Purism in Tamil: a Case Study of Linguistic Purism and Language Planning in Multilingual Context

Multilingualism in India is seen as normal and natural phenomena. Multilingualism has been closely associated with political activities as well. Linguistic purism is seen as a bye product of multilingualism, which is evolved due to the domination of one language over the other. All the activities directed towards removing the other language influence may not always have the reasons on linguistic basis alone. Politics plays a major role i any purist activities. Ascertaining self over the domination of others is closely connected with the attitudes and cultural history of the speech community. In this context, this book describes the patterns of language use and politics of purism in a multi lingual context by taking Tamil in Pondicherry as a case. Language planning activities by the state with respect to Tamil and the purist activities of the elite group are discussed elaborately in nine chapters.