Tamil & Hindi | The Evolution Of Languages And Translation Needs

The Hindi language is the descendant of the early form of Vedic Sanskrit back in the 7th century CE. Both these languages have come a long way and have evolved greatly over the centuries. India has always been home to diverse cultures and languages. Different dynasties and ethnic groups visited the land and left their cultural impressions and language dialects. Hindi and Tamil occupy prominent positions. The linguistic evolution also stayed rich.

Tamil and Hindi Languages

Tamil, a Dravidian language, is one of the important languages of India spoken by Tamil people. This serves as the national language of Tamil Nadu, an Indian state. It is also the language of minorities in southern India, including Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. There are 87 million speakers of the Tamil language.

Tamil is a classical language. It is one of the longest-running classical languages in the world. It is the only language that has its continuous recognition of a classical past. This language has emerged as a great classical tradition and literature due to the variety and quality it offers. The history also tells that the recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years. Sangam literature, the most ancient period is dated from 300 BC until AD 300. Tamil translation services are often used by researchers and students for the simplification and better understanding of classical routes of the language and the role of Tamil.

Hindi, on the other hand is a popular Indo-Aryan language that also serves as the lingua franca of the Hindi belt. The Hindi language has evolved a lot. It's one of the official languages of India along with English. It serves as the official language of 9 states and three union territories. There are around 350 million speakers of Hindi who speak it as their first language, and up to 260 million consider it as their second language. Hindi translation services have been playing an important role in connecting the language gap for businesses.

A brief overview of the languages in terms of translation has been described below.

Early Efforts

When it comes to the historical background of the languages and their dawn of translation, the earliest examples of both languages trace back to the pre-colonial era. These were driven by the religious texts and their spread. Those were the times when the sacred Hindu epics got translated such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. This fostered cultural understanding as well as religious devotion.

Scholarly Exchange

The Tamil and Hindi languages have produced world’s renowned scholars. Arjun Appadurai, Vadivelu Chettiar, Ananda Coomaraswamy from Tamil language and Amarkant, Bharatendu Harishchandra, and Chand Badrai from Hindi are a few examples. Moreover, there is much more contribution of both languages in subjects such as medicine, astronomy, and philosophy. This intellectual exchange needed Tamil and Hindi translation services for a rich experience.

The British Raj

It is important to mention here that the British Raj and colonial influence did affect the languages and their standardization during the 18th and 19th centuries. English took control and became an administrative language in the offices and organizations. This also boosted the translation services for the official documents and legal texts between Hindi and Tamil for the people who could not understand English and vice versa.

Standardization Efforts

The standardization efforts gained momentum during this period. Moreover, it also facilitated the accuracy of the translation by working on certain vocabulary and grammar rules. There were different groups and the elite class took great pride in getting associated with English and developing cordial terms with English people. However, many others remained true to their original roots and languages. Nonetheless, the need for translation did accelerate due to the addition of a new language that was working as an official language to a greater extent.

Modern Era

Both languages have developed and emerged as the most sorted and popular languages of India. The age of the Internet revolution has brought significant change in Hindi and Tamil translation services. Websites, social media platforms, and other streaming services have a continuous demand for diverse content and its translation. For Netflix, there is a separate franchise for the Indian masses, Netflix India, and there is a different type of content catering to the entertainment needs of diverse people. Machine translation has also become advanced and is offering new possibilities in translation. However, human expertise is constant to supervise and look into emotional tone.

Conclusion

Tamil and Hindi are two important Asian languages of the subcontinent. These have evolved a lot over the centuries. Translation needs for these languages started way back before the modern era. However, globalization was there in some other shapes and roles. Tamil is the longest-running classical language. Both languages had their highs and lows. The early efforts showed their existence followed by translation services during scholarly exchange. The British Raj talks about the impact of the English language and the surge in translation needs during that period.

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Topic revision: r1 - 16 Apr 2024, RonnieScott
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