The Linguistic Survey of Tamil Nadu has documented 20 languages in the State.
The findings of the first-of-its-kind survey, carried out by a team of linguists led by V Gnanasundaram and K Rangan, will be published by Orient Blackswan in a volume titled The Languages of Tamil Nadu.
The work in Tamil Nadu was carried out over the last four years. The Languages of Tamil Nadu volume forms a part of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) consisting of 50 volumes and covering almost every language spoken in the country.
The volume on languages in Tamil Nadu contains information on Tamil, Saurashtra, Thanjavur Marathi, Betta Kurumba, Eravalla, Irula, Kadar, Kalrayan Malayali, Kanikkaran, Kattunaicka, Kolimala, Kota, Muduva, Mullu Kurumba, Pacha Malai Malyali, Palukurumba, Toda, Urali, Vagriboli and Viliyan.
The PLSI is a project of Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, Baroda, a non-governmental organisation that has worked towards PLSI for the last 17 years. The PLSI covers information on 780 languages and 66 scripts used in the country. It also includes information on languages that are on the verge of extinction.
Speaking at a recent event, G N Devy, chairperson, PLSI, said as compared to other States, the density of languages in Tamil Nadu is low and more thrust should be given on non-scheduled tribal and other marginal languages to ensure their survival. “Even neighbouring Southern districts like Kerala have a much larger number of languages. There is no data to substantiate the reason for this is. But in any case, in Tamil Nadu, efforts must be taken to preserve the languages of the State, for this will only enrich Tamil. These languages will act as feeder languages for Tamil, making it more diverse and rich,” he said.
As per the survey, Tamil is the major language of 86.7 per cent of the total population of the State. Then there are those speaking Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, close relatives of Tamils and speakers of other Indo-Aryan languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Sindhi and Urdu in the State.
Thanjavur Marathi and Saurashtra are the languages of the Indo-Aryan family, whose speakers settled a long time ago in Tamil Nadu. In the case of Saurashtra, its syntax has undergone radical changes after its migration to the State, the study notes.
It is a language which has Indo-Aryan lexicon characteristics, but its syntax is of the Dravidian style.
Thanjavur Marathi is another Indo-Aryan language whose speakers settled in Thanjavur two or three centuries ago. They started migrating to Tamil Nadu during the regime of Venkoji in 1764. Their population constitutes 0.13 per cent of the total population of the State. Vagriboli is another Indo-Aryan language related to Gujarati whose speakers are called Narikuravas, a nomadic tribe in Tamil Nadu, says the survey.
Meanwhile, the non-scheduled tribal languages such as Toda, Kota and Kurumba spoken in the region of Nilgiris are languages of the indigenous people, though their population is minor.
The volume also traces the perceptions on Tamil and the various historical events and movements that led to the evolution of the language.