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The Tamil language is spoken by native Sri Lankan Tamils and is also spoken by Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and by most Sri Lankan Moors. Tamil speakers number around 4.8 million (29% of the population), making it the second largest language in Sri Lanka. There are more than 40,000 speakers of the Sri Lankan Malay language.
As Tamil is a diglossic language the differences between the standard written languages across the globe is minimal but the spoken varieties differ considerably. The spoken Tamil varieties in Sri Lanka although different from those of Tamil Nadu in India share some common features with the southern dialects of Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are classified into three major subgroups: the Jaffna Tamil, the Batticaloa Tamil, and the Negombo Tamil dialects. These dialects are also used by ethnic groups other than Tamils such as the Sinhalese, Moors and Veddhas. Tamil loan words in Sinhala also follow the characteristics of Sri Lankan Tamil dialects. [154]
Eelam (Tamil: ஈழம், īḻam, Tamil:, also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English) is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island now known as Sri Lanka. Eelam is also the Tamil name for the spurge (a plant), toddy (an intoxicant) and gold. [1] The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly known, and ...
Another study on maternal haplogroups in Sri Lankan groups (also the Vedda, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Sinhalese) found similar results, with the Vedda belonging predominantly to the mitochondrial haplogroup N (which "exists in almost all European, Oceanian, and many Asian and Amerindian populations.") and its subgroups U and R (with those ...
The names Serendip, Seren-dip, Sarandib or Sarandīp are Persian and Arab [4] or Hindustani [36] names for Sri Lanka suggested to have been derived from the words Sinhala-dvipa (Sinhala Isle, dvipa or dipa means Island), or Suvarna-dvipa meaning "golden-isle". [36] Another proposal suggested the Tamil Cheran (a Tamil tribe) and tivu (island) as ...
In spite of the continual contact with India by sea, Sri Lankan Tamils have over the centuries become a distinct people developing dialects that differ in several aspects from the Indian Tamil dialects. [5] The Jaffna Tamil dialect is also distinct to a lesser extent from that of the Eastern, Western and Upcountry Tamil dialects of Sri Lanka. [6]
Valentine Joseph - was a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, noted for his contributions to education Rajini Thiranagama - murdered human rights activist and author of books; head of the Department of Anatomy, University of Jaffna ; member of University Teachers for Human Rights assassinated by Tamil Tigers.