Tamil language

Tamil:

 These sent to Beta Analytic in Miami, Florida for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating. Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent of Deccan. Some of these urns contained writing in Tamil Brahmi script, and some contained skeletons of Tamil origin.

Between 2017 and 2018, 5,820 artifacts have been found in Keezhadi. One sample containing Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions was claimed to be dated to around 580 BC.

Legend:

Explanation for Mangalam Tamil Brahmi inscription in Mangalam, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, dated to Tamil Sangam period (c. Even though the name of the language which was developed by these Tamil Sangam's 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. 

Tamil Brahmi script in the reverse side of the bilingual silver coin of king Vashisht Putra Satakirti (c. 400 BC to c. Murugan, revered as the Tamil God, along with sage Agastya, brought it to the people.

Etymology:

The earliest extant Tamil literary works and their commentaries celebrate the Pandiyan Kings for the organization of long-termed Tamil Sangam's, which researched, developed and made amendments in Tamil language. Alternatively, he suggests a derivation of Tamil < tam-iḻ < *tav-iḻ < *tak-iḻ, meaning in origin "the proper process (of speaking)". However, this is deemed unlikely by Southworth due to the contemporary use of the compound 'centamiḻ', which means refined speech in the earliest literature.

The Tamil Lexicon of University of Madras defines the word "Tamil" as "sweetness". It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family that, alongside Tamil proper, includes the languages of about 35 ethno-linguistic groups such as the Irula and Yerukola languages (see SIL Ethnologies).

The closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam; the two began diverging around the 9th century AD. Although many of the differences between Tamil and Malayalam demonstrate a pre-historic split of the western dialect, the process of separation into a distinct language, Malayalam, was not completed until sometime in the 13th or 14th century.

History:

Findings from Anichamalar in the Government Museum, Chennai

Keezhadi excavation site

Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, ultimately descends from the Proto-Dravidian language, which was most likely spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari River basin. Rev: Ujjain/Sattvavahana symbol, Crescente six-arch chaitya hill and river with Tamil Brahmi script Obj: Bust of king; Prakrit legend in the Brahmi script

According to Hindu legend, Tamil or in personification form Tamil Thāi (Mother Tamil) was created by Lord Shiva. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the culture associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India.

Among Indian languages, Tamil has the most ancient non-Sanskritic Indian literature.[35] Scholar's categories the attested history of the language into three periods: Old Tamil (600 BC–AD 700), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).[36] In November 2007, an excavation at Quseir-al-Qadim revealed Egyptian pottery dating back to first century BC with ancient Tamil Brahmi inscriptions. There are a number of apparent Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew dating to before 500 BC, the oldest attestation of the language. John Guy states that Tamil was the lingua franca for early maritime traders from India.

In 2004, a number of skeletons were found buried in earthenware urns in Anichamalar. The earliest attested use of the name is found in Thilliampalam, which is dated as early as late 2nd century B. The Hachiuma inscription, inscribed around a similar time period (150 BCE), by Khara vela, the Jain king of Kalinga, also refers to a Tamira Samhita (Tamil confederacy) 

The Sabanayagam Sutra dated to the 3rd century BC contains a reference to a Tamil script named 'Tamili'.

Southworth suggests that the name comes from tam-miḻ > tam-iḻ "self-speak", or "our own speech". Kamil Velebit suggests an etymology of tam-iḻ, with tam meaning "self" or "oneself", and "-iḻ" having the connotation of "unfolding sound". In the early 21st century more than 66 million people were Tamil speakers.

The earliest Tamil writing is attested in inscriptions and potsherds from the 5th century BCE. The major addition to the alphabet was the incorporation of Granthi letters to write unassimilated Sanskrit words, although a few letters with irregular shapes were standardized during the modern period. Tamil language, member of the Dravidian language family, spoken primarily in India. Three periods have been distinguished through analyses of grammatical and lexical changes: Old Tamil (from about 450 BCE to 700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600), and Modern Tamil (from 1600). A script known as Vattikuti (“Round Script”) is also in common use. It is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry). The Tamil writing system evolved from the Brahmi script. In 2004 Tamil was declared a classical language of India, meaning that it met three criteria: its origins are ancient; it has an independent tradition; and it possesses a considerable body of ancient literature. The shape of the letters changed enormously over time, eventually stabilizing when printing was introduced in the 16th century CE. It is also an official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore and has significant numbers of speakers in Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji, and South Africa.