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Concept information

Preferred term

tamTamil  

Type

  • Language

Definition

  • Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and the first Indian language to be declared as a classical language by the government of India in 2004. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia and Mauritius as well as emigrant communities around the world. It has been described as "the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past" and having "one of the richest literatures in the world". Tamil literature has existed for over 2000 years. The earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BCE.

Entry terms

  • Tamil language

ISO 639-1 code

  • ta

ISO 639-2 Bibliographical code

  • tam

ISO 639-2 Terminological code

  • tam

ISO 639-3 code

  • tam

Notation

  • tam

In other languages

  • tamoul

    French

  • Tamoul
  • Tamil

    German

  • Tamilisch
  • tamil

    Italian

  • Lingua tamil
  • Portuguese

  • Língua tâmil
  • tamil

    Spanish

  • Idioma tamil

URI

http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/tam

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