Editing Tamil language (section)

===Historical origins===
Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, ultimately descends from the [[Proto-Dravidian language]], which was most likely spoken around the third millennium BCE, possibly in the region around the lower [[Godavari]] river basin. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the culture associated with the [[Neolithic]] complexes of South India,<ref>{{Harvnb|Southworth|2005|pp=249–250}}</ref> but it has also been related to the [[Harappan civilization]].

Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods: Old Tamil (300 BCE–700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).<ref name="Lehmann 1998 75">{{Harvnb|Lehmann|1998|pp=75–76}}</ref>