Middle Tamil
| Middle Tamil | |
|---|---|
| Era | Develops into Old Malayalam between 9th and 13th centuries[1] and transforms into the Modern Tamil form of the Tamil language by the 16th century |
Dravidian
| |
Tamil alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Middle Tamil is the form of the Tamil language that existed from the 8th to the 15th century. The development of Old Tamil into Middle Tamil, which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century,[2] was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes despite maintaining grammatical and structural continuity with the previous form of the language. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme,[3] the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals,[4] and the transformation of the alveolar plosive into a rhotic.[5]
In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb kil (கில்), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an aspect marker to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ṉ (ன்). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – kiṉṟa (கின்ற) – which combined the old aspect and time markers.[6]
Early Middle Tamil is the ancestor of both the
| Language | Plural Pronouns |
|---|---|
| Old Tamil | yām, nām, nīr, nīyir |
| Middle Tamil | nānkaḷ, nām, nīnkaḷ, enkaḷ |
| Malayalam | ñaṅṅaḷ, nām, niṅṅaḷ, nammaḷ |
Indeed, most features of Malayalam morphology are derivable from a form of speech corresponding to early Middle Tamil.[9]
From the period of the Pallava dynasty onwards, a number of Sanskrit loan-words entered Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious and philosophical concepts.[10] Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs,[11] and phonology.
The forms of writing in Tamil have developed through years.
Middle Tamil is attested in many inscriptions, and in a significant body of secular and religious literature.
There is a famous saying
திருவாசகத்துக்கு உருகார் ஒரு வாசகத்திற்கும் உருகார்
(tiruvācakattukku urukār ǒru vācakattiṛkum urukār)
translating to 'He whose heart is not melted by
Notes
- ^ Malli, Karthik (24 December 2019). "Malayalam's unique stop consonants and their link to Old Tamil". The News Minute.
- ^ a b Lehmann 1998, pp. 75–76
- ^ Kuiper 1958, p. 194
- ^ Meenakshisundaran 1965, pp. 132–133
- ^ Kuiper 1958, pp. 213–215
- JSTOR 601707. at pp. 284–285
- ^ Ayyar, Ramaswami (1936). The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology (1st ed.). Cochin, Kerala: Cochin government press. p. 1-37.
- ^ Ayyar, Ramaswami (1936). The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology (1st ed.). Cochin, Kerala: Cochin government press. p. 35-37.
- ^ Ayyar, Ramaswami (1936). The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology (1st ed.). Cochin, Kerala: Cochin government press. p. 2.
- ^ Meenakshisundaran 1965, pp. 173–174
- ^ Meenakshisundaran 1965, pp. 153–154
- ^ Meenakshisundaran 1965, pp. 145–146
- ^ Mahadevan 2003, pp. 208–213
- ^ Meenakshisundaran 1965, p. 119
- ^ Varadarajan 1988
- ^ Varadarajan 1988, pp. 155–157
- ^ Zvelebil 1992, p. 227
- ^ Macdonell 1994, p. 219
References
- Kuiper, F. B. J. (1958), "Two problems of old Tamil phonology I. The old Tamil āytam (with an appendix by K. Zvelebil)", Indo-Iranian Journal, 2 (3): 191–224, S2CID 161402102
- Lehmann, Thomas (1998), "Old Tamil", in Steever, Sanford (ed.), The Dravidian Languages, London: Routledge, pp. 75–99, ISBN 978-0-415-10023-6
- ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1
- Meenakshisundaran, T.P. (1965), A History of Tamil Language, Poona: Deccan College
- Varadarajan, Mu. (1988), A History of Tamil Literature, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan)
- Zvelebil, Kamil (1992), Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-09365-2