Batticaloa Tamil dialect is shared between
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
,
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
,
Veddhas
The Vedda ( si, වැද්දා , ta, வேடர் (''Vēḍar'')), or Wanniyalaeto, are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas ...
and
Portuguese Burghers
The Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent. They are largely Roman Catholic and some still speak the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese mixed with Sinhales ...
in the
Batticaloa-
Amparai region of the
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The Eastern Province ( ta, கிழக்கு மாகாணம் ''Kiḻakku Mākāṇam''; si, නැගෙනහිර පළාත ''Næ̆gĕnahira Paḷāta'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative d ...
. The Tamil dialect used by residents of the
Trincomalee District
Trincomalee District ( ta, திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம் ''Tirukōṇamalai Māvaṭṭam;'' si, ත්රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්රික්කය ''Trikuṇāmalaya distrikkaya'') is one ...
has many similarities with the
Jaffna Tamil dialect.
According to
Kamil Zvelebil
Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology.
Life and career
Zvelebil studied at the Cha ...
a
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, the Batticaloa Tamil dialect is the most literary like of all spoken dialects of Tamil, and it has preserved several antique features, and has remained more true to the literary norm than any other form of Tamil while developing a few striking innovations. Although Batticaloa Tamil has some very specific features of vocabulary, it is classified with other
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects
The Sri Lankan Tamil dialects or Ceylon Tamil or commonly in Tamil language Eelam Tamil () are a group of Tamil dialects used in Sri Lanka by its native Tamil people and Eastern Moors, and Coast Veddas that is distinct from the dialects of Tamil s ...
as it is related to them by characteristic traits of its
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
. It also maintains some words that are unique to present day. Also, the dialect has less influence of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
.
References
External links
பழந்தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தில் மட்டக்களப்புத் தமிழ்மட்டக்களப்புப் பிரதேச வழக்குச் சொற்கள் சொற்றொடர்களினதும் பழ மொழிகளினதும் அகராதிமட்டக்களப்புத் தமிழகம்
{{authority control
Ampara District society
Batticaloa District society
Languages of Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Tamil society
Tamil dialects