Tamil

	Beginner's Tamil with 2 CDs Book & 2 CDs. One of the world's few living classical languages, Tamil is spoken by over 80 million people, primarily in Tamil Nadu, India, but also in Sri Lanka and Singapore, and by significant communities in Malaysia, Dubai, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada. Lauguage is an integral component of Tamil identity because, unlike many ethnic groups, for most of their history the Tamil people have never all lived within the same territory. Tamil has an unbroken literary tradition covering over two millennia. A Dravidian language, Tamil does not share the Sanskrit origin common to most Indic languages. The earliest extant text, a work on poetics and grammar known as the Tolkappiyam, dates back to 200 BC, and rock inscriptions have been found that are a century older still. The high level of diglossia (separate spoken and written forms of the same language) exhibited by Tamil, and the prestige accorded to classical Tamil, and the prestige accorded to classical Tamil, have led to the preservation of much of the classical vocabulary and structure in modern literary Tamil. "Beginner's Tamil" introduces the student to this elegant language with clear pronunciation guides, step-by-step instructions on writing the script, and exercises that rapidly incorporate vocabulary and grammar from one lesson to the next. The lessons feature colloquial Tamil used in everyday conversation while alerting the student to the differences between the spoken and written forms. The audio dialogues cover greetings, directions, currency and shopping in extremely well written and musing exchanges that encourage the retention of previously studied material.	Vasu Ranganathan 9780781811941 140x215mm 300 pages Hippocrene Books £17.99
	Tamil-English/English-Tamil Dictionary and Phrasebook Romanized Over 52 million people speak Tamil in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore, with an estimated 800,000 speakers elsewhere in the world. The official language of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Tamil has a rich literary tradition dating back to the third century BC. This essential resource provides an introduction to the cultures and histories of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, in addition to an extensive two-way dictionary, comprehensive phrasebook, and basic grammar. All Tamil entries are presented in the roman alphabet to aid the English speaker, but the book also introduces the native script with a detailed pronunciation guide. The phrasebook offers guidance to travellers in a range of settings from the hospital to the Internet café. Each phrasebook chapter contains a section called 'What You May Hear' that prepares the travellers for common responses in each situation. Clement J Victor is a freelance translator fluent in Tamil, English, and Hindu. Born and raised in Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu, he currently lives in Mumbai (Bombay).	9780781810166 Clement J Victor 222 95x190mm 6,000 entries £8.99 paperback Hippocrene Books