Tamil Isoglosses Dr. K. KARUNAKARAN Annamalai University Introduction. The central problem in Tamil dialectology is the problem of studying divergent systems distributed horizontally and vertically. ln Tamil dialectology we also study the local differences in a speech area i.e., the study of different dialects and the variations and relationship between them. Isoglosses: An isogloss is an imaginary line delimiting the area in which one may find a particular linguistic feature of grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary. In this paper it is intended to employ and define two technical terms, viz., 1. Exclusive isoglosses, and 2. Inclusive isoglosses. Those isoglosses which are confined to a particular speech area or found in a particular speech area only are called exclusive isoglosses, Those isoglosses which include two or more speech areas or which are common to two or more regions are called inclusive isoglosses. Isoglosses are found mainly in the following three levels viz., phonemic, grammatical and lexical levels of languages or dialects. 1. Nanjilnad dialect” In the Nanjilnad dialect there are a number of exclusive isoglosses in all the three levels viz., phonological, grammatical and lexical. 2.47
