The fact that the major South Indian languages like Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam etc., belong to a separate family is explicitly pronounced only in the beginning of the 19th century. The credit goes to F.W. Ellis [1780-1819] for the same. Later, Robert Caldwell termed this group of languages as Dravidian. However, the notion that the languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu etc. belong to a separate group different from languages of Indo-Aryan origins can be seen in Lilatilakam, a 14th century work on Malayalam poetics written in Sanskrit. In order to show the distinctiveness of Kerala Bhasa, the author of Lilatilakam compares it with languages like Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, etc., and points out how Kerala Bhasa (the language of Kerala) differs from them. The point to be noted here is that the author of Lilatilakam does not compare Malayalam with languages like Marathi, Konkani, Hindi, Gujarati etc., for establishing the separate identity of Malayalam and this fact definitely points towards his awareness that they belong to a separate set different from the major languages of the South and the affinity of Malayalam is towards the languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada etc., which according to the author's perception may belong to a separate group. Unfortunately, the author has not expanded this concept and has not made any specific statement on it. He also points out the close affinity of Tamil and Malayalam and recognizes their difference from Telugu and Kannada, though the reason assigned for the same is orthographical variation.
There exist many languages belonging to the Dravidian family, both in India and abroad. More than one-fifth of the Indian population speaks any one of the Dravidian languages. It is to be emphasized that the term 'Dravidian' here does not indicate any ethnic connotation. From the ethnic point of view, we in India cannot boast to have 'pure Aryans' or 'pure Dravidians'. The present-day Indian society is an amalgamation of different racial groups, though people speak languages belonging to different families.
The Dravidian Linguistics Association (DLA) was formed in 1971 to encourage studies on Dravidian from a broader perspective. Under the auspices of the DLA, the All India Conference of Dravidian Linguists (AICDL) is being held every year in which scholars from both India and abroad participate. In AICDL, it is customary to have the President of the DLA to chair the inaugural function and deliver the presidential address. This book is a collection of 24 presidential addresses delivered by the Presidents of DLA at different AICDL inaugural sessions.
Since most of the lectures are concerned with Dravidian linguistics, the book is titled as Studies on Dravidian Linguistics, even though a few of the presidential addresses are not directly connected with Dravidian linguistics.
Most of the DLA Presidents whose addresses are included in this book are greatly respected scholars and their patterns of writing too have some historical significance and hence no attempt is made here to make any modification to their transcriptions/transliterations. However, the differences in transliterations do not cause any problem to the readers since they are quite accustomed to these variant symbols. Originally, these addresses are published in different issues of the International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics.
In the production of this book, I am very much indebted to the following persons: Dr. V.N. Bhattathiri, Dr. C.S. Jayakumari Kunjamma, Dr. S. Abdul Samed, Smt. K.S. Sunandha and Mr. Harikumar Basi. I also thank M/s Akshara Offset, Thiruvananthapuram for the neat execution of this work.
The twenty-four presidential addresses of eminent linguists included in this book present a clear picture on the linguistics research in India especially in the field of Dravidian linguistics. The researchers are much benefitted by the survey of the studies so far done and to know the areas which require further research. The words of the senior linguists of India will surely be a stimulation and inspiration for the younger generations to pursue scientific studies on all Indian languages including the tribal languages.
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