Chennai, February 21 Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin asserted on Saturday that the Tamil language possesses the unique strength to function independently without the support or influence of other languages.
Speaking at the historic Victoria Public Hall during the launch of the fourth volume of the 'Tamil-Indo-European Root Words Comparative Dictionary', Udhayanidhi addressed ongoing queries regarding Tamil Nadu's stance on linguistic policy.
"Many continue to ask with suspicion why Tamil Nadu alone opposes Hindi when other states have accepted it," he said.
"My only answer is that Tamil has the inherent power to function individually without the help or mixture of other tongues".
The Deputy Chief Minister highlighted the historical significance of the date, noting that February 21, 1940, marked the official cancellation of mandatory Hindi in schools following the first language stir led by Periyar in 1937-38.
He recalled that DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi had participated in that protest at the age of 14.
Reiterating the state’s commitment to its linguistic heritage, Udhayanidhi credited the DMK government for ensuring the "two-language policy," securing classical language status for Tamil, and renaming the state as 'Tamil Nadu'.
The newly released volume is part of a 12-volume series that compares Tamil root words with those in Indo-European languages such as Latin, Greek, German, Persian, and Sanskrit.
The project is led by Editor-in-Chief K Arasendran, a recipient of the state’s 'Deveneya Pavanar Award'.
Udhayanidhi noted that the first volume was released by Chief Minister M K Stalin in March 2025, while the second and third volumes were launched at the Chennai International Book Fair last month. He assured that the remaining volumes would be published "very soon".
The dictionary project, a collaborative effort between the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation and Oxford University Press, aims to explore the deep-rooted linguistic links between Tamil and Indo-European languages.
The fourth volume was received by Professor Klaus Peter Sauer from Norway on the occasion of International Mother Language Day.
The project was initially announced in the 2022-23 State Budget with an allocation of Rs 8 crore. Under the supervision of the Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation, a team of 20 scholars led by Editor-in-Chief K Arasendran has been working on this four-year initiative since July 2022.
According to the official release, the fourth volume traces how 19 Tamil root words served as the foundation for words in Western Indo-European languages -- including Latin, Greek, German, French, and English -- as well as Eastern Indo-European languages like Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhala, based on established hypotheses.
The state government had previously signed an agreement with Oxford University Press on January 13, 2025, to publish the research findings in 12 volumes. Chief Minister M K Stalin had released the general introduction and the first volume in March 2025, followed by the second and third volumes during the Chennai International Book Fair in January 2026.
The event was attended by several state ministers, including M P Saminathan (Tamil Development), P K Sekarbabu (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments), and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (School Education), alongside international scholars and senior government officials.
The event, held on International Mother Language Day, also saw the participation of international scholars, including Professor Klaus Peter Sauer from the University of Oslo and Padma Shri Anvita Abbi, linguist and scholar of minority languages.