View source for Linguistic history of India

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{{About|the historical context of Indian languages|the modern overview|Languages of India}}
{{Distinguish|Linguistic Survey of India}}
{{Contains special characters}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2024}}
[[File:South Asian Language Families.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Language families in the [[Indian subcontinent]].]]
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}

Since the [[Iron Age in India]], the native [[languages of the Indian subcontinent]] are divided into various [[language families]], of which the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] and the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] are the most widely spoken. There are also many languages belonging to unrelated [[Language family|language families]] such as [[Munda languages|Munda]] (from [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic family]]) and [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] (from [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Trans-Himalayan family]]), spoken by smaller groups.

==Indo-Aryan languages==
{{Main|Indo-Aryan languages}}

===Proto-Indo-Aryan===
{{main|Proto-Indo-Aryan language}}
[[Proto-Indo-Aryan language|Proto-Indo-Aryan]] is a [[proto-language]] hypothesized to have been the direct [[ancestor]] of all Indo-Aryan languages.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Turner |first1=Sir Ralph Lilley |title=A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/soas/frontmatter/introduction.html |website=Digital Dictionaries of South Asia |publisher=Oxford University Press (original), University of Chicago (web version) |access-date=8 November 2015}}</ref> It would have had similarities to [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]], but would ultimately have used [[Sanskrit]]ized [[phoneme]]s and [[morphology (linguistics)|morpheme]]s.

===Old Indo-Aryan===

====Vedic Sanskrit====
{{Main|Vedic Sanskrit}}
{{See also|Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni}}
[[File:Devimahatmya Sanskrit MS Nepal 11c.jpg|right|thumb|400px|[[Devimahatmya]] manuscript on [[Arecaceae|palm]]-leaf, in an early [[Bhujimol]] script, [[Bihar, India]] or [[Nepal]], 11th century]]

[[Vedic Sanskrit]] is the [[language]] of the [[Vedas]], a large [[wikt:collection|collection]] of [[hymn]]s, [[incantation]]s, and religio-philosophical discussions which form the earliest religious texts in India and the basis for much of the [[Hindu]] [[religion]]. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the [[Rigveda]] to be the earliest. The hymns preserved in the Rigveda were preserved by [[oral tradition]] alone over several centuries before the introduction of [[writing]], the oldest Aryan language among them predating the introduction of Brahmi by as much as a millennium.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the [[Upanishads]], which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations, dated to roughly 500 BCE. It is around this time that [[Sanskrit]] began the transition from a first language to a second language of [[religion]] and learning, marking the beginning of [[Classical India]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

====Classical Sanskrit====
{{Main|Sanskrit}}
{{Further|Pāṇini}}

Sanskrit grammar is [[Pāṇini|Panini]]'s [[Aṣṭādhyāyī]] ("Eight-Chapter Grammar") dating to c. the 5th century BCE. It is essentially a prescriptive [[grammar]], i.e., an [[authority]] that defines (rather than describes) correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Pāṇini's time.

Knowledge of [[Sanskrit]] was a marker of [[social class]] and [[education]]al attainment.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

[[Vedic Sanskrit]] and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit, while broadly similar, are separate<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/vedol/00 |title=Introduction to Ancient Sanskrit |website=lrc.la.utexas.edu}}</ref> varieties, which differ in a number of points of [[phonology]], [[vocabulary]], and grammar.

===Middle Indo-Aryan===

====Prakrits====
{{Main|Prakrit}}
'''Prakrit''' (Sanskrit ''prākṛta'' प्राकृत, the past participle of प्राकृ, meaning "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", i.e. "[[vernacular]]", in contrast to ''[[Sanskrit|samskrta]]'' "excellently made",{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} both adjectives elliptically referring to ''vak'' "speech") is the broad family of [[Indo-Aryan languages]] and [[dialect]]s spoken in ancient [[India]]. Some modern scholars include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the [[rubric]] of "Prakrits", while others emphasise the independent development of these languages, often separated from the [[history]] of Sanskrit by wide divisions of [[caste]], [[religion]], and [[geography]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by [[king]]s identified with the [[kshatriya]] caste. The earliest inscriptions in Prakrit are those of [[Ashoka]], emperor of the [[Maurya Empire]], and while the various Prakrit languages are associated with different patron dynasties, with different religions and different literary traditions.

In [[Sanskrit drama]], kings speak in [[Prakrit]] when addressing women or servants, in contrast to the Sanskrit used in reciting more formal poetic monologues.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

The three [[Dramatic Prakrit]]s – [[Sauraseni]], [[Magadhi Prakrit|Magadhi]], [[Maharashtri]], as well as [[Jain Prakrit]] each represent a distinct tradition of [[Indian literature|literature]] within the history of India. Other Prakrits are reported in historical sources, but have no extant corpus (e.g., [[Paisaci]]).

=====Pali=====
{{Main|Pali}}
Pali is the Middle Indo-Aryan language in which the [[Theravada]] Buddhist scriptures and commentaries are preserved. Pali is believed by the Theravada tradition to be the same language as Magadhi, but modern scholars believe this to be unlikely.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} Pali shows signs of development from several underlying Prakrits as well as some Sanskritisation.

The Prakrit of the North-western area of India known as [[Gandhara|Gāndhāra]] has come to be called [[Gāndhārī language|Gāndhārī]]. A few documents are written in the [[Kharosthi|Kharoṣṭhi]] script survive including a version of the [[Dhammapada]].

====Apabhraṃśa/Apasabda====
{{Main|Middle Indo-Aryan languages|Apabhraṃśa}}
The [[Prakrit]]s (which includes [[Pāli|Pali]]) were gradually transformed into [[Apabhramsha|Apabhraṃśas (अपभ्रंश)]] which were used until about the 13th century CE. The term '''apabhraṃśa,''' meaning "fallen away", refers to the dialects of [[Northern India]] before the rise of modern Northern Indian languages, and implies a corrupt or non-standard language. A significant amount of apabhraṃśa literature has been found in [[Jain]] libraries. While [[Amir Khusro]] and [[Kabir]] were writing in a language quite similar to modern [[Hindi]]-[[Urdu]], many poets, especially in regions that were still ruled by [[Hindu king]]s, continued to write in Apabhraṃśa. Apabhraṃśa authors include [[Sarahapad]] of [[Kamarupa]], [[Devasena]] of [[Dhar]] (9th century CE), [[Pushpadanta]] of [[Manikhet]] (9th century CE), [[Dhanapal]], [[Muni Ramsimha]], [[Hemachandra]] of [[Patan, Gujarat|Patan]], [[Raighu]] of [[Gwalior]] (15th century CE). An early example of the use of Apabhraṃśa is in [[Vikramōrvaśīyam]] of [[Kalidasa]], when [[Pururava]] asks the animals in the forest about his beloved who had disappeared.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

===Modern Indo-Aryan===

====Hindustani====
{{Further|History of Hindustani}}
Hindustani is right now the most spoken language in the Indian subcontinent and the fourth most spoken language in the world. The development of Hindustani revolves around the various Hindi dialects originating mainly from [[Sauraseni]] [[Apabhramsha]]. A Jain text Shravakachar written in 933AD is considered the first Hindi book.<ref name="West2009">{{cite book |author=Barbara A. West |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA282 |date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |pages=282–}}</ref> Modern Hindi is based on the prestigious Khariboli dialect which started to take Persian and Arabic words too with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate; however, the Arabic-Persian influence was profound mainly on Urdu and to a lesser extent on Hindi. Khadiboli also started to spread across North India as a vernacular form previously commonly known as [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]. Amir Khusrow wrote poems in Khariboli and Brajbhasha and referred that language as Hindavi. During the Bhakti era, many poems were composed in Khariboli, Brajbhasa, and Awadhi. One such classic is Ramcharitmanas, written by Tulsidas in Awadhi. In 1623 Jatmal wrote a book in Khariboli with the name 'Gora Badal ki Katha'.

The establishment of British rule in the subcontinent saw the clear division of Hindi and Urdu registers. This period also saw the rise of modern Hindi literature starting with [[Bharatendu Harishchandra]]. This period also shows further Sanskritization of the Hindi language in literature. Hindi is right now the official language in nine states of India— [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Bihar]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Haryana]] and [[Himachal Pradesh]]—and the National Capital Territory of [[Delhi]]. Post-independence Hindi became the official language of the Central Government of India along with English. Urdu has been the national and official language of Pakistan as well as the [[lingua franca]] of the country.

Outside the India, Hindustani is widely understood in other parts of the Indian subcontinent and also used as a lingua franca, and is the main language of [[Bollywood]].

====Marathi====
Marathi is one of several languages that further descend from [[Maharashtri Prakrit]]. Further change led to the [[Apabhraṃśa]] languages like Old Marathi, however, this is challenged by linguist [[Jules Bloch]], who stated that Apabhraṃśa was formed after Marathi had already separated from the Middle Indian dialect.{{sfn|Bloch|1970|p=32}} The earliest example of Maharashtri as a separate language dates to approximately 3rd century BCE: a stone inscription found in a cave at [[Naneghat]], [[Junnar]] in [[Pune district]] had been written in Maharashtri using [[Brahmi script]]. A committee appointed by the Maharashtra State Government to get the [[Languages of India#Classical languages of India|Classical]] status for Marathi has claimed that Marathi existed at least 2300 years ago alongside Sanskrit as a [[sister language]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/clamour-grows-for-marathi-to-be-given-classical-language-status/articleshow/63776578.cms|title=Clamour grows for Marathi to be given classical language status|author=Clara Lewis|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=16 April 2018|access-date=7 May 2018}}</ref> Marathi, a derivative of Maharashtri, is probably first attested in a 739 CE [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper-plate inscription]] found in [[Satara district|Satara]] After 1187 CE, the use of Marathi grew substantially in the inscriptions of the [[Seuna (Yadava) dynasty|Seuna (Yadava)]] kings, who earlier used Kannada and Sanskrit in their inscriptions.{{sfn|Novetzke|2016|pp=53-54}} Marathi became the dominant language of epigraphy during the last half century of the dynasty's rule (14th century), and may have been a result of the Yadava attempts to connect with their Marathi-speaking subjects and to distinguish themselves from the Kannada-speaking [[Hoysala]]s.{{sfn|Novetzke|2016|p=53}}<ref name="Talbot2001">{{cite book|author=Cynthia Talbot|title=Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfAKljlCJq0C&pg=PR9|date=20 September 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803123-9|pages=211–213}}</ref>

Marathi gained prominence with the rise of the [[Maratha Empire]] beginning with the reign of [[Shivaji]] (1630–1680). Under him, the language used in administrative documents became less persianised. Whereas in 1630, 80% of the vocabulary was Persian, it dropped to 37% by 1677<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|title=The new Cambridge history of India|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=0-521-25484-1|page=154|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGd2huLXEVYC&q=Afanasy+Nikitin+bahamani&pg=PR12|access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref> The [[British Raj|British colonial period]] starting in early 1800s saw standardisation of Marathi grammar through the efforts of the Christian missionary [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]]. Carey's dictionary had fewer entries and Marathi words were in [[Devanagari]]. Translations of the [[Bible]] were first books to be printed in Marathi. These translations by William Carey, the [[Marathi Christians|
American Marathi mission]] and the Scottish missionaries led to the development of a peculiar pidginized Marathi called "Missionary Marathi" in the early 1800s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sawant |first1=Sunil R. |chapter=Nineteenth Century Marthi Literary Polysystem |editor-last=Ray |editor-first=Mohit K. |title=Studies in translation |year=2008 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788126909223 |pages=134–135 |edition=2nd rev. and enl. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Puy3WGwVWXoC&pg=PA133}}</ref>

After [[Partition of India|Indian independence]], Marathi was accorded the status of a [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India|scheduled language]] on the national level. In 1956, the then Bombay state was reorganized which brought most Marathi and Gujarati speaking areas under one state. Further re-organization of the Bombay state on 1 May 1960, created the Marathi speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati speaking Gujarat state respectively. With state and cultural protection, Marathi made great strides by the 1990s.

==Dravidian languages==
{{Main|Dravidian languages}}

{{image frame|width=400|border=no|caption=This tree diagram depicts the [[genealogy]] of the primary [[tamil languages]] spoken in [[South India]].|content=
{{tree chart/start}}
{{tree chart| | | | |PROTO| | | | |PROTO=[[Proto-Dravidian language|Proto-Dravidian]]
|boxstyle_PROTO=background-color: #BDB76B;}}
{{tree chart| | | | |,|^|.| | | | }}
{{tree chart| | |PROTOS| |PROTOC|PROTOS=Proto-South-Dravidian|PROTOC={{nowrap|Proto-South-Central}} Dravidian}}
{{tree chart| | |!| | | | | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | |PROTOTK| | | |PROTOCD|PROTOTK=[[Tamil–Kannada languages|Proto-Tamil-Kannada]]|PROTOCD=Proto-Telugu}}
{{tree chart| | |)|-|-|-|-|.| | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | |PROTOTT| |PROTOK| |PROTOTU|PROTOTT=Proto-Tamil-Toda|PROTOK=Proto-Kannada|PROTOTU=Proto-Telugu}}
{{tree chart| | |!| | | | |!| | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | |PROTOTK| |KAN| |TEL|PROTOTK=Proto-Tamil-Kodagu|KAN=''[[Kannada]]''|TEL=''[[Telugu language|Telugu]]''
|boxstyle_KAN=background-color: #FA8072;
|boxstyle_TEL=background-color: #00FF00;}}
{{tree chart| | |!| }}
{{tree chart| | |PROTOTM|PROTOTM=Proto-Tamil-Malayalam}}
{{tree chart| | |)|-|-|.| }}
{{tree chart| |PROTOTAM| |MAL|PROTOTAM=Proto-Tamil|MAL=''[[Malayalam]]''
|boxstyle_MAL=background-color: #FFD700;}}
{{tree chart| | |!| }}
{{tree chart| |TAM|TAM=''[[Tamil language|Tamil]]''
|boxstyle_TAM=background-color: #9ACD32;}}
{{tree chart/end}}
}}

The '''Dravidian''' family of languages includes approximately 73 languages<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/browse/families |title=Browse by Language Family |website=Ethnologue}}</ref> that are mainly spoken in [[South India|southern India]] and northeastern [[Sri Lanka Tamils (native)|Sri Lanka]], as well as certain areas in [[Pakistan]], [[Nepal]], [[Bangladesh]], and eastern and central [[India]], as well as in parts of southern [[Afghanistan]], and overseas in other countries such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]].

The origins of the Dravidian languages, as well as their subsequent development and the period of their differentiation, are unclear, and the situation is not helped by the lack of [[comparative linguistics|comparative linguistic]] research into the Dravidian languages.
Many linguists, however, tend to favor the theory that speakers of Dravidian languages spread southwards and eastwards through the [[Indian subcontinent]], based on the fact that the southern Dravidian languages show some signs of contact with linguistic groups which the northern Dravidian languages do not. [[Proto-Dravidian]] is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian and Proto-South Dravidian around 1500 BCE, {{citation needed|date=April 2019}}although some linguists have argued that the degree of differentiation between the sub-families points to an earlier split.

It was not until 1856 that [[Robert Caldwell]] published his ''Comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian family of languages'', which considerably expanded the Dravidian umbrella and established it as one of the major language groups of the world. Caldwell coined the term "Dravidian" from the [[Sanskrit]] ''drāvida'', related to the word 'Tamil' or 'Tamilan', which is seen in such forms as into 'Dramila', 'Drami˜a', 'Dramida' and 'Dravida'  which was used in a 7th-century text to refer to the languages of the southern India. The ''Dravidian Etymological Dictionary'' was published by [[T. Burrow]] and [[M. B. Emeneau]].

===History of Tamil===
{{Further|Sangam literature|Tamil language#History}}
[[File:Mangulam inscription.jpg|thumb|250px|3rd – 2nd century BCE. [[Tamizhi|Tamil]] inscription of [[Mangulam]]]]

 	

Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the 6th millennium BCE. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were the culture associated with the [[Neolithic]] complexes of [[South India]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Southworth|2005|pp=249–250}}</ref> The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian. The linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE and Old Tamil emerged around the 6th century BCE.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} The earliest [[Tamil Brahmi|epigraphic]] attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been written shortly thereafter.<ref>{{Harvnb|Southworth|2005|pp=250–251}}</ref> Among Indian languages, Tamil has one of the ancient Indian literature besides others.<ref>Sivathamby, K (December 1974) [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3516448 Early South Indian Society and Economy: The Tinai Concept], Social Scientist, Vol.3 No.5 December 1974</ref>

Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods, Old Tamil (400 BCE – 700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75">{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|p=75}}</ref>

====Old Tamil====
The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from around the 6th century BCE in caves and on pottery. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the [[Brahmi script]] called [[Tamil Brahmi]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=90–95}}</ref> The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the [[Tolkāppiyam]], an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the 2nd century BCE.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/> A large number of literary works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as [[Sangam literature]]. These poems are usually dated to between the 1st and 5th centuries CE,<ref>{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|p=75}}. The dating of Sangam literature and the identification of its language with Old Tamil have recently been questioned by [[Herman Tieken]] who argues that the works are better understood as 9th-century [[Pandyan dynasty|Pāṇṭiyan dynasty]] compositions, deliberately written in an archaising style to make them seem older than they were ({{Harvnb|Tieken|2001}}). Tieken's dating has, however, been criticised by reviewers of his work. See e.g. {{Harvnb|Hart|2004}}, {{Harvnb|Ferro-Luzzi|2001}}, {{Harvnb|Monius|2002}} and {{Harvnb|Wilden|2002}}</ref> which makes them the oldest extant body of secular literature in India.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tharu|Lalita|1991|p=70}}</ref> Other literary works in Old Tamil include two long epics, [[Cilappatikaram]] and [[Manimekalai]], and a number of ethical and didactic texts, written between the 5th and 8th centuries.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|pp=75–6}}</ref>

Old Tamil preserved some features of Proto-Dravidian, including the inventory of consonants,<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=53}}</ref> the syllable structure,<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=92}}</ref> and various grammatical features.<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|pp=182–193}}</ref> Amongst these was the absence of a distinct present tense – like Proto-Dravidian, Old Tamil only had two tenses, the past and the "non-past". Old Tamil verbs also had a distinct negative conjugation (e.g. ''{{IAST|kāṇēṉ}}'' (காணேன்) "I do not see", ''{{IAST|kāṇōm}}'' (காணோம்) "we do not see").<ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|1998|p=24}}</ref> Nouns could take pronominal suffixes like verbs to express ideas: e.g. ''{{IAST|peṇṭirēm}}'' (பெண்டிரேம்) "we are women" formed from ''{{IAST|peṇṭir}}'' (பெண்டிர்) "women" + ''-{{IAST|ēm}}'' (ஏம்) and the first person plural marker.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|p=80}}</ref>

Despite the significant amount of grammatical and syntactical change between Old, Middle and Modern Tamil, Tamil demonstrates grammatical continuity across these stages: many characteristics of the later stages of the language have their roots in features of Old Tamil.<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/>

====Middle Tamil====
The evolution of Old Tamil into Middle Tamil, which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century,<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75"/> was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme,<ref>{{Harvnb|Kuiper|1958|p=194}}</ref> the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals,<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=132–133}}</ref> and the transformation of the alveolar [[plosive]] into a [[Rhotic consonant|rhotic]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kuiper|1958|pp=213–215}}</ref> In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb ''{{IAST|kil}}'' (கில்), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an [[Grammatical aspect|aspect marker]] to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ''{{IAST|ṉ}}'' (ன்). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – ''{{IAST|kiṉṟ}}'' (கின்ற) – which combined the old aspect and time markers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rajam|1985|pp=284–285}}</ref>

Middle Tamil also saw a significant increase in the Sanskritisation of Tamil. From the period of the [[Pallava dynasty]] onwards, a number of [[Sanskrit]] loan-words entered Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious and philosophical concepts.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=173–174}}</ref> Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs,<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=153–154}}</ref> and phonology.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=145–146}}</ref> The Tamil script also changed in the period of Middle Tamil. Tamil Brahmi and [[Vaṭṭeḻuttu]], into which it evolved, were the main scripts used in Old Tamil inscriptions. From the 8th century onwards, however, the Pallavas began using a new script, derived from the [[Grantha script|Pallava Grantha script]] which was used to write Sanskrit, which eventually replaced Vaṭṭeḻuttu.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=208–213}}</ref>

Middle Tamil is attested in a large number of inscriptions, and in a significant body of secular and religious literature.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|p=119}}</ref> These include the religious poems and songs of the [[Bhakti movement|Bhakthi]] poets, such as the [[Tēvāram]] verses on [[Saivism]] and [[Nālāyira Tivya Pirapantam]] on [[Vaishnavism]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Varadarajan|1988}}</ref> and adaptations of religious legends such as the 12th-century [[Ramavataram|Tamil Ramayana]] composed by [[Kambar (poet)|Kamban]] and the story of 63 [[Nayanmars|shaivite devotees]] known as Periyapurāṇam.<ref>{{Harvnb|Varadarajan|1988|pp=155–157}}</ref> [[Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ]], an early treatise on love poetics, and [[Naṉṉūl]], a 12th-century grammar that became the standard grammar of literary Tamil, are also from the Middle Tamil period.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zvelebil|1992|p=227}}</ref>

====Modern Tamil====
[[File:Christian prayers in tamil on palm leaves.jpg|thumb|250px|A set of palm leaf manuscripts from the 15th or 16th century, containing [[Christianity|Christian]] [[prayer]]s in Tamil]]
The [[Nannul]] remains the standard normative grammar for modern literary Tamil, which therefore continues to be based on Middle Tamil of the 13th century rather than on Modern Tamil.<ref>{{Harvnb|Shapiro|Schiffman|1983|p=2}}</ref>In contrast, colloquial spoken Tamil has undergone several changes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Annamalai|Steever|1998|p=100}}</ref> For example, the traditional method of conjugating verbs to express negation has largely fallen out of use. Instead, speakers now often use different words or phrases to indicate negation, which may involve changing the structure of the sentence rather than altering the verb forms. This shift means that negation is no longer marked by specific verb conjugations as it was in earlier forms of Tamil.<ref>{{Harvnb|Steever|2005|pp=107–8}}</ref> Modern spoken Tamil also shows a number of sound changes, in particular, a tendency to lower high vowels in initial and medial positions,<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|p=125}}</ref> and the disappearance of vowels between plosives and between a plosive and rhotic.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=122–123}}</ref>

Contact with European languages also affected both written and spoken Tamil. Changes in written Tamil include the use of European-style punctuation and the use of consonant clusters that were not permitted in Middle Tamil. The syntax of written Tamil has also changed, with the introduction of new aspectual auxiliaries and more complex sentence structures, and with the emergence of a more rigid word order that resembles the [[Theta role|syntactic argument structure]] of English.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kandiah|1978|pp=65–69}}</ref> Simultaneously, a strong strain of [[linguistic purism]] emerged in the early 20th century, culminating in the [[Pure Tamil Movement]] which called for removal of all Sanskritic and other foreign elements from Tamil.<ref name="thaniththamizh">{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997}}</ref> It received some support from [[Dravidian parties]] and [[Tamil nationalism|nationalists]] who supported [[Tamil independence]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997}}: "Dravidianism, too, lent its support to the contestatory classicist project, motivated principally by the political imperative of countering (Sanskritic) Indian nationalism... It was not until the DMK came to power in 1967 that such demands were fulfilled, and the pure Tamil cause received a boost, although purification efforts are not particularly high on the agenda of either the Dravidian movement or the Dravidianist idiom of tamiḻppaṟṟu."</ref> This led to the replacement of a significant number of Sanskrit loanwords by Tamil equivalents, though many others remain.<ref name="Krishnamurti 2003 p=480">{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=480}}</ref>

====Literature====
{{main|Tamil literature}}
Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from [[Tamil people]] from [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Sri Lankan Tamil people|Sri Lankan Tamils]] from [[Sri Lanka]], and from [[Tamil diaspora]]. Also, there have been notable contributions from European authors. The history of Tamil literature follows the [[history of Tamil Nadu]], closely following the social and political trends of various periods. The [[secular]] nature of the early [[Sangam Literature|Sangam]] poetry gave way to works of religious and didactic nature during the Middle Ages.  [[Jain]] and [[Buddhist]] authors during the medieval period and [[Muslim]] and European authors later, contributed to the growth of Tamil literature.

A revival of Tamil literature took place from the late 19th century when works of religious and philosophical nature were written in a style that made it easier for the common people to enjoy. Nationalist poets began to utilize the power of poetry in influencing the masses. With the growth of literacy, Tamil prose began to blossom and mature. Short stories and novels began to appear. The popularity of [[Tamil Cinema]] has also provided opportunities for modern Tamil poets to emerge.

===History of Kannada===
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2024}}[[File:halmidi file.jpg|right|thumb|175px|[[Halmidi]] Inscription replica]]

[[Kannada]] is one of oldest languages in South India.<ref name="ant">{{harvnb|Kamath|2001|pp=5–6}}</ref><ref name="bana">''Purva HaleGannada'' or Pre-old Kannada was the language of [[Banavasi]] in the early Christian era, the [[Satavahana]] and [[Kadamba Dynasty|Kadamba]] eras (Wilks in Rice, B.L. (1897), p490)</ref><ref name="greek_roman">{{cite web |title=The place of Kannada and Tamil in India's national culture |url=http://www.intamm.com/journalism/ta-jour3.htm |author=Sri K. Appadurai |publisher=INTAMM |year=1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415154722/http://www.intamm.com/journalism/ta-jour3.htm |archive-date=15 April 2007}}</ref><ref name="Tamil epigraphy">{{harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|p=159}} "earliest inscriptions in Kannada and Telugu occur more than half a millennium later [than the end of 3rd century or early 2nd century B.C.] ... earliest known literary work in Kannada is the ''Kavirajamarga'', written early in the 9th century A.D."</ref> The spoken language is said to have separated from its proto-language source earlier than Tamil and about the same time as [[Tulu language|Tulu]].<ref>[http://lrrc3.sas.upenn.edu/popcult/MAPS/soudrav.gif A family tree of Dravidian languages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710055159/http://lrrc3.sas.upenn.edu/popcult/MAPS/soudrav.gif |date=10 July 2007 }}. Sourced from [[Encyclopaedia Britannica]].</ref> However, archaeological evidence would indicate a written tradition for this language of around 1600–1650 years. The initial development of the Kannada language is similar to that of other south Indian languages.<ref name="indi">Kittel (1993), p1-2</ref><ref name="influence">"Literature in Kannada owes a great deal to Sanskrit, the magic wand whose touch raised Kannada from a level of patois to that of a literary idiom". (Sastri 1955, p309)</ref>

====Stages of development====
By the time Halmidi shasana (stone inscription) Kannada had become an official language. Some of the linguistics suggest that Tamil & HaLegannada are very similar or might have same roots. Ex: For milk in both languages it is 'Haalu', the postfix to the names of elders to show respect is 'avar / avargaL'.

=====600 – 1200 AD=====
During this era, language underwent a lot of changes as seen from the literary works of great poets of the era viz Pampa, Ranna, Ponna.

=====1400 – 1600 AD=====
Vijayanagar Empire which is called the Golden era in the history of medieval India saw a lot of development in all literary form of both Kannada and Telugu. During the ruling of the King Krishnadevaraya many wonderful works. Poet Kumaravyasa wrote Mahabharata in Kannada in a unique style called "shatpadi" (six lines is a stanza of the poem). This era also saw the origin of Dasa Sahitya, the Carnatic music. Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa wrote several songs praising Lord Krishna. This gave a new dimension to Kannada literature.

====Stone inscriptions====
The first written record in the Kannada language is traced to Emperor [[Ashoka]]'s ''[[Brahmagiri archaeological site|Brahmagiri edict]]'' dated 200 BCE.<ref name="classical2005">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/27/stories/2005052703230500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105151817/http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/27/stories/2005052703230500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 January 2007 |title=Declare Kannada a classical language |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=27 May 2005}}</ref><ref name="isila">The word ''Isila'' found in the Ashokan inscription (called the Brahmagiri edict from Karnataka) meaning to ''shoot an arrow'' is a Kannada word, indicating that Kannada was a spoken language (D.L. Narasimhachar in {{harvnb|Kamath|2001|p=5}})</ref> The first example of a full-length Kannada language stone inscription (''shilashaasana'') containing Brahmi characters with characteristics attributed to those of protokannada in ''Hale Kannada'' (''Old Kannada'') script can be found in the [[Halmidi inscription]], dated c. 450, indicating that Kannada had become an administrative language by this time.<ref name="admin">Ramesh (1984), p10</ref><ref name="Oldest inscription">A report on Halmidi inscription, {{cite news |title=Halmidi village finally on the road to recognition |url=http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/03/stories/2003110304550500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031124063238/http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/03/stories/2003110304550500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 November 2003 |author=Muralidhara Khajane |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=3 November 2003}}</ref><ref name="ind">{{harvnb|Kamath|2001|p=10}}</ref> Over 30,000 inscriptions written in the Kannada language have been discovered so far.<ref name="total">{{cite news |title=Press demand for according classical status to Kannada |url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041707890400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524155425/http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041707890400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2006 |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=17 April 2006}}</ref> The Chikkamagaluru inscription of 500 CE is another example.<ref name="chikka">Narasimhacharya (1988), p6</ref><ref name="rice">Rice (1921), p13</ref> Prior to the Halmidi inscription, there is an abundance of inscriptions containing Kannada words, phrases and sentences, proving its antiquity. Badami cliff ''shilashaasana'' of [[Pulakeshin I]] is an example of a Sanskrit inscription in ''Hale Kannada'' script.<ref name="cliff">{{harvnb|Kamath|2001|p=58}}</ref><ref name="cliff1">{{cite web |title=Badami: Chalukyans' magical transformation |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul262005/spectrum1422512005725.asp |author=Azmathulla Shariff |work=Deccan Herald |date=26 July 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007040120/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul262005/spectrum1422512005725.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=7 October 2006}}</ref>

====Copper plates and manuscripts====
[[File:Badami Chalukya Kannada Inscription.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Badami Chalukya inscription in Old Kannada, Virupaksha Temple, 745 [[Pattadakal]]]] Examples of early Sanskrit-Kannada bilingual [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate inscription]]s (''tamarashaasana'') are the Tumbula inscriptions of the [[Western Ganga Dynasty]] dated 444 AD<ref name="Tumbula1">In bilingual inscriptions the formulaic passages stating origin myths, genealogies, titles of kings and benedictions tended to be in Sanskrit, while the actual terms of the grant such as information on the land or village granted, its boundaries, the participation of local authorities, the rights and obligations of the grantee, taxes and dues and other local concerns were in the local language. The two languages of many such inscriptions were Sanskrit and the regional language such as Tamil or Kannada (Thapar 2003, pp393-394)</ref><ref name="Tumbula">{{cite news |title=Ancient inscriptions unearthed |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/24/stories/2004012407180300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040218052747/http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/24/stories/2004012407180300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 February 2004 |author=N. Havalaiah |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=24 January 2004}}</ref> The earliest full-length Kannada ''tamarashaasana'' in ''Old Kannada'' script (early 8th century) belongs to [[Alupas|Alupa]] King Aluvarasa II from Belmannu, South Kanara district and displays the double crested fish, his royal emblem.<ref name="Kannada copperplate">Gururaj Bhat in {{harvnb|Kamath|2001|p=97}}</ref> The oldest well-preserved palm leaf manuscript is in ''Old Kannada'' and is that of ''Dhavala'', dated to around the 9th century, preserved in the Jain Bhandar, Mudbidri, [[Dakshina Kannada]] district.<ref name="Palm leaf manuscript">{{cite web |title=Preserving voices from the past |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug212005/sundayherald101012005820.asp |author=Mukerjee, Shruba |work=Sunday Herald |date=21 August 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022233151/http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug212005/sundayherald101012005820.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=22 October 2006}}</ref> The manuscript contains 1478 leaves written in ink.<ref name="Palm leaf manuscript" />

===History of Telugu===
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2024}}

====Origins====
Telugu is hypothesised to have originated from a reconstructed [[Proto-Dravidian]] language. It is a highly Sanskritised language; as Telugu scholar [[Charles Philip Brown|C.P Brown]] states in page 266 of his book ''[[A Grammar of the Telugu language]]'': "if we ever make any real progress in the language the student will require the aid of the Sanskrit Dictionary".<ref>{{citation |title=A Grammar of the Telugu language |author=Charles Philip Brown |publisher=[[Kessinger Publishing]] |page=266}}</ref> Prakrit Inscriptions containing Telugu words dated around 400–100 BCE{{Dubious|Imaginary early Telugu period:|date=September 2012}} were discovered in [[Bhattiprolu]] in District of [[Guntur]]. English translation of one inscription as reads: "Gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha".<ref name="Hindu">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/20/stories/2007122054820600.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530044152/http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/20/stories/2007122054820600.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 May 2012 |title=Telugu is 2,400 years old, says ASI |date=20 December 2007 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2012}}

====Stages====
From 575 CE, we begin to find traces of Telugu in inscriptions and literature, it is possible to broadly define four stages in the [[linguistics|linguistic]] history of the Telugu language:

=====575 –1100 =====
The first inscription that is entirely in Telugu corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history. This inscription, dated 575, was found in the districts of [[Kadapa]] and [[Kurnool]] and is attributed to the [[Telugu Cholas|Renati Cholas]], who broke with the prevailing practice of using Prakrit and began writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in [[Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh|Anantapuram]] and other neighboring regions. The earliest dated Telugu inscription from coastal [[Andhra Pradesh]] comes from about 633 .

Around the same time, the [[Chalukya]] kings of [[Telangana]] also began using Telugu for inscriptions.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit than Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. One of the oldest Telugu stone inscriptions containing literature was the 11-line inscription dated between 946 and 968  found on a hillock known as Bommalagutta in Kurikyala village of [[Karimnagar district]], Telangana. The sing-song Telugu rhyme was the work of Jinavallabha, the younger brother of [[Adikavi Pampa|Pampa]] who was the court poet of [[Chalukyas of Vemulavada|Vemulavada Chalukya]] king [[Arikesari III]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Nanisetti|first=Serish|date=14 December 2017|title=Bommalagutta inscription sheds light on poetic use of Telugu|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/bommalagutta-inscription-sheds-light-on-poetic-use-of-telugu/article21665889.ece|access-date=23 October 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> This literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as [[Nannayya]]'s [[Mahabharata|''Mahabharatam'']] (1022 ). During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. This was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.

=====1100  – 1400 =====
The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary language. [[Mulaghatika Ketana|Ketana]] (13th century CE) in fact prohibited the use of the vernacular in poetic works. During this period the divergence of the [[Telugu script]] from the common [[Telugu-Kannada script]] took place.<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|pp=78–79}}</ref> [[Tikkana]] wrote his works in this script.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

=====1400–1900=====
Telugu underwent a great deal of change (as did other Indian languages), progressing from medieval to modern. The language of the [[Telangana]] region started to split into a distinct [[dialect]] due to Muslim influence: [[Sultanate]] rule under the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] had been established earlier in the northern [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] during the 14th century CE. South of the [[Krishna River]] (in the [[Rayalaseema]] region), however, the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] gained dominance from 1336 CE until the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of [[Krishnadevaraya]] in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered to be its [[golden age]].<ref name="APOnline">[http://www.aponline.gov.in/Quick%20links/HIST-CULT/languages.html APonline – History and Culture-Languages<!--Bot-generated title-->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208110254/http://www.aponline.gov.in/Quick%20links/HIST-CULT/languages.html|date=8 February 2012}}</ref> ''Padakavithapithamaha'', [[Annamayya]], contributed many ''atcha'' (pristine) Telugu ''Padaalu'' to this great language. In the latter half of the 17th century, Muslim rule extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the princely state of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]] by the [[Asaf Jah]] dynasty in 1724 CE. This heralded an era of [[Persian language|Persian]]/[[Arabic]] influence on the Telugu language, especially on that spoken by the inhabitants of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]]. The effect is also felt in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the ''[[Kaifiyat]]s''.<ref name = "APOnline"/>

=====1900 to date=====
The period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the influence of the English language and modern communication/printing press as an effect of the [[British Raj|British rule]], especially in the areas that were part of the [[Madras Presidency]]. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by scholars like Kandukuri Viresalingam, Gurazada Apparao, and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.<ref name = "APOnline"/>

Since the 1930s, what was considered an elite literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of [[mass media]] like [[movies]], [[television]], [[radio]] and [[newspapers]]. This form of the language is also taught in schools as a standard. In the current decade the Telugu language, like other Indian languages, has undergone [[globalization]] due to the increasing settlement of Telugu-speaking people abroad. Modern Telugu movies, although still retaining their dramatic quality, are linguistically separate from post-[[Indian Independence Movement|Independence]] films.

At present, a committee of scholars have approved a [[Classical language#Classical languages of India|classical language]] tag for Telugu based on its antiquity. The Indian government has also officially designated it as a classical language.<ref name= "classical2008">{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Telugu_gets_classical_status/articleshow/3660521.cms |title=Telugu gets classical status |access-date=1 November 2008 |date=1 October 2008 |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

====Carnatic music====

Though [[Carnatic music]], one of two main subgenres of [[Indian classical music]] that evolved from ancient [[Hindu]] traditions, has a profound cultural influence on all of the [[South India]]n states and their respective languages, most songs (Kirtanas) are in Kannada and Telugu. [[Purandara Dasa]], said to have composed at least a quarter million songs and known as the "father" of Carnatic music composed in Kannada.

The region to the east of Tamil Nadu stretching from Tanjore in the south to Andhra Pradesh in the north was known as the Carnatic region during 17th and 18th centuries. The Carnatic war in which Robert Clive annexed Trichirapali is relevant. The music that prevailed in this region during the 18th century onwards was known as Carnatic music. This is because the existing tradition is to a great extent an outgrowth of the musical life of the principality of [[Thanjavur]] in the [[Kaveri]] delta. Thanjavur was the heart of the [[Chola]] dynasty (from the 9th century to the 13th), but in the second quarter of the 16th century a [[Telugu people|Telugu]] [[Nayak (ethnic group)|Nayak]] viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the [[emperor]] of [[Vijayanagara]], thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. The Nayaks acted as governors of what is present-day [[Tamil Nadu]] with their headquarters at Thanjavur (1530–1674 CE) and [[Madurai]](1530–1781 CE). After the collapse of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagar]], Thanjavur and [[Madurai]] Nayaks became independent and ruled for the next 150 years until they were replaced by [[Maratha]]s. This was the period when several Telugu families migrated from [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]] and settled down in Thanjavur and [[Madurai]]. Most great composers of Carnatic music belonged to these Telugu families.

Telugu words end in vowels which many consider a mellifluous quality and thus suitable for musical expression. Of the trinity of Carnatic music composers, [[Tyagaraja]]'s and [[Syama Sastri]]'s compositions were largely in Telugu, while [[Muttuswami Dikshitar]] is noted for his Sanskrit texts. Tyagaraja is remembered both for his devotion and the bhava of his krithi, a song form consisting of [[pallavi]], (the first section of a song) anupallavi (a rhyming section that follows the pallavi) and [[charanam]] (a sung [[stanza]] which serves as a refrain for several passages in the composition). The texts of his kritis are almost all in Sanskrit, in Telugu (the contemporary language of the court). This use of a living language, as opposed to Sanskrit, the language of ritual, is in keeping with the bhakti ideal of the immediacy of devotion. [[Sri Syama Sastri]], the oldest of the trinity, was taught Telugu and Sanskrit by his father, who was the [[pujari]] (Hindu priest) at the [[Meenakshi]] [[temple]] in Madurai. Syama Sastri's texts were largely composed in Telugu, widening their popular appeal. Some of his most famous compositions include the nine krithis, [[Navaratnamaalikā]], in praise of the goddess Meenakshi at [[Meenakshi Amman temple|Madurai]], and his eighteen krithi in praise of Kamakshi. As well as composing krithi, he is credited with turning the [[svarajati]], originally used for dance, into a purely musical form.

===History of Malayalam===
[[Malayalam]] is thought to have diverged from [[Middle Tamil]] approximately the 6th century in the region coinciding with modern [[Kerala]]. The development of Malayalam as a separate language was characterized by a moderate influence from Sanskrit, both in lexicon and grammar, which culminated in the [[Adhyathmaramayanam|''Aadhyaathma Ramayanam'']], a version of the Ramayana by [[Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan]] which marked the beginning of modern Malayalam. Ezhuthachan's works also cemented the use of the [[Malayalam script]], an alphabet blending the Tamil [[Vatteluttu alphabet]] with elements of the [[Grantha alphabet|Grantha script]] resulting in a large number of letters capable of representing both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian sounds.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aiyar |first=Swaminatha |title=Dravidian theories |year=1987 |isbn=978-81-208-0331-2 |page=286 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-dIbnuJCjUC&q=malayalam |access-date=22 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Malayalam |url=http://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Malayalam/ |publisher=ALS International |access-date=22 January 2014}}</ref> Today, it is considered one of the 22 [[Languages with official status in India|scheduled languages of India]] and was declared a [[Languages of India#Classical languages of India|classical language]] by the Government of India in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/classical-status-for-malayalam/article4744630.ece |title='Classical' status for Malayalam |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=24 May 2013 |location=Thiruvananthapuram, India}}</ref>

== Sino-Tibetan languages ==
{{Main|Sino-Tibetan languages}}
Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken in the western Himalayas ([[Himachal Pradesh]]) and in the highlands of [[Northeast India]]. The Sino-Tibetan family includes such languages as [[Meitei language|Meitei]] (officially known as [[Manipuri language|Manipuri]]), [[Kokborok language|Tripuri]], [[Bodo language|Bodo]], [[Garo language|Garo]] and various groups of [[Naga languages]]. Some of the languages traditionally included in Sino-Tibetan may actually be language isolates or part of small independent language families.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

=== Meitei ===
{{Main|Meitei language}}
[[File:ANDRO INSCRIBED STONE.jpg|thumb|300px|A [[Meitei language]] stone inscription in [[Meitei script]] about a royal decree of a Meitei king found in the sacred site of God [[Panam Ningthou]] in [[Andro, Imphal East]], [[Manipur]]]]
[[Meitei language]] (officially known as [[Manipuri language]]) was the ancient court language of [[Manipur Kingdom]] ({{langx|mni|Meeteileipak}}), which was used with honour before and during the kingdom's [[Durbar (court)]] sessions, until [[Manipur]] was merged into the [[Republic of India]] on 21 September 1949.<ref name="Sanajaoba 1988 290">{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CzSQKVmveUC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA290 |title=Manipur, Past and Present: The Heritage and Ordeals of a Civilization |date=1988 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-853-2 |pages=290 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mohanty |first=P. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkguECp3vKEC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA149 |title=Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Tribes in India: In Five Volume |date=2006 |publisher= Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-8205-052-5 |pages=149 |language=en}}</ref> 
Besides being the native tongue of the [[Meiteis]], Meitei language was and is the lingua franca of all the ethnic groups living in [[Manipur]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language and alphabets |url=https://omniglot.com/writing/manipuri.htm |website=omniglot.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manipuri-language |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
The ancestor of the present day [[Meitei language]] is the [[:simple:Ancient Meitei language|Ancient Meitei]] (also called [[:simple:Old Manipuri language|Old Manipuri]]).
[[:simple:Classical Meitei language|Classical Meitei]] (also called [[:simple:Classical Manipuri|Classical Manipuri]]) is the standardised form of Meitei and is also the liturgical language of [[Sanamahism]] (traditional Meitei religion), serving as the medium of thoughts on the [[Puya (Meitei texts)]].

[[Padma Vibhushan]] awardee Indian [[Bengali people|Bengali]] scholar [[Suniti Kumar Chatterji]] wrote about Meitei language:
<blockquote>
<poem>
"The beginning of this old [[Manipuri literature]] (as in the case of [[Newari language|Newari]]) may go back to 1500 years, or even 2000 years, from now."<ref name="Sanajaoba 1988 290"/><ref>{{Cite book |url= |title=[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]] - Volume 14 - Page 20 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |year=1971 |edition=Volume 14 - Page 20 |pages=20 |language=en}}</ref>
</poem>
</blockquote>

Meitei language has its own script, the [[Meitei script]] ({{langx|mni|[[Meitei Mayek]]}}), often but not officially referred to as the [[Manipuri script]]. The earliest known coin, having the script engraved on it, dated back to the 6th century CE. Renowned Indian scholar [[Kalidas Nag]], after observing the Meitei writings on the handmade papers and [[agar]] pieces, opined that the [[Manipuri script]] belongs to the pre-Ashokan period. Ancient and medieval [[Meitei literature]] are written in this script.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paniker |first=K. Ayyappa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC&q=false&pg=PA324 |title=Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections (Assamese-Dogri) |date=1997 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=978-81-260-0365-5 |pages=324 |language=en}}</ref>

According to the "Report on the Archaeological Studies in Manipur, Bulletin No-1", a [[Meitei language]] copper plate inscription was found to be dated back to the 8th century CE. It is one of the preserved earliest known written records of Meitei language.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-16 |script-title=bn:মণিপুরি ভাষা ও লিপি – এল বীরমঙ্গল সিংহ {{!}} আপনপাঠ ওয়েবজিন |url=https://aponpath.com/manipuri-bhasa-o-lipi-l-birmangal-singh/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |language=bn}}</ref>

In the 18th century CE, the usage of [[Meitei script]] was officially replaced by the [[Bengali script]] for any forms of writings in [[Meitei language]] right from the era of Meitei King [[Gharib Nawaz (Manipur)|Gharib Niwaj]] ({{langx|mni|[[Pamheiba]]}}) (1690–1751), the Maharaja of [[Manipur kingdom]]. It was during his time [[Kangleipak]], the Meitei name of the kingdom, was renamed with the Sanskrit name [[Manipur]], thereby creating the mythical connecting legends with that of the [[Manipur (Mahabharata)]], which is clarified by the modern Indian Hindu scholars as a coastal region in [[Odisha]], though eponymous with the Meitei kingdom.

In modern era, the ''"[[Manipur State Constitution Act 1947]]"'' of the once independent [[Manipur Kingdom]] accords [[Meitei language]] as the court language of the kingdom (before merging into the [[Indian Republic]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chishti |first=S. M. A. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMcxSM_ZO30C&dq=Manipuri+court+language&pg=PA282 |title=Political Development in Manipur, 1919-1949 |date=2005 |publisher= Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7835-424-8 |pages=282 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Suresh K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpyeNBqtHlgC&dq=Manipuri+court+language&pg=PA168 |title=Documents on North-East India: Manipur |date=2006 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-092-5 |pages=168 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarapot |first=Phanjoubam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsUJ0E3BXkMC&dq=Manipuri+court+language&pg=PA309 |title=Bleeding Manipur |date=2003 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-0902-1 |pages=309 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO-vtI8NuxIC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA369 |title=Manipur: Treatise & Documents |date=1993 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-399-5 |pages=369 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO-vtI8NuxIC&dq=manipuri+court+language&pg=PA255 |title=Manipur: Treatise & Documents |date=1993 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-399-5 |pages=255 |language=en}}</ref>

In the year 1972, Meitei language was given the recognition by the National [[Sahitya Akademi]], the highest Indian body of language and literature, as one of the major Indian languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/devi2004loanwords.pdf|title=Loanwords in Manipuri and their impact|website=sealang.net|author=Hajarimayum Subadani Devi|quote=In 1972 the Sahitya Akademi, the highest body of language and literature of India recognized Manipuri (Manipuri Sahitya Parisad. 1986:82)|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr Thokchom Ibohanbi - first Manipuri writer to get Akademi award : 24th feb22 ~ E-Pao! Headlines |url=http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=30..240222.feb22  |website=e-pao.net}}</ref>

On 20 August 1992, [[Meitei language]] was included in the [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India]] and made one of the [[languages with official status in India]]. The event was commemorated every year as the [[Meitei Language Day]] (officially called [[Manipuri Language Day]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhardwaj |first=R. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXj69CpMnF4C&q=manipuri%20language%20included%20in%20scheduled%20language%20august%2020&pg=PA189 |title=Legislation by Members in the Indian Parliament |date=1994 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=978-81-7023-409-8 |pages=189 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Khullar |first=D. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqE_DAAAQBAJ&q=manipuri%20language%20included%20in%20scheduled%20language%20august&pg=PA188 |title=Geography Textbook |publisher=New Saraswati House India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-93-5041-243-5 |pages=188 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharyya |first=Rituparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEZ1EAAAQBAJ&q=manipuri%20eighth%20schedule%20august%2020&pg=PT209 |title=Northeast India Through the Ages: A Transdisciplinary Perspective on Prehistory, History, and Oral History |date=2022-07-29 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-000-62390-1 |pages=209 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=30th Manipuri Language Day observed : 21st aug21 ~ E-Pao! Headlines |url=http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=7..210821.aug21 |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=e-pao.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manipuri Language Day observed in Manipur - Eastern Mirror |url=https://easternmirrornagaland.com/manipuri-language-day-observed-in-manipur/ |website=easternmirrornagaland.com |date=20 August 2017 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Starting from the year 2021, [[Meitei script]] (officially known as [[Meetei Mayek]]{{efn|The terms, "Meitei", "Meetei" and "Manipuri" are synonymous. While "Meitei" is more popular than "Meetei", "Meetei" is the officially mentioned synonym of the term "Manipuri".}}) was officially used, along with the [[Bengali script]], to write the [[Meitei language]], as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021". It was declared by the [[Government of Manipur]] on 10 March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GAZETTE TITLE: The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021 |url=http://manipurgovtpress.nic.in/en/details_gazzete/?gazette=658 |access-date= |website=manipurgovtpress.nic.in}}</ref>

In September 2021, the [[Central Government of India]] released {{INRConvert|18|c}} as the first instalment for the development and the promotion of the [[Meitei language]] and the [[Meitei script]] in [[Manipur]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Laithangbam |first=Iboyaima |date=2021-09-15 |title=Centre has released ₹18 crore for promotion of Manipuri language, says State Education Minister |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/centre-has-released-18-crore-for-promotion-of-manipuri-language-says-state-education-minister/article36466705.ece |access-date=2022-08-21 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-14 |title=Centre to release Rs 18 crore to promote Manipuri language {{!}} Pothashang News |url=https://www.pothashang.in/2021/09/14/centre-to-release-rs-18-crore-to-promote-manipuri-language/ |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=Pothashang |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-15 |title=State Education Minister says Center has released ₹18 crore to promote Manipuri language - Bharat Times |url=https://news.bharattimes.co.in/state-education-minister-says-center-has-released-%e2%82%b918-crore-to-promote-manipuri-language/ |access-date=2022-08-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Languages of other families in India==

===Austroasiatic languages===
{{Main|Austroasiatic languages}}

The Austroasiatic family spoken in East and North-east India. Austroasiatic languages include the [[Santali language|Santal]] and [[Munda languages]] of eastern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and the [[Mon–Khmer languages]] spoken by the [[Khasi people|Khasi]] and [[Nicobarese people|Nicobarese]] in India and in [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Laos]], [[Cambodia]], [[Vietnam]], and southern [[China]]. The Austroasiatic languages arrived in east India around 4000-3500 ago from [[Southeast Asia]].<ref>Sidwell, Paul. 2018. [https://www.academia.edu/36689736/Austroasiatic_Studies_state_of_the_art_in_2018 Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018]. Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 22 May 2018.</ref>

===Great Andamanese and Ongan languages===
On the [[Andaman Islands]], language from at least two families have spoken: the [[Great Andamanese languages]] and the [[Ongan languages]]. The Sentinelese language is spoken on North Sentinel Island, but contact has not been made with the Sentinelis; thus, its language affiliation is unknown. While [[Joseph Greenberg]] considered the Great Andamanese languages to be part of a larger [[Indo-Pacific languages|Indo-Pacific family]], it was not established through the [[comparative method]] but considered spurious by historical linguists. Stephen Wurm suggests similarities with [[Trans-New Guinea languages]] and others are caused by a [[stratum (linguistics)|linguistic substrate]].<ref>[http://www.papuaweb.org/dlib/bk/pl/C38/_toc.html Wurm, S.A. (1977: 929). ''New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study, Volume 1: Papuan Languages and the New Guinea Linguistic Scene''. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.]</ref>

[[Juliette Blevins]] has suggested that the Ongan languages are the sister branch to the [[Austronesian languages]] in an Austronesian-Ongan family because of sound correspondences between protolanguages.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blevins |first=Juliette |year=2007 |title=A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=154–198 |doi=10.1353/ol.2007.0015|s2cid=143141296 }}</ref>

===Isolates===
The [[Nihali language]] is a language isolate spoken in [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Maharashtra]]. Affiliations have been suggested to the [[Munda languages]] but they have yet to be demonstrated.

==Scripts==

===Indus===
[[File:Brahmic script travel from India.png|thumb|right|350px|Spread of scripts in [[Asia]] ]]
{{Main|Indus script}}
The [[Indus script]] is the short strings of symbols associated with the [[Indus Valley civilization|Harappan civilization]] of [[Kingdoms of Ancient India|ancient India]] (most of the Indus sites are distributed in present-day [[Pakistan]] and northwest [[India]]) used between 2600 and 1900 BCE, which evolved from an early Indus script attested from around 3500–3300 BCE. Found in at least a dozen types of context, the symbols are most commonly associated with flat, rectangular stone tablets called seals. The first publication of a Harappan seal was a drawing by [[Alexander Cunningham]] in 1875. Since then, well over 4000 symbol-bearing objects have been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia. After 1500 BCE, coinciding with the final stage of Harappan civilization, use of the symbols ends. There are over 400 distinct signs, but many are thought to be slight modifications or combinations of perhaps 200 'basic' signs. The symbols remain undeciphered (in spite of numerous attempts that did not find favour with the academic community), and some scholars classify them as [[proto-writing]] rather than writing proper.

===Brāhmī===
{{Main|Brahmi script|Tamil-Brahmi}}

The best-known inscriptions in Brāhmī are the rock-cut [[Edicts of Ashoka]], dating to the 3rd century BCE. These were long considered the earliest examples of Brāhmī writing, but recent archaeological evidence in [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] suggest the dates for the earliest use of Tamil Brāhmī to be around the 6th century BCE, dated using [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] and [[thermoluminescence dating]] methods.

This script is ancestral to the [[Brahmic family]] of scripts, most of which are used in [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]], but which have wider historical use elsewhere, even as far as [[Mongolia]] and perhaps even [[Korea]], according to one theory of the origin of [[Hangul]]. The [[Brahmi numeral|Brāhmī numeral]] system is the ancestor of the [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system|Hindu–Arabic numerals]], which are now used worldwide.

Brāhmī is generally believed to be derived from a [[Semitic script]] such as the [[Imperial Aramaic alphabet]], as was clearly the case for the contemporary [[Kharosthi]] alphabet that arose in a part of northwest Indian under the control of the [[Achaemenid]] Empire. [[Rhys Davids]] suggests that writing may have been introduced to India from the [[Middle East]] by traders. Another possibility is with the Achaemenid conquest in the late 6th century BCE. It was often assumed that it was a planned invention under Ashoka as a prerequisite for his edicts. Compare the much better-documented parallel of the [[Hangul]] script.

Older examples of the Brahmi script appear to be on fragments of pottery from the trading town of [[Anuradhapura]] in Sri Lanka, which have been dated to the early 400 BCE. Even earlier evidence of the [[Tamil-Brahmi|Tamil -Brahmi]] script has been discovered on pieces of pottery in [[Adichanallur]], Tamil Nadu. Radio-carbon dating has established that they belonged to the 6th-century BCE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orientalthane.com/archaeology/news_2004_05_31_1.htm |title=Skeletons, script found at ancient burial site in Tamil Nadu |website=orientalthane.com}}</ref>

The origin of the script is still much debated, with most scholars stating that Brahmi was derived from or at least influenced by one or more contemporary [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Semitic scripts]], while others favor the idea of an indigenous origin or connection to the much older and as yet undeciphered [[Indus script]] of the [[Indus Valley civilisation]].{{sfn|Salomon|1998|p=20}}<ref name=scharfe391>{{cite journal|last=Scharfe|first=Hartmut|title=Kharosti and Brahmi|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=122|issue=2|year=2002|pages=391–393|doi=10.2307/3087634|jstor=3087634}}</ref>

===Kharosthi===
{{Main|Kharosthi}}
[[File:YingpanKharoshthi.jpg|thumb|250px|Paper strip with writing in [[Kharoṣṭhī]]. 2nd to 5th century CE, [[Yingpan (archaeological site)|Yingpan]], Eastern [[Tarim Basin]], [[Xinjiang]] Museum.]]
The '''Kharoṣṭhī script''', also known as the '''Gāndhārī script''', is an ancient [[abugida]] (a kind of [[alphabet]]ic script) used by the [[Gandhara culture]] of ancient northwest [[India]] to write the [[Gāndhārī language|Gāndhārī]] and [[Sanskrit]] languages. It was in use from the 4th century BCE until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE. It was also in use along the [[Silk Road]] where there is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century CE in the remote way stations of [[Khotan]] and [[Niya ruins|Niya]].

Scholars are not in agreement as to whether the Kharoṣṭhī script evolved gradually, or was the work of a mindful inventor. An analysis of the script forms shows a clear dependency on the [[Aramaic alphabet]] but with extensive modifications to support the sounds found in Indian languages. One model is that the Aramaic script arrived with the [[Achaemenid]] conquest of the region in 500 BCE and evolved over the next 200+ years to reach its final form by the 3rd century BCE. However, no Aramaic documents of any kind have survived from this period. Also intermediate forms have yet been found to confirm this evolutionary model, and rock and [[coin]]s [[inscription]]s from the 3rd century BCE onward show a unified and mature form.

The study of the Kharoṣṭhī script was recently invigorated by the discovery of the [[Gandhāran Buddhist texts]], a set of [[birch]]-[[Bark (botany)|bark]] manuscripts written in Kharoṣṭhī, discovered near the [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] city of [[Hadda, Afghanistan|Haḍḍā]] (compare [[Punjabi language|Panjabi]] HAḌḌ ਹੱਡ s. m. "A bone, especially a big bone of dead cattle" referring to the famous mortuary grounds if the area): just west of the [[Khyber Pass]]. The manuscripts were donated to the [[British Library]] in 1994. The entire set of manuscripts are dated to the 1st century CE making them the oldest Buddhist manuscripts in existence.

===Gupta===
{{Main|Gupta script}}
The '''Gupta script''' was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the [[Gupta Empire]] of India which was a period of material prosperity and great religious and [[science|scientific]] developments. The Gupta script was descended from [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] and gave rise to the [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddham]] script and then [[Bengali–Assamese script]].

===Siddhaṃ===
{{Main|Siddhaṃ script}}
[[File:Falongsibeiye.png|right|thumb|400px|A replica of [[Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra]] manuscript in [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddham]] on [[Arecaceae|palm]]-leaf in 609 CE. [[Hōryū-ji]], Japan. The last line is a complete Sanskrit syllabary in Siddhaṃ script]]

'''Siddhaṃ''' (Sanskrit, accomplished or perfected), descended from the Brahmi script via the Gupta script, which also gave rise to the [[Devanagari]] script as well as a number of other Asian scripts such as [[Tibetan script]].

Siddhaṃ is an [[abugida]] or alphasyllabary rather than an [[alphabet]] because each character indicates a syllable. If no other mark occurs then the short 'a' is assumed. Diacritic marks indicate the other vowels, the pure nasal (anusvara), and the aspirated vowel (visarga). A special mark (virama), can be used to indicate that the letter stands alone with no vowel which sometimes happens at the end of Sanskrit words. See links below for examples.

The writing of [[mantra]]s and copying of [[Sutra]]s using the Siddhaṃ script is still practiced in [[Shingon Buddhism]] in [[Japan]] but has died out in other places. It was [[Kūkai]] who introduced the Siddham script to Japan when he returned from China in 806, where he studied Sanskrit with [[Nalanda]] trained monks including one known as Prajñā. Sutras that were taken to China from India were written in a variety of scripts, but Siddham was one of the most important. By the time Kūkai learned this script the trading and pilgrimage routes overland to India, part of the [[Silk Road]], were closed by the expanding [[Islam|Islamic empire]] of the [[Abbasid]]s. Then in the middle of the 9th century, there were a series of purges of "foreign religions" in China. This meant that Japan was cut off from the sources of Siddham texts. In time other scripts, particularly Devanagari replaced it in India, and so Japan was left as the only place where Siddham was preserved, although it was, and is only used for writing mantras and copying sutras.

Siddhaṃ was influential in the development of the [[Kana]] writing system, which is also associated with Kūkai{{spaced ndash}}while the Kana shapes derive from Chinese characters, the principle of a syllable-based script and their systematic ordering was taken over from Siddham.

===Nagari===
{{Further|Devanagari}}
Descended from the [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddham]] script around the 11th century.

==See also==
{{Portal|India}}
* [[Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit]]
*[[Persian language in the Indian subcontinent]]
* [[Indo-Aryan loanwords in Tamil]]
* [[Linguistic Survey of India]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
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* {{cite book |last=Bloch |first=J |author-link=Jules Bloch |translator-last=Chanana |translator-first=Dev Raj |title=Formation of the Marathi Language |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1noaklDiSOEC&pg=PA32 |year=1970 |orig-year=First published 1914 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2322-8}}
* Steve Farmer, [[Richard Sproat]], and [[Michael Witzel]], ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20061117044253/http://users.primushost.com/~india/ejvs/ejvs1102/ejvs1102article.pdf The Collapse of the Indus-Script Thesis: The Myth of a Literate Harappan Civilization]'', EVJS, vol. 11 (2004), issue 2 (Dec)
* {{cite journal |last=Ferro-Luzzi |first=G. Eichinger |author-link=Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi |year=2001 |title=Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam Poetry |type=Book Review |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=373–374 |doi=10.2307/1179075 |jstor=1179075 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hart |first=George |date=January–March 2004 |title=Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam Poetry |type=Book Review |journal=The Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=180–|doi=10.2307/4132191 |jstor=4132191 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kamath |first=Suryanath U. |author-link=Suryanath U. Kamath |year=2001 |orig-year=First published 1980 |title= A Concise History of Karnataka: From Pre-historic Times to the Present |location= Bangalore |publisher=Jupiter books |isbn= |oclc= 7796041}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kandiah |first1=Thiru |year=1978 |title=Standard Language and Socio-Historical Parameters: Standard Lankan Tamil |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |volume=1978 |issue=16 |pages=59–76 |doi=10.1515/ijsl.1978.16.59|s2cid=143499414 }}
* {{cite book |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |year=2003 |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |isbn=978-0-521-77111-5}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kuiper |first1=F. B. J. |year=1958 |title=Two problems of old Tamil phonology I. The old Tamil āytam (with an appendix by K. Zvelebil) |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=191–224  |doi=10.1163/000000058790082452|s2cid=161402102 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lehmann |first=Thomas |year=1998 |chapter=Old Tamil |editor-last=Steever |editor-first=Sanford |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=Routledge |pages=75–99 |isbn=978-0-415-10023-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |year=2003 |title=Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D |series=[[Harvard Oriental Series]] vol. 62 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01227-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Meenakshisundaran |first=TP |year=1965 |title=A history of Tamil language |location=Poona |publisher=Linguistic Society of India}}
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* {{cite book |last=Novetzke |first=Christian Lee |author-link=Christian Lee Novetzke |title=The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9kbDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |year=2016 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-54241-8}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rajam |first1=V. S. |year=1985 |title=The Duration of an Action-Real or Aspectual? The Evolution of the Present Tense in Tamil |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=105 |issue=2 |pages=277–291 |doi=10.2307/601707 |jstor=601707}}
* {{cite book |last=Ramaswamy |first=Sumathy |year=1997 |title=Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 |url=http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5199n9v7/ |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-585-10600-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Salomon |first=Richard |author-link=Richard G. Salomon (professor of Asian studies) |year=1998 |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-535666-3}}
* Scharfe, Harmut. Kharoṣṭhī and Brāhmī. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 122 (2) 2002, p.&nbsp;391–3.
* {{cite book |last1=Shapiro |first1=Michael C. |last2=Schiffman |first2=Harold F. |year=1983 |title=Language and society in South Asia |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Foris |isbn=978-90-70176-55-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Southworth |first=Franklin C. |author-link=Franklin Southworth |year=2005 |title=Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |isbn=978-0-415-33323-8}}
* Stevens, John. Sacred Calligraphy of the East. [3rd ed. Rev.] (Boston : Shambala, 1995)
* {{cite book |last=Steever |first=Sanford |year=1998 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last=Steever |editor-first=Sanford |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=Routledge |pages=1–39 |isbn=978-0-415-10023-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Steever |first=Sanford |year=2005 |title=The Tamil auxiliary verb system |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-34672-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Tharu |first1=Susie |author1-link=Susie Tharu |last2=Lalita |first2=K. |year=1991 |title=Women writing in India : 600 B.C. to the present |publisher=The Feminist Press at the City University of New York |isbn=978-1-55861-026-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Tieken |first=Herman |year=2001 |title=Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam Poetry |series=Gonda Indological Studies, Volume X |place=Groningen |publisher=Egbert Forsten Publishing |isbn=978-90-6980-134-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Varadarajan |first=Mu. |year=1988 |translator-last=Viswanathan |translator-first=E.Sa. |title=A History of Tamil Literature |place=New Delhi |publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}
* {{cite book |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |year=1992 |title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-09365-2}}
* {{cite journal |last=Wilden |first=Eva |date=2002 |title=Towards an Internal Chronology of Old Tamil Caṅkam Literature Or How to Trace the Laws of a Poetic Universe |type=Book Review |journal=Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens |volume=46 |pages=105–133 |jstor=24007685}}

==Further reading==
* [http://www.joao-roiz.jp/LSI/ A Database of G.A. Grierson's ''Linguistic Survey of India'' (1904–1928, Calcutta).]
* {{cite book |last=Grierson |first=Sir George Abraham |author-link=George Abraham Grierson |title=The Pisaca languages of north-western India |url=https://archive.org/stream/pisacalanguageso00grie#page/n5/mode/2up |year=1906 |publisher=The Royal asiatic Society, London}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170704231551/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/lsi/ Gramophone recordings] from the ''[[Linguistic Survey of India]]'' (1913–1929), ''Digital South Asia Library''

==External links==
* Omniglot alphabets for [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/kharosthi.htm Kharoṣṭhī], [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/brahmi.htm Brahmi],  [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/siddham.htm Siddham], [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/devanagari.htm Devanāgarī].
* [http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/scripts.html Indian Scripts and Languages]

{{Languages of India}}
{{Languages of South Asia}}
{{India topics}}
{{Pakistan topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linguistic History of India}}
[[Category:Linguistic history of India| ]]
[[Category:Linguistic history of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Linguistic history of Bangladesh]]