Tamil
தமிழ்
Tamil is one of the world's oldest living languages — with a continuous literary tradition of over 2,000 years. The ancient Sangam poems are still taught in Tamil schools today!
Lin says:
Vanakkam! I'm Lin! Tamil is one of the world's oldest living languages — with a continuous literary tradition of over 2,000 years! It survived empires, colonisation, and the modern world without losing its ancient form. Tamil is spoken from Chennai to Colombo to Singapore to Malaysia. The Tamil word 'anbé sivam' means 'love is god' — a beautiful idea! Romba nandri! (Thank you very much!)
Quick Facts
Speakers
~85 million
Language Family
Dravidian
Literary Age
2,000+ year continuous tradition
Spoken in
India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia
Discover Tamil
Tamil is one of the world's oldest living languages — with a continuous literary tradition of over 2,000 years. The ancient Sangam poems are still taught in Tamil schools today!
Writing System
Tamil script
Native Speakers
~85 million
Did You Know?
The Tolkāppiyam — a grammar text written in Tamil over 2,000 years ago — is one of the oldest surviving grammars of any language in the world.
Tamil has specific grammatical rules for spoken and written forms that have remained largely stable for over 1,500 years — an extraordinary feat of linguistic preservation.
Carnatic classical music — one of India's two great classical music traditions — is predominantly sung in Tamil and Telugu, and is a UNESCO-recognised art form.
What Makes Tamil Special?
One of the World's Oldest Languages
Tamil has the oldest continuous literary tradition of any living language — the Sangam poems (300 BCE – 300 CE) are still read in schools today, unchanged.
Classical Language Status
India officially recognises Tamil as a "Classical Language" — one of only six languages awarded this status, alongside Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia.
Global Tamil Diaspora
Tamil communities exist from Singapore to South Africa, from Malaysia to the UK and Canada — one of the world's most widely spread diaspora groups.
Keep Exploring the World!
Languages are windows into the world's cultures. Discover more languages and the countries where they are spoken.