words derived from Tamil roots to replace loan words from English and other languages.<ref name="thaniththamizh" /> {{as of|2019|post=,}} the language had a listed vocabulary of over 470,000 unique words, including those from old literary sources. In November 2019, the state government issued an order to add 9,000 new words to the vocabulary.<ref>{{cite news
| title = By govt. order: 9,000 words to enter Tamil vocabulary 
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location = Chennai
| pages = 2
| publisher = Kasturi & Sons
| date = 9 November 2019
| url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-to-get-9000-new-words/article29919044.ece
| access-date = 29 December 2019}}</ref>

== Influence ==
{{Main|Tamil loanwords in other languages}}

Words of Tamil origin occur in other languages. For example, scholars trace the origin of the word 'rice' in English and other European languages to Tamil ''arici'' / அரிசி, through loans from 400 BCE Tamil to Hebrew and ultimately to Greek ''óruza'' / όρυζα.<ref name=Rabin436> Rabin, C. ''Proceedings of the Second International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies'', p. 436</ref> Another 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 {{transliteration|ta|ISO|nārttaṅkāy}} 'fragrant fruit'. One suggestion as to the origin of the word ''anaconda'' is the Tamil {{transliteration|ta|ISO|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'' ({{transliteration|ta|ISO|curuṭṭu}} 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 {{transliteration|ta|ISO|māṅgāy}}),<ref name="OED"/> ''mulligatawny'' (from {{transliteration|ta|ISO|miḷaku taṇṇīr}} 'pepper water'), ''pariah'' (from {{transliteration|ta|ISO|paṟaiyar}}), ''curry'' (from {{transliteration|ta|ISO|kaṟi}}),<ref name="oed-curry">"curry, n.<sup>2</sup>", ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 14 August 2009</ref> ''catamaran'' (from {{transliteration|ta|ISO|kaṭṭu maram}} 'bundled logs'),<ref name="OED"/> and ''congee'' (from {{transliteration|ta|ISO|kañji}} 'rice porridge' or 'gruel').<ref>{{citation|title=congee|url=http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/mwc/12703/congee|website=academic.ru}}</ref>

== Sample text ==
The following is a sample text in literary Tamil of Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]. The first line is the [[Tamil script]]; the second is romanized Tamil; the third is the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]; the fourth is the gloss.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ta|indent=2|italics3=yes
|'''உறுப்புரை''' '''1:''' மனிதப் பிறவியினர் சகலரும் சுதந்திரமாகவே பிறக்கின்றனர்; அவர்கள் மதிப்பிலும், உரிமைகளிலும் சமமானவர்கள், அவர்கள் நியாயத்தையும் மனசாட்சியையும் இயற்பண்பாகப் பெற்றவர்கள். அவர்கள் ஒருவருடனொருவர் சகோதர உணர்வுப் பாங்கில் நடந்துகொள்ளல் வேண்டும்.
|'''Uṟuppurai''' '''1:''' Maṉitap piṟaviyiṉar cakalarum cutantiramākavē piṟakkiṉṟaṉar; avarkaḷ matippilum, urimaikaḷilum camamāṉavarkaḷ, avarkaḷ niyāyattaiyum maṉaccāṭciyaiyum iyaṟpaṇpākap peṟṟavarkaḷ. Avarkaḷ oruvaruṭaṉoruvar cakōtara uṇarvup pāṅkil naṭantukoḷḷal vēṇṭum.
|'''urupːurai''' '''ond̺rʉ'''  mənid̪ə piriʋijinər səgələrum sud̪ən̪d̪irəmaːgəʋeː pirəkːin̺d̺ranər  əvərgəɭ məd̪ipːilum uriməigəɭilum səməmaːnəʋərgəɭ  əvərgəɭ nijaːjatːəijum mənətt͡ʃaːʈt͡ʃijəijum ijərpəɳbaːgə pet̺rəʋərgəɭ  əvərgəɭ oruʋəruɖənoruʋər sagoːdəɾə uɳərʋɨ paːŋgil nəɖən̪d̪ʉkoɭɭəl veːɳɖum
|'''Section''' '''1:''' Human beings all-of-them freely {are born}. They rights-in-and dignities-in-and equal-ones. They law-and conscience-and intrinsically possessed-ones. They among-one-another brotherly feeling spirit-in act must.
|'''Article 1:''' All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They possess conscience and reason. Therefore, everyone should act in a spirit of brotherhood towards each other.}}

== See also ==
* [[List of countries where Tamil is an official language]]
* [[List of languages by first written accounts]]
* [[Tamil keyboard]]
* [[Tamil population by cities]]
* [[Tamil population by nation]]
* [[Tamil Loanwords in other languages]]
* [[Tamil Shorthand]]
* [[Geolinguistics]]
* [[Language geography]]

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Citation |last=Andronov |first=M.S. |title=Dravidian Languages |publisher=Nauka Publishing House |year=1970}}
* {{Citation | last1=Annamalai | first1=E. | last2=Steever | first2=S.B. | contribution=Modern Tamil | editor-last=Steever | editor-first=Sanford | title=The Dravidian Languages | publisher=Routledge | year=1998 | place=London | isbn=978-0-415-10023-6 | pages=100–128}}
* {{Citation |last=Caldwell|first= Robert|year= 1974|orig-date=1856|isbn=8170690382|title=[[A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages]]|place= New Delhi|publisher= Oriental Books Reprint Corp.}}
* {{Citation | last=Hart | first=George L. | title=The poems of ancient Tamil : their milieu and their Sanskrit counterparts | publisher=University of California Press | place=Berkeley | year=1975 | isbn=978-0-520-02672-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/poemsofancientta00hart }}
* {{Citation |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | series = Cambridge Language Surveys |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-521-77111-5 }}
* {{Citation | last1=Kesavapany | first1=K. | last2=Mani | first2=A | last3=Ramasamy | first3=Palanisamy | title=Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia | year=2008 | place=Singapore | publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies | isbn=978-981-230-799-6}}
* {{Citation | doi = 10.1007/BF00162818| title = Two problems of old Tamil phonology I. The old Tamil āytam (with an appendix by K. Zvelebil)| journal = Indo-Iranian Journal| volume = 2| issue = 3| pages = 191–224| year = 1958| last1 = Kuiper | first1 = F. B. J.| doi-broken-date = 12 July 2025| s2cid = 161402102}}
* {{Citation | last=Lehmann | first=Thomas | contribution=Old Tamil | editor-last=Steever | editor-first=Sanford | title=The Dravidian Languages | publisher=Routledge | year=1998 | place=London | isbn=978-0-415-10023-6 |  pages=75–99}}
* {{Citation | last=Mahadevan | first=Iravatham | author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan | title=Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D | series=[[Harvard Oriental Series]] vol. 62 | year=2003 | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-01227-1}}
* {{Citation |last=Meenakshisundaran |first=T.P. |title=A History of Tamil Language |publisher=Deccan College | place=Poona |oclc=246076230|year=1965}}
* {{Citation | last1=Murthy | first1=Srinivasa| last2=Rao | first2=Surendra |last3=Veluthat |first3=Kesavan |last4=Bari |first4=S.A. | year=1990 | title=Essays on Indian History and culture: Felicitation volume in Honour of Professor B. Sheik Ali | publisher=Mittal | place=New Delhi | isbn=978-81-7099-211-0}}
* {{Citation | last=Ramstedt | first=Martin | year=2004 | title=Hinduism in modern Indonesia | publisher=Routledge | place=London | isbn=978-0-7007-1533-6}}
* {{Citation | last=Rajam | first=VS | title=A Reference Grammar of Classical Tamil Poetry | year=1992 | place=Philadelphia | publisher=The American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-199-6}}
* {{Citation | last = Ramaswamy | first = Sumathy | title = Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 | url = http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5199n9v7/ | year = 1997 | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | chapter = Laboring for language | chapter-url = http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft5199n9v7&chunk.id=ch4 | isbn = 978-0-585-10600-7}}
* {{Citation | last1=Shapiro | first1=Michael C. | last2=Schiffman | first2=Harold F. | title=Language and society in South Asia | publisher=Foris | year=1983 | place=Dordrecht | isbn=978-90-70176-55-6}}
* {{Citation | last=Schiffman | first=Harold F. | title=A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1999 | place=Cambridge | isbn=978-0-521-64074-9 | url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/tamilweb/book.html }}
* {{Citation | last=Southworth | first=Franklin C. | title=On the Origin of the word tamiz | year=1998 | journal=[[International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics]] | volume=27 | issue=1 | pages=129–132}}
* {{Citation | last=Southworth | first=Franklin C. | title=Linguistic archaeology of South Asia |  publisher=Routledge | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-415-33323-8}}
* {{Citation | last=Steever | first=Sanford | contribution=Introduction | editor-last=Steever | editor-first=Sanford | title=The Dravidian Languages | publisher=Routledge | year=1998 | place=London | isbn=978-0-415-10023-6 | pages=1–39}}
* {{Citation | last=Steever | first=Sanford | title=The Tamil auxiliary verb system | publisher=Routledge | place=London | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-415-34672-6}}
* {{Citation | editor1-last=Tharu | editor1-first=Susie | editor2-last=Lalita | editor2-first=K. | title=Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the present – Vol. 1: 600 B.C. to the early twentieth century | publisher=Feminist Press | year=1991 | isbn=978-1-55861-027-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/womenwritinginin00thar }}
* {{Citation | last=Talbot | first=Cynthia | title= Precolonial India in practice: Society, Region and Identity in Medieval Andhra | place=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-19-513661-6}}
* {{Citation | last=Tieken | first=Herman | title=Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam Poetry | series=Gonda Indological Studies, Volume X | place=Groningen | publisher=Egbert Forsten Publishing | year=2001 | isbn=978-90-6980-134-6}}
* {{Citation | last=Varadarajan | first=Mu. | title=A History of Tamil Literature | publisher=Sahitya Akademi | place=New Delhi | year=1988|translator=E.Sa. Viswanathan|oclc=20170197}}
* {{Citation | last=Zvelebil | first=Kamil | title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature | publisher=Brill | place=Leiden | year=1992 | isbn=978-90-04-09365-2 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Johann Philipp Fabricius|Fabricius, Johann Philip]] (1933 and 1972), [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/fabricius/ ''Tamil and English Dictionary'']. based on J.P. Fabricius ''Malabar-English Dictionary'', 3rd and 4th Edition Revised and Enlarged by David Bexell. Evangelical Lutheran Mission Publishing House, Tranquebar; called Tranquebar Dictionary.
* {{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 |s2cid=162294036 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Citation |last=Keane |first=Elinor |year=2004 |title=Tamil |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=111–116 |doi=10.1017/S0025100304001549|doi-access=free }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=ta}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tamil-language Tamil language] at ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
* [https://tamilnation.org/literature/index.htm Tamil language and literature]
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Category:Tamil language|Tamil language}}
* {{Wikibooks inline|links=Tamil language}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Tamil|Tamil language}}

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