The People’s Linguistic Survey of India tries to give an idea of the extant and dying languages of India. It is the outcome of a nationwide survey of languages that has been documented by linguists, writers, social activists, and members of different speech communities.

This volume presents to the reader the multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual nature of the Union Territory of Puducherry and the history and the status of the languages in Puducherry. Formerly known as Pondicherry, Puducherry has been greatly influenced by French culture and language which can still be seen in the wide use of French in the region. The Union Territory comprises four small unconnected districts—Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe. Each region has its dominant language as the local official language (Tamil in Puducherry and Karaikal, Malayalam in Mahe and Telugu in Yanam). This volume also highlights the spiritual identity of the region.

G. N. Devy is the chief editor of the PLSI series. He taught at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, till 1996 before leaving to set up the Bhasha Research Centre in Baroda and the Adivasi Akademi at Tejgadh, where he worked towards conserving and promoting the languages and culture of indigenous and nomadic communities. Apart from being awarded the Padma Shree, he has received many awards for his work in literature and language conservation.

L. Ramamoorthy heads the linguistic-data-consortium for Indian languages at the Central Institute of Indian languages, Mysore. He was earlier associated with the Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture as Director-in-charge. His academic interests are sociolinguistics, language planning and language technology.

G. Ravisankar is Associate Professor in Linguistics at the Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. His areas of specialisation are phonetics, phonology intonation studies, translation and speech synthesis.

The People’s Linguistic Survey of India
The National Editorial Collective
List of Volumes
Acknowledgements
Foreword
A Nation Proud of Its Language Diversity: Chief Editor’s Introduction
Introduction to the Volume
Contributors to the Volume
An Appeal to Readers
List of Languages Covered in this Volume
1. Introduction
2. Tamil
3. Telugu
4. Malayalam
5. French
6. Cultural and Spiritual Aspects of Puducherry
Index

List of tables and figures
Table I: Distribution of Indian Languages
Figure I: Distribution of Indian Languages
Figure II: Speakers of Scheduled Languages in Puducherry
Figure III: Map of the Union Territory of Puducherry—Puducherry and Karaikal
Figure IV: Map of the Union Territory of Puducherry—Yanam and Mahe
Figure 6.1: The Coromandel Coast
Figure 6.2: A View of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram