Brahmin Tamil
Brahmin Tamil is the name of a dialect of Tamil traditionally spoken by Tamil Brahmins. The dialect, largely, uses Classical Tamil along with a heavy proportion of Sanskrit derivatives.[1][2][3]
History
During the early 1900s, Brahmin Tamil was used as the lingua-franca for inter-caste communication. Brahmin Tamil, has however, continued to flourish among the Brahmin community including the expatriates. Often non-Brahmins use this dialect in soaps and films for comic effect while engaging with Brahmins conversationally. And Brahmins effortlessly code switch by speaking the standard Tamil while engaging with non-Brahmins and revert to Brahmin Tamil when conversing among themselves.
The first systematic study of Brahmin Tamil was undertaken by
Variations
There are many forms of Brahmin Tamil spoken. Brahmin Tamil, in general, is less influenced by regional dialects than the dialects used by other Tamil communities.[8] The two main regional variations are the Thanjavur and Palakkad sub-dialects. Other sub-dialects include Ashtagrama Iyer Tamil, Mysore Vadama Iyer Tamil, Mandyam Tamil and Hebbar Tamil.
The differences between Thanjavur and Palakkad sub-dialects are:
- In the words ending in m and n preceded by a style, the nasal stops in these cases are always pronounced.
- The accent, style and vocabulary of Tamil used by Tamil Brahmins from Palakkad is greatly influenced by Malayalam apart from Sanskrit, while the sub-dialects used in Tamil Nadu borrow only from Sanskrit.
The Iyengars, particularly those outside Tamil Nadu, speak a dialect retaining ancient lexicon from religious texts such as the Naalayira Divya Prabandham.
Differences with standard Tamil
Vocabulary
Brahmin Tamil varies slightly several standard Tamil. It retains minor adaptations of classical Tamil (Sentamil) words that are no longer in common usage. For instance, ām, a Brahmin Tamil word for "house", is derived from the classical Tamil word agam. It also notably incorporates a plethora of Sanskrit words. This may be observed in the etymology of several words in the Brahmin Tamil lexicon such as namaskaram (greeting), tirtham (water), and bhakshanam (food offering). There are also unique words in the dialect for signifying time, such as kartala to indicate morning. While non-Brahmin Tamils generally tend to use Sanskrit derivatives in their Prakrit form, Brahmins tend to use original Sanskrit. According to Bright and Ramanujan (1964),
It is the Brahmin dialect which has innovated by introducing the loan words. Brahmin Tamil frequently preserves non-native phonology, which non-Brahmin Tamil assimilates to native pattern[3]
Brahmin Tamil | Standard Tamil | English | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Avāl, Avā | Avargal | they | Probably derived from 'Avarhal' where the r & h are silent. Alternatively derived from the Telugu word Vālu meaning "person"[9] |
Ivāl, Ivā | Ivargal | these people | |
Ām/Aathu | Veedu | house | Derived from Old Tamil Agam (with the g pronounced more like silent 'h' -- 'a(h)am') [7][10] |
Tirtham, Jalam | Taṇṇīr | water | Thūtham is largely used in the Thanjavur sub-dialect and is derived from the Sanskrit Tīrtham. Iyengars, however, use the Sanskrit original.[7][11] |
Sittha | Konjam | some | Probably derived from Tamil Sattru meaning "a little." |
Manni | Anni | elder brother's wife[12] | Derived from "Maru-annai" meaning "another mom" |
Athimbēr | Athai kozhunan | paternal aunt's husband | Derived from 'Ahathin Anbar' |
Kshēmam/Sowkyam | Nalam | goodness (esp. with regard to health) | Derived from Sanskrit |
Ṉōkku | Unakku | For you | Developed from Unakku[13] |
Ṉēkku | Enakku | For me | Developed from Enakku[13] |
Vāṅgō | Vāruṅgal (Literary), Vāṅga (Spoken) | Come[7] | |
Pōṅgō | Pōkuṅgal (Literary), Pōṅga (Spoken) | Go[7] | |
Aatukaran | Vītukkāran | Husband | Derived from Agam-udayān (house-holder)[10] |
The Ramanujan-Bright hypothesis which examined Brahmin Tamil in detail concluded -
In general, the Brahmin dialect seems to show great innovation on the more conscious levels of linguistic change – those of borrowing and semantic extension—while the non-Brahmin dialect shows greater innovation in less conscious type of change—those involving phonemic and morphological replacements[3]
Bright attributes these changes to the comparatively high literacy rate of the Brahmin community.
A possible hypothesis is that literacy, most common among Brahmins has acted as a brake on change in their dialects-that the ‘frozen’ phonology and grammar of the literary language have served to retard change in Brahmin speech[3]
- Nicknames
There are also a few nicknames and sobriquets used in Brahmin Tamil alone.
Nickname | Source | Meaning | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
Ammānji | Name for mother's brother's child (a cousin) | ||
Pillaiyāndān | Pillai and Āndavan | Used to denote a dear child[14] |
Structure and pronunciation
As in standard spoken Tamil, the temporal verbal participles (as in -ccē/-sē from 'samayam' (time)) in Brahmin Tamil, have been borrowed from relative participle constructions on the model varaccē < varuxiṟa samayam ('while coming') and pōxasē < pōxiṟa samayam ('while going').
Usage
Though mainly used by Tamil Brahmins, the Brahmin dialect is also used occasionally, and to a lesser extent, by other forward caste Tamils such as Vellalars and Mudaliyars.[3] Until the rise of Anti-Brahminism, the usage of Brahmin Tamil was favoured as the common Tamil dialect[3] In the early decades of the 20th century, the Brahmin Tamil variant spoken in Madras city was considered to be standard spoken Tamil.[5][7] However, since the 1950s and the gradual elimination of Sanskrit loan words from the spoken tongue, Brahmin Tamil has fallen into disuse and has been replaced by the Central and Madurai Tamil dialects, by non Brahmin communities, as the preferred spoken dialects for day-to-day use.[4]
The Vaishnavite
The difference between the Smartha and Sri Vaishnava variants are currently limited to vocabulary, particularly to words related to ritual and familial ties, alone.[18]
Smartha Brahmin Variant | Sri Vaishnava Variant | English meaning |
---|---|---|
Rasam | Sattru amudu | Rasam.[18] Literally means the stew that is used to mix with rice. |
Chithappa | Chithiya | Father's younger brother (colloquial)[18] |
Abhishekham | Thirumanjanam | Bath of temple idols in a ceremonial way.[18] |
Payasam | Thirukanan amudhu | Sweet Porridge |
Samayal | Thaligai | Cooking |
Adukull | Thirumadapalli / Thaligai panra ull | Kitchen. Under Sri Vaishnava variant, the first one is to refer kitchen in temples, while the second one is used to refer kitchen in houses. |
Kari | Kari amudhu | Vegetable Fry |
kozhambu, sambar | Kozhambu | Liquid gravy, with dhal or even without dhal (for Sri Vaishnava variant only). |
Narukurathu | Thirutharathu | To cut (generally vegetables) |
Thootham/Jalam | Theertham | Water |
Thayir Saadham | Dodhyonam | Curd rice |
Thaalikkarathu | Thirupu maarapanrathu/Thirumaararthu | Process of frying mustard, asafoetida in oil or ghee for aroma |
Vendikarathu | Sevikkarathu | To worship |
Kumbabhishekam | Samprokshanam | Consecration of a temple. |
Namam pottukarathu | Thiruman ittukarathu | To apply one or three stroke Namam (Iyengar tilakam) on forehead |
Ecchal idardhu | Ecchapiratal | Cleaning the left overs after having food |
See also
Notes
- ISBN 1851096361.
- ISBN 978-8126908325.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Language variation in Tamil". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
- ^ a b Harold F. Schiffman. "Standardization or Restandardization: the case for 'Standard' Spoken Tamil".
- ^ ISBN 978-0231147569.
- ^ Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: An Introduction to Tamil cinema. East West Books. p. 66.
- ^ ISBN 0415057728.
- ^ C. Shapiro, Michael; F. Schiffman, Harold (1981). Language and society in South Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 155.
- ^ Pillai, J. M. Somasundaram; Meenakshisundaram, T. P. (1968). "Introduction". A history of Tamil literature with texts and translations from the earliest times to 600 A.D. p. xiv.
- ^ a b Pillai, S. Anavartavinayakam (1974). "The Sanskritic Elements in the vocabulary of Dravidian languages". In Mark Collins (ed.). Dravidic Studies. University of Madras. p. 154.
- ^ ISBN 0804709262.
- ^ Sree Krishnan (ed.). Linguistic traits across language boundaries. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 20.
- ^ a b Andronov, p 162
- ^ Gupta, Baldev Raj (1990). Indian Linguistics. Ariana Publishing House. p. 28.
- ^ Andronov, p 258
- ISBN 978-0415391856.
- ^ Veluppillai, A. (1980). Epigraphical evidences for Tamil studies. International Institute of Tamil Studies. p. 175.
- ^ ISBN 0520020537.
References
- S. Andronov, Michail (2003). A comparative grammar of Dravidian languages. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 3447044551.
- K. Karunakaran, C. Sivashanmugman (1981). Study of social dialects in Tamil. All India Tamil Linguistics Association.