Tamil is one of the Classical languages of the world. Tamil Literature spans across the space of 2500 years. It was the first language to develop a distinct prose form of writing among the classical languages of the world.

Tamil's origins are independent of (which belongs to the Indo-European language family and is the ancestor of many Indian languages), but it has borrowed a number of words from in recent centuries. Quite significantly for its age, Tamil seems to have undergone minimal changes and adaptations over the years.

Tamil is a member of the Tamil languages group of languages, along with Irula, Kaikadi, Betta Kurumba, Sholaga, Yerukula. The Tamil languages are a subgroup of the Tamil-Malayalam languages, which in turn is a subgroup of Tamil-Kodagu languages, a subgroup of Tamil-Kannada-Telugu languages.

Tamil is spoken mainly in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Other areas where Tamil is also spoken include Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Dialects of Tamil identified by the Ethnologue are: Adi Dravida, Aiyar, Aiyangar, Arava, Burgandi, Kasuva, Kongar, Korava, Korchi, Madrasi, Parikala, Pattapu Bhasha, Sri Lanka Tamil, Malaya Tamil, Burma Tamil, South Africa Tamil, Tigalu, Harijan, Sanketi, Hebbar, Tirunelveli, Madurai.

Developed from a dialect of Tamil called Koduntamil or Malaithamil (literally Tamil of the mountains), spoken by the people around the hilly ranges bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. Tamil has its own writing system, which is similar to the Brahmi script of ancient India.


Notable features:

Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet

Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines

When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent letters.

Some of the non-standard consonant-vowel combinations are not used in official documents.

The alphabet was originally written on palm leaves. As a result, the letters are made up mainly of curved strokes which didn't rip the leaves.

Speakers total who speak tamil are 6,60,00,000 including all countries. Three Letter Code for Tamil is TCV. Alternative names are TAMALSAN, TAMBUL, TAMILI, TAMAL, and DAMULIAN. Dialects include ADI DRAVIDA, AIYAR, AIYANGAR, ARAVA, BURGANDI, KASUVA, KONGAR, KORAVA, KORCHI, MADRASI, PARIKALA, PATTAPU BHASHA, TAMIL, SRI LANKA TAMIL, MALAYA TAMIL, BURMA TAMIL, SOUTH AFRICA TAMIL, TIGALU, HARIJAN, SANKETI, HEBBAR, MANDYAM BRAHMIN, and SECUNDERABAD BRAHMI.

Kasuva is a jungle tribe dialect. Burgandi speakers are nomadic. Aiyar and Aiyangar are Brahmin dialects. CIIL has prepared syllabus for hearing-impaired children.