Sri Lankan Tamil dialects

The Sri Lankan Tamil dialects or Ceylon Tamil or commonly in Tamil language Eelam Tamil (Tamil: ஈழத் தமிழ், īḻat tamiḻ) are a group of Tamil dialects used in Sri Lanka by its native Tamil speakers that are distinct from the Tamil dialects spoken in Tamil Nadu. These dialects are more conservative than the dialects spoken in India, and preserve features of Old and Medieval Tamil which have been lost in their Indian counterparts. In spite of this, both Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil dialects retain a degree of mutual intelligibility.

Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are broadly categorized into three sub groups: Jaffna Tamil, Batticaloa Tamil, and Negombo Tamil dialects. But there are a number of sub dialects within these broad regional dialects as well. These dialects are also used by ethnic groups other than Tamils and Muslims such as Sinhalese people, Portuguese Burghers and the indigenous Coastal Vedda people.