Tamil (English: /ˈtæmɪl/; தமிழ் [t̪ɐmɨɻ], 
pronunciation (help·info)) is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. It is an official language of two countries, Sri Lanka and Singapore.[10][11] It has official status in the Indian state of Tamilnadu and the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. It is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin.[12][13] Itis also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.
It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world.[14][15] Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur[16] and 2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been found on Samanamalai.[17] It has been described as “the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past.”[18] The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as “one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world”.[19]
A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years.[20] The earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca. 300 BC – AD 300.[21][22] It has the oldest extant literature among Dravidian languages.[14] The earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC.[23][24] More than 55% of the epigraphical inscriptions (about 55,000) found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in this language.[25] This language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, and on trade goods in Thailand and Egypt.[26][27] The two earliest manuscripts from India,[28][29] acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in this language.[30]
In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named ‘Thambiraan Vanakkam,’ thus making it the first Indian language to be printed and published.[31] The Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages.[32] According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in this language, of which 353 were dailies.[33]
