Brahmin Tamil
Encyclopedia
Brahmin Tamil is the name for a series of closely related Tamil
dialects spoken by Tamil Brahmin
communities.
The language has heavy Sanskrit vocabulary, unlike the mainstream Tamil spoken by the non-Brahmin Tamils. Brahmin Tamil was largely used by Brahmins who introduced Sanskrit words connected with religion and ritual into conventional non-religious usage.
Both styles of Brahmin Tamil dialects augment their vocabulary by freely borrowing from Tamil
and Sanskrit
The Iyengars, particularly those outside the Tamil region, have a dialect retaining many archaic words from old religious texts like naalaayira dhivya prabandham. For a detailed mapping of words and spoken dialects and standard Tamil, see Wiki reference Iyengar Tamil.
Many of these can occur as geminates : kk, gg, nng, nnj, hnn, mm, nn, cch, jj, tt, dd, tth, ddh, pp, bb, ll, hll, trr
There are also aspirated stop consonants : kh, gh, chh, jh, t'h, d'h, thh, dhh, ph, bh
Idhu 'this, this is'. The link verb
'to be' is not used in the present tense
. There is no article
, definite or indefinite. 'This table' as a full sentence means 'this is a table'.
The final -u in words is pronounced as an unrounded back vowel, something between i and u.
Nouns are followed by postpositions like kite 'near', le 'in' or kiizhe 'below'. There are also compound postpostions made up of a postposition plus noun plus postposition like k adi le 'below'. The verb iruku means 'is' or 'there is'.
Nouns are in an oblique form before a preposition. Most nouns have no special oblique form. Many have. Pusthahath is the oblique form of pusthaham. Sometimes between the oblique form and the postposition a dummy particle like u or n is placed. Chevar has an oblique form chevath. English
words in English spelling are freely used in Braahmik.
while it also incorporates Sanskrit
corruptions as the Brahmin Tamil word for water thūtham which is a corruption of the Sanskrit theertham. Apart from these, orthodox Brahmins may also incorporate pure Sanskrit words in their normal speech.
Apart from vocabulary, Brahmin Tamil also differs from standard spoken Tamil in its grammatical structure, particularly in verbs which express the perfect aspect.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
dialects spoken by Tamil Brahmin
Tamil Brahmin
Tamil Brahmins are Tamil-speaking Brahmins from Tamil Nadu who have settled in other South Indian states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka...
communities.
The language has heavy Sanskrit vocabulary, unlike the mainstream Tamil spoken by the non-Brahmin Tamils. Brahmin Tamil was largely used by Brahmins who introduced Sanskrit words connected with religion and ritual into conventional non-religious usage.
History
Brahmin Tamil is believed to have evolved over a long period of time starting from the days of the legendary sage Agastya. However, the dialect took its present form during the reign of the Vijayanagar Empire. During the heyday of Brahmin domination in the early 1900s, Brahmin Tamil was used as the lingua-franca for inter-caste communication. The principal characters in the Tamil movies of the period also spoke the Brahmin dialect. However, with the rise of the Pure Tamil Movement and the entry of Dravidian ideologues into Tamil cinema in the 1950s, Brahmin Tamil was gradually displaced from public spheres. Brahmin Tamil, has however, continued to flourish among the expatriate community.Dialects
The differences between Thanjavur and Palakkad sub-dialects are:- In the words ending in m and n preceded by a vowelVowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
, the vowel is nasalised but the nasal consonants themselves are not pronounced except when followed by a word beginning with a vowel in the Thanju style. In the Paalu style the nasal consonants in these cases are always pronounced. - There is also often a difference in the vocabulary of the two styles.
Both styles of Brahmin Tamil dialects augment their vocabulary by freely borrowing from Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
The Iyengars, particularly those outside the Tamil region, have a dialect retaining many archaic words from old religious texts like naalaayira dhivya prabandham. For a detailed mapping of words and spoken dialects and standard Tamil, see Wiki reference Iyengar Tamil.
The Braahmik Alphabet
- Short vowels : a, i, u, e, o
- Long vowels : aa, ii /ie, uu, ee, oo
- Diphthongs : ai / ei, au
- Velar consonantVelar consonantVelars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
s : k, g - Palatal consonantPalatal consonantPalatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...
s : ch, j - Retroflex consonantRetroflex consonantA retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology...
s : t, d - Dental consonants : th, dh
- Labial consonantLabial consonantLabial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals...
s : p, b - Velar nasalVelar nasalThe velar nasal is the sound of ng in English sing. It is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N....
: ng - Palatal nasalPalatal nasalThe palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a lowercase letter n with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom of the left stem of the letter. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J...
: nj - Retroflex nasal : hn
- Dental or Alveolar nasalAlveolar nasalThe alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in numerous spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar nasals is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n....
: n - Bilabial nasalBilabial nasalThe bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is m...
: m - Fricatives and continuants : y, r, l, v, zh, hl, sz, sh, s, h, rr, z
Many of these can occur as geminates : kk, gg, nng, nnj, hnn, mm, nn, cch, jj, tt, dd, tth, ddh, pp, bb, ll, hll, trr
There are also aspirated stop consonants : kh, gh, chh, jh, t'h, d'h, thh, dhh, ph, bh
Idhu 'this, this is'. The link verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
'to be' is not used in the present tense
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
. There is no article
Article (grammar)
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some...
, definite or indefinite. 'This table' as a full sentence means 'this is a table'.
The final -u in words is pronounced as an unrounded back vowel, something between i and u.
Nouns are followed by postpositions like kite 'near', le 'in' or kiizhe 'below'. There are also compound postpostions made up of a postposition plus noun plus postposition like k adi le 'below'. The verb iruku means 'is' or 'there is'.
Nouns are in an oblique form before a preposition. Most nouns have no special oblique form. Many have. Pusthahath is the oblique form of pusthaham. Sometimes between the oblique form and the postposition a dummy particle like u or n is placed. Chevar has an oblique form chevath. English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
words in English spelling are freely used in Braahmik.
Differences with standard spoken Tamil
Brahmin Tamil varies slightly from the standard spoken Tamil used by non-Brahmin communities. Brahmin Tamil retains minor adaptations of classical Tamil (Centamil) words which are no longer in common usage, like ām, the Brahmin Tamil word for "house" which is derived from the archaic Tamil word AgamAgam
Agam may refer to:* Āgama , a collection scriptures* Jain Agamas, texts of Jainism* Agam Regency, a regency of West Sumatra, Indonesia* Yaacov Agam, an Israeli artist* AGAM, the Israeli Defence Forces Directorate of Operations- See also :...
while it also incorporates Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
corruptions as the Brahmin Tamil word for water thūtham which is a corruption of the Sanskrit theertham. Apart from these, orthodox Brahmins may also incorporate pure Sanskrit words in their normal speech.
| Brahmin Tamil | Spoken Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|
| avāl, avā | averkal | they |
| ivāl, ivā | iverkal | these people |
| ām | vīdu | house |
| thūtham, jalam | thanneer | water |
| sittha | konjam | some |
| manni | anni | elder brother's wife |
| neku | enakku | to me |
| noku | unakku | to you |
Apart from vocabulary, Brahmin Tamil also differs from standard spoken Tamil in its grammatical structure, particularly in verbs which express the perfect aspect.
| Brahmin Tamil | Spoken Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|
| āyirthu | āyirchu, āchu | It is over |
| poyirthu | poyirchu | Gone/It has gone |
| Vandhiruthu | Vandhiruchu | Come/It has come |