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The Jaffna Tamil dialect is a Tamil dialect native to the Jaffna Peninsula and is the primary dialect used in Northern Sri Lanka.[1] It is the oldest and most archaic of Tamil dialects in Sri Lanka and India. It is also very refined and considered to preserve many antique features of Old Tamil that predate Tolkāppiyam, the grammatical treatise of Tamil. The Jaffna Tamil dialect retained many forms of words and phonemes which were used in Sangam literature such as Tirukkuṛaḷ and Kuṟuntokai, which has gone out of vogue in most Indian Tamil dialects.[2]
Consequently many consider the Jaffna dialect to be a more conservative form of Tamil.
Although, audibly, quite distinct from the spoken Tamil dialects of Tamil Nadu, it nevertheless shares a similar standard written Tamil as Tamil Nadu, but is not always mutually intelligible in colloquial forms. Similarly, Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are not mutually intelligible with Malayalam too though it has a similar intonation and some words which stem from Old Tamil are shared.
A subdialect retained by the Paraiyar people of Kayts still retains a number of archaic words and Prakrit loans not found in any other dialects of Tamil. These drummers had historically played an important role as ritual players of drums at funerals and folk temples and as heralds and traditional weavers. They also maintained the family records of their feudal lords and even practised medicine and astrology in folk traditions[3]
^Denham, E. B. (1912). Ceylon at the Census of 1911. (n.p.): H. C. Cottle, government printer, Ceylon.
native Tamil speakers that is distinct from the dialects of Tamil spoken in Tamil Nadu. It is broadly categorized into three sub groups: JaffnaTamil, Batticaloa...
Jaffna Tamildialect. The dialect used in Jaffna is the oldest and closest to old Tamil. The long physical isolation of the Tamils of Jaffna has enabled...
JaffnaTamil may refer to: JaffnaTamildialect, native to the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka JaffnaTamils, members of the Tamil ethnic group native to Sri...
Province, Sri Lanka. The Tamildialect used by residents of the Trincomalee District has many similarities with the JaffnaTamildialect. According to Kamil...
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Jaffna (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாணம், romanized: Yāḻppāṇam, IPA: [jaːɻpːaːɳɐm]; Sinhala: යාපනය, romanized: Yāpanaya, IPA: [jaːpənəjə]) is the capital city of the...
The Jaffna kingdom (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு, Sinhala: යාපනය රාජධානිය; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom...
The burning of the Jaffna Public Library (Tamil: யாழ் பொது நூலகம் எரிப்பு, Yāḻ potu nūlakam erippu; Sinhala: යාපනය මහජන පුස්තකාලය ගිනිබත් කිරීම, Yāpanaya...
Indian Tamildialect of Sri Lanka or Upcountry Tamildialect or Estate Tamil (ET) is a Tamildialect spoken by the descendants of indentured South Indian...
Dutch Loan-words in the JaffnaDialect of Tamil, p. 793-799 Suntharesan, V. Impact of borrowings from English on JaffnaTamil (a text book for University...
Iyengar Tamil (Tamil: ஐயங்கார் தமிழ்) is a dialect of the Tamil language spoken mostly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as well as other neighbouring regions...
12th century saw the rise of a significant Tamil Hindu social formation in the Jaffna Peninsula, with the Jaffna Kingdom. Established as a powerful force...
incidents of the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom during his childhood that led him to militancy. In 1975, he assassinated the Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah in revenge...
Tamil-speaking immigrants to Malaysia came from two groups, Sri Lankan Tamils who spoke Sri Lankan Tamildialects such as the JaffnaTamildialect, and...
Sri Lanka K. Sivathamby - emeritus professor of University of Jaffna; prominent Tamil scholar, sociologist and author of books X. Thaninayagam - scholar...
The Central Tamildialect is a dialect of Tamil spoken in the districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Karur , Namakkal and Tiruchirapalli in...
delivered in Tamil even in regions where Tamil is not the majority language. Islamic Tamil literature has a thousand-year heritage. The Tamildialect spoken...
Brahmin Tamil is the name of a dialect of Tamil traditionally spoken by Tamil Brahmins. The dialect, largely, uses Classical Tamil along with a heavy proportion...
also established in Jaffna by the American Ceylon Mission, which provided English-language skills for the Tamil population in Jaffna. The British favored...
influenced by Sinhala. So, in some ways, the dialect is closer to those spoken in Tamil Nadu than is JaffnaTamil. Tamil heritage is also maintained in place...
(2016). "The Brahmins: A Study on the Traditional Elite in Jaffna with Reference to their Dialect". Proceedings of the Second International Conference on...
warring amongst themselves for dominance. The Jaffna Kingdom, and vanni chieftaincies inhabited by Eelam Tamils, was once one of the strongest kingdoms of...
Sri Lankan Vellalar (Tamil: இலங்கை வெள்ளாளர், lit. 'Ilaṅkai veḷḷāḷar') is a caste in Sri Lanka, predominantly found in the Jaffna peninsula and adjacent...
Tirunelveli Tamil also known as Nellai Tamil or ThenPaandi Tamil is one of the dialects of Tamil which is spoken in the districts of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi...
Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. "Tamil National Peoples Front launched in Jaffna". TamilNet. 1 March 2010. "Parliamentary General Election...
group at the time, Tamil". See, for example, Kanakasabhai. An archaeological team led by K.Indrapala of the University of Jaffna excavated a megalithic...
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