Tamil
4
5.3
- proper noun
:
tamil
- But ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils, supported by India, still rankle.
- Sri Lankan Tamils
- Tamils in Sri Lanka
- Sinhalese and Tamils
My friend, fellow Tamil girl, she would always dress up in her traditional clothing, have a book to like, she was, you know, braided up.
- My friend, fellow Tamil girl, she would always dress up in her traditional clothing, have a book to like, she was, you know, braided up.
Examples
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In recent years, more and more Tamils have been seeking opportunities outside the disputed north.
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Maigrit had the gatekeeper call a bicycle rickshaw for Michael and spoke in Tamil to the rickshaw man, giving him the address.
Fiction book (1993) -
My friend, fellow Tamil girl, she would always dress up in her traditional clothing, have a book to like, she was, you know, braided up.
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However, "if the government does not understand Up-country Tamils and the LTTE does, they may gain ground."
Academic text (2008) -
In Asia, Tibetans seek independence from China, and Tamils want to partition Sri Lanka.
Academic text (1992) -
Upcountry Tamils overwhelmingly reject LTTE claims to speak for all Tamils in Sri Lanka, even while many Sinhalas see every Tamil as a Tiger.
Academic text (2008) -
Most of the 153 people on board the intercepted boat are Tamils fleeing conflict in their homeland.
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Both Sinhalese and Tamils have suffered in Sri Lanka's civil wars, impacting their communities deeply.
Compounds
An armed group in Sri Lanka that fought for a separate Tamil state and used suicide attacks
- NSFW
An armed group in Sri Lanka that fought for a separate Tamil state using violent attacks
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tamil comes from the people’s own word for their language, tamiḻ, sometimes written tamiz, which means 'our speech'. So Tamil is used as the name of the community from Tamil Nadu in India and from parts of Sri Lanka.