Chennai
Many were surprised when Minister for Tamil Official Languages and Tamil Culture K Pandiarajan said that more than 10,000 new words have come into use in Tamil language in just one year. Experts credit it to the strong roots of the language for so many new words being coined in just one year.
Recognised as the first classical language in the country, Tamil is said to be one of the oldest languages that has a strong literature. According to available resources, the script of the language evolved roughly 2,300 years ago, when it got separated from Tamil Brahmi script.
After the new script emerged, the language witnessed massive development during the Sangam era, which paved way for several masterpieces in Tamil, including Agananooru, Purananooru, Kurunthogai, Nattinai, etc. However, it was only after the advent of British rule that there was a significant development in the language, as explanatory works for several works of literature came into being.
The development in language that commenced in British era was carried forward by Tamil scholars till 1990s. What furthered it was computers becoming common, which helped the language to attain substantial growth, claim scholars.
“When computers came into use, there was fear among people that their native languages, including Tamil, will be destroyed. But Tamil is one of the few languages to flourish in online space. Our government has successfully augmented the usage of computers and have digitalised large number of books, including some of the rarest books, for the benefit of the people,” K Vijayaragavan, Director, Tamil Development Department, told Dt Next.
Citing the recent initiatives by the State government, Vijayaragavan said that a new initiative, ‘Tamizh Kalaikkazhagam’, was commenced by the Directorate of Thamizh Etymological Dictionary Project with the purpose of introducing pure and equivalent Tamil worlds for foreign words that are commonly used both in writing and speaking in daily life – and more so in the media.
The academic staff of the Directorate are involved in the process of collecting and compiling words under the scheme ‘Kalai Sorkkal’. So far, the Directorate have come up with 18,520 new words in the last three years. An expert committee comprising 30 experts have given approval to 7,603 words.
The approved words are collected and formed as a dictionary called Tamizh Kalaichol Dictionary, added Vijayaragavan.
Experts say that majority of the new words emerging in Tamil are associated with scientific developments. Rasi Panneerselvam, a regular columnist, said, “After the expansion of social media, Tamil has found a new development. Now most of the words that are emerging are scientific terms. The development shows that Tamil has high compatibility with science and technology; the main reason for the compatibility is the rationality associated with the language.”
Quoting the recent invention of words for social media such as ‘Isugai’ for Skype, ‘Pulanam’ for WhatsApp, Panneerselvam said that the language was using the recent technological advancements for its growth.
He cited Keezhadi as a good example of how rational the language is. “So far in the five phases of excavation, more than 7,000 artefacts were unearthed – none of them point out towards any religion, which shows that the root of Tamil language is based on rationality. If Tamil had any leaning towards religion, it would have merged with Sanskrit long ago,” opined Panneerselvam.
Srinivasan, a Tamil post graduate teacher and a prominent member in the committee that frames curriculum for Tamil Nadu government textbooks, told Dt Next, “Tamil is an adaptive and resilient language like Japanese, Mandarin and German, which still uses the words used 2,500 years ago. In many languages, the words used 10 years earlier are not used now. But in Tamil, many of the words used in Sangam literature are still in currency.”
An example of words used in Sangam literature still being used in modern day usage is the word ‘Gethu’. Recently, Minister Pandiarajan had said during a college function that the word ‘Gethu’ has been used in one of the Tamil epics ‘Silapathikaram’ with the same meaning.
Government develops scheme toenrich Tamil language
To develop Tamil words and to improve their richness, the State government is planning to develop a scheme — Sorkuvai project. According to officials of Tamil Development Department, “The department is planning to collect all Tamil words and to put them in an orderly manner. The government is planning to create a new website, Sorkuvai, and the words given by Tamil scholars, patrons, students, learned persons and the public will be uploaded after the approval of an expert committee.” Recently, the State government had sanctioned Rs 70.26 lakh along with Rs 1 crore as recurring expenditure to save the Tamil language. The primary aim of Sorkuvai scheme is “to keep and develop the fertility and richness of Tamil words, to multiply them with the help of root words, helping to avoid mixing up of foreign words in Tamil”. As part of Sorkuvai scheme, a toll-free number has been established in Chennai and the public can contact the call centre through ‘14469’ and ‘1800-599-14469’ from any corner of the nation to contribute to the website and to clarify their doubts and explanations regarding Tamil words.
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