Langenesis

Dravidian family

Tamil

700 CE – today Living

Tamil (700 CE – today) is a living Dravidian language. Lineage: Proto-Dravidian → Proto-South Dravidian → Old Tamil → Tamil.

See Tamil on the interactive map
Speakers
79M (79,000,000)
ISO 639-3
tam
Glottocode
tami1289

Covers Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present). One of the longest continuously documented literary traditions of any living language.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Dravidianc. 4,000 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-South Dravidianc. 1,100 BCE – 300 BCE
  3. Old Tamil300 BCE – 700 CE
  4. Tamil700 CE – today

Sister languages 1

Also descended from Old Tamil.

Sources