Tamil language: Difference between revisions

| altname = {{transliterationtransl|ta|ISO|Tamiḻ}}

| pronunciation = {{IPA-|ta|t̪amiɻ||Tata-தமிழ்.oga|help=}}

| states = [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]]{{ubl

* | [[Languages of Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]]

| speakers = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|78.671670|2}} million<!--68.9M India 2011, 5.5M Sri Lanka 2019, ethnic 1.9M Malaysia 2021, remainder from Ethn.-->

| script = {{plainlist}}ubl

* | [[Tamil script]]

* | [[Tamil-Brahmi script]] (historical)

* | [[Grantha script]] (historical)

* | [[Vatteluttu script]] (historical)

* | [[Pallava script]] (historical)

* | [[Kolezhuthu|Kolezhuthu script]] (historical)

* | [[Arabic script]] ([[Arwi]])

* | [[Latin script]] (informal)

* | [[Tamil Braille]] ([[Bharati Braille|Bharati]])

* [[Ministry of CommunicationsDigital Development and Information|Tamil Language Council]]

[[Canada]] and [[United States]]

| imagecaption = The word "''Tamil"'' in the [[Tamil script]]

'''Tamil'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|æ|m|ɪ|l|,_|ˈ|t|ɑː|m|-}} {{respell|TAM|il|,_|TAHM|-}};.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tamil, n. and adj. |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197399?redirectedFrom=tamil |website=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>}} ({{lang|ta|தமிழ்}}, {{transliterationtransl|ta|ISO|Tamiḻ}}, {{IPA-|ta|t̪amiɻ|pron|Tata-தமிழ்.oga|help=}}) is a [[Dravidian language]] natively spoken by the [[Tamil people]] of [[South Asia]]. It is one of the two longest-surviving [[classical languages]] in [[India]], along with [[Sanskrit]],<ref name="Circulation and the Historical Geog">{{citation |last=Stein |first=B. |title=Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |year=1977 |pages=7–26 |jstor=2053325 |doi=10.2307/2053325|s2cid=144599197 }}. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7).</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|1998|p=6}}. "one of India's two classical languages, alongside the more widely known Indo-Aryan language Sanskrit".</ref> attested since {{circa}} 300-200 BCE.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100707000020/http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html Definitive Editions of Ancient Tamil Works]</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Abraham |first1=S.A. |title=Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17189/1/AP-v42n2-207-223.pdf |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=42 |issue=2 |page=207 |year=2003 |s2cid=153420843 |doi=10.1353/asi.2003.0031 |hdl=10125/17189 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="companion">{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=12}}: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems to me to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 – AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature – AD 1800 to 1900"</ref><ref name="Maloney1970">{{citation |last=Maloney |first=C. |title=The Beginnings of Civilization in South India |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=603–616 |year=1970 |jstor=2943246 |doi=10.2307/2943246|s2cid=162291987 }} at p. 610</ref><ref name="Palani">{{citation |last=Subramaniam |first=T.S. |title=Palani excavation triggers fresh debate |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2408091.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India |date=29 August 2011}}</ref> The language belongs to the southern branch of the [[Dravidian language]] family and shares close ties with [[Malayalam]] and [[Kannada]]. Despite external influences, Tamil has retained a sense of linguistic purism, especially in formal and literary contexts.

The earliest extant Tamil literary works and their commentaries celebrate the [[Pandiyan Kingdom|Pandiyan Kings]] for the organization of long-termed [[Tamil Sangams]], which researched, developed and made amendments in Tamil language. Even though the name of the language which was developed by these [[Tamil Sangams]] is mentioned as Tamil, the period when the name "Tamil" came to be applied to the language is unclear, as is the precise etymology of the name. The earliest attested use of the name is found in [[Tholkappiyam]], which is dated as early as late 2nd century BCBCE.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=x}}</ref><ref name="Zvelebil 1973">{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1}}</ref> The [[Hathigumpha inscription]], inscribed around a similar time period (150 BCE), by [[Kharavela]], the Jain king of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]], also refers to a ''Tamira Samghatta'' (''Tamil confederacy'')<ref name="Allen">{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Charles |title=Coromandel : a personal history of South India |date=2017 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=London |isbn=9781408705391 |page=9}}</ref>

The [[Samavayanga Sutra]] dated to the 3rd century BCBCE contains a reference to a Tamil script named 'Damili'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jain|first=Sagarmal|title=Aspects of Jainology: Volume VI|year=1998|chapter=Jain Literature [From earliest time to c. 10th A.D.]}}</ref>

The closest major relative of Tamil is [[Malayalam]]; the two began diverging around the 9th century ADCE.<ref>{{citation|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World|date=2010|publisher=Elsevier|page=297}}</ref> Although many of the differences between Tamil and Malayalam demonstrate a pre-historic divergence of the western dialect,<ref name="malayalamorigin">{{Citation | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00021285| title = Some observations on the sub-group Tamil-Malayalam: Differential realizations of the cluster * ṉt| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies| volume = 53| page = 87| year = 2009| last1 = Menon | first1 = A. G. | s2cid = 131480876}}</ref> the process of separation into a distinct language, Malayalam, was not completed until sometime in the 13th or 14th century.<ref name="andronov">{{Harvnb|Andronov|1970|p=21}}</ref>

Additionally Kannada is also relatively close to the Tamil language and shares the format of the formal ancient Tamil language. While there are some variations from the Tamil language, Kannada still preserves a lot from its roots. As part of the southern family of Indian languages and situated relatively close to the northern parts of India, Kannada also shares some Sanskrit words, similar to Malayalam. Many of the formerly used words in Tamil have been preserved with little change in Kannada. This shows a relative parallel to Tamil, even as Tamil has undergone some changes in modern ways of speaking.{{sfn|Mahadevan|2003}}{{pnpage needed|date=July 2024}}

[[File:Tamil Inscriptions.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Explanation for [[Mangulam]] Tamil Brahmi inscription in Mangulam, [[Madurai district]], Tamil Nadu, dated to Tamil [[Sangam period]] ({{Circa|400 BCBCE|200 ADCE}})]]

[[File:Satavahana Bilingual Coin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Tamil-Brahmi|Tamil Brahmi]] script in the reverse side of the bilingual silver coin of king [[Vashishtiputra Sātakarni]] ({{Circa|AD 160 CE}}) of [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]. '''Rev:''' Ujjain/Sātavāhana symbol, crescented six-arch chaitya hill and river with Tamil Brahmi script<ref>{{Citation|last=Nagaswamy |first=N |title=Roman Karur |publisher=Brahad Prakashan |year=1995 |oclc=191007985 |url=http://www.tamilartsacademy.com/books/roman%20karur/chapter04.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720024602/http://www.tamilartsacademy.com/books/roman%20karur/chapter04.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=199–205}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Panneerselvam|first=R|year=1969|title=Further light on the bilingual coin of the Sātavāhanas|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=4|issue=11|pages=281–288|doi=10.1163/000000069790078428|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Yandel|first=Keith|title=Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India |publisher=Routledge Curzon |year=2000 |page=235 |isbn=978-0-7007-1101-7}}</ref> '''Obv:''' Bust of king; [[Prakrit]] legend in the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script]]

Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, ultimately descends from the [[Proto-Dravidian language]], which was most likely spoken around the third millennium BCBCE, possibly in the region around the lower [[Godavari]] river basin. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the culture associated with the [[Neolithic]] complexes of South India,<ref>{{Harvnb|Southworth|2005|pp=249–250}}</ref> but it has also been related to the [[Harappan civilization]].

Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods: Old Tamil (300 BCBCE–700 – AD 700CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75">{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|pp=75–76}}</ref>

About 60,000 of the approximately 100,000 inscriptions found by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] in India are in Tamil Nadu. Of them, most are in Tamil, with only about 5 percent in other languages.<ref>{{citation |title= Students get glimpse of heritage |url= http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/22/stories/2005112215970400.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060518064346/http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/22/stories/2005112215970400.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 May 2006 |date = 22 November 2005|work= [[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

In 2004, a number of skeletons were found buried in earthenware [[urn]]s dating from at least 696 BCBCE in [[Adichanallur]]. Some of these urns contained writing in [[Tamil Brahmi]] script, and some contained skeletons of Tamil origin.<ref name=":2b">{{Cite journal|last=Christy|first=Agatha|date=2019|title=A Study About Archaeological Survey in Adichanallur|url=https://www.ijresm.com/Vol.2_2019/Vol2_Iss11_November19/IJRESM_V2_I11_33.pdf|journal=International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management|volume=2|pages=158–169}}</ref> Between 2017 and 2018, 5,820 artifacts have been found in [[Keezhadi excavation site|Keezhadi]]. These were sent to Beta Analytic in [[Miami]], [[Florida]], for [[Accelerator Mass Spectrometry]] (AMS) dating. One sample containing [[Tamil-Brahmi]] inscriptions was claimed to be dated to around 580 BCBCE.<ref>{{cite web |title=KEELADI |url=https://www.tnarch.gov.in/keeladi|website=Government of Tamil Nadu Department of Archeology}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gershon |first1=Livia |title=Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Dagger Linked to Enigmatic Indian Civilization |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/excavation-india-may-hold-clues-ancient-civilization-180978414/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

[[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] states that Tamil was the [[lingua franca]] for early maritime traders from India.<ref name="scroll.in">{{citation|url=http://scroll.in/article/704603/Step-aside,-Gujaratis:-Tamilians-were-India's-earliest-recorded-maritime-traders|title=Scroll.in – News. Politics. Culture.|date=6 February 2015 |publisher=scroll.in}}</ref> [[Tamil Brahmi|Tamil language inscriptions]] written in Brahmi script have been discovered in [[Sri Lanka]] and on trade goods in Thailand and Egypt.<ref name=Egypt /><ref name="Foreign locations">{{Citation |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |title=An epigraphic perspective on the antiquity of Tamil |date=24 June 2010 |newspaper=The Hindu |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/an-epigraphic-perspective-on-the-antiquity-of-tamil/article482654.ece |location=Chennai, India }}</ref> In November 2007, an excavation at Quseir-al-Qadim revealed Egyptian pottery dating back to first century BCBCE with ancient Tamil Brahmi inscriptions.<ref name=Egypt>{{citation|title=Tamil Brahmi script in Egypt|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tamil-brahmi-script-in-egypt/article1952611.ece|access-date=5 January 2015|work=The Hindu|date=21 November 2007}}</ref> There are a number of apparent [[Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew]] dating to before 500 BCBCE, the oldest attestation of the language.<ref name=Rabin438>Rabin, C. ''Proceedings of the Second International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies'', p. 438</ref>

[[File:Mangulam inscription.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Mangulam]] [[Tamil-Brahmi|Tamil Brahmi]] inscription in Mangulam, [[Madurai district]], Tamil Nadu, dated to Tamil [[Sangam period]] ({{Circa|400 BCBCE|200 ADCE}})|left]]

Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning the 3rd century BCBCE to the 8th century ADCE. The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from 300 BCBCE to 700 ADCE. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the [[Brahmi script]] called [[Tamil-Brahmi]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=90–95}}</ref> The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]'', an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the late 2nd century BCBCE.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name="Zvelebil 1973"/> Many literary works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as [[Sangam literature]]. These poems are usually dated to between the 1st century BCBCE and 5th century ADCE.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/><ref name="Zvelebil 1973"/>

[[File:Tanjavur Tamil Inscription2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Middle Tamil]] inscriptions in [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] in stone during [[Chola empire|Chola]] period {{circa|1000}} ADCE at [[Brahadeeswara temple]] in [[Thanjavur]], Tamil Nadu|left]]

Contact with European languages affected written and spoken Tamil. Changes in written Tamil include the use of European-style punctuation and the use of consonant clusters that were not permitted in Middle Tamil. The syntax of written Tamil has also changed, with the introduction of new aspectual auxiliaries and more complex sentence structures, and with the emergence of a more rigid word order that resembles the [[Theta role|syntactic argument structure]] of English.<ref>{{Citation | doi = 10.1515/ijsl.1978.16.59| title = Standard Language and Socio-Historical Parameters: Standard Lankan Tamil| journal = International Journal of the Sociology of Language| issue = 16| year = 1978| last1 = Kandiah | first1 = T. | s2cid = 143499414}} at pp. 65–69</ref>

Tamil is the primary language of the majority of the people residing in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], (in India) and in the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern]] and [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern]] provinces of [[Sri Lanka]]. The language is spoken among small minority groups in other states of India which include [[Karnataka]], [[Telangana]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Kerala]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Gujarat]], [[Delhi]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] in India and in certain regions of Sri Lanka such as [[Colombo]] and [[Central Province, Sri Lanka|the hill country]]. Tamil or dialects of it were used widely in the state of Kerala as the major language of administration, literature and common usage until the 12th century ADCE. Tamil was also used widely in inscriptions found in southern [[Andhra Pradesh]] districts of [[Chittoor district|Chittoor]] and [[Nellore district|Nellore]] until the 12th century ADCE.<ref name="Talbot 2001 27–37">{{Harvnb|Talbot|2001|pp=27–37}}</ref> Tamil was used for inscriptions from the 10th through 14th centuries in southern Karnataka districts such as [[Kolar District|Kolar]], [[Mysore]], [[Mandya]] and [[Bengaluru]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Murthy|Rao|Veluthat|Bari|1990|pp=85–106}}</ref>

Tamil is the [[official language]] of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the [[Languages with official status in India|22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India]].<ref name="Eight">{{Citationcite neededweb|title=Eighth Schedule|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf1/S8.pdf|publisher=[[Government of India]]|access-date=May5 December 20242023}}</ref> It is one of the official languages of the union territories of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] and the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]].<ref>{{citation | last = Ramamoorthy | first = L | publisher = Language in India | url = http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2004/multilingual.html | date = February 2004 | title = Multilingualism and Second Language Acquisition and Learning in Pondicherry | access-date =16 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{citation | last = Sunwani | first = Vijay K | publisher = Language in India | url = http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2007/northeasternstates.pdf | date = February 2007 | title = Amazing Andamans and North-East India: A Panoramic View of States, Societies and Cultures | access-date =16 August 2007}}</ref> Tamil is also one of the official languages of [[Singapore]]. Tamil is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, along with [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]].<ref name=languagesdept>{{citation|url=http://www.languagesdept.gov.lk |title=Department of Official Languages|publisher=Government of Sri Lanka|access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> It was once given nominal official status in the Indian state of [[Haryana]], purportedly as a rebuff to [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], though there was no attested Tamil-speaking population in the state, and was later replaced by [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], in 2010.<ref>Bharadwaj, Ajay (7 March 2010) [http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1356124/report-punjabi-edges-out-tamil-in-haryana Punjabi edges out Tamil in Haryana]. DNA India</ref> In Malaysia, 543 primary education government schools are available fully in [[Tamil primary schools in Malaysia|Tamil as the medium of instruction]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/sparadox/sparadox.html |title=Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: the Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> The establishment of Tamil-medium schools has been in process in [[Myanmar]] to provide education completely in Tamil language by the Tamils who settled there 200 years ago.<ref name="bbc.com">{{Cite news |date=2014-03-06 |title=Myanmar's Tamils seek to protect their identity |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25438275 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Tamil language is available as a course in some local school boards and major universities in [[Canada]] and the month of January has been declared "Tamil Heritage Month" by the [[Parliament of Canada]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2017/01/14/statement-prime-minister-canada-thai-pongal|title=Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on Thai Pongal|date=13 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/canada-officially-declares-pride-its-tamils-passes-bill-calling-tamil-heritage-month-51059|title=Canada officially declares pride in its Tamils, passes Bill calling for Tamil Heritage Month|date=8 October 2016|work=The News Minute|access-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> Tamil enjoys a special status of protection under Article 6(b), Chapter 1 of the [[Constitution of South Africa]] and is taught as a subject in schools in [[KwaZulu-Natal]] province.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch1.html|title=Constitutional Court of South Africa – The Constitution|website=www.constitutionalcourt.org.za|access-date=5 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/five-indian-languages-reinstated-as-official-subjects-in-south-african-schools-1395392591-1|title=Five Indian languages reinstated as official subjects in South African schools|date=21 March 2014|work=Jagranjosh.com|access-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> Recently, it has been rolled out as a subject of study in schools in the [[Overseas France|French overseas department]] of [[Réunion]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/For-these-islanders-a-reunion-with-Tamil/article17009446.ece|title=For these islanders, a reunion with Tamil|work=The Hindu|date=8 January 2017|access-date=6 August 2017|last1=Srivatsa|first1=Sharath S.}}</ref>

[[File:Jambai Tamil Brahmi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|[[Athiyamān Nedumān Añci|Jambai Tamil Brahmi inscription]] near [[Tirukkoyilur]] in [[Villupuram district]], Tamil Nadu dated to the early [[Tamil Sangam]] age ({{Circa|400 BCBCE}})]]

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|m}} {{lang|ta|ம்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|n̪}}) {{lang|ta|ந்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|n}} {{lang|ta|ன்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ɳ}} {{lang|ta|ண்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ɲ}} {{lang|ta|ஞ்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|ŋ}}) {{lang|ta|ங்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|p}} {{lang|ta|ப்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|t̪}} {{lang|ta|த்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|t|tːr}} {{lang|ta|ற்ற}})

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ʈ}} {{lang|ta|ட்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|t͡ɕ}} ~ {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{lang|ta|ச்}}⁵

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|k}} {{lang|ta|க்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|f}})¹

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|s}}⁵ {{lang|ta|ஸ்}} ({{IPAlinkIPA link|z}})¹

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|ʂ}})¹ {{lang|ta|ஷ்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|ɕ}})¹ {{lang|ta|ஶ்}}

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|x}})²

|({{IPAlinkIPA link|h}})² {{lang|ta|ஹ்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|r}} {{lang|ta|ற்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ʋ}} {{lang|ta|வ்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ɻ}} {{lang|ta|ழ்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|j}} {{lang|ta|ய்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|l}} {{lang|ta|ல்}}

|{{IPAlinkIPA link|ɭ}} {{lang|ta|ள்}}

In the 20th century, institutions and learned bodies have, with government support, generated technical dictionaries for Tamil containing [[neologism]]s and words derived from Tamil roots to replace loan words from English and other languages.<ref name="thaniththamizh" /> {{asofas of|2019|post=,}} the language had a listed vocabulary of over 470,000 unique words, including those from old literary sources. In November 2019, the state government issued an order to add 9,000 new words to the vocabulary.<ref>{{cite news

* {{Citation | doi = 10.1007/BF00162818| title = Two problems of old Tamil phonology I. The old Tamil āytam (with an appendix by K. Zvelebil)| journal = Indo-Iranian Journal| volume = 2| issue = 3| pages = 191–224| year = 1958| last1 = Kuiper | first1 = F. B. J.| doi-broken-date = 292 MarchNovember 2024| s2cid = 161402102}}