Is there a 'zha' gene among tamils?

[k***@gmail.com]

Posted to soc.culture.idian.kerala, alt.culture.kerala for comment.

The letter 'zha' is considered special in Tamil, though i am told it
occurs also in arabic. Interestingly zha does not occur in other indian
languages except perhaps malayalam which is a derivative of tamil. Since
tamil is older or coeval with sanskrit zha certainly is not borrowed from
any other language. Interestingly tamils can be broadly divided as those
who can verbalize zha and those who cannot. The famous indian geneticist
Sanghvi (whos is not a tamil) once proposed that certain foldings of the
tongue may be of genetic origin. So far nobody has investigated or
proposed that zha in tamil may have a genetic component though it will be
very interesting. I do not know whether the ability to verbalize zha is
environmental. Perhaps it is both, since certain individuals can be
taught to make the sound. I have noticed that westerners have greatest
difficulty pronouncing zha. I have noted that SriLankan tamils generally
substitute La for zha. If it is genetic are they genetically different
from the mainland tamils? I am asking this out of genuine interest in
genetics and please do not bring in racial bigotry and caste bashing into
this discussion. Does someone want to respond? Is this worth researching?
Raman

Tamil has ஞான - G(ya)nana - knowledge

[d***@gmail.com]

I had to pause when I came to the following sentence fragment: " malayalam which is a derivative of tamil."

This is what I used to believe in too. And I am a MalayALam native speaker.

Nowadays, I see articles which argue the opposite, giving MalayALam more antiquity than previously given. I have seen some copper plate inscriptions mentioned as evidence for this line of thinking.

I am wondering how much of all this is wishful thinking and how much is evidence-based. I do not rule out the possibility of TamiL scholars tweaking evidence to prove their own language's chronological superiority.

We need less partisanship and more devotion to actual facts.

DKM Kartha