Kollengode S Venkataraman
“பழையன கழிதலும் புதியன புகுதலும் வழுவல கால வகையினானே”
This simple classic Tamil saying has profound meanings in many contexts, on how life around us has changed in family relationships and mutual obligations, our ideas of social groups, in our social relationships, how and where we work, and in interpersonal interactions at work and in society, and how every facet of life has evolved even in the last century all over the world. Can you gues in what context this declaration was first give?
In the wake of the Dravidian Movement in Tamil Nadu, E V Ramaswami Naicker, not a tamil in any case since Naicker is the Tamil morphing of the caste name Nayak, who are from today’s Andhra-Karnataka region of Vijayanagar empire. He is credited to have ‘reformed” tamil scripts. According to one website, “E.V. Ramasami Naicker, known as periyar [for his adoring admirers] initiated reforms to the Tamil script in the 20th century to simplify the language, enhance mechanical efficiency for printing, and reduce the number of redundant characters. His proposals were a major part of the wider Dravidian movement’s efforts to promote Tamil identity and modernize the language.” Emphasis is mine.
If you go by this statement, as this statement says, Naicker’s goal was not to reform the script for the Tamil language to accommodate vocal sounds that had already become well-integrated into the Tamil spoken even in his time, but to enhance mechanical efficiency for printing. That is, a purely commercial need, having nothing to do with the aural changes in the Tamil. The study of the changing nature of sounds in languages goes with the high sounding term morphophonology. It is also known as morphophonemics. In simple tamil, it is மொழிகளில் பரிணாம ஒலி மாற்றங்கள் (I hope the Tamil purists will pardon me for using பரிணாமம a Sanskrit word). We can talk about the second part, namely, reduce the number of redundant characters, further down.
I will try to show in the following paragraphs that we need to go exactly in the opposite direction of Ramasami Naicker in reforming Tamil script. There is an unavoidable need to add more vowels and more consonants to the Tamil script to truly reflect how the tamil language is spoken today.
Tamil language, like many Asian languages except Mandarin and its dialects, hare made up of vowels உயிரெழுத்து (short and long) and consonants :
உயிரெழுத்து: அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஆ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஒள
மெய்யெழுத்து: க் ச் ட் ப் ற் ய் ர் ல் வ் ழ் ள் ங் ஞ் ண் ந் ம் ன்
உயிர்மெய்யெழுத்து in the அ family :
க ச ட த ப ற ய ர ல வ ழ ள ங ஞ ண ந ம ன
To accommodate other vocalized sounds, Tamil consonants had these additional consonants shown in red:
க ங ச ஜ ஞ ட ண த ந ன ம ய ர ற ல ள ழ வ ஶ ஷ ஸ ஹ.
With the Dravidian Movements having strong anti-brahmin and anti-Sanskrit streak, they got rid of these additional consonants ஜ ஶ ஷ ஸ ஹ on the basis of simplifying the script. But for some strange reason, they retained the two na’s ந ன; and the two ra’s ர ற. They tried to get rid of ஐ with அய் and ஒள with அவ். But did not succeed.
One cardinal rule in tamil writing has been that you will never start any word with a மெய்யெழுத்து like க் ச் ட் ப் ற்.
It was easy, even puritanical, to apply this rule for all Sanskrit words. So, no த்வாதசி, but only துவாதசி.
But as their hypocrisy would have it, they ended up naming one of their heirs Stalin, or ஸ்டாலின்.
If you apply the puritanical reformed script of Ramasami Naicker, they will end up with சுடாலின் or ஸுடாலின், which is even worse. They themselves felt awkward. I am not the first person to bring this out. I am not the first person to make this point. Very many others have said this with comic effect. much to the chagrin of Tamil puritans.
And they ended up violating their own two rules in one word — starting with மெய்யெழுத்து “ஸ்” and உயிர்மெய்யெழுத்து “ஸ” in ஸ்டாலின். And the much hated Sanskrit sound ஸ!!
This is where my enquiry began.
I am not a linguist by any stretch of anybody’s imagination. . But common sense tells me that scripts came into being centuries later after the languages came into being as a means of communication among members of a society. And the scripts in every languages themselves have been evolving. Here is the example of how Tamil scripts have been evolving (source Internet):
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Tamil Grantha script in Sanskrit family of phonetics like ka kha ga gha nja:
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Here is the Tamil script that I took randomly from the Web from one of the temple stones structures. I wonder how many of you can even identify letters in the tablet and their corresponding sound.
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Now consider the following.
A tamil guy had a hearty laughter. When you write it with the standard classical script, it will be ஹ-ஹ-ஹா என்று சிரித்தான்
But if you want to use the Naicker’s “reformed” script, without the use of the sanskrit ஹ, it will be awkwardly — and also phonetically incorrectly — written as அ-அ-ஆ என்று சிரித்தான். In the early days of tamil typewriter, they did not have ஹ. So, they used உ and ற and hilariously typed உற உற உற என்று சிரித்தான்!!
We earlier saw த்வாதசி written as துவாதசி
And now this: the awkward அரிகரன் அரிஅரன் for ஹரிஹரன்
And the atrocious மகாபாரதம் for மஹாபாரதம்
Then, how will you write ஸ்ரீதரன் using the Naicker script? The atrocious சிறிதரன் சிறீதரன் or சிரிதரன்
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Vowels:
As we will see below, today’s Tamil vowels are inadequate for today’s needs of how we use the tamil language. Remember, Tamil language, despite what the purists claim, and want others to believe, has absorbed words not only from the reviled Sanskrit, but also from Portuguese (ஜன்னல்), Dutch (கக்கூஸ்), Arabic and Persian (வக்கீல், கச்சேரி வாயிதா, ஜில்லா, தாலுக்கா, தாசில்தார்), French (குசினி), and thousands of English words in normal conversation. These words have become integral to today’s tamil language used in communication and conversation among all sections of society. While the Tamils brag about a original tamil word getting into Oxford dictionary, it does not occur to them that thousands of foreign words have been integrated into Tamil. This is the characteristic of all living languages.
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Let me start with the statement: Today’s Tamil vowels are inadequate for today’s needs.
Take அ as in mud, but. And ஆ as in art, mart
எ as in get, bet. ஏ as in mate, gate
In today’s Tamil alphabet, there is no உயிரெழுத்து (vowel) for the ஒலி sound between ஆ and ஏ as in English words like batch, match, sandwich, pant, grant, apple, band. These English words have become part of the Tamil lexicon in conversation and even in written Tamil communication today.
Just imagine that you are the editor of a Tamil flyer of a book for teaching kids.
So, if you want to write in Tamil
Match: மேட்ச் மாட்ச்
Band: பேண்ட் பாண்ட்
Pant: பேண்ட் பாண்ட்
Grand: க்ராண்ட் க்ரேண்ட்
Grant: க்ராண்ட் க்ரேண்ட்
Note that for band and pant, the Tamil letters are IDENTICAL
Apple: ஆப்பிள் ஏப்பிள்
Similarly, in Tamil alphabet, there is no உயிரெழுத்து (vowel) for the sound ஒலி between ஆ and ஓ as in Bond, Pond
Bond: பாண்ட் போண்ட்
Pond also the same: பாண்ட் போண்ட்
Coffee: காபி கோபி
My thesis is that we need new Tamil vowels, one between ஆ and ஏ, and another between ஆ and ஓ, to accommodate the hundreds of new words that have become part of the Tamil language, both written and spoken.
Consonants
The tamil உயிர்மெய்யெழுத்து ச is used for all these four phonetic sounds ஷ ஸ ச ஶ.
சண்முகம் it should be ஷண்முகம்
சரஸ்வதி (Naicker script சரச்வதி), but it should be ஸரஸ்வதி, which is not acceptable to the Naicker’s Tamil. But ஸ்டாலின் is OK.
சாந்தி ஷாந்தி are phonetically not correct, but correctly it is ஶπந்தி
சஷ்டி ஷஷ்டி also are phonetically incorrect but it should be ஶஷ்டி
சரணம் ஷரணம் are both incorrect phonetically for surrender; but correctly ஶரணம்
Take சுவாமியே சரணம்
It should be ஸ்வாமியே ஶரணம் and not சுவாமியே சரணம்; not சுவாமியே ஷரணம்; not சுவாமியே ஸரணம்,
And consider the words fashion and fan that have become part of Tamil language today. When you write it in Tamil
Fashion: பேஷன், பாஷன் பேஷண்
Fan: பேன் பான்
Christians and Muslims together today in Tamil Nadu, are around 10% of population. The names George, Jamaluddin, Jamina, Jacob, Philomina and Frederick have become common among young Tamil Christians and Muslims. How will you write their names in Tamil official records?
George ஜார்ஜ் or சார்ச்
Jamaluddin: ஜமாலுதீன் or சமாலுதீன்
Jacob: ஜேக்கப் of சேக்கப்
Jamina: ஜமீனா or சமீனா
Will Tamil Christians and Muslims accept these Naocker script for their names in official records?
Try writing in Naicker’s Tamil script these common words to phonetically reproduce them correctly:
Film, Photography, Foreign, Scan, Plan, Frederick, Stephen, Philomena, Zafar Hhan, Zakir Hussain
And we need additional consonants in Tamil for F and Z, in addition to reviving ஶ ஷ ஸ ஹ.
And as said before, For today’s tamil society, We need two new Tamil vowel between ஆ and ஏ. And another between ஆ and ஓ
Now let me go back to where I started:
“பழையன கழிதலும் புதியன புகுதலும் வழுவல கால வகையினானே”
This simple declaration that had profound meanings for all situations in life, is from நன்னூல், a later book on Tamil Grammar by Jain monks in the 13th century.
So Tamil grammarians themselves anticipated changes both in the vowels & consonant needs in the future Tamil language, and have given us license to reform the Tamil script.
In this new reform, we need to accommodate new consonants and vowels that have become standard in today’s spoken and written Tamil.
So, we need to go exactly in the OPPOSITTE DIRECTION of what Ramasami Naicker’s reformed script, by adding new consonants and vowels.