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Diglossia Speech Print

The document discusses the concept of diglossia in Tamil, highlighting the coexistence of Literary Tamil (H) and Colloquial Tamil (L) across various media, including news channels, movies, and social media. It emphasizes how digital platforms are democratizing the language, allowing for regional pride and the reclamation of dialects, while also blurring the lines between H and L. The author argues that rather than weakening Tamil, these changes reflect its evolution and adaptability in the modern world.

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rajeswari ramraj
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30 views2 pages

Diglossia Speech Print

The document discusses the concept of diglossia in Tamil, highlighting the coexistence of Literary Tamil (H) and Colloquial Tamil (L) across various media, including news channels, movies, and social media. It emphasizes how digital platforms are democratizing the language, allowing for regional pride and the reclamation of dialects, while also blurring the lines between H and L. The author argues that rather than weakening Tamil, these changes reflect its evolution and adaptability in the modern world.

Uploaded by

rajeswari ramraj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Imagine your grandmother’s favorite TV news anchor speaking in polished Tamil, while

our Instagram videos are full of slang like ‘ey, enna da panra?’ more colloquial. That’s diglossia
in action!
Looking into a news channel like Sun TV, and you’ll hear anchors using Literary Tamil
(H) with lines like:

‘தமிழ் நாட்டில் பல மாவட்ங்களில் சுட்டடரிக டதாடங் கிய டவயில்

It’s formal, precise, and almost musical.


But switch to Bigg Boss Tamil, and contestants yell in raw, unfiltered Colloquial Tamil
Like Losliya yells,

‘என் னக்கு அத வாங் க விருப்பமில் லா நா அத வாங் க மட்டடன் okay’

This can be seen in combination in movies as they capture the real life usage of language that is
both H and L variety.
Take Virumaandi movie’s - Judgement Day in Court : The courtroom scenes the judge use strict
H, but villagers dialogues switch to the Theni’s rural Tamil dialect.
And Songs like vandhaen vandhaen from Panchatanthiram mix poetic H lyrics with L in
subsequent verses. It’s like Tamil wears a veshti for some occasions and jeans for others!"

"Now, let’s talk about the internet—where Colloquial Tamil is used extensively
On WhatsApp, no one types:

‘எங் கள் பகுதியில் கனமழை பபய் து வருகிறது’

Instead, we Romanize it:


‘Enga area-la rain adhigama iruku!’
It’s quick, casual, and full of shortcuts. TikTok and Instagram Reels do the same

But H isn’t dead online. Politicians tweet manifestos in H (‘மாநில வளர்ச்சித் திட்டம் ’),
but during campaign in L:

‘நம் ம தல் வர்க்கு வவாட்டு வபாடுங் க? நாமதான் பெயிக்கணும் !’

So it can be said that both variety coexist in media as it is in the real world!
"Now, let’s dig deeper: Tamil diglossia isn’t just about how we speak—it’s about who we are.
Take regional pride. When a movie like Kadaisi Vivasayi uses the Madurai Tamil dialect,
it’s a shoutout to Madurai’s linguistic identity. YouTubers like Nakkalites crack jokes in Madras
Bashai, and Chennai people cheer and relate to it. These dialects aren’t slang—they’re
geographic flags.

And there is caste and class. ‘கிராமத்து தமிை் ’ (village Tamil) and ‘பகாங் கு
தமிை் ’ (Kongu Tamil) are once dissmissed as ‘unrefined’, but digital media becomes an aid for
the growth of these dialect to reclaim pride.
And For Gen Z, L is seen as their generational identity. Writing ‘Enga area-la rain iruku’
on WhatsApp is seen as an art of crafting Tamil that's : fast, funny, and modern. Influencers like
Eruma Saani, Nakkalites they employ code-switching , because of their fluency in both
language. Tamil-English
This is seen as a sign of how the distinction between H and L is becoming increasingly
blurred. Some worry this might weaken Tamil’s structure. But others say it’s evolution—a sign
Tamil is alive, adapting to smartphones and memes. But the debate still goes on.
So with all these examples we can see that the intervention of digital media is
democratizing Tamil. Any individual in Tirunelveli can post a TikTok in Nelai Tamil dialect and
go viral. A Dalit poet can publish verses or recites the in their slang and get recognized by it.
Making Language not just a tool—but a mirror showing who we are, who we’ve been, and who
we want to be.
I would like to conclude by stating that Media and the internet aren’t wearying Tamil
structure—they’re reinventing it. Literary Tamil still shines in documentaries and textbooks so
lets give space for Colloquial Tamil to be the star of memes and movies.

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