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Why Study Tamil?

Tamil is one of the two most ancient languages of India (the other being Sanskrit). It is the prime representative of the Dravidian family of languages, which are spoken mostly in the southern part of India. Together with Telugu (also taught at the University of Michigan), it is one of the four literary Dravidian languages. It has a rich grammatical and literary tradition dating back to the third century BCE.  Tamil is the first language of over 66 million people. If second language speakers are included, the number rises to over 74 million. Tamil spread to Southeast Asia in the beginning in the tenth century and continues to be important in Singapore and Malaysia.  Under the British Raj, it was transplanted to Burma, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, and other British possessions.  The Raj also transported Tamil to Sri Lanka.  Besides the states of Tamilnadu and its neighboring states in India, Tamil is spoken by substantial populations in fourteen countries. It functions as one of the official or administrative languages in the state of Tamilnadu and in countries such as Singapore and Sri Lanka.