Editing Tamil language (section)

== Classification ==
{{Main|Dravidian languages}}
''Tamil'' belongs to the [[Southern Dravidian languages|southern]] branch of the [[Dravidian languages]], a family of around 26 languages native to the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=19}}</ref> It is also classified as being part of a [[Tamil languages|Tamil language family]] that, alongside Tamil proper, includes the languages of about 35 ethno-linguistic groups<ref>Perumal, A. K. (2005) ''Manorama Yearbook'' (Tamil), pp. 302–318.</ref> such as the [[Irula language|Irula]] and [[Yerukala language|Yerukula]] languages (see [[SIL Ethnologue]]).

The closest major relative of Tamil is [[Malayalam]]; the two began diverging around the 9th century CE.<ref>{{citation|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World|date=2010|publisher=Elsevier|page=297}}</ref> Although many of the differences between Tamil and Malayalam demonstrate a pre-historic divergence of the western dialect,<ref name="malayalamorigin">{{Citation | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00021285| title = Some observations on the sub-group Tamil-Malayalam: Differential realizations of the cluster * ṉt| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies| volume = 53| page = 87| year = 2009| last1 = Menon | first1 = A. G. | s2cid = 131480876}}</ref> the process of separation into a distinct language, Malayalam, was not completed until sometime in the 13th or 14th century.<ref name="andronov">{{Harvnb|Andronov|1970|p=21}}</ref>

Additionally Kannada is also relatively close to the Tamil language and shares the format of the formal ancient Tamil language. While there are some variations from the Tamil language, Kannada still preserves a lot from its roots. As part of the southern family of Indian languages and situated relatively close to the northern parts of India, Kannada also shares some Sanskrit words, similar to Malayalam. Many of the formerly used words in Tamil have been preserved with little change in Kannada. This shows a relative parallel to Tamil, even as Tamil has undergone some changes in modern ways of speaking.{{sfn|Mahadevan|2003}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}