Abstract:
Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was under the British empire for about 150 years. The British
brought about many changes. Linguistically, they are responsible for two major issues:
firstly, they introduced English to Sri Lanka, secondly, they paved the path for the
introduction of "Indian Tamil", a variety of Tamil spoken in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lanka,
"Indian Tamil" has been spoken mainly by the labourers, brought to Sri Lanka by the
British planters (or by their agents), and their descendents. This, variety of Tamil was
also called "Coolie Tamil" (Tamil spoken by the Coolies/labourers) as the users were
labourers paid on a daily basis (who were Indian migrants). It was also named as
'toottat tamiL' (Estate Tamil, hereafter ET) and ‘malait tamil' (tea plantation Tamil).
In Sri Lanka, over several decades, ET evolved independently. Therefore, it differs from
Sri Lankan Tamil (SLT), spoken in northern and eastern parts of the country, as well as
Tamil spoken in (South) India. The differences occur at every level of the language:
phonology, morphology and syntax. SLT differs from Tamil spoken in Tamil Nadu
(Indian Tamil) as it has retained several archaic features. Hence, obviously, IT contrasts
with SLT. Yet, until recently ET and Tamil spoken in India were considered to be the
same. As a result, the differences between ET and Indian Tamil were not noticed.
Therefore, some considered these two varieties as the same. This paper is an attempt
to exhibit some distinctive features in ET and show that ET and Indian Tamil are not
identical. It discusses two main aspects of ET. First, it elaborates the sociolinguistic
facts that caused the independent evolution of ET. Second, it discusses the
distinctiveness of ET.
