:
> --- In cybalist@..., naga_ganesan@... wrote:
> >It's a pity that most Vedic experts
> > do not know any Dravidian language at all.
--- In cybalist@..., vishalagarwal@... wrote
> VA: Conversely, many 'Dravidian' experts do not know much beyond
> Tamil. They are often ignorant of the other 'Dravidian' languages.
Most Dravidian experts that I read know Sanskrit well, and
one or more Dravidian languages.
But if one has to claim expertise in Dravidian, (s)he
has to know Tamil. Because Tamil texts are the
oldest available in the Drav. family of languages,
they are at least 1000 years older than any other
Drav. language texts.
The term, Dravidian, itself comes from "tami_l".
tami_l > dramiDa/draviDa (in sanskrit),
kamuku 'areca nut' (in tamil) > kramuka (skt.)
pava_lam 'coral' > pravaala (skt.)
Realizing the importance of Tamil as a classical language
of India besides Sanskrit, Universities worldwide
do research in tamil more than any other language
of the Drav. family.
Regards,
N. Ganesan