Tamil
Let an agent explain the Tamil language and its varieties, relay its status, script and literature from linguistic and official sources, describe history and diglossia, and route to entries for specific dialects and periods.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain the Tamil language and its varieties, relay its status, script and literature from linguistic and official sources, describe history and diglossia, and route to entries for specific dialects and periods.
A classical Dravidian language spoken by about 80 million people, official in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry, in Sri Lanka and in Singapore, with a large diaspora including Malaysian Tamil, a literary history of over two thousand years from the Sangam poetry through Middle Tamil to modern Tamil, diglossia between formal and spoken registers, regional dialects such as Palakkad Tamil and Bangalore Tamil, community varieties such as Iyengar Tamil, and the Arwi tradition of writing Tamil in Arabic script.
What it is for: Not applicable; a language.
It can be explain the language and varieties; relay status and script; relay history and literature; route to specific dialects.
Distinguishing features
Classical literary tradition
Diglossia
Official in three countries
Distinct script
What it looks like
Not a visible object; written in the Tamil script.
Physical character
native speakers: about 80 million - estimates
classical language status in India: 2004 year
earliest inscriptions: about 3rd century BCE date - Tamil-Brahmi
How it is recognised
Classical Dravidian language of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and the diaspora
Old, Middle and Modern Tamil; regional, community and diaspora dialects; Arwi script
Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu are related Dravidian languages
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is written in - the alphabet
is official in - Sri Lanka and Singapore
is related to - a sister language
In practice
Families and kinds
Old Tamil of the Sangam period
Middle Tamil
Modern Tamil, formal and colloquial
regional dialects such as Palakkad and Bangalore Tamil
community varieties such as Iyengar Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamil
diaspora varieties such as Malaysian and Singapore Tamil
Arwi, Tamil in Arabic script
Identifiers
ISO 639-1 ta
ISO 639-3 tam
Standards and regulation
Official language laws of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and Singapore
Indian classical language status
Unicode Tamil block
Tamil Virtual Academy and government standardisation
Failure modes and hazards
Conflating formal and colloquial registers
Stale speaker counts
Politicised presentation of language identity, with positions attributed
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Understand What Tamil is.
Linguistics.
Definition
Definition and classification.
Definition
Definition.
- What is Tamil, and how is it classified within Dravidian? definition
- Is the question about Tamil in general, a period, a dialect or a diaspora variety? boundary
Varieties
Varieties.
Varieties
Varieties.
- What are the regional, community and diaspora varieties, such as Palakkad, Iyengar and Malaysian Tamil, and what is Arwi? definition
- Which entry fits the specific variety? action
Structure Script and grammar.
Linguistics.
Script
Script.
Script
Script.
- How does the Tamil script work, and how is Tamil encoded and typed? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Grammar
Grammar and diglossia.
Grammar
Grammar.
- What are the main features of Tamil grammar, and how do formal and colloquial registers differ? provenance
- Which entry fits Tamil grammar? action
Use Status and use.
Regulation.
Status
Official status.
Status
Status.
- What official status does Tamil hold in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore, and how is it used in education and media? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Learning
Learning.
Learning
Learning.
- How can learners approach Tamil, and what resources exist? action
- Which entry fits language learning? action
Context History and literature.
Context.
History
History.
History
History.
- How did Tamil develop from Old Tamil through Middle Tamil to the modern language? provenance
- Which entry fits Middle Tamil? action
Literature
Literature.
Literature
Literature.
- What are the major works of Tamil literature, from the Sangam anthologies and Tirukkural to modern writing? provenance
- Which entry fits Tamil literature? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should Old Tamil and Sri Lankan Tamil be separate primary entries?
- How should linguistic references be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and a script tradition; should they be split off?