- TAMIL is one of the ancient languages of the world.
- It is in the same league as Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Chinese.
- Of these six languages Sanskrit and Latin are not spoken anymore.
- Some of the Tamil literature is more than 2000 years old.
- Tamil has been declared a 'Classical Language' by the Government of India.
All these sound great.
But I have some thoughts about Tamil:
Spoken tamil doesn't have equivalent alphabets. For example even if we take the pure tamil words like say 'Edhiri' as in Enemy , In written tamil it would sound like 'ETHIRI'. In spoken tamil the 'TH' becomes 'DH'. The same problem arises with several words.
Some more examples ( These are pure tamil words):
- Karuna nidhi - No alphabet for DH sound.
- Kamban - No alphabet for BA sound.
- Inbam - Just like above.
- Ahdai ( Clothes) - No alphabet for DA.
I can go on and on.!
Now, If you take the other Indian Languages they have different alphabets to represent different sounds. One reason could be that all these languages came after Tamil.
Why did the creators of the Tamil Language not have proper representation in the alphabets, based on the sounds? Could it be that the words we use in tamil now ( thinking it is pure) really didn't exist in the ancient tamil dictionaries? Might be..! I don't know.
My Questions to you - Would it be a good idea to modernize tamil ? Wouldn't it be useful ?
19 comments:
Nalla sindhanai.
enakku therindha varayil tamil ucharippu eluthukalai otti amayadho endru thonugiradhu, adhavudhu konjam aangilam pola. Ucharippu enbadhu palakkathal mattume varugiradhu.
udharantirkku naam 'yellow' nirathai manjal engirom. aanal thooya thamil'il 'ja' eluthu kidayadhu....eludhum podhu 'ma ng sal' endru eludhugirom. aaga sila sathangalukku eluthu illadha podhum, avai payan padutha padugindrana.
Enakku idhai patri urudhiaga theriyadhu.....en sondha karuthukkal avvalave.
Aanal matra moli vaarthaigali tamil'il eludha innum sila eluthukkalai uruvakka vendum endre thonugiradhu.udharanthirkku.
Za,Xa,Ba,Cha,Ga.....
Appadi naam uruvaakinalum avai kandipaga matra moli vaarthaigalai thamil'il eludhum podhu mattume payan padutha padal vendum.
1. Yaam arinda mozhigalile
Thamizh mozhi pol
Inidaanadengum kaanom
Inidaanadengum kaanom - Bharati.
2. Amudhe Thamizhe Azhagiya Mozhiye
Enaduyire
Kuzhalisai tharum thamizh paa
Urugum kavithaigal thaa
Thamizhe naalum nee paadu.
3. Tamizhukkum amudhendru peyar
Anbu thamizh Inba thamizh engal uyirukku ner, uyirukku ner.
Sanskrit by the way is not dead, at least not yet :-)
It is still being spoken in a village in Karnataka. You may have read about it. The news came out a couple of years ago.
You are right. It is always good for a language to move with the times than be rigid. That is the only way it can survive.
It sure does help when we modernize Tamizh...yeah thennavan is rite....Sanskrit is still spoken in a village in Karnataka...
"Tamizhukkum amudhu endru peyar.."
ahha enna oru nalla vakkiyam....kekkuradhuke evlo edhama iruku ....
idhu inum namma future generations ku pass ahanumna Tamizh evolve ayitte than irukanum...."survival of the fittest" policy than!!!!
Yea Narayanan, think Tamizh's gotta evolve with the chaging times and technology.
Thrivallur enna sollitu poi irrukaaru? :)
Hi Narayanan,
I have being going thru your blog for quiet sometime. Nice thoughts, movie reviews and excellent way of putting things. I was introduced by PVS, who is a close friend of mine. I live in Southeren CA . We lived almost 2 years in the East bay and have never been to the Mystery spot. Never gave a thought to it, but after reading your blog about the Mystery Spot, i now know what i missed.
Great writing and do keep writing.
Thanks
AF
pavam saar un-ga tamizh teacher lam evalo kelvi keturipenga :)
In Tamil, the pronounciation of some of the letters is contextual.
The same letter "Pa" is used in Pallavan and Inbam, but when we pronounce we say as Inbam and not as Inpam. IMO if we were to introduce some of the letters suggested by you, Tamil might become a harsher language that it is now.
When 2 Tam's meet, more often than not, we end up talking in English as it is more fashionable. It is not too common to find such instances among people from other states. I have had neighbours in Chennai who didn't even study Tamil in school (inspite of it being their mother tongue). Although they can converse in Tamil, they can hardly read or write in Tamil. This disregard for one's own mother tongue is quite disturbing. I'm not suggesting that the govt. should make Tamil compulsory in schools.
Having stayed in S'pore for the last 2 years I'm in awe of the respect the locals have for Tamil. When they speak in Tamil they don't mix English. When they speak in English they don't mix Tamil. You can observe the same among the Srilankan Tamils also.
If you have the time do listen to Singapore Oli FM at www.oli.com.sg and you can get a firsthand view of what I'm talking about. When I switch on SUN TV, I feel quite irritated as they use lot of English words (even in the news).
To sum up, first let's speak in pure Tamil. We can think of refinement at a later stage.
BTW I'm not related to Dr. Ramadoss
Modernise Thamizh-a? Ramadas-ku theriyuma indha blog pathi?! :)
If u keep modernizing it, it will lose its originality. What we speak now will be different from what the future gen will speak. Then, they will change it again. It might finally end up as a new language altogether.
Suresh,
Innum sila ezhuthukkalai uruvakkinal nalladhu enbadhu en ennamum koodathan. Nandri.
Thennavan,
Good to know that Sanskrit is being spoken. It is news to me.
IBH - You used the right word 'evolve'. I think we have to do it. In fact I am going to get in touch with Adaengappa to see if we can form some sample word.! Idhu Eppidi irukku.!
Muthu - You are right. But Thiruvalluvar enna sonnar? theriyalayae.?
Venkat - Good thoughts. I opted French in my PUC so that I can get good marks. People were scared ( not sure now) to even have Tamil as second language ( 1 paper) in college, for the fear of failing. Where is the passion then.!!
I remember my tamil teachers in school. Very passionate. I was too...but lost it from my PUC days.
Tamil has to be modernized and I wish people like T.valavan, Ramadoss..etc..can contribute to these causes rather than fighting about tamil films.!
Me - I had a wonderful tamil teacher. True...I got a lot of marks in my SSLC in tamil. I was really passionate...but like you said..had a lot of questions.!
AF - Thanks for stopping by and thanks to PVS for guiding you here. I am honored by your comments. FYI - I am going to write about another place in S.California soon. You'll be surprised. ( I am surprised).
Kaps - IMHO Tamil has to evolve, we can't have words like EDHIRI and not have alphabets to represent it. Comeon ...this has been going on for how many years now.? Look at Hindi - They have alphabets to represent most sounds? You think it is harsh? Knowing to read or write tamil is different. Its a cycle - wait and watch. It will revive soon. One of the factors would be to modernize it. If English can handle stuff in 26 alphabets.!! why not modernize tamil.!!
Thanks for the oli FM linnk. Infact I enjoy listening to it.
Oops, I thought you are related to Ramadoss.!! :)
Praveen - Enna achu..dhideernu thalaivar photo.! I hope Ramadoss takes these issues rather than fighting for trivial things.!!!
Arun,
Interesting, I didn't think about the Musical aspect. Do you listen to Ghazals?
Freeyavedu, No drastic changes, incorporate alphabets to match sounds. Is it too much? Will that affect?
Venkat - Cannot..!!
Grammar - I think its gone.!!
I agree, with you arun. Songs are different. I am talking only about regular talking tamil
i just chance upon this site.I am interested the difference betw tamil and srilankan tamil.There are alot of words used that differs.
First Indian Language electronic datasheet website. After Chinese, Japanese and Korean, it is now Tamil to have translated datasheets.
www.tamildata.co.cc
(TAMIL DATASHEETS)
தமிழ் தரவுத்தாள் தளம்
I agree about Tamil language ....Tamil alphabets 1 is one of the best i Phone app. Its very useful for all the age groups to learn Tamil in an easy way.. so its easy learn in Tamil language in few days
In tamil literature, there is a sound format for tamil letters. In english language some letters or words have the same spelling but different meaning that is according to the sentences. Tamil apps helps to learn tamil language letters as well as tamil alphabets. Tamil language only have the sound system for tamil words and it shows more rhythmical.
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