4 Amazing Facts About The Tamil Language We Bet You Didn’t Know About
Unknown Facts About The Tamil Language
Tamil is an interesting language to learn. Apart from being an interesting language, there are some amazing facts about Tamil which would be mind-boggling for you. Here are some Tamil facts that will make you want to learn Tamil.
The Classical Language Status
Tamil is one of the oldest surviving languages in the world. It is a Dravidian language spoken in Tamil Nadu, India, and in many countries of the world such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. It has officially acquired the classical language status in October 2004 by the government of India. It is the first language to acquire the status in Indian history. Tamil also stands as one of the seven classical languages of the world along with Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Chinese, and Arabic.
The Dravidian Language Family
Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. 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. The other major languages of the Dravidian family include Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu.
Tamil-Speaking Countries
Tamil speaking population is found in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Many in Réunion, Guyana, Fiji, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago have Tamil origins. If you are interested to visit any of these countries, then learning Tamil might come in handy!
The Beautiful “Zha” in Tamil
Do you know that Tamil is not “Tamil” but “Tamizh”? There are three different letters of “la” in Tamil, and each of them has a significant different pronunciation. Amongst them, “zha” stands as the most special one. This is because Tamil is the only language to have a letter with such a pronunciation. It is pronounced by rolling the tongue upwards and giving a forceful push to the upper jaw. This “zha” comes across as one of the most amazing facts about the Tamil language.
Thus, learn Tamil online to explore the interesting facts about Tamil culture and amazing facts about the Tamil language. Make learning Tamil fun and easy with Language Curry. Download the app now!
