Proto-South Dravidian language facts for kids

Proto-South Dravidian was an ancient language that scientists believe was the common ancestor of many languages spoken today in southern India. Think of it like the "grandparent language" for several modern languages. Some of these languages include Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Badaga, Kodava, Irula, Kota, and Toda. Sometimes, experts call this ancient language "South Dravidian I."

When Did Proto-South Dravidian Exist?

Scientists believe Proto-South Dravidian was spoken a very long time ago. They think it was around during the second half of the 2000s BC. This means it was spoken between 2000 and 1500 BC.

Some experts also think it separated from another ancient language. This language is called Proto-South Dravidian II. It is also known as South Central Dravidian. This split might have happened just before 1000 BC. However, these dates are not exact. They are just close guesses by linguists.

How Did Proto-South Dravidian Sound?

Understanding how an ancient language sounded is tricky. But linguists can make good guesses. They look at how sounds changed over time in the languages that came from it.

Vowel Sounds

Proto-South Dravidian had ten main vowel sounds. These sounds were like the "a," "e," "i," "o," "u" sounds we know. Each vowel had a short version and a long version. For example, a short "a" and a long "ā." These sounds were passed down from an even older language called Proto-Dravidian.

Consonant Sounds

The earliest form of the Tamil language, called Old Tamil, helps us understand. It kept many of the consonant sounds from Proto-South Dravidian. There were about 17 consonant sounds. These included sounds like "p," "t," "k," "m," "n," and "l."

Unique Changes in the Language

Proto-South Dravidian had some special changes that made it different. These changes are called "innovations."

One change was how some vowel sounds mixed together. The short "i" and "u" sounds sometimes became "e" and "o." This happened when they were next to certain other sounds.

Another change was the loss of the "c" sound. This sound slowly disappeared from the beginning and middle of words. It first changed to an "s" sound, then an "h" sound, and then vanished. This change also happened in the Telugu language. This suggests that the people speaking these languages lived close to each other.

Also, a sound called "*ṯ" changed to "*ṟ" when it was between two vowels.

New Words for People

Proto-South Dravidian also created new ways to talk about women. They added a special ending, "*-aḷ," to words. This ending meant "woman." For example, "*avaḷ" meant "that woman." "*ivaḷ" meant "this woman." And "*uvaḷ" meant "the woman in between."

Life in Proto-South Dravidian Times

The words used in Proto-South Dravidian tell us a lot about their society. It seems they had a more advanced way of life than people speaking Proto-Dravidian.

They had words for leaders, like a "headman" or "rulers." They also had words for taxes and armies. There were terms for different areas of land. They even had words for collecting debts and forced labor.

Buildings and Towns

The language also had words for different types of places people lived. There were words for villages and towns. They also had words for castles, forts, and even prisons. There were words for palaces and streets too. This shows they had organized settlements.

Jobs and Society

The words also suggest that a system like the caste system was already in place. There were many words for different jobs. These job names later became terms for social groups.

They also had words for metal objects, weapons, and vehicles with wheels. There were words for clothes and valuable stones. Farming also improved. They had new words for crops and ways to water fields.

However, archaeologists have not yet found proof of this advanced lifestyle. Not in the places and times where Proto-South Dravidian was spoken.

Connections with Ancient Civilizations

Some words in Proto-South Dravidian show connections to very old civilizations.

Words Shared with Akkadian

The Proto-South Dravidian word "*eḷḷu" means sesame. This word is similar to the Akkadian word "ellu." Akkadian was spoken in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago. This suggests that people speaking Proto-South Dravidian traded with Mesopotamia. This trade happened around 2600-1900 BC. This was during the time of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The Akkadian word for ivory ("pīru") might also come from a Dravidian word ("*pīlu"). These shared words support the idea that Dravidian speakers lived in the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Words Borrowed from Old Indo-Aryan

Proto-South Dravidian also borrowed words from another ancient language. This language was called Old Indo-Aryan. It was spoken by people who wrote the ancient Indian texts called the Vedas.

Here are some examples of words that might have been borrowed:

Other Early Borrowings

Some words were shared between Proto-South Dravidian and Rig Vedic Sanskrit around 1400 BC. It's not always clear which language borrowed from the other.

For example, the Rig Vedic word "ulukhala" (mortar) might be related to the Proto-South Dravidian word "*ul-akk" (pestle). Also, the Rig Vedic word "nīla" (blue) might be related to Proto-South Dravidian "*aṇile" (ink nut tree).

Later, in texts from around 700 BC, more shared words appear. "Arka" (a plant) is similar to Proto-South Dravidian "*erukku." And "muñja" (a type of grass) is similar to Proto-South Dravidian "*muñci."

How Dravidian Languages Changed Indo-Aryan

One expert, Ferenc Ruzca, believes something interesting. He thinks that the way Indo-Aryan languages changed their sounds over 2,000 years was because of Dravidian languages. He suggests that an old Dravidian language, similar to Old Tamil, constantly influenced them.