The Central Tamil dialect is a dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 of Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 spoken in the districts of Thanjavur

Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur.-Geography:...

, Tiruvarur

Tiruvarur District

Tiruvarur district is one of the 30 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. The district occupies an area of 2161 km². It is lies between Nagapattinam district on the east and Thanjavur district on the west, and is bounded by the Palk Strait on the south...

, Nagapattinam and Tiruchirapalli in central Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and to some extent, in the neighbouring Cuddalore

Cuddalore District

Cuddalore District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Cuddalore is the district headquarters. For the first time, urn burial grave goods were found in the village of Marungur in the district, carrying inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi from the 1st century...

 and Pudukkottai districts

Pudukkottai District

Pudukkottai District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Pudukkottai is the district headquarters...

.Along with Madurai Tamil

Madurai Tamil

Madurai Tamil is the dialect spoken in the city of Madurai and over a vast geographical area of South Tamil Nadu, the area once ruled by the Pandiya Kings...

, the Central Tamil dialect is considered to be one of the purest forms of spoken Tamil and is considered to be the basis of standard spoken Tamil. Of the different Tamil dialects, the Central Tamil dialect bears the closest affinity to Brahmin Tamil

Brahmin Tamil

Brahmin Tamil is the name for a series of closely related Tamil dialects spoken by Tamil Brahmin communities.The language has heavy Sanskrit vocabulary, unlike the mainstream Tamil spoken by the non-Brahmin Tamils...

.