Sanskrit does have an image of antiquity,greatness,mother etc. not based on facts but more on 'marketing techniques'.Its like Coca Cola commanding a better image than pure 'water' just by its 'marketing'.Tamil is like 'pure water' with no 'Marketing Department '! Certain questions raised by Alvaro Hans ,in his study on the oldest languages of the world, is quoted below.
"What Language Did Aryan’s Speak ?
When Aryans invaded India, Circa 1500 B.C.they did not come with a language which had any known name.They should have spoken a kind of minor language with no script or literature.They found Tamil ,a highly developed language, spoken throughout Indian sub- continent upto Baluchistan in the Himalayas. Tamil was found to be a language with 3 independent fields of ‘Iyal (Prose),Isai (Music)and Natakam (Drama)’ .Dr.Vincent Smith ,a noted British historian,in his book on Early Indian History, refers to the contribution of Tamil,especially words borrowed by Aryans into their language. Tamil had developed advanced grammar ,as proved by the great grammar treatise ‘Tholkappiam’ .Later,.Panini’s Sanskrit grammar, has borrowed heavily from ‘Tholokappiam’.For e.g. ‘Sandhi rules’ of sentence construction.
Shaping Up Of Sanskrit
Over a period of time Sanskrit appropriated many Tamil words, altered a bit phonetically and made it as Sanskrit.Tamil was not used in official dealings .Instead of calling Tamil family of languages as’ Tamil Family of Languages’ they chose to call it ‘Dravidian’ languages.’Dravidian’ only means ‘Tamil’ in Sanskrit !Imagine ‘English’ being called in French ’Anglais’ language in Britain itself ! Similarly they borrowed Tamil script and called it as imaginary ‘Devanagari’ Script! There is no spoken language called ‘Devanagari’ at all !Then how can there be a well-developed script alone ? Similarly Tamil music was appropriated and called 'Carnatic’ music !The point to note here is that this ‘Carnatic Music’ is not found in Karnataka ! Tamil food is ‘South Indian food’ and Tamil hits are ‘Madarasi hits’!
Many north Indians are not aware of such a great language at all. My Gujarati friend was asking me innocently,whether Tamil word ‘Thannee’ for ‘water ‘is from Hindi ‘Paaani’! Then I explained to him how Hindi ‘Paani’ is from Tamil ‘Thannee’!
A Myth Is Born !
Over a period of time, a great myth, that Sanskrit was older than Tamil ,was born. It was also projected that Sanskrit is the most important language of India as well as the world ! This myth has been sustained over a period of almost 3000 years through media and all centres of higher learning .One should not forget the fact that Sanskrit was never a spoken language of the masses. It was basically a court language and widely used only for coded Vedic rituals .
Roots Of Sanskrit
The very word‘Sanskrit’appeared much later and means ‘refined script’.The word is derived from two Tamil words ‘semmai ‘meaning ‘refined’ and ‘kirukku’ meaning ‘scribble’ ie script. Most of the important Sanskrit words have their etymological roots clearly linked to Tamil..All spiritual words like ‘veda,puja,guru,vigyan, atma, homkund etc. are all Tamil words slightly altered phonetically and so ,it sounds different.For example,the Sanskrit word ‘Puj’ and Tamil word ‘Pusai’ are considered cognate words.While in Sanskrit the word is a morpheme (vide page 641 of Sanskrit-English ,Dictionary-Monier Williams), in Tamil the word ‘Pusai’ breaks down into “Poo+sei’.’Poo’ is ‘flower’ and ‘Sei’ is ‘to do’.The Tamil ritual ceremony done with flowers toTamil Gods , is thus called ‘Pusai’in Tamil. In contrast ‘Puj’ in Sanskrit means ‘to honour,to worship’and this inference has no basis. Hence the etymology of Sanskrit word 'Puja' is Tamil word 'Pusai' only.’Poosari’ is ‘priest’ in Tamil.
Tamil etymology is clear,logical and acceptable unlike Sanskrit etymology which prima-facie appears uncertain and untenable.Research shows presence of large number of Tamil words in Sanskrit awaiting acknowledgement."
Hence Tamil certainly appears to be the mother of all Indian languages including Sanskrit.The word 'Arya' itself is from Tamil 'Ayya' which means 'respectable'.
