A05145 : Lesson - 5-LANGUAGE AMALGAM

    This lesson tells you all about the circumstances in which words from one language are absorbed into another, and the reasons for this process. You can also learn about words acquired by Tamil from other languages and Tamil words found in other languages.

    It is natural that when people using one language interact with those using another, words are ‘borrowed’ from one language into another. Scholars have listed three reasons for such borrowing. They are: (1) Use of new things, (2) learning about a new subject, and (3) An association based on politics, religion and trade. When we happen to use a newly invented (foreign) product, we tend to use the foreign word for it, as a direct borrowing. Similarly, when we learn all about a particular field in which a language has acquired specialisation, (for example, Japanese in electronics) we use the same words which are found in that language. Again, an association with other countries or cultures based on politics, religion and trade, naturally leads to large-scale borrowing of words. For example, when Jainism and Buddhism flourished in Tamil Nadu, words pertaining to these two religions entered Tamil freely. Similarly, during the reign of the Naickers, Muslims and the English, words from their respective languages entered Tamil.

    Words related to ‘borrowing’ have been listed by scholars, as “Donor Language”, “Borrowing Language”, “Prestige Motive”, “Need-filling Motive”, “Loan Translation” and “Loan Blend”.

    Long ago, the chinese visited India and came to Tamil Nadu. These visits led to the entry of chinese words like ‘Saambaan’, ‘Kanngu’ and ‘Peengaan’ into Tamil. Similarly, words like kadutaaci, pena, vaathu, mecai and alamari were borrowed from the Portuguese. Later settlers like the Dutch and the French also enriched Tamil with words from their own languages.

    Living languages are constantly borrowing words from one another for various reasons and under various circumstances. This is inevitable. You can learn all this and more from this lesson.