Sociolinguistics and Tamil

Today I had a great chat with my dad on his favorite topic - sociolinguistics in the context of speaking Tamil. He explained to me that sociolinguistics is essentially the study of the interaction between society and language. How language shapes society and how society shapes language. This dynamic exchange has a deep impact on the development of both society and language. In the context of Tamil this means that one is able to discern from spoken Tamil whether a person is from rural Tamil Nadu, urban Chennai, diaspora Tamil or even caste origin. Clearly the society in which we live shapes the way we speak. Similarly the society is in turn is shaped by the way Tamil is spoken. If speakers take a little bit more trouble and effort to speak eloquently society benefits. If everyone starts bastardizing Tamil then society and its richness is diluted. I can attest to this on a personal level. Traveling in Tamil Nadu, I sometimes come across wonderful Tamil speakers. They often pepper their conversations with great Tamil proverbs and poetic phrases that makes my heart leap with joy. The richness and poetic quality of Tamil language comes alive for me when I speak with such people. However, most of the people in Chennai speak appalling Tamil especially on their TV and radio. I often have to ask my driver to switch off the radio as it pains me to hear such bad Tamil. I often wonder if the language quality in Chennai has a direct correlation to the degradation of cultural values in Chennai brought about by rapid entry of Western style MNCs.

This conversation with my dad also reminded me of my experience with English in the US and the UK. I love going to London because the lawyers and bankers speak excellent English. They have a wonderful way with words and their understand and exploit its lyrical quality. That makes for a far richer professional and personal experience for me. In contrast when I go to US everything is "cool" and "hip" and "nice" - I seldom hear the average lawyer or average layperson taking the trouble to choose the exact English phrase or word that captures the shade of the meaning. I feel America is a poorer society because of its sloppy attitude towards the English language.

When I am in Chennai and Mysore various linguists commended that I spoke really pure and good Tamil. This is directly the result of my dad's influence. My social environment where I hear good Tamil often. In particular I remember as a young girl he had spoken to me about language hierarchies acrolect, mecrolact and basolect. This made a deep deep impression on me and inspired me to always be mindful of the way I spoke.