Language plays an important role in human life. It has distinctive features that distinguish humans from other species, especially the unique capacity to convey complex information to others. Language is not a permanent entity; it continuously evolves over time, often resulting in the expansion of vocabulary and the borrowing of lexical items from other languages. This study examines Tamil loanwords found in 14 languages, namely English, Malay, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tulu, Tagalog and Khmer. The analysis identifies a range of items, particularly in the domains of food, animals, plants, vegetables, material culture and social terms that appear to have entered these languages from Tamil. In some cases, near cognate forms with similar pronunciation but differing orthography are observed. It cannot be denied that Tamil has played a major role in the lexical development of other languages. Therefore, this study will serve as a guideline for future researchers conducting further research on the Tamil language.
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