Diasporic Language Issues in the Odum Nathi Novel

Abstract

A community refers to a group of people living together. Society is formed when individuals live together as a family, group depending on each other. In such a society there are some problems due to economy. When occupational and economic problems occur, people are forced to migrate from one place to another for survival. As they move from one place to another and live there, the changes that occur there will give them a new experience. Language, food, dress, customs, everything will be new for them. Unable to mix with the people there because of language problems, geographical problems, ethnic problems, different foods and customs. Food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to stay are the essentials for a human being. Such migrants are unable to meet such basic needs. Language is a tool that helps you to express your thoughts and so language is a major problem for the migrant people. Language is the first obstacle faced by Tamils who migrate to foreign speaking states in search of survival. Tamils who go to other states are alienated from other people due to their lack of knowledge of the language spoken in that part of the state. Not knowing the language leads to various hardships. There is more mixing in spoken language than in written language. In the novel 'Odum Nathi', Selvan is a character who migrates to Nagaland, does not know the language of the tribal people and goes through various hardships. When we read the novel, we come to come to know about his sufferings in buying tickets to travel and buying food for hunger because of language problem. This article explores this kind of linguistic issues.