Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
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.
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.
However, the Tamil language used here for comparison is Tamil as spoken in Sri Lanka. Note: For information on the transcription used, see National Library at Calcutta romanization and Tamil script. Exceptions from the standard are the romanization of Sinhala long "ä" ([æː]) as "ää", and the non-marking of prenasalized stops.
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are distinct from the Tamil dialects used in Tamil Nadu, India.They are used in Sri Lanka and in the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.Linguistic borrowings from European colonizers such as the Portuguese, English and the Dutch have also contributed to a unique vocabulary that is distinct from the colloquial usage of Tamil in the Indian mainland.
The Jaffna district is very close to South India, being separated by a narrow stretch of sea called the Palk Strait.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]
In modern times, the Chetties have been assimilated either into Sinhala or Tamil resp. Vellalar society. [5] Most Chetties grow in Sinhala backgrounds. Hetti is another term used in this context, referring to the present generation of Chetties who do not have any relation to India but are solely from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects, unique Tamil-language dialects used in Sri Lanka by native Sri Lankan Tamil population and in the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Sri Lanka Tamils .