Talk:Tamil language

Tamil in Caribbean

People of Indian Origin ( PIO) were brought by British to Caribbean as indented labor. The first in Guyana arrived on may 5th 1838 and in Trinidad on May 30th 1845. These days are public holidays celebrated as Arrival Day. Trinidad along with Guyana and Suriname has bulk of Caribbean PIOs. The first batches of ships left Calcutta and most of the labor came from Easter UP, Bihar and to lesser extent from Bengal. These regions had plenty of poor labors worked in Agriculture fields. The later ships left from various ports including Madras now known as Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. Tamil labors tried to stay together in the English farms on the earlier days in Caribbean and maintained their culture and identity. The lost their identity in course of time due to their relative small numbers. One can see the influence of Tamil food in Caribbean curries. Food in Trinidad does not have much in common with Bojpuri or Mithili people of Bihar but have striking resemblance to Tamil Nadu curries. Present day PIOs in Caribbean are rediscovering themselves due to improved communication and travel and local political climate. They identify themselves as single group of people from India's Hindi belt.

Tamil in Gujarat:

Surat Tamil Sangam : surattamilsangam.org/

Ahmedabad Tamil Sangam Express News article : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tamil-sangam-trying-hard-to-keep-language-a/633385/

Lost sounds of old Tamil

The discussion should put light on pronunciation of following sounds 'ங்','ஞ்','ண்','ந்' (and even 'ழ')which is lost its prominence in modern spoken Tamil. But it is good to be informed that the sounds 'ந்'and 'ன்'; 'ற்'and 'ர்';'ல்' and 'ள்' are different and is still strictly preserved and spoken in Malayalam along with the above mentioned sounds, as it retains its old-Tamil pronunciation.

In Malayalam, 'ந்' is Dental( nasal sound 'n' in the group of 'த') where 'ன்' is Alveolar (nasal sound 'n' in the group of English "t)

'ற்' is hard 'r'(Alveolar) or say 'rr' while 'ர்' is soft 'r'(Dental)(with a slight 'j' in it ) say 'jr'

'ல்' is Dental ( 'l' with a straight tongue, where top of tongue touches upper mouth) and 'ள்' a Retroflex ( 'l' with a curved tongue, where bottom of tongue touches upper mouth)

Sanpan

This is not a Chinese loanword as the article wrongly states. I think it is possibly Malay, I cannot check now, but certainly it is not Chinese.13:32, 2 January 2017 (UTC)

Sanpan

This is not a Chinese loanword as the article wrongly states. I think it is possibly Malay, I cannot check now, but certainly it is not Chinese.14:08, 2 January 2017 (UTC)