Brahmin Tamil
Brahmin Tamil is the name of a dialect of Tamil traditionally spoken by
Tamil Brahmins. The dialect, largely, uses Classical Tamil along with a
heavy proportion of Sanskrit derivatives.
During the early 1900s, Brahmin Tamil was used as the lingua-franca for
inter-caste communication. The principal characters in the Tamil films of
the period (1930s and 1940s) also spoke the Brahmin dialect However, with
the rise of the Pure Tamil Movement and the entry of Dravidian ideologues
into Tamil cinema in the 1950s, Brahmin Tamil was gradually displaced from
public spheres Today, Brahmin Tamil is used in films and television soaps
centred on the Brahmin society. Brahmin Tamil, has however, continued to
flourish among the Brahmin community including the expatriates. Often
non-Brahmins use this dialect in soaps and films for comic effect while
engaging with Brahmins conversationally. And Brahmins effortlessly code
switch by speaking the standard Tamil while engaging with non-Brahmins and
revert to Brahmin Tamil when conversing among themselves.
The first systematic study of Brahmin Tamil was undertaken by Jules Bloch
in 1910. However, the most detailed study was conducted by A K Ramanujan
and William Bright in the 1960s. More recent researches on Brahmin Tamil
and other socio-dialects have been conducted by Kamil Zvelebil.
There are many forms of Brahmin Tamil spoken. Brahmin Tamil, in general, is
less influenced by regional dialects than the dialects used by other Tamil
communities. The two main regional variations are the Thanjavur and
Palakkad sub-dialects. Other sub-dialects include Ashtagrama Iyer Tamil,
Mysore Vadama Iyer Tamil, Mandyam Tamil and Hebbar Tamil.
The differences between Thanjavur and Palakkad sub-dialects are:
1. In the words ending in m and n preceded by a vowel, the vowel is
nasalised, but the nasal stops themselves are not pronounced except when
followed by a word beginning with a vowel in the Thanjavur style. In the
Palakkad style, the nasal stops in these cases are always pronounced.
2. The accent, style and vocabulary of Tamil used by Tamil Brahmins
from Palakkad is greatly influenced by Malayalam apart from Sanskrit, while
the sub-dialects used in Tamil Nadu borrow only from Sanskrit.
The Iyengars, particularly those outside Tamil Nadu, speak a dialect
retaining ancient lexicon from religious texts such as the Naalayira Divya
Prabandham.
Brahmin Tamil varies slightly several standard Tamil. It retains minor
adaptations of classical Tamil (Sentamil) words that are no longer in
common usage. For instance, ām, a Brahmin Tamil word for "house", is
derived from the classical Tamil word agam. It also notably incorporates a
plethora of Sanskrit words. This may be observed in the etymology of
several words in the Brahmin Tamil lexicon such as namaskaram (greeting),
tirtham (water), and bhakshanam (food offering). There are also unique
words in the dialect for signifying time, such as Karthala (Kalaiyil) to
indicate morning. While non-Brahmin Tamils generally tend to use Sanskrit
derivatives in their Prakrit form, Brahmins tend to use original Sanskrit.
According to Bright and Ramanujan (1964),
It is the Brahmin dialect which has innovated by introducing the loan
words. Brahmin Tamil frequently preserves non-native phonology, which
non-Brahmin Tamil assimilates to native pattern
Differences with standard Tamil
Brahmin Tamil Standard Tamil English Notes
Avāl, Avā Avargal they Probably derived
from 'Avarhal' where the r & h are silent. Alternatively derived from the
Telugu word Vālu meaning "person"
Ivāl,Ivā Ivargal these people
Ām/Aathu Veedu house Derived from Old Tamil
Agam (with the g pronounced more like silent 'h' -- 'a(h)am')
Tirtham, Jalam Taṇṇīr water Thūtham is
largely used in the Thanjavur sub-dialect and is derived from the Sanskrit
Tīrtham. Iyengars, however, use the Sanskrit original
Sittha/ Konjam some Probably
derived from Tamil Sattru meaning "a little."
Manni Anni elder brother's wife
Derived from "Maru-annai" meaning "another mom"
Athimbēr Athai kozhunan paternal aunt's husband
Derived from 'Ahathin Anbar'
Kshēmam/Sowkyam Nalam goodness (esp. with regard
to health) Derived from Sanskrit
Ṉōkku Unakku For you
Developed from Unakku[13]
Ṉēkku Enakku For me
Developed from Enakku[13]
Vāṅgō uṅgal (Literary), Vāṅga (Spoken) Come
Pōṅgō Pōkuṅgal (Literary), Pōṅga (Spoken) Go
Aatukaran Vītukkāran Husband
Derived from Agam-udayān (house-holder)[10]
The Ramanujan-Bright hypothesis which examined Brahmin Tamil in detail
concluded -In general, the Brahmin dialect seems to show great innovation
on the more conscious levels of linguistic change – those of borrowing and
semantic extension—while the non-Brahmin dialect shows greater innovation
in less conscious type of change—those involving phonemic and morphological
replacements Bright attributes these changes to the comparatively high
literacy rate of the Brahmin community. A possible hypothesis is that
literacy, most common among Brahmins has acted as a brake on change in
their dialects-that the ‘frozen’ phonology and grammar of the literary
language have served to retard change in Brahmin speech
Nicknames
There are also a few nicknames and sobriquets used in Brahmin Tamil alone.
Nickname Source Meaning
Usage
Ammānji Name for mother's brother's child (a cousin)
Pillaiyāndān Pillai and Āndavan Used to denote a dear child
Structure and pronunciation
As in standard spoken Tamil, the temporal verbal participles (as in
-ccē/-sē from 'samayam' (time)) in Brahmin Tamil, have been borrowed from
relative participle constructions on the model varaccē < varuxiṟa samayam
('while coming') and pōxasē < pōxiṟa samayam ('while going').[ A K
Ramanujam spelling used] Brahmin Tamil also uses the retroflex approximant
|ɻ| used in Old Tamil, but no longer in use in most non-Brahmin dialects.
Though mainly used by Tamil Brahmins, the Brahmin dialect is also used
occasionally, and to a lesser extent, by other forward caste Tamils
such as Vellalars
and Mudaliyars. Until the rise of Anti-Brahminism, the usage of Brahmin
Tamil was favoured as the common Tamil dialect In the early decades of the
20th century, the Brahmin Tamil variant spoken in Madras city was
considered to be standard spoken Tamil. However, since the 1950s and the
gradual elimination of Sanskrit loan words from the spoken tongue, Brahmin
Tamil has fallen into disuse and has been replaced by the Central and
Madurai Tamil dialects, by non-Brahmin communities, as the preferred spoken
dialects for day-to-day use.
The Vaishnavite Iyengar having a unique subdialect of Brahmin Tamil of
their own, called the Sri Vaishnava Manipravalam which interested
linguistics for its peculiar grammatical forms and vocabulary. However, due
to the development of a homogenised Brahmin identity during the medieval
period, Vaishnavite Brahmins in the Tamil country have largely assimilated
Brahmin Tamil with their own dialect, retaining several words of the
Vaishnava Manipravalam in their vocabulary. The Hebbar and Mandyam Iyengar
who reside outside the native Tamil land, however, continue to use Iyengar
Tamil as their mother tongue. So do Ashtagrama Iyers and Mysore Vadama
Iyers whose Tamil dialects while largely uses Brahmin Tamil has some
Kannada influence. In contrast to peninsular India, the Brahmin dialect was
never used by the Tamil Brahmins of Sri Lanka.
The difference between the Smartha and Sri Vaishnava variants are currently
limited to vocabulary, particularly to words related to ritual and familial
ties, alone.
Words unique to the Sri Vaishnava variant
Smartha Brahmin Variant Sri Vaishnava Variant English meaning
Rasam Sattru amudu Rasam.
Literally means the stew that is used to mix with rice.
Chithappa Chithiya
Father's younger brother (colloquial)
Abhishekham Thirumanjanam Bath of
temple idols in a ceremonial way.
Payasam Thirukanan amudhu Sweet
Porridge
Samayal Thaligai
Cooking
Adukull Thirumadapalli / Thaligai panra ull
Kitchen. Under Sri Vaishnava variant, the first one is to refer kitchen in
temples, while the second one is used to refer kitchen in houses.
Kari Kari amudhu
Vegetable Fry
kozhambu, sambar
Kozhambuquid gravy, with dhal or even without dhal (for Sri Vaishnava
variant only).
Narukurathu Thirutharathu To cut
(generally vegetables)
Thootham/Jalam Theertham Water
Thayir Saadham Dodhyonam Curd rice
Thaalikkarathu hirupu maarapanrathu/Thirumaararthu Process of
frying mustard, asafoetida in oil or ghee for aroma
Vendikarathu Sevikkarathu To
worship
Kumbabhishekam Samprokshanam Consecration of
a temple.
Namam pottukarathu Thiruman ittukarathu To apply
one or three stroke Namam (Iyengar tilakam) on forehead
Ecchal idardhu Ecchapiratal Cleaning the
left overs after having food
For the time being extracts restricted K Rajaram IRS 21524//22524
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