Hart, University of California, Berkeley, a classical language should be: Ancient. It should have an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition. It must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. The literary tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
The classical language and literature should be distinct from the modern and there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms of offshoots. Hart, California, Berkeley, Tamil is extremely old as old as Latin. It arose as an entirely independent tradition with almost no influence from Sanskrit or other languages.
Its ancient literature is indescribably vast and rich. Tamil has a very rich literary heritage and a long literary tradition spanning more than years and may be far older than that. The history of Tamil literature is an integral part of the history of Tamil Nadu and closely linked with the social, political and cultural trends of the various periods.
Antiquity and the evolution of Tamil Literary Conventions The Tholkappiyam is a work on the grammar of Tamil language and rhetorics and the oldest book in Tamil available today. The author is Tholkappiyanaar. Tholkappiyam is divided into 3 books. Phonology Ezhuttathikaaram , Morphology and syntax Sollathikaaram and subject matter of poetry Porulathikaaram.
In the Porulathikaaram, Tholkappiyam writes grammar for poetics. Tamil is the only language in the world that describes such a grammar. Since grammar books are usually written after the existence of literature over long periods, it is obvious that a significant amount of literature could have preceded Tholkappiyam. There are over references in Tholkappiyam which provide substantial evidence of the existence of many classical and grammatical works in Tamil prior to Tholkappiyam.
Moreover, it should be noted that before the literature from which these literary conventions were written, there must have been a time when the people lived this life. Later poets kept up the traditional imagery of earlier ones. These traditional poetic images were later crystallised into literary conventions. The ancient Tamils divided the habitable parts of the earth into five natural regions. Tholkappiyam names these regions as follows: Kurinji — The hilly country.
Mullai — The wooded land between the highlands and the lowlands. There is not a facet of human existence that is not explored and illuminated by this great literature. Finally, Tamil is one of the primary independent sources of modern Indian culture and tradition. I have written extensively on the influence of a Southern tradition on the Sanskrit poetic tradition.
But equally important, the great sacred works of Tamil Hinduism, beginning with the Sangam Anthologies, have undergirded the development of modern Hinduism. Their ideas were taken into the Bhagavata Purana and other texts in Telugu and Kannada as well as Sanskrit , whence they spread all over India.
Tamil has its own works that are considered to be as sacred as the Vedas and that are recited alongside Vedic mantras in the great Vaisnava temples of South India such as Tirupati. And just as Sanskrit is the source of the modern Indo-Aryan languages, classical Tamil is the source language of modern Tamil and Malayalam.
As Sanskrit is the most conservative and least changed of the Indo-Aryan languages, Tamil is the most conservative of the Dravidian languages, the touchstone that linguists must consult to understand the nature and development of Dravidian.
In trying to discern why Tamil has not been recognized as a classical language, I can see only a political reason: there is a fear that if Tamil is selected as a classical language, other Indian languages may claim similar status. This is an unnecessary worry. I am well aware of the richness of the modern Indian languages — I know that they are among the most fecund and productive languages on earth, each having begotten a modern and often medieval literature that can stand with any of the major literatures of the world.
Yet none of them is a classical language. Like English and the other modern languages of Europe with the exception of Greek , they rose on preexisting traditions rather late and developed in the second millennium. The fact that Greek is universally recognized as a classical language in Europe does not lead the French or the English to claim classical status for their languages. To qualify as a classical tradition, a language must fit several criteria: it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature.
Unlike the other modern languages of India, Tamil meets each of these requirements. They are recited alongside Vedic mantras in the great Vaisnava temples of South India. Thus Supreme works in Tamil elevate it to be treated as sacred as the Vedas. Tamil is the most conservative of the Dravidian languages.
It is the source language of modem Tamil, Malayalam and other Dravidian languages. It is the touchstone that linguists must consult to understand the nature and development of Dravidian. Tamil constitutes the only literary tradition indigenous to India. It is not derived from Sanskrit. It shows a sort of Indian sensibility that is quite different from anything in Sansknit or other Indian languages. Tamil contains its own extremely rich and vast intellectual tradition.
Answer the following in a paragraph of words each. To qualify as a classical tradition, a language must fit several criteria: The language should be ancient. It should be an independent tradition. It arises mostly on its own not as an offshoot of another tradition. It must have extremely rich and vast intellectual tradition. Unlike the other modem languages of India, Tamil meets each of these requirements.
Tamil is of the considerable antiquity. It is extremely old as old as Latin and older than Arabic ; It arose as an entirely independent tradition, with almost no influence from Sanskrit or other languages; and its ancient literature is indescribably vast and rich. It has its own poetic theory, its own grammatical tradition, its own aesthetics.
So it is quite unique. Tholkappiam, Sangam anthologies, Pathupattu are the greatest works of ancient Tamil. The quality of classical Tamil literature is such that it is fit to stand beside the great literatures of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Persian and Arabic.
The subtlety and profundity of its works, their varied scope and their universality qualify Tamil to stand as one of the greatest classical traditions and literatures of the world. This literature explores and illuminates all the facets of human existence.
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