On Languages - Guest Post

This is a guest post. My name is Arun Dilipan, and i am the grandson of Mr. Partha Krish, and this is an essay that I have written, proving that Tamil is a language isolate, which defies what many people say...

Tamil is NOT LIKE Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada. It is a language isolate, and here are valid reasons why. First off, this “Proto-Dravidian” language is just a proposal, and if such a language existed, the information would have been easily passed down from generation to generation. Next, most “Dravidian” languages have been heavily corrupted by Sanskrit words, or Indo-Aryan words. Tamil, however, still retains its pure vocabulary. The word पुश्पा has been found in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and even Tamil, but there is a word that replaces it. The word மலர் can be used in its place. Likewise, very few words from Sanskrit are ever needed in Tamil. Next, the definition of a language isolate is “a natural language that has no genealogical connections with other languages, that is, a language that has no common ancestors with any other languages”. Tamil fits that description due to its age, and due to the fact that it has no ancestry. It is the first spoken/written language of the world and it was created in the Stone Age. Tamil is the mother of Malayalam, whose vocabulary is heavily derived from the Indo-Aryan side. Only the script which derived from Grantha, who derived from the Tamil script, was adopted in Malayalam. Telugu is the step-daughter of Tamil, with its vocabulary even more heavily based than Malayalam and Kannada on Sanskrit. These three languages are much closer to Sanskrit than their mother, Tamil. Tamil IS a Dravidian language, but is the only pure one. Another reason Tamil is a language isolate is because of its alphabet. Tamil has TWO unique symbols, the letters, ழ் and ஃ. The first symbol is only found in two languages, Tamil and Malayalam. However in Malayalam, its use is not nearly as abundant as Tamil’s use for it. For example, the word கழுதை, meaning donkey, is not found in the Malayalam language. Also, the letter ஃ is only found in Tamil, and it is the most peculiar letter of the language, as when is combined with the letter க like in the word எஃகு, it creates an “h” sound, with a VERY faint glottal sound. However, in Modern Tamil, its use for words like எஃகு is rare, but it is still used in Tamil like this. These two letters are what makes Tamil’s alphabet unique. Another point that makes Tamil’s alphabet unique, is that it counts a total of 247 letters. There are 12 vowels called உயிர் எழுத்துக்கள் or life letters, and 18 consonants called மெய் எழுத்துக்கள், or body letters. The idea of combining the vowels and consonants creates உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துக்கள், or living-body letters, which make up the 216 letters. This interestingly parallels the spiritual world. Since the vowels are likened to the souls and the consonants are likened to the bodies, combining of consonants and vowels allude to infusing life into a dead body, thus creating a living body which represents the உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துக்கள் of Tamil. And finally, the unique letter of Tamil, ஃ (ஆய்த எழுத்து) added to the list makes 247. This spiritual concept is unique to Tamil unlike other languages. Another point about the alphabet is that the voiced and unvoiced sounds are represented by the same letter. The sounds of “p” and “b” are represented by ப், “t” and “d” represented by ட், and so on. In Malayalam and other “Dravidian” languages, they have a separate letter for each voiced and unvoiced letter, just like that of Sanskrit, and they have the pronunciation unique to each specific letter. Tamil however, does not have as many consonants as the other languages, therefore . Another point in case is the letter உ. In Classical Tamil, it is pronounced as the “ou” in the word you. However, in Modern Tamil and Colloquial Tamil, உ is pronounced like UGH, what is that? Malayalam still retains Sanskrit’s pronunciation, like Telugu and Kannada, with the ōō (as in blue) pronunciation.

Like I said several times earlier, the point I am trying to prove here is that many people assume that Tamil is very much like Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, etc. However, it is not like the other languages, and therefore deserves to be a language isolate. Thank you for having the time to read this essay.