20th International Online Conference on Thirukkural and UNESCO for World Peace
https://zoom.us/j/94899339981?
Meeting ID: 948 9933 9981
Passcode: 112233
20th International Online Conference on Thirukkural and UNESCO for World Peace
(Universal significance on Tamil Language - 2/3)
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAMIL
LANGUAGE
AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES.
A Project of universal significance on Tamil Language
Dr. G. John Samuel
3/3
Although there are many etymological dictionaries for various
Indian and European languages, the present etymological dictionary proposed
by the Government of Tamil Nadu is unique in its scope, methodology and
execution. Like the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary which was very
meticulously prepared by two great scholars Prof. Thomas Burrow of Oxford
and Prof. M.B. Emeneau of California Berkley University, the present
etymological dictionary will trace the etymology of various Tamil lexical items
and their semantic content in different languages. But the uniqueness of the
Tamilnadu Govt.’s Etymological dictionary is that it deals with two different
families of languages which belong to totally different geographical areas and
spoken by different ethnic groups of different origins. The common shared features,
and genetic relationship among them are very less - the commonness arose mainly
out of constant commercial and cultural contacts existed in different ages from
the pre-historic period to the present day of science and technology.
This dictionary will also serve as basic refence material for the
study of the external history of the Tamils which is almost a neglected area of
academic pursuit due to lack of source material. Being a very potential sea
- faring race of the world, Tamils had extensive commercial contact with
various countries through large number of port cities in many parts of
Tamilnadu, which include Pūmpukār of the ancient Chola empire, the Koṟkai of
the Pandia kingdom, the Toṇṭi of the Chera dynasty and Māmallapuram of Toṇṭai maṇṭalam.
This dictionary will be an authentic source to international scholars to
study the external history of the ancient Tamils, their trade routes and their
status in the history of the globe.
We hope that the expert committee comprising of good native and
foreign scholars will draft all details regarding the execution of the project.
A word corpus consisting of all the Tamil words found in all the existing and
non – existing languages of the world from the historic past to the present day
should be prepared with meticulous care with the support of scholars belonging
to various linguistic groups. This word corpus should be carefully analysed to
see whether the similarities existing among them are only accidental or they
are real cognates. All accidental similarities should be avoided. The data
should be presented both diachronically and synchronically using comparative
methodology wherever necessary. All historical links should be presented in
each occurrence in different languages. People who can read ancient Coptic, and
other rare documents should be employed so that no single data is left out.
It is our fond hope that the Tamil words found in Indo-European
languages should be analysed from the perspective of historical principles. The
approximate period of entry of each word with the social background and the
changes that took place in the formal lexical structure and semantic content
through the ages should be clearly indicated. There may be semantic expansion,
or specification, or elevation or degradation and some times such words may
become archaic or completely extinct. All this should be specifically marked
since this will provide good data for excellent studies in future on the
external history of our mother tongue.
As already mentioned Indio - European is a very complicated vast
area of study with more than ten substratum. Consequently, it may be very
difficult to handle the enormous data simultaneously in a single work. For the
sake of presenting the data with clarity and handle the project efficiently, it
is better to deal with each substratum as a separate family. Some says, Indo-Aryan is a substratum of Indo-European and the substratum Indo-Aryan is
spoken approximately by 70% of people in India and considerable number of
Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. But this is only a tentative statistics by our linguists. This may vary when we take into account. Marathi, Sindhi and few other languages which share close genetic relationship with the Dravidian family of languages. It may be around less than 50% when we undertake good field research. The first part of our dictionary can deal with Tamil
and Indo - Aryan family and the subsequent parts can deal with Indo - Iranian,
Celtic, Germanic, Armenian, Hellenic and so on.
There shall be few other volumes which can deal with Ural - Atlaic
family comprising of Japanese, Korean, Hungarian etc. Separate parts can be
allotted to present Tamil and African languages such as Kanōri etc. and Tamil
and Mangoloid group. The span of time for the preparation of these volumes may
be more than what is envisaged and the budget may be little more heavy; But it
is worth doing and worth spending for a great cause which has no parallel under
the vast sky. This will transform our mother tongue as வானம் அளந்த தமிழ் and வையகம் அளந்த தமிழ். All glory on this great
project go to our Hon'ble Chief Minister who has dedicated himself to bring
global status to our mother tongue, our hoary culture and our society.
Dr. G John Samuel, Director
Institute of Asian Studies
Sholinganallur
Chennai 600 119
Tamilnadu. S.India
தமிழ்க்காப்புக்கழகம்
ஆளுமையர் உரை 4,5 & 6 : இணைய அரங்கம்
ஆனி 02 , 2053 ஞாயிறு சூன் 19, 2022, காலை 10.00
ஆளுமையர் உரைகள் : தமிழும் நானும்
மு.முத்துராமன்
தலைவர், திருவனந்தபுரம் தமிழ்ச் சங்கம்.
பொதுச்செயலாளர், அனைத்திந்தியத் தமிழ்ச் சங்கப்பேரவை
இதழாளர் மும்பை குமணராசன்
நிறுவனத்தலைவர், இலெமுரியா அறக்கட்டளை, மும்பை
தில்லி முகுந்தன்
செயல் தலைவர், அனைத்திந்திய தமிழ்ச்சங்க பேரவை
கூட்ட எண் / Meeting ID: 864 136 8094
கடவுக்குறி / Passcode: 12345
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வரவேற்புரை: தமிழாசிரியை உரூபி
தலைமையுரை : இலக்குவனார் திருவள்ளுவன்
தொகுப்புரை: தோழர் தியாகு
நன்றியுரை: திரு.ப.சிவக்குமார்
உலகத்தமிழராய்ச்சி மன்றம்(IATR)
இலிங்கன் தொழில் மேலாண்மைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்
சார்சா, ஐக்கிய அரபு அமீரகம்
11ஆம் உலகத் தமிழாராய்ச்சி மாநாடு
ஆய்வுச் சுருக்கம் சேர வேண்டிய நாள்: புரட்டாசி 13, 2053 / 30.09.2022
ஆய்வுக் கட்டுரை மின்னஞ்சல்வழிச் சேர வேண்டிய நாள்:
பங்குனி 17, 2054 / 31.03.2023
மின்வரி: abstract2023@gmail.com
தொடர்பு முகவரி :
9, சாரங்கபாணி தெரு, தியாகராய நகர்,
சென்னை 600 017
பேசி 28340488, 96770 37474, 98422 81957, 96000 07819
www.iatrinternational.org / 11worldtamilconf@gmail.com
ஆன்றோர்(தான்சிரீ) த.மாரிமுத்து
தலைவர்
உலகத் தமிழ் ஆராய்ச்சி மன்றம்
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY ON
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAMIL
LANGUAGE AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF
LANGUAGES.
A Project of universal significance on Tamil Language
Dr. G. John Samuel
1/3
Up to 18th century Tamil language was
defined in the non-Tamil academic circles as a vernacular language spoken in
South India and Sri Lanka and it was derived from the so-called divine language
namely Sanskrit, which is identified by modern linguists as one of the ancient
languages of the Indo-Aryan, a substratum of the wider Indo-European family of
languages. It was also believed by earlier philologists that Sanskrit was the
only classical language of India from which all the present Indian languages
were derived. Consequently, Indology was wrongly identified with
Sanskritology and it was also believed that a thorough grasp of Sanskrit
literature and the culture of the priestly class, which promoted Sanskrit
learning, are enough to have a good understanding of Indian culture as a whole.
Although Tamil scholars
starting from the ancient grammarian Tholkappiyar and others raised their voice
against this linguistic narrow – mindedness, their clarion calls have become
mere voices in the wilderness.
It is curious to mention
that such similar misconceptions existed among the ancient scholars of Europe
who also came up with the wrong explanation that all languages of the western
world including the classical language Latin were descendants of the Greek
language. All such false superiority about linguistic antiquity were
questioned in due course by Rask, Bopp, Grim and others who identified
different families of languages basing on their genetic relationship and shared
innovations and even on geographical distribution
In the year 1816 it was well
explained that Indo-European languages sprouted into some eight or nine
substratum namely.
1. Indo
- Iranian
2. Indo
- Aryan
3. Armenian
4. Balto
- slavic
5. Albanean
6. Hellenic
7. Italic
8. Celtic
9. Germanic
and others
This great discovery has
changed the existing view of the philologists about linguistic history and all the
wrong beliefs about the so-called Divine tongues. It was still believed in
India and Europe that Tamil and other languages of the Indian soil originated
from Sanskrit which belongs to Indo-Aryan, a substratum of the wider
Indo-European family.
The year 1856 marked an
epoch - making event in the annals of the linguistic history of the Tamil
people. It was the year of the publication of Bishop Caldwell’s great
book Comparative
grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Languages in London which declared on the basis of well
founded data and with objective perspective that Tamil and other eight
languages spoken mainly in South India belong to a different Indian family of
languages namely the Dravidian. In the second edition of this book
published in 1875 Caldwell added three more languages and established his firm
view that Tamil and other Dravidian languages are spoken not only in South
India but also all over India and they have close affinities with other
language families of the world such as the Semitic languages, comprising of
Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic; the Scythian languages comprising of the languages of
Iran and central Asia; Sumerian languages, languages of central African region;
the languages of Ural - Altaic family comprising of Hungarian, Japanese and
Korean and the Mangoloid languages.
Before Caldwell, F.W.
Ellis, the Governor of Madras Presidency, informed in his preface to the book A Grammar of Teloogoo language
written by A.D. Campel in 1816
that the four languages of South India namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and
Malayalam formed a separate entity and they did not belong to the Sanskrit
group. Lot of works have been done on South Indian languages both by
European Missionaries, Civil servants and foreign academicians from the period
1816 till 1856, the year in which Caldwell’s book came to be published.
In 1894, the linguistic
survey of India under the leadership of Sten Konow and G.A. Grierson added two
more languages Kolami and Naiki under the Dravidian family and now in the
present age of well trained linguists, we have around 35 languages in the
Dravidian family centred around Tamil.
The Dravidian Etymological
Dictionary prepared by Prof. Thomas Burrow and Prof. M.B. Emeneau and published
by Oxford University in 1961 has now become the basic source material for any
advanced research on the etymological study of Tamil language.
The greatness and uniqueness
of Tamil was well established by the Christian Missionaries, the civil servants
and academicians all over the world who evinced active interest in Tamilology. In
2010, the Institute of Asian Studies published a detailed Directory consisting
of the lives and achievements of around 350 such scholars of non - Tamil origin
who have contributed enormously to Tamil research at a wider global perspective.
Even in the earlier stages,
the borders of the Tamil speaking area mentioned in the prologue to Tolkappiyam
as a wider territory extending from the Northern Venkata hills to the Southern
Cape Comorin, was expanded to a very wider global level by the ancient Tamil
traders who settled in many parts of South East Asia, East Asia and even in the
western countries and they carried with them not only the commodities of Tamil
Nadu but also the cultural heritage of their land. The ancient Tamils were
basically a seafaring race, unlike their North Indian counter parts, and Tamil
language and culture spread all over the world due to their
circumnavigation.
[To
be continued]
தலைமை : முனைவர் மு.ஆறுமுகம்
அமெரிக்காவின் ஆர்வர்டுபல்கலைக் கழகத் தமிழ்இருக்கை ஆட்சிக்குழு உறுப்பினர்
வரவேற்புரை : மும்பை சு.குமணராசன்
மும்பை இலெமுரியாஅறக்கட்டளை நிறுவனத்தலைவர்
நிகழ்விடம் : சென்னை இராசாஅண்ணாமலைபுரம், முத்தமிழ்ப் பேரவை இராசரத்தினம் கலையரங்கம்
நாள் : வைகாசி 29, 2053 /12.6.2022 ஞாயிறு மாலை 5.30 மணி
செம்மொழிவேள் விருது, பாராட்டுவிழா – 2022, நிகழ்ச்சிக்கு நிகழ்த்துகிறார். முதன்மை விருந்தினர் :மரு. பொன்.அன்பழகன்
மும்பை, மகாராட்டிர மாநிலத் தொழில் மேம்பாட்டுக் கழக நிருவாகத்தலைவர்
முன்னிலை : டி.கே.சந்திரன்
இயக்குநர் சென்னைசில்க்கு – குமரன்தங்க மாளிகை,
செ.துரைசாமி
அனைத்திந்தியத் தமிழ்ச் சங்கப்பேரவைத் தலைவர்
வீ.க.செல்வக் குமார்
சென்னை மெட்டக்குசு ஆய்வக மேலாண்மை இயக்குநர்
பூ.மாரிமுத்து
சாராபிளாசுடிக்குசு நிறுவனங்கள் தலைவர்
ஆ.தென்சிங்கு
மும்பை ஆணிபெசிலிட்டீசு-சொல்யூசன்சு நிருவாக இயக்குநர்
இசாக்கு
தமிழ் அலை பதிப்பக உரிமையாளர்
அறிமுகக்கூடல், நட்புறவாடல், மாணவர் கலைஞர்கள் அமைப்பு இயல் இசை கூத்தரங்கம் நடைபெறுகிறது.
“செம்மொழி வேள்”விருது பெறுநர்
கவிப்பேரருவி ஈரோடு தமிழன்பன்,
முனைவர் பொன் கோதண்டராமன் (எ)பொற்கோ,
பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் இ.சுந்தரமூர்த்தி,
பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் ப.மருதநாயகம்,
பேராசிரியர் முனைவர் மறைமலை இலக்குவனார்
சிறப்பு விருது – சிலம்பு நம்பி : இளவரசு அமிழ்தன்
வாழ்த்துரை
இரா.செல்வம்
இதில் இந்தியத் தோல்பொருட்கள் ஏற்றுமதிக்கழகச் செயல் இயக்குநர்
முனைவர் சு.பாண்டியன்
வருமான வரித்துறைகூடுதல் ஆணையர்
முனைவர் சேது குமணன்
சேதுபாசுகரா கல்விக் குழுமம் – வேளாண்மைக்கல்லூரித் தலைவர்
திருமதி புனிதாகணேசன்
பாரத்து கல்விக் குழுமம் தலைவர்
படைக்கோ நா.சோம சுந்தரம்
கடலோரப்பாது காப்புப் படை (கிழக்குப் பகுதி
பேராசிரியர் கு.வணங் காமுடி
வடதமிழக ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர், தமிழியக்கம்
நெறியாள்கை முத்துமணி நன்னன்
புலவர் கார்த்தியாயினி
பெங்களூரு தமிழ் அறக் கட்டளை