ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ദേശീയ പതാക

തിരുവനന്തപുരത്തെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ലേഖനം ഏകദേശം പൂര്‍ത്തിയായതിനാല്‍ നമ്മള്‍ അടുത്തതിലേക്ക് പോകുന്നു.

നല്ല മലയാളം ഉപയോഗിക്കാനും ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ എഴുതാനും കഴിവുള്ള ബൂലോകരുടെ ഇടയില്‍ നിന്ന് വളരെ കുറച്ച് പേര്‍ മാത്രമേ ഈ സൌജന്യ വിജ്ഞാനകോശത്തിലേക്ക് ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ സംഭാവന ചെയ്യുന്നുള്ളൂ. വരും നാളുകളില്‍ അത് കൂടും എന്ന് പ്രത്യാശിക്കാം. എങ്കിലും ഈ അടുത്ത് കാലത്ത് കുറച്ച് കനപ്പെട്ട ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ ഈ പരിഭാഷവിക്കിയിലൂടെ സംഭാവന ചെയ്യാന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞു എന്നതില്‍ പരിഭാഷാവിക്കിയില്‍ സഹരിക്കുന്നവര്‍ക്ക് അഭിമാനിക്കാം.


ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ദേശീയ പതാക-യെ കുറിച്ച് ഒരു ലേഖനം മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ ഇല്ല എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ വളരെ മോശമല്ലേ. അതിനാല്‍ നമ്മുടെ അടുത്ത ലേഖനം നമ്മുടെ ദേശീയ പതാകയെ കുറിച്ച് തന്നെയാകട്ടെ.

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ മലയാളം വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്


ഈ ലേഖനവും ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയില്‍ ഫീച്ചേര്‍ഡ് ലേഖനം ആയി ഒരു പ്രാവശ്യം വന്നതാണ്. അതിനാല്‍ തന്നെ ഇത് ഒരു ആധികാരിക ലേഖനം ആണ്. ലേഖനം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതിനോടൊപ്പം നമുക്ക് നമ്മുടെ ദേശീയ പതാകയെ കുറിച്ച് കുറച്ച് അറിവും നേടാം.

പരിഭാഷ പൂര്‍ത്തിയായാല്‍ അത് മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ടോ ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയോ ഇടുക.താഴെയുള്ള പട്ടികയില്‍ നിന്ന് ആരൊക്കെ എന്തൊക്കെ പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നു എന്നും ഓരോ വിഭാഗത്തിന്റേയും നിലവിലുള്ള അവസ്ഥ എന്താണെന്നും അറിയാം. ഏതെങ്കിലും വിഭാഗം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ എടുക്കുന്നതിനു മുന്‍പ് അത് വെറെ ആരും പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നില്ല എന്നു ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തുക.

വിവിധ വിഭാഗങ്ങള്‍‍ക്കും യോജിച്ച മലയാള തല‍ക്കെട്ട് പരിഭാഷപെടുത്തുന്നവര്‍ തന്നെ കൊടുക്കുക. ഇനി പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നത് മാറി പോകാതിരീക്കാന്‍ അതാത് വിഭാഗത്തിന്റെ ക്രമ നം. ഉം ഇംഗ്ലീ‍ഷിലുള്ള വിഭാഗവും ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയി ഇടുക.

ക്രമ നം.	വിഭാഗം	പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്ന ആള്‍	നിലവിലുള്ള നില
0	Preface	ഷിജു	Completed
1	Design	ഷിജു	Completed
2	Symbolism	ഷിജു	Completed
3	History	Navan	Progressing
4	Manufacturing process	-	-
5	Proper flag protocol	പുള്ളി	Completed
5.1	Respect for the flag	പുള്ളി	Completed
5.2	Handling of the flag	പുള്ളി	Completed
5.3	Correct display	പുള്ളി	Completed
5.4	With other countries	പുള്ളി	Progressing
5.5	With non-national flags	പുള്ളി	Progressing
5.6	Showing the flag indoors	Navan	Completed
5.7	Parades and ceremonies	Navan	Completed
5.8	Display on vehicles	Navan	Completed
5.9	Half-mast	-	-
5.10	Disposal	-	-
6	See also	-	-
7	References	-	-
8	External links	-	-

തിരുവനന്തപുരം

ശങ്കരാചാര്യരെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ലേഖനം ഏകദേശം പൂര്‍ത്തീയായായതീനാല്‍ അടുത്തതായി കേരളത്തിന്റെ തലസ്ഥാനമായ തിരുവനന്തപുരത്തെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഈ ലേഖനം ആയാലോ.

പൊന്നമ്പലം പറഞ്ഞതു പോലെ "ഇതിന്റെ ഇംഗ്ലിഷ് വേര്‍ഷന്‍‍ ഫീച്ചേഡ് ആര്‍ട്ടിക്കിള്‍ സ്ഥാനത്തിന് മത്സരിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. അതിനാല്, മലയാളം വേര്‍ഷന്‍ കൂടിയുണ്ടെങ്കില് ഒരു സപ്പോര്‍ട്ട് ആകും." അതിനാല്‍ നമുക്ക് ഇത് പൂര്‍ത്തിയാക്കാം.

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ മലയാളം വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്


ഒരു പ്രധാന കാര്യം. ഇതു തിരുവനന്തപുരം പട്ടണത്തെകുറിച്ചുള്ള ലേഖനം ആണ്. അതിനാല്‍ തിരുവനന്തപുരം ജില്ലയെകുറിച്ചുള്ള പൊതുവായ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഇതില്‍ ഉള്‍പ്പെടുത്താതിരിക്കുക. പക്ഷെ തിരുവനന്തപുരം പട്ടണത്തെകുറിച്ച് എന്ത് അധിക വിവരം ഉണ്ടെങ്കിലും അത് ഇവിടെ അതതു വിഭാഗങ്ങളില്‍ കൂടിച്ചേര്‍ക്കുക.

പരിഭാഷ പൂര്‍ത്തിയായാല്‍ അത് മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ടോ ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയോ ഇടുക.താഴെയുള്ള പട്ടികയില്‍ നിന്ന് ആരൊക്കെ എന്തൊക്കെ പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നു എന്നും ഓരോ വിഭാഗത്തിന്റേയും നിലവിലുള്ള അവസ്ഥ എന്താണെന്നും അറിയാം. ഏതെങ്കിലും വിഭാഗം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ എടുക്കുന്നതിനു മുന്‍പ് അത് വെറെ ആരും പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നില്ല എന്നു ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തുക.

വിവിധ വിഭാഗങ്ങള്‍‍ക്കും യോജിച്ച മലയാള തല‍ക്കെട്ട് പരിഭാഷപെടുത്തുന്നവര്‍ തന്നെ കൊടുക്കുക. ഇനി പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നത് മാറി പോകാതിരീക്കാന്‍ അതാത് വിഭാഗത്തിന്റെ ക്രമ നം. ഉം ഇംഗ്ലീ‍ഷിലുള്ള വിഭാഗവും ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയി ഇടുക.

ക്രമ നം.	വിഭാഗം	പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്ന ആള്‍	നിലവിലുള്ള നില
0	Preface	-	Completed
1	Origin of name	-	Completed
2	History	ഷിജു	Completed
3	Geography and Climate	ഷിജു	Completed
4	Economy	പൊന്നപ്പന്‍	Completed
5	Government and politics	പൊന്നമ്പലം	Completed
6	Transport	പുള്ളി	Completed
7	Demographics	പുള്ളി	Completed
8	Culture	പൊന്നമ്പലം	Progressing
9	Education	-	Completed
10	Media	സിജു	Completed
11	Sports	ദില്‍ബാസുരന്‍	Completed
12	Strategic Importance	ദില്‍ബാസുരന്‍	Progressing
13	See also
14	Notes
15	References
16	External links

ശങ്കരാചാര്യര്‍

അടുത്തത് ശങ്കരാചാര്യരെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഈ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കി ലേഖനം ആയാലോ.
ഈ ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ മലയാളം വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക് ഇതാ.

ഈ ലേഖനം ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിപീഡിയയിലെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുത്ത ലേഖനം എന്ന വിഭാഗത്തില്‍ ഒരു പ്രാവശ്യം വന്നതാണ്. അതിനാല്‍ തന്നെ ഇത് ഒരു ആധികാരിക ലേഖനമാണ്.

ചില ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വാക്കുകളുടെ മലയാള അര്‍ഥം അറിയില്ലെങ്കില്‍ അതിനു നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു ഇംഗ്ലിഷ്-മലയാളം നിഘണ്ടു സോഫ്റ്റ് വെയര്‍ ഈ ലിങ്കിലേക്ക് ശ്രീജിത്ത് അപ്‌ലോഡ് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്. ആവശ്യമുള്ളവര്‍ അത് ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്ത് ഉപയോഗിക്കുക.

ഏറ്റെടുക്കുന്ന ഭാഗങ്ങള്‍ പൂര്‍ത്തിയാക്കാതെ ദയവ് ചെയ്ത് മുങ്ങരുത്. അങ്ങനെ മുങ്ങിയ പലരും ഇപ്പോള്‍ പതുക്കെ പൊങ്ങി വരുന്നുണ്ട്. :)

പരിഭാഷ പൂര്‍ത്തിയായാല്‍ അത് മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ടോ ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയോ ഇടുക.
താഴെയുള്ള പട്ടികയില്‍ നിന്ന് ആരൊക്കെ എന്തൊക്കെ പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നു എന്നും ഓരോ വിഭാഗത്തിന്റേയും നിലവിലുള്ള അവസ്ഥ എന്താണെന്നും അറിയാം. ഏതെങ്കിലും വിഭാഗം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ എടുക്കുന്നതിനു മുന്‍പ് അത് വെറെ ആരും പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നില്ല എന്നു ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തുക.

ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലുള്ള ലേഖനം പോസ്റ്റില്‍ വെറുതെ പേസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഒരു വിധത്തീലും സഹായിക്കാത്തതു കൊണ്ട് അത് ഇവിടെ ഒട്ടിക്കുന്നില്ല. ദയവായി ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയില്‍ നിന്ന് നിങ്ങള്‍ പരിഭാഷപ്പെത്തൂന്ന വിഭാഗം നിങ്ങള്‍ തന്നെ എടുക്കുക.

വിവിധ വിഭാഗങ്ങള്‍‍ക്കും യോജിച്ച മലയാള തല‍ക്കെട്ട് പരിഭാഷപെടുത്തുന്നവര്‍ തന്നെ കൊടുക്കുക. ഇനി പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നത് മാറി പോകാതിരീക്കാന്‍ അതാത് വിഭാഗത്തിന്റെ ക്രമ നം. ഉം ഇംഗ്ലീ‍ഷിലുള്ള വിഭാഗവും ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയി ഇടുക. എല്ലാവരും ഒന്നു ഒത്തു പിടിച്ചാല്‍ വെറും രണ്ടു ദിവസം കൊണ്ട് ഒരു ലേഖനം കൂടി പൂ‍ര്‍ണ്ണം.

ക്രമ നം.	വിഭാഗം	മലയാളത്തിലുള്ള വിഭാഗം	പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്ന ആള്‍	നിലവിലുള്ള നില
0	Preface	ആമുഖം	ഷിജു	Completed
1	Life	ചരിത്രം	പൊന്നപ്പന്‍	Completed
1.1	Birth and childhood	ജനനം, ബാല്യം	പൊന്നപ്പന്‍	Completed
1.2	Sannyasa	സന്ന്യാസം	പൊന്നപ്പന്‍	Completed
1.3	Meeting with Mandana Mishra	-	ദില്‍ബാസുരന്‍	Completed
1.4	Dig-vijaya	ദിഗ് വിജയം	കിച്ചു	Completed
1..5	Accession to Sarvajnapitha	-	സിജു	Completed
1.6	Dates	-	മഴത്തുള്ളി	Completed
2	Mathas	മഠങ്ങള്‍	ശ്രീജിത്ത് കെ	Completed
3	Philosophy and religious thought	തത്ത്വശാസ്ത്രവും മതചിന്തകളും	ശ്രീജിത്ത് കെ	Completed
3.1	Advaita Vedanta in summary	-	പെരിങ്ങോടന്‍	Completed
4	Historical and cultural impact	-	പെരിങ്ങോടന്‍	Completed
5	Works	-	ഷിജു	Completed
6	See also	ഇതും കാണുക	ഷിജു	Completed
7	Notes	കുറിപ്പുകള്‍	ഷിജു	Completed
8	References	ആധാര പ്രമാണങ്ങള്‍	ഷിജു	Completed
9	External links	പുറത്തേക്കുള്ള കണ്ണികള്‍	ഷിജു	Completed

ഡെബിയന്‍ ലിനക്സ് പരിഭാഷ

ഡെബിയന്‍ ലിനക്സ് മലയാ‍ളത്തിലാക്കുന്ന സംരംഭം, ആവശ്യത്തിന് പരിഭാഷക്കാരില്ലാത്തതിനാല്‍ വളരെ പതുക്കെയാണ് നീങ്ങുന്നത്. ഈ ബ്ലോഗില്‍ വരുന്നവരില്‍ ഭൂരിഭാഗവും പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യാന്‍ താല്പര്യമുള്ളവരായതിനാലും, ലിനക്സിനോട് മിക്കവര്‍ക്കും ഒരു സവിശേഷ താല്പര്യമുള്ളതിനാലും‍ ഈ പേജിലേക്കും പരിഭാഷക്കാരെ ക്ഷണിക്കുന്നു. ഇതാണ് പേജിലേയ്ക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്.

http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Debian/മലയാളം/ലെവല്‍1/മാസ്റ്റര്‍/ml.po

ഇത് വിക്കിയിലുള്ള സംരംഭമല്ലാത്തതിനാല്‍ മറ്റ് പരിഭാഷ പോസ്റ്റുകളെപ്പോലെ ഈ പേജ് ഘട്ടം ഘട്ടമായി വിഭജിച്ച് നല്‍കുന്നില്ല. താല്പര്യം ഉള്ളവര്‍ ഇവിടെ കമന്റായി അറിയിക്കണമെന്നുമില്ല. ആ പേജില്‍ പോയി പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യാന്‍ ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്ന വരികള്‍ക്കു മുകളിലും താഴെയും ആയി ഇങ്ങനെ ഇട്ടാല്‍ മതിയാകും.

-->**Name** Starts here -->
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msgid എന്നതില്‍ കൊടുത്ത ആംഗലേയ വാക്യങ്ങള്‍ msgstr എന്നതിന്റെ നേരെ കൊടുത്താല്‍ മതിയാകും. മറ്റുള്ളവ വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്യേണ്ടവയല്ല.

ആയിരത്തി അഞ്ഞൂറില്‍പ്പരം പദങ്ങള്‍ വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്യാനുണ്ട് അവിടെ. നിലവില്‍ വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്തവ അന്‍പതില്‍ താഴെ മാത്രം. അവിടെ കൂടുതല്‍ പങ്കാളിത്തം പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു.

തമിഴ്

അടുത്തത് തമിഴ് ഭാഷയെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഈ മനോഹര ലേഖനം ആയാലോ.

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്.

ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ മലയാളം വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക്.

ഈ ലേഖനം ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിപീഡിയയിലെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുത്ത ലേഖനം എന്ന വിഭാഗത്തില്‍ ഒരു പ്രാവശ്യം വന്നതാണ്. അതിനാല്‍ തന്നെ ഇത് ഒരു ആധികാരിക ലേഖനമണ്. ഈ ലേഖനം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തിക്കഴിയുമ്പോഴേക്കും തമിഴ് ഭാഷയെക്കുറിച്ച് സാമാന്യ വിവരം നമ്മള്‍ക്ക് കിട്ടും. ഓരോരുത്തരും ഓരോ വിഭാഗം ഏറ്റെടുത്ത് സഹായിക്കൂ.

ചില ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വാക്കുകളുടെ മലയാള അര്‍ഥം അറിയില്ലെങ്കില്‍ അതിനു നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു ഇംഗ്ലിഷ്-മലയാളം നിഘണ്ടു സോഫ്റ്റ് വെയര്‍ ഈ ലിങ്കിലേക്ക് ശ്രീജിത്ത് അപ്‌ലോഡ് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്. ആവശ്യമുള്ളവര്‍ അത് ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്ത് ഉപയോഗിക്കുക.

ഏറ്റെടുക്കുന്ന ഭാഗങ്ങള്‍ പൂര്‍ത്തിയാക്കാതെ ദയവ് ചെയ്ത് മുങ്ങരുത്. പരിഭാഷ പൂര്‍ത്തിയായാല്‍ അത് മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ടോ ഇവിടെ കമെന്റ് ആയോ ഇടുക.

താഴെയുള്ള പട്ടികയില്‍ നിന്ന് ആരൊക്കെ എന്തൊക്കെ പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നു എന്നും ഓരോ വിഭാഗത്തിന്റേയും നിലവിലുള്ള അവസ്ഥ എന്താണെന്നും അറിയാം. ഏതെങ്കിലും വിഭാഗം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ എടുക്കുന്നതിനു മുന്‍പ് അത് വെറെ ആരും പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നില്ല എന്നു ഉറപ്പു വരുത്തുക.

ക്രമ നം.	വിഭാഗം	മലയാളത്തിലുള്ള വിഭാഗം	പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്ന ആള്‍	നിലവിലുള്ള നില
0	Preface	ആമുഖം	ഷിജു	Completed
1	History	ചരിത്രം	ഷിജു	Completed
2	Classification	തരംതിരിവ്	ആദിത്യന്‍	Completed
3	Geographic distribution	ഭൌമ ശാസ്ത്രപമായ വിതരണം	പൊന്നപ്പന്‍	Completed
3.1	Legal status	-	മന്‍ജിത്ത്	Completed
3.2	Spoken and literary variants	-	മന്‍ജിത്ത്	Completed
3.3	Dialects	-	മന്‍ജിത്ത്	Completed
4	Writing system	ലിപി	പെരിങ്ങോടന്‍	Completed
5	Sounds	ഉച്ചാരണം	ദില്‍ബാസുരന്‍	In progess
5.1	Vowels		-	-
5.2	Consonants		-	-
5.3	Special character	-	-	-
5.4	Phonology	-	-	-
6	Grammar	വ്യാകരണം	ആദിത്യന്‍	In progess
6.1	Parts of speech	-	--	-
6.2	Syntax	-	--	-
7	Vocabulary	പദസമ്പത്ത്	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed
8	Examples	ഉദാഹരണങ്ങള്‍	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed
9	See also	ഇതും കാണുക	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed
10	References	ആധാര പ്രമാണങ്ങള്‍	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed
10.1	Footnotes	അടി കുറിപ്പുകള്‍	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed
10.2	External links	പുറത്തേക്കുള്ള കണ്ണികള്‍	ശ്രീജിത്ത്	Completed

Tamilதமிழ் tamiḻ

Tamil is one of the few living classical languages and has an unbroken literary tradition of over two millennia. The high level of diglossia exhibited by Tamil, and the prestige accorded to classical Tamil, have resulted in much of the vocabulary and forms of classical Tamil being preserved in modern literary Tamil, such that the higher registers of literary Tamil tend towards the classical language. The classical language also forms an important part of Tamil-medium education: verses from the Tirukkural, a classical work, are, for example, taught in primary school. The ordinary form of the modern language used in speech and writing, in contrast, has undergone significant changes, to the extent that a person who has not learnt the higher literary form will have difficulty understanding it.
The name 'Tamil' is an anglicised form of the native name தமிழ் (IPA /t̪ɐmɨɻ/). The final letter of the name, usually transcribed as the lowercase l or zh, is a retroflex r. In phonetic transcriptions, it is usually represented by the retroflex approximant.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Classification
3 Geographic distribution
3.1 Legal status
3.2 Spoken and literary variants
3.3 Dialects
4 Writing system
5 Sounds
5.1 Vowels
5.2 Consonants
5.3 Special character
5.4 Phonology
5.4.1 Elision
6 Grammar
6.1 Parts of speech
6.2 Syntax
7 Vocabulary
8 Examples
9 See also
10 References
10.1 Modern works
10.2 Ancient works
11 Footnotes
12 External links
12.1 General
12.2 Online learning resources
//
[edit]

History

A set of palm leaf manuscripts from the 15th century or the 16th century, containing Christian prayers in Tamil
The origins of Tamil, like the other Dravidian languages are unknown, but unlike most of the other established literary languages of India, are independent of Sanskrit. Tamil has the oldest literature amongst the Dravidian languages (Hart, 1975), but dating the language and the literature precisely is difficult. Literary works in India or Sri Lanka were preserved either in palm leaf manuscripts (implying repeated copying and recopying) or through oral transmission, making direct dating impossible. External chronological records and internal linguistic evidence, however, indicate that the oldest extant works were probably composed sometime in the 2nd century CE.
The earliest extant text in Tamil is the Tolkāppiyam, a work on poetics and grammar which describes the language of the classical period, the oldest portions of this book may date back to around 200 BCE (Hart, 1975). Apart from these, the earliest examples of Tamil writing we have today are rock inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE, which are written in an adapted form of the Brahmi script (Mahadevan, 2003). Linguists categorise Tamil literature and language into three periods: ancient (500 BCE to 700 CE), medieval (700 CE to 1500 CE) and modern (1500 CE to the present). During the medieval period, a number of Sanskrit loan words were absorbed by Tamil, which many 20th century purists, notably Parithimaar Kalaignar and Maraimalai Adigal, later sought to remove. This movement was called thanith thamizh iyakkam (meaning pure Tamil movement). As a result of this, Tamil in formal documents, public speeches and scientific discourses is largely free of Sanskrit loan words.[citation needed]
[edit]

Classification
Tamil is a member of the Tamil language family, which includes the Irula, Kaikadi, Betta Kurumba, Sholaga, and Yerukula languages. This group is a subgroup of the Tamil-Malayalam languages, which falls under a subgroup of the Tamil-Kodagu languages, which in turn is a subgroup of the Tamil-Kannada languages. The Tamil-Kannada languages belong to the southern branch of the Dravidian language family. Tamil is most closely related to Malayalam, spoken in the Indian state of Kerala which borders Tamil Nadu, which linguists estimate separated from Tamil between the 8th and 10th centuries.
[edit]

Geographic distribution
Tamil is the first language of the majority in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and in northern, eastern and northeastern Sri Lanka. The language is also spoken by small groups of minorities in other parts of these two countries, most notably in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, and in Colombo and the hill country in Sri Lanka.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with other ethnic Indians, Tamil-speaking indentured servants from India were sent to many parts of the British empire where they founded Tamil-speaking communities amongst the larger Indian diasporas. There are currently sizeable Tamil-speaking populations descended from them in Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, and Mauritius. Many people in Guyana, Fiji, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago have Tamil origins, but the language is spoken only by a small number there. (see Tamil diaspora)
Groups of more recent emigrants - refugees from the Sri Lankan civil war, as well as economic migrants such as engineering, IT, medical professionals and academics - exist in Canada (especially Toronto), Australia, the USA and most western European countries.(see Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora)
[edit]

Legal status
Tamil is the Official Language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and is one of 23 nationally recognised Official Languages in the Indian Constitution. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and has constitutional recognition in South Africa.
In addition, with the creation in 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the government of India, Tamil became the first legally recognised classical language following a campaign by several Tamil associations supported by academics from India and abroad, most notably Professor George L. Hart, who occupies the Chair in Tamil Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] The recognition was announced by the President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of both houses of the Indian Parliament on June 6, 2004. [2][3][4]
[edit]

Spoken and literary variants

The opening of the book of Genesis in an 18th century Tamil bible. The language is centamil.
In addition to its various dialects, Tamil also exhibits a rather sharp diglossia between its formal or classic variety, called centamil, and its colloquial form, called koduntamil, a broad term which traditionally referred to all spoken Tamil dialects rather than any one standard form. Diglossia has existed in the language since ancient times - the language used in early temple inscriptions differs quite significantly from the language of classical poetry. In consequence, standard centamil is not based on the speech of any one region, a fact which has helped keep the written language mostly the same across various Tamil speaking regions.
In modern times, centamil is generally used in formal writing and speech. It is, for example, the language of textbooks, of much of Tamil literature and of public speaking and debate. In recent times, however, koduntamil has been making inroads into areas that have traditionally been considered the province of centamil. Most contemporary cinema, theatre and popular entertainment on television and radio, for example, is in koduntamil, and many politicians use it to bring themselves closer to their audience.
Spoken dialects did not have much prestige: Tamils believed that the grammatical rules of literary centamil had been formulated by the gods and they were therefore seen as being the only correct speech (see, for example, Kankeyar, 1840). In contrast to most European languages, therefore, Tamil did not have a standard spoken form for much of its history. In modern times, however, the increasing use of koduntamil has led to the emergence of unofficial 'standard' spoken dialects. In India, the 'standard' koduntamil is based on 'educated non-brahmin speech', rather than on any one dialect (Schiffman, 1998), but has been significantly influenced by the dialects of Thanjavur and Madurai. In Sri Lanka the standard is based on the dialect of Jaffna.
[edit]

Dialects
Tamil dialects are mainly differentiated from each other by the fact that they have undergone different phonological changes and sound shifts in evolving from Old Tamil. Thus the word for "here" - ingu in Centamil (the classic variety) - has evolved into inge in the Kongu dialect of Coimbatore, inga in the dialect of Thanjavur, ingane in the dialect of Tirunelveli, inguttu in the dialect of Ramanathapuram, ingale and ingade in various northern dialects and ingai in some dialects of Jaffna.
Although most Tamil dialects do not differ very significantly in their vocabulary, there are a few exceptions. The dialects spoken in Sri Lanka retain many words that are not in everyday use in India, and use many other words slightly differently. The dialect of the Iyers of Palakkad has a large number of Malayalam loanwords,has also been influenced by Malayalam syntax and also has a distinct Malayalam accent. Finally, the Sanketi, Hebbar and Mandyam dialects, the former spoken by groups of Tamil Iyers and the latter two by Vaishnavites who migrated to Karnataka in the 11th century, retains many features of the Vaishnava paribasai, a special form of Tamil designed in the 9th and 10th centuries to reflect Vaishnavite religious and spiritual values.Bangalore also has its own version of Tamil,and is mainly spoken by the people whose mother tongue is not Tamil and infuses words from Kannada and even Hindi.
Tamil dialects vary according to both region and community. Several castes have their own dialects which most members of that caste traditionally used regardless of where they come from. Some of these differences have begun to fade away in recent years as a result of the anti-casteist movement, but many traces remain and it is often possible to identify a person's caste by their speech.
The Ethnologue lists twenty-two current dialects of Tamil, including Adi Dravida, Aiyar, Aiyangar, Arava, Burgandi, Kasuva, Kongar, Korava, Korchi, Madrasi, Parikala, Pattapu Bhasha, Sri Lanka Tamil, Malaya Tamil, Burma Tamil, South Africa Tamil, Tigalu, Harijan, Sankethi, Hebbar, Tirunelveli, Tamil Muslim and Madurai. Other known dialects are Kongu and Kumari,which are heavily influenced by Malayalam.
Although not a dialect, the Tamil spoken in Chennai (Capital of Tamil Nadu) infuses English words and is called Madras Bashai.
[edit]

Writing system
Main article: Tamil script

History of Tamil script
Tamil is a phonetic language and is subject to well-defined rules of elision and euphony. The present script used to write Tamil text is believed to have evolved from the Brahmi script of the Ashoka era. Later, a southern variant of the Brahmi script evolved into the Grantha script, which was used to write both Sanskrit and Tamil texts. Between the 6th and 10th centuries, a new script called vettezhuthu (meaning letters that are cut) evolved in order to make it easy for creating inscriptions on stone. Some people also call this vattezhuthu (meaning curved letters). The over dot, called puLLi was specially defined in Tamil Grammar Tolkappiyam to distinguish consonants from ligatures. During the print revolution, Veeramaamunivar made some changes to Tamil writing, such as placing vowel markers in both left and right of consonants. Around 1935, Periyar suggested some changes to make it amenable to printing. Some of these suggestions were incorporated by the M.G. Ramachandran government in 1975.
While the script was still evolving, many Sanskrit words were borrowed into Tamil. To facilitate writing these words, some characters from the Grantha script are still retained. However, there are many purists who would argue against the use of such characters as there are well-defined rules in the Tolkāppiyam for Tamilising loan words.
[edit]

Sounds
The Tamil alphabet has 12 vowels and 18 consonants. These combine to form 216 compound characters. There is one special character (aaytha ezutthu), giving a total of 247 characters.
A Tamil tongue twister (file info) — play in browser (beta)
The sentence literally means: "An old pauper stepped on a banana peel, and slipped, slithered, and fell"
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit]

Vowels
The vowels are called uyir ezhuthu (uyir - life, ezhuthu - letter). The vowels are classified into short and long (five of each type) and two diphthongs.
The long (nedil) vowels are about twice as long as the short (kuRil) vowels. The diphthongs are usually pronounced about 1.5 times as long as the short vowels, though most grammatical texts place them with the long vowels.

Short
Long
Front
Central
Back
Front
Central
Back
Close
i

u
iː

uː
Mid
e
(ə)
o
eː

oː
Open

a

(æː)
aː
(ɔː)
The diphthongs of Tamil are
ai
au
The vowels /ə/, /æː/, and /ɔː/ are peripheral to the phonology of Tamil, occurring only in loanwords.
[edit]

Consonants
The consonants are classified into three categories with six in each category: vallinam - hard, mellinam - soft or Nasal, and idayinam - medium. Tamil has very restricted consonant clusters (eg: never word initial etc.) and has neither aspirated nor voiced stops. Some scholars have suggested that in Chenthamil (which refers to Tamil as it existed before Sanskrit words were borrowed), stops were voiceless when at the start of a word and voiced allophonically otherwise. However, no such distinction is observed by most modern Tamil speakers.
A chart of the Tamil consonant phonemes in the International Phonetic Alphabet follows:

Labial
Dental
Alveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Stop
p (b)
t̪ (d̪)
t
ʈ (ɖ)
c (ɟ)
k (g)
Nasal
m
n̪

ɳ
ɲ

Fricative
(f)


(ʂ)
(ɕ)

Approximant
ʋ
ɾ̪

ɻ
j
(x)
Lateral approximant

l̪

ɭ


The sounds /b/, /d̪/, /ɖ/, /ɟ/, /g/, /f/, /ʂ/, /ɕ/, /x/ are peripheral to the phonology of Tamil, being found only in loanwords and frequently replaced by native sounds.
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Special character

Akh
The special character 'ஃ' (pronounced 'akh') is called āytham in the Tolkāppiyam (see Tolkāppiyam 1:1:2). The āytham is rarely used by itself: it normally serves a purely grammatical function as an independent vowel form, the equivalent of the overdot diacritic of plain consonants. The rules of pronunciation given in the Tolkāppiyam suggest that the āytham could have glottalised the sounds it was combined with. Although the character was common in classical Tamil, it fell out of use in the early modern period and is now very rare in written Tamil. It is occasionally used with a 'p' (as ஃப) to represent the phoneme [f].
The āytham is also called ahenam (literally, 'the "ah" sound'). Its resemblance to the three dots that were found on shields in mediaeval times, and the similarity of the name āytham to the word āyutham meaning 'weapon' or 'tool' has resulted in it often being called āyutha ezhuthu (literally, 'the war-weapon letter').
Many researchers now feel that the āytham is actually used to represent the voiced implosive (or closing part or the first half) of geminated voiced plosives inside a word. For example, a word written as 'mu-āytham-dee-dhu' (from MuLL+dheedhu) should be read as 'muddeedhu' (MuLL+dheedhu). (This derivation is in accordance with the puṇarci rules for agglutination in Tamil.) Thus the letter doesn't have a unique pronunciation ('akh') as commonly believed, but takes its pronunciation from the succeeding plosive in the word. Thus it doesn't have a separate place of origin in the oral cavity on its own, it shares the place of origin of the succeeding plosive. This is the reason why Tolkāppiyam calls it a 'Saarbezhuthu' (a dependent letter/sound).
It is used to defend the mixing of other language words in Tamil.
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Phonology
Unlike most other Indian languages, Tamil does not have aspirated consonants. The Tamil script does not have distinct letters for voiced and unvoiced plosives, although both are present in the spoken language as allophones--i.e., they are in complementary distribution and the places they can occur do not intersect. For example, the unvoiced plosive 'p' occurs at the beginning of the words and the voiced plosive 'b' cannot. In the middle of words, unvoiced plosives commonly occur as a geminated pair like -pp- , while voiced plosives do not usually come in pairs. Only the voiced plosives occur after a vowel, or after a corresponding nasal. Thus both the voiced and unvoiced plosives can be represented by the same script in Tamil without ambiguity, the script denoting only the place and broad manner of articulation (plosive, nasal, etc.). The Tolkāppiyam cites detailed rules as to when a letter is to be pronounced with voice and when it is to be pronounced unvoiced. The rule is identical for all plosives.
With the exception of one rule - the pronunciation of the letter c at the beginning of a word - these rules are largely followed even today in pronouncing centamil. The position is, however, much more complex in relation to spoken koduntamil. The pronunciation of southern dialects and the dialects of Sri Lanka continues to reflect these rules to a large extent, though not completely. In northern dialects, however, sound shifts have changed many words so substantially that these rules no longer describe how words are pronounced. In addition many, but not all, Sanskrit loan words are pronounced in Tamil as they were in Sanskrit, even if this means that consonants which should be unvoiced according to the Tolkāppiyam are voiced.
Phonologists are divided in their opinion over why written Tamil did not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced characters. One point of view is that Tamil never had conjunct consonants or voiced stops - voice was rather the result of elision or sandhi. Consequently, unlike Indo-European languages and other Dravidian languages, Tamil did not need separate characters for voiced consonants. A slightly different theory holds that voiced consonants were at one stage allophones of unvoiced consonants, and the lack of distinction between the two in the modern script merely reflects that.
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Elision
Elision is the reduction in the duration of sound of a phoneme when preceded by or followed by certain other sounds. There are well-defined rules for elision in Tamil. They are categorised into different classes based on the phoneme which undergoes elision.
Kutriyalukaram - the vowel u
Kutriyalikaram - the vowel i
Aiykaarakkurukkam - the diphthong ai
Oukaarakkurukkam - the diphthong au
Aaythakkurukkam - the special character akh (aaytham)
Makarakkurukkam - the phoneme m
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Grammar
Main article: Tamil grammar

An excerpt from Tolkaappiyam
Much of Tamil grammar is extensively described in the oldest available grammar book for Tamil, the Tolkāppiyam. Modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th century grammar Naṉṉūl which restated and clarified the rules of the Tolkāppiyam, with some modifications. Traditional Tamil grammar consists of five parts, namely eḻuttu, col, porul, yāppu, aṇi. Of these, the last two are mostly applicable in poetry.
Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, is an agglutinative language. Tamil words consist of a lexical root to which one or more affixes are attached.
Most Tamil affixes are suffixes. Tamil suffixes can be derivational suffixes, which either change the part of speech of the word or its meaning, or inflectional suffixes, which mark categories such as person, number, mood, tense, etc. There is no absolute limit on the length and extent of agglutination, which can lead to long words with a large number of suffixes, which would require several words or a sentence in English.
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Parts of speech
Tamil nouns (and pronouns) are classified into two super-classes (tiṇai) - the "rational" (uyartiṇai), and the "irrational" (aḵṟiṇai) - which include a total of five classes (paal, which literally means 'gender'). Humans and deities are classified as "rational", and all other nouns (animals, objects, abstract nouns) are classified as irrational. The "rational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of three classes (paal) - masculine singular, feminine singular, and rational plural. The "irrational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of two classes (paal) - irrational singular and irrational plural. The paal is often indicated through suffixes. The plural form for rational nouns may be used as an honorific, gender-neutral, singular form.
Suffixes are also used to perform the functions of cases or postpositions. Traditional grammars tried to group the various suffixes into 8 cases corresponding to the cases used in Sanskrit. These were the nominative, accusative, dative, sociative, genitive, instrumental, locative, and ablative. Modern grammarians, however, argue that this classification is artificial, and that Tamil usage is best understood if each suffix or combination of suffixes is seen as marking a separate case. (Schiffman, 1999). Tamil nouns can also take one of four prefixes, i, a, u and e which are functionally equivalent to demonstratives in English.
Like Tamil nouns, Tamil verbs are also inflected through the use of suffixes. A typical Tamil verb form will have a number of suffixes, which show person, number, mood, tense and voice.
Person and number are indicated by suffixing the oblique case of the relevant pronoun (ēn in the above example). The suffixes to indicate tenses and voice are formed from grammatical particles, which are added to the stem.
Tamil has two voices. The first indicates that the subject of the sentence undergoes or is the object of the action named by the verb stem, and the second indicates that the subject of the sentence directs the action referred to by the verb stem.
Tamil has three simple tenses - past, present, and future - indicated by simple suffixes, and a series of perfects, indicated by compound suffixes. Mood is implicit in Tamil, and is normally reflected by the same morphemes which mark tense categories.
Tamil does not distinguish between adjectives and adverbs - both fall under the category uriccol.
Tamil has no articles. Definiteness and indefiniteness are either indicated by special grammatical devices, such as using the number "one" as an indefinite article, or by the context.
In the first person plural, Tamil makes a distinction between inclusive pronouns நாம் (nām) (we), namathu (our) that include the addressee and exclusive pronouns நாங்கள் (nāṅkaḷ)(we), emathu (our) that do not. The bifurcation of the First Person Plural pronoun (we in English) into inclusive and exclusive versions can also be found in a few more languages.
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Syntax
Tamil is a consistent head-final language. The verb comes at the end of the clause, with typical word order Subject Object Verb (SOV). Tamil has postpositions rather than prepositions. Demonstratives and modifiers precede the noun within the noun phrase. Subordinate clauses precede the verb of the matrix clause.
Tamil is a null subject language. Not all Tamil sentences have subjects, verbs and objects. It is possible to construct valid sentences that have only a verb - such as muṭintuviṭṭatu ("It is completed") - or only a subject and object, such as atu eṉ vīṭu ("That is my house"). Tamil does not have a copula (a linking verb equivalent to the word is) and the word is included in the translations only to convey the meaning.
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Vocabulary
See also: Wiktionary's list of Tamil words and list of words of Tamil origin
Modern Tamil vocabulary still retains most of the words from classical Tamil. Due to this and because of the emphasis on learning classical works like Tirukkural, classical Tamil is comprehensible in various degrees to most native speakers of today. However, a number of Prakrit and Sanskrit loan words have been adapted and used commonly in modern Tamil. But, unlike some other Dravidian languages, these words are restricted mainly to spiritual terminology and abstract nouns.
Besides Sanskrit, there are a few loan words from Persian and Arabic implying trade ties in ancient times. Since around the 20th century, English words have also begun to be used freely in colloquial Tamil. Some modern technical terminology is borrowed from English, though attempts are being made to have a pure Tamil technical terminology. Many individuals, and some institutions like the Government of Sri Lanka, Tamil Virtual University, and Annamalai University have generated technical dictionaries for Tamil. During the colonial period many loan words from Portuguese and Dutch were introduced into colloquial as well as written Tamil.
There are also many instances of words of Tamil loan words in other languages. Popular examples in English are cheroot (churuttu meaning "rolled up"), mango, mulligatawny (from milagu thanni meaning pepper water) and catamaran (from kattu maram, கட்டு மரம், meaning "bundled logs"). Tamil has also contributed many loan words to Sinhala, Malay and Bahasa Indonesia amongst other South and Southeast Asian languages.
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Examples
A sample passage in Tamil script with a Romanised transcription:ஆசிரியர் வகுப்பறையுள் நுழைந்தார்.
அவர் உள்ளே நுழைந்தவுடன் மாணவர்கள் எழுந்தனர்.
வளவன் மட்டும் தன் அருகில் நின்றுகொண்டிருந்த மாணவி கனிமொழியுடன் பேசிக் கொண்டிருந்தான்.
நான் அவனை எச்சரித்தேன்.
aasiriyar vakuppaRaiyuL nuzhainthaar.
avar uLLE nuzhainthavudan maaNavarkaL ezhunthanar.
vaLavan mattum than arukil ninRu kondiruntha maaNavi kanimozhiyudan pEsik kondirunthaan.
naan avanai echarithEn.
English translation of the passage given above:The teacher entered the classroom.
As soon as he entered, the students got up.
Only Valavan was talking to Kanimozhi who was standing next to him.
I warned him.
Notes:
Tamil does not have articles. The definite article used above is merely an artefact of translation.
To understand why Valavan would want to be warned, it is necessary to comprehend Asian social etiquette. It is considered impolite to be distracted when a person of eminence (the teacher in this case) makes an entry and the teacher may feel insulted or slighted.
Word (romanised)
Translation
Morphemes
Part of speech
Person, Gender, Tense
Case
Number
Remarks
aasiriyar
Teacher
aasiriyar
noun
n/a, gender-neutral, n/a
Nominative
honorific plural indicated by suffix ar
The feminine gender aasiriyai can be used here too; the masculine gender aasiriyan is rarely used, considering the honored position of the teacher
vakuppaRaiyuL
inside the class room
vakuppu+aRai
+uL
adverb
n/a
Locative
n/a
Sandhi (called puṇarci in Tamil) rules in Tamil require euphonic changes during agglutination (such as the introduction of y in this case)
nuzhainthaar
entered
nuzhainthaar
verb
third, gender-neutral, past
honorific plural
In an honorific context, the masculine and feminine equivalents nuzhainthaan and nuzhainthaaL are replaced by the collective nuzhainthaar
avar
He
avar
pronoun
third, gender-neutral, n/a
Nominative
honorific plural indicated by suffix ar
In honorific contexts, the masculine and feminine forms avan and avaL are not used
uLLE
inside
uLLE
adverb
n/a
n/a
nuzhainthavudan
upon entering
nuzhaintha +udan
adverb
n/a
n/a
Sandhi rules require a v to be inserted between an end-vowel and a beginning-u during agglutination.
maaNavarkaL
students
maaNavarkaL
collective noun
n/a, masculine, often used with gender-neutral connotation, n/a
Nominative
plural indicated by suffix kaL
ezhunthanar
got up
ezhunthanar
verb
third, gender-neutral, past
plural
VaLavan
VaLavan (name)
VaLavan
Proper noun
n/a, masculine, usually indicated by suffix an, n/a
Nominative
singular
mattum
only
mattum
adjective
n/a
n/a
than
his (self) own
than
pronoun
n/a, gender-neutral, n/a
singular
arukil
near (lit. "in nearness")
aruku + il
adverb
n/a
Locative
n/a
The postposition il indicates the locative case
ninRu kondiruntha
standing
ninRu + kondu + iruntha
adverb
n/a
n/a
the verb has been morphed into an adverb by the incompleteness due to the terminal a
maaNavi
student
maaNavi
pronoun
n/a, feminine, n/a
singular
kanimozhiyudan
with Kanimozhi (name of a person)
kanimozhi + udan
adverb
n/a
Comitative
n/a
the name Kanimozhi literally means sweet language
pEsik kondirunthaan
was talking
pEsi + kondu +irunthaan
verb
third, masculine, past continuous
singular
continuousness indicated by the incompleteness brought by kondu
naan
I
naan
pronoun
first person, gender-neutral, n/a
Nominative
singular
avanai
him
avanai
pronoun
third, masculine, n/a
Accusative
singular
the postposition ai indicates accusative case
echarithEn
cautioned
echarithEn
verb
first, indicated by suffix En, gender-neutral, past
singular, plural would be indicated by substituting En with Om
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See also
Languages of India
List of national languages of India
List of Indian languages by total speakers
Arwi
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References
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Modern works
Kāṅkēyar (1840). Uriccol nikaṇṭurai. Putuvai, Kuveṟaṉmā Accukkūṭam.
Lehmann, Thomas (1989). A Grammar of Modern Tamil. Pondicherry, Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture.
Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01227-5.
Natarajan, T. (1977), The language of Sangam literature and Tolkāppiyam. Madurai, Madurai Publishing House.
Hart, George L. (1975), The poems of ancient Tamil : their milieu and their Sanskrit counterparts. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-02672-1.
Pope, GU (1862). First catechism of Tamil grammar: Ilakkaṇa viṉaviṭai - mutaṟputtakam. Madras, Public Instruction Press.
Pope, GU (1868). A Tamil hand-book, or, Full introduction to the common dialect of that language. (3rd ed.). Madras, Higginbotham & Co.
Rajam, VS (1992). A Reference Grammar of Classical Tamil Poetry. Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-199-X.
Schiffman, Harold F. (1998). "Standardization or restandardization: The case for 'Standard' Spoken Tamil". Language in Society 27, 359–385.
Schiffman, Harold F. (1999). A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64074-1.
Asher, Ron and E. Annamalai (2002) Colloquial Tamil: The Complete Course for Beginners Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18788-5
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Ancient works
Pavaṇanti Muṉivar, Naṉṉūl Mūlamum Viruttiyuraiyum, (A. Tāmōtaraṉ; ed., 1999), International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai.
Pavaṇanti, Naṉṉūl mūlamum Kūḻaṅkaittampirāṉ uraiyum (A. Tāmōtaraṉ ed., 1980). Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag.
Taṇṭiyāciriyar, Taṇṭiyāciriyar iyaṟṟiya taṇṭiyalaṅkāram: Cuppiramaṇiya Tēcikar uraiyuṭaṉ. (Ku. Mutturācaṉ ed., 1994). Tarmapuri, Vacanta Celvi Patippakam.
Tolkāppiyar, Tolkāppiyam Iḷampūraṇar uraiyuṭaṉ (1967 reprint). Ceṉṉai, TTSS.
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Footnotes
^ Statement by George L. Hart
^ Item 41 of President Kalam's address to a joint sitting of both houses of Indian Parliament
^ BBC news item on the formal approval by the Indian Cabinet
^ the report submitted by Tamil Nadu State Government to Central Government of India to claim the Classic Language status.
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External links

Tamil language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikibooks has more about this subject:
Tamil

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Tamil language
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General
Ethnologue report
Omniglot resource
Rosetta Project Archive
Language Museum report
UCLA Tamil Profile
A brief review of its history and characteristics
International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil
Tamil Language & Literature
Tamil Studies Conference 2006: Tropes, Territories and Competing Realities
Google Current on Tamil as a search query
247 letters and 24x7
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Online learning resources
Tamil Language In Context - A project providing online Tamil lessons, including video lessons.
Learn Tamil Through English - Lessons for learning Tamil in PDF format.
Thamil Paadanool - Learn Tamil - A textbook for learning Tamil available both online and in PDF format.
Web Assisted Learning and Teaching of Tamil - University of Pennsylvania's web based lessons for learning Tamil.
Tamil alphabet, pronunciation and language - Omniglot's Tamil page.
Languageshome - Useful Tamil phrases in English and other Indian languages.
Learn to Read Tamil - Simple lessons for learning to read the Tamil alphabet.

പരിഭാഷ വിക്കി -ചില ചിന്തകള്‍

പരിഭാഷ വിക്കിയുടെ രണ്ടാമത്തെ ലേഖനവും അങ്ങനെ വിജയകരമായി പൂര്‍ത്തികരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. ഈ സംരഭത്തില്‍ ലാഭേഛയില്ലാതെ പങ്കാളികള്‍ ആയ എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും ഞങ്ങളൂടെ നന്ദി. മൂന്നാമത്തെ ലേഖനം ഇടുന്നതിനു മുന്‍പ് ചില ചിന്തകള്‍ പങ്കു വെയ്ക്കട്ടെ.

ബൂലോഗത്തില്‍ നിന്നു കൂടുതല്‍ ആളുകളെ മലയാളം വിക്കിപീഡിയയില്‍ എത്തിക്കുക എന്ന ഒരു ഉദ്ദേശത്തോടെ ആണല്ലോ ഈ സംരംഭം തുടങ്ങിയത്. മാത്രമല്ല കുറച്ച് ആധികാരികമായ ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ മലയാളം വിക്കിപീഡിയയില്‍ ഉള്‍പ്പെടുത്തുക എന്ന ഒരു ഉദ്ദേശവും അതിനുണ്ട്. ‍ പക്ഷെ ഈ സംരം‍ഭത്തില്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ ശ്രീജിത്ത്, ദില്‍ബു, ആദിത്യന്‍, ഷിജു എന്നിവര്‍ മാത്രമേ ആക്ടീവ് ആയി പങ്കെടുക്കുന്നുള്ളൂ. പാപ്പാന്‍ ചേട്ടന്‍ മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ടു വന്ന് ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ വായിച്ച് അക്ഷരതെറ്റൊക്കെ തിരുത്തി ഭാഷാ ശുദ്ധിവരുത്തി തന്ന് സഹായിക്കുന്നു. പുള്ളിയെ പോലെ ഉള്ള ചിലര്‍ വന്നും പോയും ഇരിക്കുന്നു. ഇഞ്ചിപെണ്ണ്, വല്യമ്മായി, പൊന്നപ്പന്‍, പെരിങ്ങോടന്‍ എന്നിവരെ പോലുള്ളവര്‍ ശക്തമായ പിന്തുണ വാഗ്ദാനം ചെയ്തു മുങ്ങുന്നു.

ഒരു കാര്യം പ്രത്യേകം പറയട്ടെ ഇന്നലെ ശ്രീജിത്ത് ഒരു കമെന്റില്‍ പറഞ്ഞതു പോലെ “പക്ഷെ ഇവിടെ പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥമായി ശ്രമിക്കുന്നവര്‍ ഷിജു, ആദിത്യന്‍, ദില്‍ബന്‍, ഞാന്‍ തുടങ്ങിയ വിരലിലെണ്ണാവുന്നവര്‍ മാത്രമാണ്. ഇവരെല്ലാവരും പലവിധ ജോലിയുള്ളവരും വളരെയധികം തിരക്കുള്ളവരും ആണെന്ന് പ്രത്യേകം പറയേണ്ടല്ലോ. മാത്രമല്ല, ഇവര്‍ക്ക് ഈ പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്യുന്നതിനു പുറമേ സ്വന്തം ബ്ലോഗുകളില്‍ എഴുതുക, പരിഭാഷ ബ്ലോഗില്‍ വരാത്ത വിഷയങ്ങളും വിക്കിയില്‍ എഴുതുക എന്നതും ഇല്ലാത്ത സമയമുണ്ടാക്കി ചെയ്യേണ്ടി വരുന്നു ഇപ്പോള്‍.“

അതെ ഞങ്ങളെല്ലാവരും ഇല്ലാത്ത സമയം ഉണ്ടാക്കിയാണ് ഇതു ചെയ്യുന്നത്. മാത്രമല്ല ഞങ്ങളാരും പരിഭാഷയിലോ മലയാളം/ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് ഭാഷകളിലോ അഗ്രഗണ്യരായതു കൊണ്ടല്ല ഇതു ചെയ്യുന്നത്. കഴിവും അറിവുമുള്ളവര്‍ പുറത്തുകൈയ്യുകെട്ടി നില്‍ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ കുറച്ചു വിഢ്ഢിപ്പയ്യന്മാര്‍ മലയാളവിക്കിക്ക് തങ്ങളാലാവുന്ന ചെറിയ സഹായങ്ങള്‍ നല്‍കുന്നു എന്നു കരുതിയാല്‍ മതി.

അതുകൊണ്ട് കുറച്ചുപേര്‍ കൂടി സഹകരിച്ചാല്‍ ഞങ്ങളുടെ മേലുള്ള ഭാരം കുറയും. അണ്ണാറക്കണ്ണനും തന്നാലായത് എന്നു പറയുന്നതു പോലെ ഒരു പാരഗ്രാഫ് വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്തു തന്ന് സഹായിച്ചാലും അത് നന്നായിരിക്കും. വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഇവിടെ കന്മെറ്റ് ആയി ഇട്ടാല്‍ മതി. ഞങ്ങള്‍ ആരെങ്കിലും അത് വിക്കിയില്‍ ഇടാം.

അതേപോലെ മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ നേരിട്ട് പോയി ലേഖനം വായിച്ച് തെറ്റൊക്കെ തിരുത്തി തന്ന് സഹായിക്കാം.

റെഫറന്‍സുകളും ചിത്രങ്ങളും ലേഖനത്തില്‍ കൂട്ടി ചേര്‍ക്കാന്‍ സഹായിക്കാം.

പതിവു പോലെ ഇക്കാര്യത്തിലും വനിതാ പ്രാധിനിധ്യം പൂജ്യമാണ്. അല്ലാ വിവാഹിതര്‍ പ്രാധിനിധ്യവും പൂജ്യമാണല്ലോ. ശ്രീജിത്തേ ഈ പരിഭാഷ വിക്കി ബാച്ചിലേര്‍സ് ക്ലബ്ബ് ആണോ.

കഴിഞ്ഞ പോസ്റ്റിന്റെ കമെന്റില്‍ -സുനില്‍- അഭിപ്രായപ്പെട്ടു “ സുനില്‍- said...
പരിഭാഷകരേ, ഒരു ചെറിയ അഭിപ്രായം. ക്ലിക്കേരളം (www.clickkeralam.com)എന്ന സൈറ്റില്‍ ഹൈസ്കൂള്‍ കുട്ടികളുടെ എല്ലാ സബ്ജക്റ്റുകളുടേയും പാഠപുസ്തകങ്ങള്‍ ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്യാന്‍ കിട്ടും. അപ്പോ അവര്‍ പഠിക്കുന്നതെന്താണ് എന്ന് അറിയാന്‍ പറ്റും. അതിനനുസരിച്ചുള്ള വിഷയങ്ങള്‍ തെരഞെടുത്ത് പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തിയാല്‍ അവര്‍ക്കൊരു ഉപകാരമാവില്ലേ? പ്രത്യേകിച്ചും അവര്‍ക്കിപ്പോള്‍ വിഷയങ്ങളെപ്പറ്റി ധാരാളം റഫര്‍ ചെയ്യേണ്ടി വരുമ്പോള്‍ (പുതിയ സിലബസ്സനുസരിച്ച്‌ എക്സ്റ്റ്രാ റീഡിങ് ധാരാളം വേണം). ഇനി അത്‌ നിങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്‌ ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്യാന്‍ പറ്റിയില്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഞാന്‍ ഹെല്പ്‌വിക്കി ഗൂഗിള്‍ ഗ്രൂപ്പിലേക്ക്‌ മെയിലയച്ചുതരാം.
ഇങ്ങനെ റാന്റം ആയി ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ തെരെഞെടുക്കുന്നതിനെതിരാണ് എന്നു വിചാരിക്കരുത്‌. ഒന്നുമില്ലെങ്കില്‍ അതെങ്കിലുമുണ്ടല്ലോ.-സു-“

റാന്‍ഡം ആയി ലേഖനം തിരെഞ്ഞെടുക്കുന്നതിന്റെ പ്രശ്നം രണ്ടെണ്ണം പരിഭാഷ പ്പെടുത്തിയപ്പോഴേക്കും ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മനസ്സിലായി. അതിനാല്‍ ഇനി മുതല്‍ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയിലെ ഫീച്ചേറ്ഡ് വിഭാഗത്തിലെ ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ എടുക്കാം എന്നൊരു ആലോചന ഉണ്ട്. ഫീച്ചേര്‍ഡ് ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ ഓരോന്നും പരിപൂര്‍ണ്ണവും, ആധികാരികവും, എല്ലാ റെഫറന്‍സുകളും ഉള്ളതാണ്. മാത്രമല്ല വിവിധ വിഷയങ്ങളില്‍ ഉള്ള ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ ഈ വിഭാഗത്തില്‍ ഉണ്ട്. ഈ ‍ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ എല്ലാം പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തി മലയാളം വിക്കിയില്‍ ഇട്ടാല്‍ അത് ഓരോന്നും ഓരോ ആധികാരിക ലേഖനങ്ങള്‍ ആയിരിക്കും. എന്താണ് നിങ്ങളുടെ ഒക്കെ അഭിപ്രായം.

അതിനു തുടക്കമെന്ന നിലയില്‍ തമിഴ് ഭാഷയെ കുറിച്ച് വന്ന ഈ ലേഖനം അടുത്ത പരിഭാഷയ്ക്ക് എടുക്കാന്‍ ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്നു. ഈ ലേഖനം ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയില്‍ ഒരു പ്രാവശ്യം ഫീച്ചേര്‍ഡ് വിഭാഗത്തില്‍ വന്നതാണ്. ഈ ലേഖനം അടുത്ത ലേഖനമായി പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതിനെ കുറിച്ച് എന്താണ് നിങ്ങളുടെയൊക്കെ അഭിപ്രായം. ഉപദേശങ്ങളും നിര്‍ദ്ദേശങ്ങളും ഒക്കെ സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്യുന്നു.

മന്‍ജിത്ത് പറഞ്ഞതു പോലെ “ പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുമ്പോള്‍ ലേഖനത്തിലുള്ളവയെല്ലാം പദനുപദം വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്യണമെന്നില്ല. തികച്ചും അപ്രസക്തമായ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഒഴിവാക്കാമെന്നു തോന്നുന്നു“. ഇത് പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തുന്നവര്‍ ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുക. പദാനുപദ വിവര്‍ത്തനം ചെയ്യാതെ നല്ല അര്‍ത്ഥമുള്ള വാചകങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടാക്കുക. ബ്ലോഗ്ഗുകളില്‍ ഒക്കെ വെടിക്കെട്ട് സാധനങ്ങള്‍ ഇടുന്ന ബൂലോഗത്തിലെ പുലികള്‍ക്കൊന്നും അതിനു ഒരു വിഷമവും ഇല്ലല്ലോ.

ചില ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വാക്കുകളുടെ മലയാള അര്‍ഥം അറിയില്ലെങ്കില്‍ അതിനു നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു ഇംഗ്ലിഷ്-മലയാളം നിഘണ്ടു സോഫ്റ്റ് വെയര്‍ ശ്രീജിത്ത് ഈ ലിങ്കിലേക്ക് അപ്‌ലോഡ് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്. ആവശ്യമുള്ളവര്‍ അത് ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്ത് ഉപയോഗിക്കുക.

ഉപദേശങ്ങളും നിര്‍ദേശങ്ങളും തന്നും പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തി സഹായിച്ചും എല്ലാവരും ഈ സംരംഭത്തീല്‍ പങ്കാളികളാവുക. ഇത് നമ്മള്‍ മലയാളത്തിനു വേണ്ടിയും ഭാവി മലയാളികള്‍ക്ക് വേണ്ടിയും ഒരു സേവനമായി കരുതി എല്ലാവരും സഹായിക്കുക.

ഒരു കാര്യം അനുബന്ധം ആയി പറയട്ടെ ഈ പരിഭാഷ പരിപാടി തുടങ്ങിയതില്‍ പിന്നെ വിവരം വയ്ക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തേണ്ടത് കൊണ്ട് ലേഖനം ശ്രദ്ധിച്ച് വായിക്കും. അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഇതൊക്കെ എന്തെങ്കിലും ആവശ്യം വന്നാല്‍ മാത്രം വേണ്ട ഭാഗം മാത്രം വായിച്ചു പോവുകയേ ഉള്ളായിരുന്നു. ഇപ്പോള്‍ ആ വിഷയത്തെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ മൊത്തം പഠിക്കാന്‍ പറ്റുന്നു.

ബ്ലോഗ്

പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്തെടുക്കാനുള്ള അടുത്ത ലേഖനം ബ്ലോഗിനെക്കുറിച്ച് തന്നെയാകട്ടെ. ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയിലേക്കുള്ള ലിങ്ക് ഇതാ. ഈ ലേഖനം ഈ മലയാളം പേജിലേക്കാണ് ചേര്‍ക്കേണ്ടത്.

പരിഭാഷ ചെയ്തെടുക്കുമ്പോള്‍ ചിത്രങ്ങള്‍, കൊളുത്തുകള്‍, അനുബന്ധങ്ങള്‍ എന്നിവ നഷ്ടപ്പെടാന്‍ സാധ്യത ഉള്ളതിനാല്‍, ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വിക്കിയില്‍ പോയി, പേജിന്റെ വിക്കി ഭാഷയിലുള്ള ലേഖനം എടുത്ത് പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ താല്‍പ്പര്യപ്പെടുന്നു.

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History
Chronicles, commonplaces, diaries, and perzines can all be seen as predecessors of blogs.
Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, e-mail lists and bulletin board systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, such as WebEx, created running conversations with "threads". Threads are topical connections between messages on a metaphorical "corkboard".
[edit]

1994 – 2001
Main article: Online diary

Brad Fitzpatrick, an early blogger.
The modern blog evolved from the online diary where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. A few called themselves escribitionists. The Open Pages webring included members of the online-journal community. Justin Hall, who began eleven years of personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers.[1]
Other forms of journals kept online also existed. A notable example was game programmer John Carmack's widely read journal, published via the finger protocol. Websites, including both corporate sites and personal homepages, had and still often have "What's New" or "News" sections, often on the index page and sorted by date. One example of a news based "weblog" is the "Drudge Report" founded by the self styled maverick reporter Matt Drudge, though apparently Drudge dislikes this classification. One noteworthy early precursor to a blog was the tongue-in-cheek personal website that was frequently updated by Usenet legend Kibo.
Early weblogs were simply manually updated components of common websites. However, the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web articles posted in said chronological fashion made the publishing process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software, such as WordPress, blogger or LiveJournal, or on regular web hosting services, such as DreamHost.
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999.[2][3][4] This was quickly adopted as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog").
After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity: the site Xanga, launched in 1996, had only 100 diaries by 1997, but over 20 million as of December 2005. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools:
Open Diary launched in October 1998, soon growing to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.
Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999.
Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a website, followed by Diaryland in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.[5]
Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003)
Blogging combined the personal web page with tools to make linking to other pages easier — specifically permalinks, blogrolls and TrackBacks. This, together with weblog search engines enabled bloggers to track the threads that connected them to others with similar interests.
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2001 – 2004
Several broadly popular American blogs emerged in 2001: Andrew Sullivan's AndrewSullivan.com, Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com, Taegan Goddard's Political Wire and Jerome Armstrong's MyDD — all blogging primarily on politics (two earlier popular American political blogs were Bob Somerby's Daily Howler launched in 1998 and Mickey Kaus' Kausfiles launched in 1999).
By 2001, blogging was enough of a phenomenon that how-to manuals began to appear, primarily focusing on technique. The importance of the blogging community (and its relationship to larger society) increased rapidly. Established schools of journalism began researching blogging and noting the differences between journalism and blogging.
In 2002, Jerome Armstrong's friend and sometime business partner Markos Moulitsas Zúniga began DailyKos. With up to a million visits a day during peak events, it has now become one of the Internet's most trafficked blogs.
Also in 2002, many blogs focused on comments by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Senator Lott, at a party honoring U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as a tacit approval of racial segregation, a policy advocated by Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.) Though Lott's comments were made at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader.
The impact of this story gave greater credibility to blogs as a medium of news dissemination. Though often seen as partisan gossips, bloggers sometimes lead the way in bringing key information to public light, with mainstream media having to follow their lead. More often, however, news blogs tend to react to material already published by the mainstream media.
Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories. The Iraq war saw bloggers taking measured and passionate points of view that go beyond the traditional left-right divide of the political spectrum.
Blogging by established politicians and political candidates, to express opinions on war and other issues, cemented blogs' role as a news source. (See Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.) Meanwhile, an increasing number of experts blogged, making blogs a source of in-depth analysis. (See Daniel Drezner and J. Bradford DeLong.)
The second Iraq war was the first "blog war" in another way: Iraqi bloggers gained wide readership, and one, Salam Pax, published a book of his blog. Blogs were also created by soldiers serving in the Iraq war. Such "warblog" gave readers new perspectives on the realities of war, as well as often offering different viewpoints from those of official news sources.
Blogging was used to draw attention to obscure news sources. For example, bloggers posted links to traffic cameras in Madrid as a huge anti-terrorism demonstration filled the streets in the wake of the March 11 attacks.
Bloggers began to provide nearly-instant commentary on televised events, creating a secondary meaning of the word "blogging": to simultaneously transcribe and editorialize speeches and events shown on television. (For example, "I am blogging Rice's testimony" means "I am posting my reactions to Condoleezza Rice's testimony into my blog as I watch her on television.") Real-time commentary is sometimes referred to as "liveblogging."
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2004 – present

A WordPress test blog running Kubrick.
In 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Even politicians not actively campaigning, such as the UK's Labour Party's MP Tom Watson, began to blog to bond with constituents.
Minnesota Public Radio broadcast a program by Christopher Lydon and Matt Stoller called "The blogging of the President," which covered a transformation in politics that blogging seemed to presage. The Columbia Journalism Review began regular coverage of blogs and blogging. Anthologies of blog pieces reached print, and blogging personalities began appearing on radio and television. In the summer of 2004, both United States Democratic and Republican Parties' conventions credentialed bloggers, and blogs became a standard part of the publicity arsenal. Mainstream television programs, such as Chris Matthews' Hardball, formed their own blogs. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary declared "blog" as the word of the year in 2004.[6]
Blogs were among the driving forces behind the "Rathergate" scandal, to wit: (television journalist) Dan Rather presented documents (on the CBS show 60 Minutes) that conflicted with accepted accounts of President Bush's military service record. Bloggers declared the documents to be forgeries and presented evidence and arguments in support of that view, and CBS apologized for what it said were inadequate reporting techniques (see Little Green Footballs). Many bloggers view this scandal as the advent of blogs' acceptance by the mass media, both as a source of news and opinion and as means of applying political pressure.
Some bloggers have moved over to other media. The following bloggers (and others) have appeared on radio and television: Duncan Black (known widely by his pseudonym, Atrios), Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) , Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (Daily Kos), Alex Steffen (Worldchanging) and Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette). Hugh Hewitt is an example of a media personality who has moved in the other direction, adding to his reach in "old media" by being an influential blogger.
Some blogs were an important source of news during the December 2004 Tsunami such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, which used SMS text messaging to report from affected areas in Sri Lanka and Southern India.
In the United Kingdom, The Guardian newspaper launched a redesign in September 2005, which included a daily digest of blogs on page 2. Also in June 2006, BBC News launched a weblog for its editors, following other news companies [7].
In January 2005, Fortune magazine listed eight bloggers that business people "could not ignore": Peter Rojas, Xeni Jardin, Ben Trott, Mena Trott, Jonathan Schwartz, Jason Goldman, Robert Scoble, and Jason Calacanis.
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Types of blogs

A photo of Joi Ito's moblog.
There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written.
By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog[8], or one comprising photos is called a photoblog[9]
By device
Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA is called a moblog.[10]
Genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs or travel blogs.
Legal status of publishers
A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs, either used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or PR purposes are called corporate blogs.
Blog search engines
Several blog search engines are used to search blog contents (also known as the blogosphere), such as blogdigger, Feedster, and Technorati. Technorati provides current information on both popular searches and tags used to categorize blog postings.
[edit]

Business models.
While the great majority of blogs are non-commercial, full-time bloggers have struggled to find a way to make a profit from their work. The most common and simplest method is to accept targeted banner advertising. However, some bloggers have been hesitant to use this because of negative reader response to the ads. A more discreet form of advertising is for bloggers to promote merchandise from other sites, receiving a commission when a customer buys the item after following a blog link.
Others have tried a click-to-donate model. Prominent political blogger Andrew Sullivan claimed at one point that accepting voluntary donations to his blog was more lucrative than his magazine work for The New Republic. Following the practice of public television, Sullivan boosted donations with periodic "pledge drives," one of which was reported to net him $120,000. Sullivan's attempt at securing corporate sponsorship for his blog fell apart after strong negative reader response to the deal.
No other high-profile blogger has accepted a single corporate sponsor since Sullivan's failed deal. However, In the early twenty-first century, many magazines and newspapers began sponsoring personal blogs by their employees. The business model in this case is essentially the same as that of a traditional newspaper columnist. In a creative extension of the model, employees at other media companies began blogs focusing on the companies' products. For example, many actors in pornography blog about their work on company sites, creating a sense of personal connection between consumer and product.
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Anatomy of a blog entry

A screenshot of a typical blog.
A variety of different systems are used to create and maintain blogs. Dedicated web applications can eliminate the need for bloggers to manage this software. With web interfaces, these systems allow travelers to blog from anywhere on the Internet, and allow users to create blogs without having to maintain their own server. Such systems allow users to work with tools such as Ecto, Elicit and Blogger which allow users to maintain their Web-hosted blog without the need to be online while composing or editing posts. Blog creation tools and blog hosting are also provided by some Web hosting companies (Tripod), Internet service providers (America Online), online publications (Salon.com) and internet portals (Yahoo! 360° or Google). Some advanced users have developed custom blogging systems from scratch using server-side software, and often implement membership management and password protected areas. Others have created a mix of a blog and wiki, called a bliki.
A blog entry typically consists of the following:
Title, the main title, or headline, of the post.
Body, main content of the post.
Permalink, the URL of the full, individual article.
Post Date, date and time the post was published.
A blog entry optionally includes the following:
Comments
Categories (or tags) - subjects that the entry discusses
Trackback and or pingback - links to other sites that refer to the entry
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Comments
Main article: Feedback comment system
Comments are a way to provide discussion on blog entries. Readers can leave a comment on a post, which can correct errors or contain their opinion on the post or the post's subject. Services like coComment aim to ease discussion through comments, by allowing tracking of them.
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Blog popularity
Recently, researchers have analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular. There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e. blogroll). The basic conclusion from studies of the structure of blogs is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, permalinks can boost popularity more quickly, and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls, since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases.[11]
The blogdex project was launched by researchers in the MIT Media Lab to crawl the web and gather data from thousands of blogs in order to investigate their social properties. It gathered this information for over 4 years, and autonomously tracked the most contagious information spreading in the blog community. The project is no longer active.
Blogs are also given rankings by Technorati based on the amount of incoming links and Alexa Internet based on the web hits of Alexa Toolbar users. In August 2006, Technorati listed the most linked-to blog as that of Chinese actress Xu Jinglei and the most-read blog as group-written Boing Boing.[12]
It was reported by Chinese media Xinhua that the blog of Xu Jinglei received more than 50 million page views, claiming to be the most popular blog in the world.[13] In mid-2006, it also had the most incoming links of any blogs on the Internet.[14]
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Blogging and the mass media
Many bloggers differentiate themselves from the mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel. Some institutions see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" and pushing messages directly to the public. Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news.
Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs -- well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list. The first known use of a Weblog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.[15]
Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages, whose creators can be found as far away from traditional Gaelic areas as Kazakhstan and Alaska. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging.
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Legal issues
The emergence of blogging has brought a range of legal liabilities. Employers have "dooced" (fired) employees who maintain personal blogs that discuss their employers.[16] The major areas of concern are the issues of proprietary or confidential information, and defamation. Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers and the courts have returned with mixed verdicts. In John Doe v. Patrick Cahill, the Delaware Supreme Court held that stringent standards had to be met to unmask anonymous bloggers, and also took the unusual step of dismissing the libel case itself (as unfounded under American libel law) rather than referring it back to the trial court for reconsideration. In a bizarre twist, the Cahills were able to find the ISP address of John Doe, who turned out to be the person they suspected: the town's mayor, Councilman Cahill's political rival. The Cahills amended their original complaint, and the mayor settled the case rather than going to trial. [17]
In Singapore, on the other hand, two ethnic Chinese were punished under the country’s anti-sedition law for posting anti-Muslim remarks in their weblogs.[18] Internet Service Providers, in general, are immune from liability for information that originates with Third Parties (U.S. Communications Decency Act and the EU Directive 2000/31/EC).
In Malaysia, eight Royal Dutch Shell Group companies collectively obtained in June 2004 an Interim Injunction and Restraining Order against a Shell whistleblower, a Malaysian geologist and former Shell employee, Dr John Huong. The proceedings are in respect of alleged defamatory postings attributed to Dr Huong on a weblog hosted in North America but owned and operated by an 89 year old British national, Alfred Donovan, a long term critic of Shell. The Shell is directed solely against Dr Huong. Further proceedings against Dr Huong were issued by the same plaintiff companies in 2006 in respect of publications on Donovan weblog sites in 2005 and 2006. The further proceedings include a "Notice to Show Cause" relating to a "contempt of court" action potentially punishable by imprisonment. The contempt hearing and a related application by the eight Royal Dutch Shell plaintiff companies for Dr Huong to produce Alfred Donovan for cross-examination in connection with an affidavit Donovan provided, was scheduled to be heard in the High Court of Malay in Kuala Lumpur on 17th August 2006. Donovan's principle weblog is royaldutchshellplc.com.
In Britain, a college lecturer contributed to a blog in which she referred to a politician (who had also expressed his views in the same blog) using various uncomplimentary names, including referring to him as a "Nazi". The politician found out the real name of the lecturer (she wrote under a pseudonym) via the ISP and successfully sued her for £10,000 in damages and £7,200 costs.[19] In the spring of 2006, Erik Ringmar, a tenured senior lecturer at the London School of Economics was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down and destroy" a blog in which he discussed student life at the school.[20]
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was recently fined during the 2006 NBA playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court and in his blog. [21]
Ellen Simonetti, a US airline attendant, lost her job after posting photos of herself in uniform displaying more cleavage than ordinary on her blog "The Queen of the Sky".[22] Simonetti took legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages"[23].
In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis quit his job at IBM after his posts exposing the false claims of a management school, IIPM, led to management of IIPM threatening to burn their IBM laptops as a sign of protest against him. [24] [25] [26]
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See also

Internet Portal
blog search engines
blog software
List of blogging terms
blogebrity
Buzzword
Corporate blog
Political blog
Online diary - the precursor to blogs
Virtual Community
Massively distributed collaboration
Citizen journalism
Content Management System
Google bomb
MySpace - social networking site
Facebook - social networking site
Windows Live Spaces - Microsoft's Social Networking platform
News aggregator - client software that uses a web feed to retrieve syndicated web content such as weblogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites
Podcasting - a method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet
TagWorld - a MySpace competitor
Yahoo! 360° - a personal communication portal
List of social networking websites - includes many blog and journal sites
BROG - (We)blog Research on Genre project
YouTube
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References
^ Time to get a life — pioneer blogger Justin Hall bows out at 31. SFgate (2005-02-20). Retrieved on 2006-06-09.
^ "It's the links, stupid", The Economist, 2006-4-20. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
^ Peter Merholz (1999). Peterme.com. The Internet Archive. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
^ Jason Kottke (August 26, 2003). kottke.org. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
^ Jensen, Mallory A Brief History of Weblogs
^ "Wikinews blog declared Word of the Year", Wikinews, 2004-12-01. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
^ Wilson, Dawn. "Down with blogs... so here's another", BBC News, 2006-06-26. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
^ Perrone, Jane. "What is a weblog?", Guardian Unlimted, 2004-05-20. Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
^ What is a photoblog. Photoblogs.org Wiki. Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
^ "blogging goes mobile", BBC News, 2003-02-23. Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
^ Marlow, C. Audience, structure and authority in the weblog community. Presented at the International Communication Association Conference, May, 2004, New Orleans, LA.
^ Fickling, David, Internet killed the TV star, The Guardian NewsBlog, 15 August 2006
^ [1]
^ [2]
^ "blogging Bonnie.", Poynter.org, 18 September, 2003.
^ "Queen of the Sky gets marching orders", The Register, 2004-11-03. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
^ "John Doe No. 1 v. Patrick Cahill and Julia Cahill
^ Kierkegaard, Sylvia (2006). blogs, Lies and the Doocing in Computer Law and Security Report Volume 22 Issue 2.
^ Gibson, Owen. "Warning to chatroom users after libel award for man labelled a Nazi", The Guardian, 2006-03-23. Retrieved on 2006-05-17.
^ "Lecturer's Blog Sparks Free Speech Row", The Guardian, 2006-05-03. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ "NBA fines Cuban $200K for antics on, off court", ESPN, 2006-05-11. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
^ [3]
^ "Queen of the Sky gets marching orders", The Register, 2004-11-03. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
^ "Gaurav Sabnis's blog entry after quitting IBM", Vantage point, 2005-10-10. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
^ "Gaurav Sabnis's blog entry when he got the Legal notice from IIPM", Vantage point, 2005-10-10. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
^ "Gaurav Sabnis's blog entry which offended the management of IIPM and lead to the chain of events resulting in him quitting his job at IBM", Vantage point, 2005-10-10. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
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Further reading
Alavi, Nasrin. We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs, Soft Skull Press, New York, 2005. ISBN 1-933368-05-5.
Bruns, Axel, and Joanne Jacobs, eds. Uses of Blogs, Peter Lang, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-8204-8124-6.
Kline, David; Burstein, Dan. Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture, Squibnocket Partners, L.L.C., 2005. ISBN 1593151411.
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External links

Look up Blog inWiktionary, the free dictionary.
blog software comparison chart by Online Journalism Review, USC Annenberg
blogging, personal participation in public knowledge-building on the web (PDF file) by Mark Brady, Chimera Working Paper 2005-02 Colchester: University of Essex
Computer Law and Security Report Volume 22 Issue 2, Pages 127-136 blogs, Lies and the Doocing by Sylvia Kierkegaard (2006)
Legal Guide for bloggers by the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog"
Categories: Cleanup from August 2006 Articles lacking sources Blogs