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description: Tamil is a classical Dravidian language with over two millennia of continuous literary production. It maintains diglossia between formal centamiḻ and colloquial koṭuntamiḻ across Sri Lanka and South India.
llms_summary: "Tamil. (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India). Profile. Grammatical Typology SOV, Agglutinative. L1 Native Speakers 75000000 (75M). Language Family Dravidian / South / Tamil. Language Vitality Index 9/10 (National) scale. Number of Countries 3 countries. Standard Script Tamil abugida. Total Speakers 85000000 (85M). UNESCO Risk Category Safe. Web Domain Share (%) 0.1 %. Writing System Complexity Level 4 (Abugida) level. Linguistics & Culture. Tamil is a classical Dravidian language with over two millennia of continuous literary production. It maintains diglossia between formal centamiḻ and colloquial koṭuntamiḻ across Sri Lanka and South India.  canonical profile on Structured Pages"
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# Tamil

Tamil is a classical Dravidian language with over two millennia of continuous literary production. It maintains diglossia between formal centamiḻ and colloquial koṭuntamiḻ across Sri Lanka and South India.

*Last updated: 2026-08-04*

## Record

- **Title**: [Tamil](https://structuredpages.com/tamil/?format=md)
- **Place**: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- **Range**: india · sri-lanka · singapore · malaysia
- **Use case**: Linguistics & Culture
- **Website**: https://www.tamilvu.org/
- **Contact address**: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- **Coordinates**: 13.0827, 80.2707

### Summary

Tamil is a classical Dravidian language with over two millennia of continuous literary production. It maintains diglossia between formal centamiḻ and colloquial koṭuntamiḻ across Sri Lanka and South India.

### Description

## Historical Evolution

Old Tamil Sangam literature (ca. 300 BCE–300 CE) documents an already mature grammar (Tolkāppiyam). Tamil resisted Sanskritization more than Indo-Aryan neighbors, preserving native lexicon and phonology. Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil differ in lexicon and phonetics; diaspora communities sustain language schools worldwide.

## Phonology

Tamil retains distinctive retroflex consonants and lacks aspiration contrasts. Classical alveolar /ɻ/ (ழ) is emblematic. Vowel length is phonemic; consonant clusters are limited compared to Indo-Aryan languages.

## Syntax

Tamil is SOV with postpositions and agglutinative verb morphology. Case is marked by suffixes; honorifics use plural verb forms. Relative clauses use participles; null subjects are common in pro-drop contexts.

### Categories

- language
- dravidian

### Attributes

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Grammatical Typology | SOV, Agglutinative |
| L1 Native Speakers | 75000000 (75M) |
| Language Family | Dravidian / South / Tamil |
| Language Vitality Index | 9/10 (National) scale |
| Number of Countries | 3 countries |
| Standard Script | Tamil abugida |
| Total Speakers | 85000000 (85M) |
| UNESCO Risk Category | Safe |
| Web Domain Share (%) | 0.1 % |
| Writing System Complexity | Level 4 (Abugida) level |