MultiTree:

Name: Old Tamil Type: Language Code: oty Code Standard: ISO 639-3 Documentation: LINGUIST List Families: Dravidian (Elamo-Dravidian) Parent Subgroup: Tamil-Malayalam; Tamil-Kurumba (tmma) Brief Description: An extinct language of Southern India, Old Tamil began to be used as a literary language around 300 BC, and was written in an adaptation of the Ashokan Southern Brahmi script. It continued to be used as a literary language into the first half of the 1st millennium. An early grammar of the language, Tolkappiyam, is extant. 300 BC -- 500 AD.