I feel we need to do more Archaeological research.

[Tomcruisesmart]

Hi,
I'm looking for healthy conversation.
Tamil is the oldest language in India and in the World. As a Dravidian language, it has so many evidence to prove Tamil language is the oldest language in the world. We need to do more research on this. then we can come to an conclusion that Tamil escalated to many part of the world. What's your point of view? Drop down here.

[Orthos]

I think that would be more linguistics than archaeology, wouldn't it?

That said more science is generally always good. I don't have any particular opinion about Tamil as I've never heard of it before but if someone can put together a reliable thesis and testing for it, have at it.

[thejeff]

I'm not even sure what "the oldest language in the world" would mean. It does appear to be one of the older languages still in widespread use, but as you say, it's a Dravidian language and as such is a descendant of earlier Dravidian tongues. There are also other language families that are attested at least as early as any evidence of Dravidian languages. Connections between these families are hard to track down, but there's no research I'm aware of to suggest the Dravidian family is ancestral to other groups.

A quick poke around the internet does show this claim out there, but it usually seems to be sourced in tradition and ethnic pride, rather than in serious scholarship.

[Freehold DM]

Guys, I thought it was pretty obvious, but this is a Baba-ji level troll post.

[thejeff]

Yeah, but linguistics is interesting and doesn't seem likely to erupt into a flame war, so ...

[Vanykrye]

No, I'm pretty sure trolls speak Giant, and that's not Dravidian in origin.

[Orthos]

thejeff wrote:

A quick poke around the internet does show this claim out there, but it usually seems to be sourced in tradition and ethnic pride, rather than in serious scholarship.

This is about what I expected, which is why I was hoping for the more informed to pitch in with some proper info. Unfortunately my Google fu is limited while at work. =)

[Capt. Gherk-Lick Picklard]

Orthos and thejeff at Tanagra.

Freehold DM wrote:

Guys, I thought it was pretty obvious, but this is a Baba-ji level troll post.

Freehold, when the walls fell.

♫ "Good enough for me and my Baba-(ma)-ji..." ♫

[1d4+1 Vikings]

♫Spam spam spam spam
spam spam spam spam
SPAM! TROLLING AND SPAM!♫

[Kir'Eshe]

Orthos wrote:

thejeff wrote:

A quick poke around the internet does show this claim out there, but it usually seems to be sourced in tradition and ethnic pride, rather than in serious scholarship.

This is about what I expected, which is why I was hoping for the more informed to pitch in with some proper info. Unfortunately my Google fu is limited while at work. =)

Work is for work. I find that if I sit in front of a computer during business hours without going into a youtube or dnd rabbithole, something productive gets done.

[Orthos]

Kir'Eshe wrote:

Orthos wrote:

thejeff wrote:

A quick poke around the internet does show this claim out there, but it usually seems to be sourced in tradition and ethnic pride, rather than in serious scholarship.

This is about what I expected, which is why I was hoping for the more informed to pitch in with some proper info. Unfortunately my Google fu is limited while at work. =)

Work is for work. I find that if I sit in front of a computer during business hours without going into a youtube or dnd rabbithole, something productive gets done.

The issue in this case is more that doing proper research on a phone is a pain. Lunch and breaks are good times for browsing forums but the platform is inconvenient.

That said, I almost always have Youtube on while I'm working, because I work better with something to listen to and have running in the background.