History & Origin of Tamil As Sri Lanka’s Official Language

 Official Language in Sri Lanka

There are two official languages in Sri Lanka, and Tamil has the honor of being one of them. However, many people are unaware of the fascinating history that led to its designation as one of Sri Lanka’s official languages.

The history of Tamil in Sri Lanka goes back over 2,000 years ago when the language was first brought to the island nation by traders from Southern India in the 20th century.

It gradually became one of the most dominant languages on the island, even though it shared equal status with Sinhala and English over time. Read on to learn more about Tamil and how it evolved with various English loanwords and other foreign languages in Sri Lanka.

An Introduction to the Language

One of the most intriguing languages in the world is Tamil, which is the only survivor of Middle Indo-Aryan languages. Due to its isolation in India and its complexity to outsiders, analysts have not examined this complicated and interesting Middle Indo-Aryan language enough.

Tamil was first mentioned by Ptolemy as Tarnikai or Tamiin (Tarnika). The identity and location of this place are unknown. Another unknown aspect is when people started speaking Tamil. The earliest surviving fragments date back to around the 3rd century BCE. Possible origins for this ancient dialect could have been in Eastern Africa or even Southeast Asia.

After Vedic Sanskrit evolved too much from Old Tamil, people used Old Tamil as the spoken language for trade. They preserved written documents about Tamil on palm leaves, and stone inscriptions called Dravid scripts, which helped establish its use as a literary language. Interestingly, Tamil still continues to be a literary language up till today.

Discovering Language in Ancient Times

In the 19th century, English became the primary link language, and most documents were written only in English. However, the distinction between languages grew when the constitution reform in 1972 made Sinhala an official language towards the end of the century.

The country is bilingual, with 25% of the population speaking Tamil at home, primarily in the Northern and Eastern provinces. A 1977 decree required all public officials to know both Sinhala and English. The decree also specified that administrative tasks would use both Sinhala and English.

The 20th century ushered Sinhala as an administrative medium by most public officials but Tamil remained a significant minority tongue. After independence from British rule in the 20th century, linguistic politics was not solved so easily.

For instance, Mahinda Rajapaksa declared Sinhala as the sole national language in order to unify people across ethnicities and religions even after the British rule.

Records of Early Tamil Poetry

Tamil is a Dravidian language originating from the Southern part of India and the Northern tip of Sri Lanka as early as the 5th century. Furthermore, it developed from an ancient form of Prakrit or Sanskrit during the 5th century CE and, as a result, contains many English loanwords.

The earliest written records include inscriptions dating back to 500 BCE, which researchers have not yet fully deciphered. During this time, poets composed many works, revealing that a significant number of words were borrowed from languages like Sinhala and Persian.

During this time, people created a text called the Tolkappiyam, which provided information on grammar, phonetics, and etymology. In the medieval period, around the 11th and 12th centuries CE, vernacular literature began to flourish, and Thiruvalluvar composed major texts like the Thirukkural.

Development Under Colonial Rule

For centuries before British colonialism, the Hindu religion dominated, and the Sinhala language was prevalent.(British Rule) At the time, Tamil was not an official vernacular, and it wasn’t spoken by many people in the country until the 1950s.

This changed when refugees from Southern India arrived in search of work. With no place to stay and facing the cold when their workplaces required speaking only English and Sinhala, they spoke among themselves in what they called ‘their own’ tongue: Creole Language.

Today, people call the Creole language Ceylon Tamil, and the government is making it Sri Lanka’s second official language alongside Sinhala. This decision reflects its status as one of the two most-spoken languages on the island.
The government is considering a third language as well, namely Malayalam.

The process has been gradual, with about 15% of Sri Lankans now fluent in Tamil. It holds cultural importance, preserving traditions for generations.

Tamil: An Enduring Identity of the Lankans

Tamil has been used for over 2500 years and is one of the world’s oldest languages. Originally, people spoke a total of 20 dialects, but they chose one as the standard, which became known as Modern Tamil.

To preserve other dialects and maintain cultural integrity, a system uses them on special occasions like religious ceremonies and theatre performances. Consequently, this unique diversity highlights the rich historical tradition, which will undoubtedly continue into the future.

Some Indian scholars think that Brahmi script derived from the Old Tamil Script, with ancient Tamils using it to write songs about love, families, gods and goddesses and animals. One legend claims that an early inscription on a rock in Madurai states, “Two families have been engaged in continuous fighting for 18 generations.”

The modern Tamil script was developed by an Irish missionary named Robert Caldwell, who came to India in 1816. Tamil people consider their language more refined than Hindi because they speak fast, while Hindi speakers talk slowly, like children.

Additionally, they believe their word order differs from Hindi speakers when telling stories. Consequently, this makes it easier for listeners to understand them.

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