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இளங்குமரனார் தமிழ்வளம் - 27
word. But this too some times led to absurdities, and in course of time, after the swong between thesis and antithesis, the English language has been trying to arrive at a sensible, intelligible and lively synthesis, with a broad baseof unity that nevertheless permits surface variations depending on the locality, occasion or speaker, In Tamil Nadu, again.,the earlier Sanskritisation and the,ore recent Anglicisation have tended to obscure the native hue and force and beautyy of Tamil, and the determined effort to return to easy and natural Tamil usage is certainly to be welcomed. On the other hand, linguistic 'purism' - in any extremely narrow sense of the term is no virtue, and in the modern world teeming with new ideas, siturations and technologies, can even hamper the natural growth of a language. In hisintroduction to my Literature and Authorship in India (1943), E.M<. Forster described himself as a 'convinced impurist", implying that linguistic purism should not be pursued at the expense of intelligibility and the dynamic of linguistic growth in a fast-changing world. While without question there should be broadly understood norms of spoken nd written language, a single adamantiune- law cannot be made to apply to all speakers and users of a language, pursuing as they may diversoccupatons, and caughtin all kinds of situations.
The Kazhagam's and Tiru Va Su's meritorious efforst to safeguard the sovereign interests of Tamil and to resist aggression by otehr languages (Hindi, for example) areworthy of all praise, but I also feel that within a broad framework of unity and uniformity, a certain play of variation in individual and situational usage is inevitable, and will be a signof healthy growth, And great and ancient and uniquely rich as is the Tamil language, it cannot quite ignore the need to build bridgesof understanding with the other languages of India, the classical Sanskrit and the living regional languages.
It is worth mentioning also that the Kazhagam, under Va Su's sleepless stewardship, has organised conferencesand Tamil Vizhas (festivals) to emplore the richesof Tamil leters and popularise the values and verities of the literature, are and
