Malaysian Tamil

Malaysian Tamil (Tamil: Malēciya tamiḻ moḻi), also known as Malaya Tamil, is a local variant of the Tamil language spoken in Malaysia.[2] It is one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin.[3][4] There are many differences in vocabulary between Malaysian Tamil and Indian Tamil.

Malaysian Tamil
Bahasa Tamil Malaysia
மலேசிய தமிழ் மொழி
Native toMalaysia and Singapore
EthnicityMalaysian Indian (Tamil Malaysians)
Native speakers
~2.4 million in Malaysia and Singapore (2006 – 2010 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologmala1467

Influence

An element needed to carry out commercial transactions is a common language understood by all parties involved in early trade. Historians such as J.V. Sebastian, K.T. Thirunavukkarasu, and A.W. Hamilton record that Tamil was the common language of commerce in Malaysia and Indonesia during historical times. The maritime Tamil significance in Sumatran and Malay Peninsula trading continued for centuries and borrowings into Malay from Tamil increased between the 15th and 19th centuries due to their commercial activities. In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company was obliged to use Tamil as part of its correspondence. In Malacca and other seaports up to the 19th century, Malay terminology pertaining to book-keeping and accountancy was still largely Tamil.

Borrowings into Malay from Tamil (sometimes Sanskritized) include such everyday words as:

Tamil Malay English
kadai kedai shop
kappal kapal ship
muthu mutiara pearl
vagai bagai kind of
nagaram negara city
bhoomi bumi earth
syurgam syurga heaven/paradise
aniayam aniaya persecute, misjustice
rahasiyam rahsia secret
varnnam warna colours

References
  1. Tamil at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. "Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: the Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy". Ccat.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  3. Tamil Schools. Indianmalaysian.com. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  4. Ghazali, Kamila (2010). UN Chronicle – National Identity and Minority Languages. United Nations.

Sources
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