Indo-Aryan loanwords in Tamil

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The Tamil language has absorbed a large number of Indo-Aryan, especially Sanskrit,[1] loanwords ever since the early 1st millennium CE, when the Sangam period Chola kingdoms became influenced by early Brahmanism. Many of these loans are obscured by adaptions to Tamil phonology.[2].

This is an illustrative list of Tamil words of Indo-Aryan origin, classified based on type of borrowing. The words are transliterated according to IAST system. All words have been referenced with the Madras University Tamil Lexicon, which is used as the most authoritative and standard lexicon by mainstream scholars.[3][4] In the examples below, the second word is from Tamil, and its original Indo-Aryan source is placed to the left.

Contents 1 Change of final retroflex to dental 2 Loss of simple aspiration 3 Loss of initial s 4 Loss of initial complex consonant (retaining initial vowel) 5 Loss of initial complex consonant (introduction of vowel) 6 Loss of voicing 7 Loss of voiced aspiration 8 Tatsama borrowing 9 Change of final sibilant to semivowel 10 Change of medial sibilants to stops 11 Simplification of complex consonants 12 Split of complex syllables 13 Others 14 References 14.1 Notes 14.2 Bibliography 14.3 External links

[edit] Change of final retroflex to dental

• ambara - ampala[5]

[edit] Loss of simple aspiration

• ahaṃ - akam[5]

[edit] Loss of initial s

• samayaṃ - amaiyam[6]
• sabhā - avai[5]

[edit] Loss of initial complex consonant (retaining initial vowel)

• śṛavaṇa - Āvaṇi[5] (also note loss of initial complex consonant Śr

[edit] Loss of initial complex consonant (introduction of vowel)

• ḥṛdaya - itaya[5] (also loss of voicing)

[edit] Loss of voicing

• agati - akati[5]

[edit] Loss of voiced aspiration

• adhikāra - atikāra[5]
• adhika - atika

[edit] Tatsama borrowing

• aṇu - aṇu[5]
• nīti - nīti[5]

• maṇi - maṇi[5]

[edit] Change of final sibilant to semivowel

• Ākāśa - Ākāya

[edit] Change of medial sibilants to stops

• aśuddha - acutta[5]

[edit] Simplification of complex consonants

In the following words, the vowel i is added to the word-initial position before semivowels as per rules of Tamil grammar.

• lakṣaṇaṃ - ilakkaṇam[5]
• lakṣyaṃ - ilakkiyam[5]

[edit] Split of complex syllables

• agni - akkini[5] (gni to kini, also note loss of voicing)

[edit] Others

• rājan - aracan[5]
• ahaṃkāram - akankāram[5]
• agastya - akattiya[5]
• ahambhāva - akampāvam[5]
• Āṣāḍha - Āḍi[5]
• Ārambha - Ārampam[5]
• kāvya - kāppiyam[5]

• kārttika - kārttikai[5]

• śvāsa - cuvācam[5]

• śani - cani[5]

• chitra - cittirai[5]

• budha - putan[5]

• phalguna - pankuni[5]

• manas - manatu[5]
• mārgaśīrSa - mārkazhi[5]

• māgha - māci[5]

• vaiśākha - vaikāci[5]

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• S Vaidyanathan, Indo-Aryan loanwords in old Tamil, Rajan Publishers (1971), ASIN B0000CQQI3 [2]
• Chandran Tucker, A dictionary of English loan-words in modern Tamil: Contributions towards a modern Tamil-English dictionary , Biblia Impex (1986), ISBN 8185012148
• R Wallden, Hidden Indo-European and/or Indo-Aryan "Loanwords" in Old Tamil?, Orientalia Suecana Uppsala 1980, vol. 29, pp. 140–156 - [3]

[edit] External links

• Madras University Tamil lexicon