Middle Tamil is the form of the
Tamil language that existed from the 8th to the 15th century.
The development of
Old Tamil into Middle Tamil, which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century,
was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes despite maintaining grammatical and structural continuity with the previous form of the language. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme, the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals, and the transformation of the alveolar
plosive
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...
into a
rhotic.
In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb ' (), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an
aspect marker to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ' (). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – ' () – which combined the old aspect and time markers.
Early Middle Tamil is the ancestor of both the
Modern Tamil and
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
languages. Both languages share multiple common innovations dating to this period. For example,
Old Tamil lacks the first and second person plural pronouns with the ending '. It is in the Early Middle Tamil stage that ' first appears:
Indeed, most features of
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
morphology are derivable from a form of speech corresponding to early Middle Tamil.
From the period of the
Pallava dynasty
The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as f ...
onwards, a number of
Sanskrit loan-words entered Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious and philosophical concepts. Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs, and phonology.
The forms of writing in Tamil have developed through years. The Tamil script also changed in the period of Middle Tamil. Tamil Brahmi and
Vaṭṭeḻuttu
''Vatteluttu,'' popularly romanised as ''Vattezhuthu'' ( ta, வட்டெழுத்து, ' and ml, വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, ', ), was a syllabic alphabet of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka used for writing t ...
, into which it evolved, were the main scripts used in Old Tamil inscriptions. From the 8th century onwards, however, the Pallavas began using a new script, derived from the
Pallava Grantha script which was used to write Sanskrit, which eventually replaced Vaṭṭeḻuttu.
Middle Tamil is attested in many inscriptions, and in a significant body of secular and religious literature. These include the religious poems and songs of the
Bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
poets, such as the
Tēvāram verses on
Shaivism and
Nālāyira Tivya Pirapantam on
Vaishnavism, and adaptations of religious legends such as the 12th-century
Tamil Ramayana composed by
Kamban
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180 CE–1250 CE) was an Indian Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as ''Kambaramayanam'', the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southe ...
and the story of 63
shaivite devotees known as Periyapurāṇam.
Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, an early treatise on love poetics, and
Naṉṉūl, a 12th-century grammar that became the standard grammar of literary Tamil, are also from the Middle Tamil period.
[ ]
Despite the significant amount of grammatical and syntactical change between Old, Middle and Modern Tamil, Tamil demonstrates grammatical continuity across these stages: many characteristics of the later stages of the language have their roots in features of Old Tamil.
There is a famous saying
translating to 'He whose heart is not melted by ''
Thiruvasagam'' cannot be melted by any other ''vasagam''
aying
Aying is a municipality in the district of Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is th ...
nowiki />'.
[Macdonell 1994, p. 219] The Thiruvasagam was composed by
Manikkavasagar.
Notes
References
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* (Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan)
*
{{refend
Tamil language
Languages attested from the 8th century
8th-century establishments in Asia