Tolkappiyam in Tamil, dated not later than the third century before the advent of the Common Era, is, arguably, the earliest complete work of linguistics in the ancient classical traditions of the world. It is complete in the sense that it encompasses both the written and the spoken languages, and it is a grammar of graphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, poetics, prosody and rhetoric. As such, it marks sui generis, towering presence without a comparable work in any of the primary classical languages of the world in range and perspective.
This apart, Tolkappiyam contains several concepts and ideas that are futuristic in content and spirit and several others that are pragmatic in character. It also embodies features which are in the nature of pioneering later developments in other languages and literatures, both classical and modern. It is no wonder then that Prof. A.L. Becker of the University of Michigan comments thus: "Tolkappiyar was someone whose bust they should be putting in American university libraries". Equally revealing is the observation of Prof. A.K. Ramanujan of the University of Chicago: "He is very close to what you would call a linguistics' ultimate guru".
The Central Institute of Classical Tamil has, therefore, taken upon the translation of Tolkappiyam into many languages of the world including the scheduled languages of India among its primary academic projects, currently published in 10 languages (four Indian languages, six Foreign Languages), first because Tolkappiyam has a lot to share with the other linguistic traditions of the world, secondly because it foreshadows several contemporary linguistic and applied linguistic principles, and thirdly because it is crying to be placed among the finest and the best of the books of the world. Again, Tolkappiyar's insights into cultural linguistics, lexicography, semantics, case system, TG Grammar and so forth are capable of being juxtaposed with modern conceptualizations in these spheres of scholarship.
I record the Institute's profound appreciation of the labour of the eminent translators who are the true transmitters of Tamil culture across space and time.
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