title: Sitting

text: Though most studies even until early 21st century relate human body postures to various musculoskeletal conditions, recent researches show no potential causal relationship between postures and these conditions like back pain; other causes like sleep deprivation, stress and long-term physical inactivity or prolonged static unnatural postural stress could be significant confounders for various health conditions. However some research show that prolonged slouched position may be a cause for minor breathing disorders. Though still a large proportion of the clinical practitioners attribute absence of a neutral spine posture as one of the main causes of conditions like back pain and neck pain, the relationship is not thoroughly established. It is also thought that much of so-called “poor posture” is actually just postural stress and being stuck with bad ergonomics that could be causing the pain — not really a postural problem. iHunch is an example of postural stress which could cause upper back pain and neck pain, which is prevalent in younger generations and people whose occupation involves prolonged usage of computers.


title: Sitting

text: Sedentary behaviour is any waking behaviour, whether in sitting or reclining posture, by an energy expenditure less or equal to 1.5 metabolic equivalents of task (METs). MET, beside the watt and kilojoules, is the unit for expressing the energy cost of physical activities. One MET is defined as resting metabolic rate – as energy used with a person at rest, sitting quietly in a chair or as the amount of O2 consumed with that person. MET for an adult weighing 70 kg equals 3.5 ml O2 per kg body weight per min.


title: Sitting

text: Sedentary behaviour should be distinguished from being inactive – performing insufficient amounts of MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity). The World health Organisation recommends at least 60 min of daily MVPA for children and adolescents aged 5–17 years, and 150 min of weekly MVPA for adults.


title: Sitting

text: Sedentary behaviour can not be equated with screen time, although some researchers found out that a large share of waking time by children and adolescents in a sedentary position is accumulated by media consumption in front of a screen.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" is a song recorded by American singer Pink for her fifth studio album, "Funhouse" (2008). The song was written by Pink, Max Martin, and Shellback, and produced by Martin. Selected as the album's lead single, "So What" was first released on August 11, 2008 and to mainstream radios on August 25, 2008, through LaFace and Zomba Label Group. The song consists of a martial beat and synth backing. The lyrics are based on her separation from motocross racer Carey Hart, which occurred six months prior to the release.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" received positive reviews from contemporary music critics; many praised it for its aggressive and empowering nature while others deemed it childish and bratty. The song was also successful commercially, topping the charts in several countries across Europe and Oceania and peaking within the top five worldwide. In the United States, the song reached number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming her second single to top the chart. "So What" also became her highest selling single in the United States, with sales of over four million downloads.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: The music video for "So What" was directed by longtime collaborator Dave Meyers. It shows Pink drinking while riding a lawnmower, sawing down a tree, streaking on a red carpet appearance and other activities. The video also features a cameo appearance from Hart. Pink performed "So What" on MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 on November 6, 2008. The song was nominated for several awards, eventually winning the MTV Europe Music Award for the Most Addictive Track.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" was written by Pink, Shellback, and Max Martin, drawing influences from the experience. Martin also handled the production and recording, which took place at Maratone Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Al Clay also recorded the song at the House of Blues Studio – a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The song was mixed at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia by Serban Ghenea. John Hanes edited the song using Pro Tools technology with assistance provided by Tim Roberts. The song was finally mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City, New York. The song's lyrical content was based on her separation from her husband, motocross rider Carey Hart. After reuniting with Hart on January 1, 2009, Pink told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview on DeGeneres' syndicated talk show that she found it "funny" to perform the song when he was in the audience and especially enjoyed the bit where she sang the line "You're a tool".


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" carries an energetic vibe. The song consists of a powerful charging beat, a singalong chorus, and a synthesizer backing influenced by club music. The song's verses and pre-choruses are written in the key of F-sharp minor, and its choruses and bridge are written in the key of A major. The initial riff is closely familiar to Deep Purple's "Black Night". Lyrically, the song chronicles the protagonist's adventures following her separation from her husband. Evan Sawdey of "PopMatters" noted that the song has a hint of desperation in the lines "I don’t want you tonight, I’m alright, I'm just fine", implying that she is spending time convincing herself that she's enjoying the single life.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" was released as the first single from Pink's fifth studio album "Funhouse" (2008). It was first released on August 11, 2008, via digital download to certain countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. LaFace and Jive Records solicited the song to contemporary hit radio on August 25, 2008. On September 20, 2008, "So What" was released as a two-track single to digital retailers in certain countries. The single included a B-side, "Could've Had Everything". An extended play was released across Europe on September 26, 2008, containing "Could've had Everything" and the original and instrumental version of "So What". On October 24 and November 14, 2008, remixes by UK dance music group Bimbo Jones was released to digital retailers across Europe in the form of a radio mix and the regular mix. In the United States, "So What" was released as a CD single, featuring the clean and unedited versions of the song.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: Reed Fischer of "Village Voice" noted it was the "newest entry in the Fantastic Empowerment Anthems genre." Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor of Allmusic, named it one of "Funhouse"'s best tracks, calling it, in conjunction with "Bad Influence", "instantly indelible". Andy Battaglia of "The A.V. Club" expressed a different opinion towards the song, calling it "so blaring and bad as to make "Funhouse" seem like a lost cause from the start." Chris Willman of "Entertainment Weekly" praised "So What" as a great anthem of "bluffing and bravado", while Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" referred to the song as "perfunctory". Evan Sawdey of "PopMatters" wrote positively about the song, calling it "as big a red herring single as you can find." Jonathan Keefe of "Slant Magazine" called "So What" a middling effort among the songs he considers viable single material in "Funhouse". Keefe later referred to it as nothing more than a "schoolyard taunt", linking it to Pink's 2001 single "Get the Party Started" ("Missundaztood", 2001).


title: So What (Pink song)

text: Bill Lamb of "About.com" awarded "So What" a four-and-a-half–star rating, praising the song's synth backing and beat and Pink's attitude. Lamb also praised Max Martin for his production work on the song, writing that he "punches up the energy level to 10." Nick Levine of "Digital Spy", in his review of the leaked single, called the song "brash, childish, slightly ridiculous, packed with attitude and sounds like something only Pink could get away with." Levine also called it "terrifically catchy" and praised the chorus as one "that practically begs you to chant along." Following its official release in the United Kingdom, Levine awarded it a five-star rating, calling it one that people will sing along to. Lucy Davies of "BBC" called the song an "aggressively swinging opener" that "slams Pink's cards down on the table setting the defiant, self-deprecating tone of the album." Michael Cragg of "musicOMH" wrote that Pink was at her best when she uses her life experiences to create "smart, energetic pop songs", citing "So What" as one of them.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: This song was number 29 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. "Time" critic Josh Tyrangiel named this the #2 song of 2008.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" became Pink's most successful single from "Funhouse" (2008). In the United States, the song entered at number nine on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the issue dated September 6, 2008, earning the highest debut title for that week. Two weeks later, the song topped the US Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 197,000 digital downloads. One week later, in the issue September 27, 2008, it topped the "Billboard" Hot 100, selling 253,000 downloads that week. The song became her second number-one hit on the chart after her 2001 collaboration single "Lady Marmalade" with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, and Mýa. The song also topped the US Adult Pop Songs in the issue dated December 20, 2008, and on the US Pop Songs chart for four weeks. It also peaked at number 21 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs. "So What" has sold 4,624,000 digital downloads in the United States as of August 2013.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" proved to be a major success across Europe as it peaked inside the top five in various countries. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the singles chart at number 38 in the issue dated October 4, 2008. It ascended to number one in the following week, becoming Pink's third UK number one and staying there for three consecutive weeks before being knocked off the top spot by Girls Aloud’s The Promise. The song lasted a total of 36 weeks on the chart, selling 500,000 copies in the United Kingdom, according to The Official Charts Company. "So What" debuted at number nine on the Swedish Singles Chart on September 4, 2008. A week later, on September 11, 2008, it rose to its peak position at number two, where it remained for two weeks. The song was certified gold by the Swedish Recording Industry Association (GLF) on December 11, 2008, for shipments of 20,000 units. Upon its debut in Switzerland, the song topped the singles chart and remained there for three more weeks. The song ran on the chart for a course of 41 weeks, during which it sold 30,000 units, earning a platinum certification by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Switzerland.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: "So What" topped the singles charts in both Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, it remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks and on the chart for nearly eight months. The song shipped 280,000 units in Australia, earning a quadruple platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In New Zealand, the single debuted on the singles chart at number 25 on August 18, 2008. Three weeks later, it topped the chart, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks. It lasted a total of 24 weeks on the chart, selling 15,000 copies and earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) on January 11, 2009.


title: So What (Pink song)

text: Dave Meyers, who is known for having artists giving an over-the-top portrayal of celebrities or themselves, directed the video for "So What". Pink previously worked with him for the videos to "U + Ur Hand" and "Stupid Girls", which earned MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. Pink also worked with Meyers on the videos for "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me" and the "" track "Feel Good Time". The video was shown on August 22 on "FNMTV". The video has premiered on August 22 on the UK music site Popjustice. Pink posted a message on her website for her fans about what it was like to shoot the video:


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman is the largest city and county seat of Cullman County, Alabama, United States. It is located along Interstate 65, about north of Birmingham and about south of Huntsville. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 14,775, with an estimated population of 18,213 in 2020.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Before European colonization, the area that today includes Cullman was originally in the territory of the Cherokee Nation. The region was traversed by a trail known as the Black Warrior's Path, which led from the Tennessee River near the present location of Florence, Alabama, to a point on the Black Warrior River south of Cullman. This trail figured significantly in Cherokee history, and it featured prominently in the American Indian Wars prior to the establishment of the state of Alabama and the relocation of several American Indian tribes, including the Creek people westward along the Trail of Tears. During the Creek War in 1813, General Andrew Jackson of the U.S. Army dispatched a contingent of troops down the trail, one of which included the frontiersman Davy Crockett.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: In the 1820s and the 1830s, two toll roads were built linking the Tennessee Valley to present-day Birmingham. In 1822, Abraham Stout was given a charter by the Alabama Legislature to open and turnpike a road beginning from Gandy's Cove in Morgan County to the ghost town of Baltimore on the Mulberry Fork near Colony. The road passed near present-day Vinemont through Cullman, Good Hope, and down the current Interstate 65 corridor to the Mulberry Fork. The road was later extended to Elyton (Birmingham) in 1827. It then became known as Stout's Road. Mace Thomas Payne Brindley was given a charter in 1833 to turnpike two roads, one running between Blount Springs to Somerville by way of his homestead in present-day Simcoe, and the second road passing west of Hanceville and east of Downtown Cullman to join Stout's Road north of the city. What later became the Brindley Turnpike became an extension of Stout's Road to Decatur. Cullman later became located between the juncture of the two roads, and they predated the corridor of U.S. Route 31.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: During the Civil War, the future location of Cullman was the site of the minor Battle of Day's Gap. On April 30, 1863, Union forces under the command of Colonel Abel Streight won a victory over forces under Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This battle was part of a campaign and chase known collectively as Streight's Raid. Although Streight got the upper hand in this battle, Forrest would have the last laugh. In one of the more humorous moments of the war, Streight sought a truce and negotiations with Forrest in present-day Cherokee County near present-day Gaylesville. Although Streight's force was larger than Forrest's, while the two were negotiating, Forrest had his troops march repeatedly in a circuitous route past the site of the talks. Thinking himself to be badly outnumbered, Streight surrendered to Forrest.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman itself was founded in 1873 by Colonel John G. Cullmann, a German immigrant. Cullmann had been an advocate of democratic reforms in his native Bavaria, having fought and acquired his honorific title "Colonel" during the Revolutions of 1848–49. After the failure of the revolution, Cullmann found himself in financial ruin. In the years to follow, he would try to re-establish himself in business, but after several setbacks, including a great financial loss in the First Schleswig War, he would remain unsuccessful. As time went on and Prussia, under King Wilhelm I and his Minister President Otto von Bismarck, began to exert more influence in the German region (eventually unifying Germany under Prussian rule in 1871), Cullmann began to believe that his political ideals were fundamentally incompatible with those of the German Government. As a result, he decided to emigrate from his homeland. Settling first in London due to fears that he would be forced to join in the ongoing American Civil War, Cullman eventually came to America in 1865. He moved to Alabama in 1871 and, in 1873, negotiated an agreement to act as agent for a tract of land in size, owned by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, on which he established a colony for German immigrants.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Five German families moved to the area in March 1873; in 1874, the town was incorporated and named after Colonel Cullmann (with the town name being Americanized to 'Cullman' with one 'n'). Over the next 20 years, Cullmann encouraged around 100,000 Germans to immigrate to the United States, with many settling in the Cullman area. Cullmann drew on his military engineering training in laying out and planning the town. During this period, Cullman underwent considerable growth. German continued to be widely spoken, and Cullmann himself was the publisher of a German-language newspaper. When Cullmann died in 1895, at the age of 72, his funeral was marked by the attendance of Governor William C. Oates. The site Cullmann selected for his headquarters is now his gravesite.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: German immigrants also founded St. Bernard's Monastery, on the grounds of which is the Ave Maria Grotto, containing 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures of the world. It is Cullman's principal tourist attraction.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: From the 1890s up until the 1970s, Cullman was reported to be a sundown town, where African Americans were not allowed to live. The Ku Klux Klan would maintain a presence in the county throughout the civil rights movement, erecting signs that deterred African Americans from being within the county at night. This subsequently led to a rise in population of Colony, Alabama which was a safe haven for the discriminated.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: For many years Cullman was a college town, with Saint Bernard College serving as the home of several hundred students. In the mid-1970s, St. Bernard briefly merged with Sacred Heart College (a two-year Benedictine women's college), to become Southern Benedictine College. That college closed in 1979, and it now operates as St. Bernard Preparatory School, serving grades 9-12. The former site of Sacred Heart College is now the Sacred Heart Monastery, which serves as a retreat center operated by the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: During the 20th century, Cullman developed a more diverse economy, including several manufacturing and distribution facilities. The City of Cullman regularly ranks as a top 'micropolitan' city in the nation.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman gained national attention in early 2008, when a special election was held to fill a vacancy in the Alabama House of Representatives. The district that included Cullman elected James C. Fields, an African-American, in that special election.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman's German heritage was repressed during World War I and World War II, while the United States was fighting Germany. This was reversed in the 1970s, with renewed interest in the city's history and heritage. Today, Cullman holds an annual Oktoberfest. An honorary "Bürgermeister" is elected for each Oktoberfest. For many years the Oktoberfest did not include alcohol because Cullman was dry, but starting in 2011 the Oktoberfest was able to offer beer.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Downtown was significantly damaged by an EF4 tornado during the 2011 Super Outbreak. Hitting on April 27, it destroyed many buildings in downtown and in an east-side residential area, but causing no fatalities. The twister moved northeast towards Arab and Guntersville, killing two Cullman County residents and at least four others. Cullman has since rebuilt and revitalized the downtown area. New zoning laws and alcohol ordinances have allowed for greater expansion and growth in the downtown Cullman area.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman is located on top of the Brindley Mountain plateau at (34.177508, −86.844996). This is a close offshoot of the long geographic ridge called Sand Mountain, a southmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains. The elevation is , close to the watershed between the Tennessee River and the Black Warrior River. Cullman provides its own town water supply from a city-owned lake within the city limits, Lake Catoma.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 5.81%, is water.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cullman has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman is also the home of Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. It was named for the former Governor of Alabama, George C. Wallace. The public, non-profit college opened its doors in 1966 and has grown to become the third largest community college in the state of Alabama, with an enrollment of around 6,000 students. The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award degrees. Many programs have additional accreditation from organizations appropriate to the particular disciplines. Wallace State offers hundreds of degree and certificate options in dozens of programs in its Academic, Health and Technical Divisions. The college offers more Health programs than any other community college in the state. The college offers early enrollment through its Dual Enrollment, Fast Track Academy and Fast Track for Industry programs, the latter of which is funded through grants that allow free tuition for qualified students entering the technical, academic and health programs included in the program. The college's current president is Dr. Vicki P. Karolewics, who is the institution's third president in 50 years. She was preceded by Dr. James C. Bailey from 1971 to 2003 and Dr. Ben Johnson from 1965 to 1971. The college is located in the southern portion of Cullman County on a campus.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,213 people, 6,096 households, and 4,015 families residing in the city.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: The population density was . There were 6,957 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, and 1.6% from two or more races. 6.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 14,775 people and 6,957 households, out of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.85.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.8% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.4 males.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: The median income for a household in the city was $29,164, and the median income for a family was $41,313. Males had a median income of $32,863 versus $21,647 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,484. About 9.4% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 18.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: Cullman was ranked among "Bloomberg Businessweek"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 50 Best Places to Raise Your Kids in 2012 based on the city's educational and economic factors, crime level, air quality, amenities, and ethnic diversity.


title: Cullman, Alabama

text: There are two low-power broadcasting stations in Cullman: WCQT-LD TV-27 and CATV-2. Cullman also has a PEG station, CCTV55, which is run by students at Cullman High School. CCTV55 was known as CATS-55 at one time.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: GTV (Good Television), stylized as Gtv, is a Philippine free-to-air television network owned and operated by the Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GMA Network Inc. It was launched on February 22, 2021, replacing GMA News TV on its flagship station, UHF Channel 27 Metro Manila and its provincial relay stations. It is a sixth overall secondary television brand of GMA Network since its inception in 1995 as Citynet Television. The network produces programmes from studios located at the GMA Network Center, EDSA corner Timog Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. The network's primary transmitter facility is located at the GMA Tower of Power site, Tandang Sora, Barangay Culiat, Quezon City and it operates Mondays to Thursdays from 5:30 a.m. to 12:15 a.m., Fridays from 5:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 5:30 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, as well as on truncated hours during the Paschal Triduum.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: GTV was first known as GMA News TV, a channel which primarily focuses on all-news and public service, as part of GMA News and Public Affairs' plans to expand its presence on free-to-air television as well as retaining some lifestyle and public affairs program from its predecessor, QTV/Q Channel 11. The channel was unveiled on February 7, 2011, on "24 Oras", GMA's flagship nightly newscast., The news channel launched on February 28, 2011, with its tagline, "Oras-Oras, Alam Ko!" (lit. "Everytime, I Know").


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: It launches wide variety of news and public affairs and entertainment-produced programs to serve its audience, such as existing programs that carried over from QTV, including "Balitanghali", "Live on Q" (which rebranded as "News TV Live" and later "News Live"), "Day Off!", "Tonight with Arnold Clavio", and "Ang Pinaka", as well as new programs that been launched and introduced to the channel, including "Dobol B sa News TV", "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho", "News to Go", "Balita Pilipinas" (both Primetime and weekday edition, dubbed as "Balita Pilipinas Ngayon"), "Kape at Balita", "News TV Quick Response Team", "", "Bawal ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie", "Mars", "Personalan", "Pop Talk", "Wagas", "Investigative Documentaries", "Motorcycle Diaries", "Power House", "In the Limelight", "Reel Time", "Front Row", "May Tamang Balita" and more. The channel became popular to the audience, and just a few months, the channel became "The Philippines' No.1 News Channel".


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: From its launch to 2019, ZOE Broadcasting Network (now under blocktime agreement with ABS-CBN as A2Z after the former's shutdown and legislative franchise denial) served as an originating affiliate and flagship station of GMA News TV, as a result of a blocktime lease agreement between ZOE Broadcasting and GMA's subsidiary Citynet Network Marketing and Productions in 2005, allowing the latter to lease the entire airtime of DZOE-TV 11 Manila, in exchange for upgrading the former's facilities and an off-peak timeslot for its programs on Channel 11 and GMA Network. However, due to increasing lease payments of GMA Network to ZOE Broadcasting which is accompanied with decreased revenues of GMA, the two networks announced on April 24, 2019, that they will terminate the agreement by the end of May 2019. As a result, GMA News TV Manila was reassigned to analog Channel 27, which was being used for digital test broadcast of GMA Network, on June 4. In turn, DTV operations of GMA were transferred on a permanent frequency, UHF Channel 15 (479.143 MHz), which was being used since May 15.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: In line with the government's protocol of imposing "Enhanced Community Quarantine" (ECQ, also known as "Luzon Lockdown") due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, GMA News TV temporarily went off air on March 19, 2020 and has returned on air 2 days later, March 21, with limited broadcasting hours, with "Dobol B sa News TV" as a provisional programming, expands its broadcast (for the first time, wherein the afternoon programming of DZBB was introduced and included in the program lineup) from Mondays to Sundays from 6am to afternoon until the simulcast of 24 Oras (both weekday and weekend edition) and signs-off right after the newscast. On April 13, 2020, the channel resumed its regular primetime programming after "24 Oras", with launching of ""New Normal: The Survival Guide"", and "Power Block: Serbisyong Totoo on Primetime" as its provisional primetime blocktime. GMA News TV's programming was fully restored by September 21, 2020.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: On November 21, 2020, Sports Interactive Network, (an affiliate news portal of GMA) published an article that the network announce plans for a possible reformat of GMA News TV into a news, sports and variety channel which is similar to the old format of Citynet Television and QTV. The plans were unveiled following GNTV's gradual shift away from its original news and public affairs channel format and towards "general" entertainment and sports since September 2020, which includes acquisition of broadcast rights to NCAA and PSL games (which is the main reason of GTV's rebrand), a simulcast of its sister digital channel Hallypop (until it cancelled in the fourth quarter of 2020), and additional entertainment programs from its mother station GMA Network due to increase of its commercial load. These changes were embattled by mounting viewer criticisms, notably during the country was hit by Typhoon Goni (Rolly), where entertainment programs were aired instead of pre-empting them for round-the-clock news coverage.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: On February 9, 2021, GMA Network announced that its sister channel, GMA News TV, would be relaunched as GTV on February 22, with the teaser featuring a voice over said that the channel will have ""The big change is about to happen; and it's gonna be GOOD!"".


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: According to some of GMA executives in their media conference which took place in days before GTV launched, they took one year to plan on relaunching the channel as GTV due to the needs of its viewers and more variety for teenager and "young-at-heart" viewers. While retaining most in-house programs of its predecessor, GTV carries news and public affairs with the addition of entertainment, variety, lifestyle and sports programs which is similar to the old format of what Citynet Television and QTV/Q had done before. The international counterpart of GTV's predecessor is still operational even after February 28, 2021, a decade after its original domestic counterpart was launched. Unlike its predecessor, the channel is using Taglish language (even the programming is in full Filipino language).


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: GTV's programming includes the upcoming sports coverages such as "NCAA Philippines" and "PSL"; and the entirety of its predecessor's existing programming such as weekly public affairs series and newscasts (including "Balitanghali", "State of the Nation", "GMA Regional TV Weekend News" (formerly known as "Regional TV Weekend News" and now "Regional TV News" as delivered Filipino language into biggest news by the provinces), "GMA Regional TV Strip" as the Top 6 Flagship Newscast of GMA Regional TV consisting of "Balitang Amianan" (North Central Luzon, GMA Dagupan and GMA Ilocos), "Balitang Southern Tagalog" (Southern Tagalog, GMA Batangas), "Balitang Bicolandia" (Bicol Region, GMA Bicol), "One Western Visayas" (Western Visayas, GMA Iloilo and GMA Bacolod), "Balitang Bisdak" (Central and Eastern Visayas, GMA Cebu) and "One Mindanao" (Mindanao, GMA Davao, GMA Cagayan de Oro, GMA General Santos, and GMA Zamboanga), the TV simulcasts of "Super Radyo DZBB programs" (under the new name "Dobol B TV") and simulcast airing of "24 Oras", "24 Oras Weekend" and "Saksi", along with movie blocks, dramas, game shows and animated series similar to its sister channel GMA, as well as sports programs. In addition, GTV is also slated to air some classic anime that used to air on GMA.


title: GTV (Philippine TV network)

text: GTV is seen via regular free-to-air television on Channel 27 in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao and 24 other regional stations nationwide. Aside from GTV's main analog signal, it is a must-carry channel on all cable and satellite TV providers nationwide. The network is also available as a digital subchannel through GMA's main digital transmitters in Metro Manila, Ilocos Sur, Baguio, Batangas, Naga, Legazpi, Cebu, Tacloban, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and Zamboanga.


title: Packard Bell

text: Packard Bell is a Dutch-registered computer manufacturing brand and subsidiary of Acer. Originally an American radio set manufacturer, Packard Bell Corporation, it was founded by Herbert A. Bell and Leon S. Packard in 1933. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the brand from Teledyne which had taken it over much earlier. The investors wanted to name their newly formed personal computer manufacturing company producing discount computers to the United States and Canada market. In the late 1990s, Packard Bell became a subsidiary of Japanese electronics conglomerate NEC. In 2000, Packard Bell stopped its North American operations and became a leading brand in the European PC and laptop markets. In 2008 the brand was acquired by the Taiwanese consumer electronic firm Acer in the aftermath of Acer's takeover of Gateway, Inc. Acer arranged so that Gateway products are sold in the Americas and Asia, while Packard Bell products are sold in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and Acer branded products worldwide.


title: Packard Bell

text: In 1986, Beny Alagem, Larry Metz and a group of other Israeli investors bought the American former radio and television set brand Packard Bell from Teledyne and resurrected it as a manufacturer of low-cost personal computers. Their computers were among the first IBM PC compatibles sold in retail chains such as Sears.


title: Packard Bell

text: According to "Fortune" magazine, Packard Bell sometimes benefited from misplaced name recognition, with consumers (especially first-time computer buyers) and even some salespeople erroneously associating the company with others of a similar name, such as Hewlett-Packard, Pacific Bell, and Bell Laboratories. The confusion was further facilitated by Packard Bell's then-current slogan, "America grew up listening to us. It still does." The company also sold nearly identical systems under different names, making comparison difficult.


title: Packard Bell

text: Aside from low price and brand confusion, Packard Bell's success in number of units sold may have come from two areas of innovation: 1) branding and industrial design, provided by the San Francisco offices of frog design; and 2) its boot-up shell Packard Bell Navigator, created by The Pixel Company in Seattle. They targeted a huge section of consumers who were inexperienced using computers. Frog design gave the look of quality and utilized innovations such as color-coding cable connectors, while Navigator provided the ability for users to launch installed programs by clicking on-screen buttons, and then later a house metaphor. During this phase, returns dropped from 19% to 10%, and sales grew exponentially.


title: Packard Bell

text: In late 1995 to early 1996 Microsoft forced boot-up shells off OEM computers by updating its Microsoft Windows distribution agreement (OPK 2) and Packard Bell, without a clear on-shelf differentiator, saw sales begin to decrease. Also in 1995, Compaq sued Packard Bell for not disclosing that Packard Bell computers incorporated used parts. This practice was, in fact, widespread in the computer industry, including Compaq itself. However, unlike its rival companies, Packard Bell was judged not to have advertised the practice sufficiently in its warranties (Compaq, for instance, disclosed it in the warranty statement).


title: Packard Bell

text: In 1995, Packard Bell acquired Zenith Data Systems from Groupe Bull in a deal which saw Groupe Bull and NEC taking a larger stake in Packard Bell to create a $4.5 billion company. The company then became integrated with NEC Computers. Its 15% market share made it the largest PC manufacturer, in terms of units shipped, in the United States. However, Compaq overtook it in retail sales in mid-1996, and cemented its lead the next year with the release of a $999 PC in March 1997.


title: Packard Bell

text: Packard Bell posted losses totaling more than $1 billion in 1997 and 1998. In the U.S., price pressure from Compaq and, later, eMachines, along with continued poor showings in consumer satisfaction surveys made it difficult for the company to remain profitable and led to Alagem's departure in 1998. In 1999, NEC began withdrawing the Packard Bell name from the U.S. market, while keeping it in Europe, where the brand was untainted by allegations of substandard quality.


title: Packard Bell

text: In 2008, it was acquired by the Taiwanese consumer electronic firm Acer in the aftermath of its takeover of Gateway, Inc. Gateway products are now sold in the Americas and Asia, while Packard Bell products are sold in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.


title: Packard Bell

text: In August 2015, JMM Lee Properties filed for the Packard Bell mark to reintroduce the brand into the United States. Later in January 2018, Southern Telecom purchased the trademark from JMM Lee Properties to relaunch the brand.


title: Packard Bell

text: On October 14, 2016, PBX Holdings acquired the United States Packard Bell trademark and began manufacturing Packard Bell products in 2017. In June 2017, JCPenney revealed that they would begin selling a line of Packard Bell laptops as part of their expansion into the dormitory market. PBX was set to expand the brand into home automation and gaming accessories with product launches set for the holiday 2018 season.


title: Packard Bell

text: From 1996 until 2000, when Strongbow took over the contract, Packard Bell sponsored English football club Leeds United.


title: Packard Bell

text: From 2009 to 2010, the name Packard Bell has been seen on the FIAT Yamaha MotoGP racebike of World Champion Valentino Rossi of Italy. Packard Bell also dropped their sponsorship from the 4Kings professional electronic sports team.


title: Iravati Harshe

text: Iravati Harshe is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. Harshe has worked in many television serials. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.


title: Chris Rivers

text: Christopher Lee Rios Jr. (born November 15, 1993), known professionally as Chris Rivers, is an American rapper. He is the son of the late rapper Big Pun.


title: Chris Rivers

text: Rivers is the son of Christopher Lee Rios, better known as Big Pun - who died when Rivers was six, and his wife, Liza Rios. He is the youngest of three children. He grew up in many parts of The Bronx, New York. Rivers initially started pursuing a hip hop career when he was eight and then professionally at eighteen.


title: Chris Rivers

text: Chris Rivers began his music career in 2002 as a member of a group called 3 Down, consisting of himself, Ray Ray (Benzino's son), and Lil James. They released a single called "Baby Boo", featuring Brenda Russell, shortly before disbanding.


title: Chris Rivers

text: Chris Rivers has had collaborations with various artists including Wu Tang Clan, The Lox, Termanology, Tony Sunshine, Vinnie Paz, Chino XL, Joell Ortiz, Canibus, and Cormega. He was originally known as Baby Pun. His style is said to be similar to that of his father.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Shaina Garcia Magdayao (; born November 6, 1989) is a Filipino actress, dancer, singer and model. She is currently working for Star Magic and a talent of ABS-CBN.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Magdayao is recognized as one of the country's premiere actresses and prettiest faces in showbiz. With a career spanning of over 25 years, she is recognized as the industry's ""Gold Queen"" of Philippine television and the ""Dance royalty"" of her generation. She has won countless accolades for her acting prowess including a FAMAS Award, MMFF Award for "Best Supporting Actress" and Gawad PASADO Award for "Best Supporting Actress".


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Magdayao has starred in multiple blockbuster films in a lead role including: "Four Sisters and a Wedding" (₱145 million), Villa Estrella (₱50 million), and Shake, Rattle and Roll XII (₱60 million). Shaina Magdayao also starred in the 2020 critically acclaimed film ""Tagpuan"" which won for "Best film" at "Wallachia International Film Festival" in Romania and "Best feature film" at "Chauri Chaura International Film Festival" in India.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: At age 7, Shaina Magdayao made her acting debut as the titular protagonist in the Philippine drama series "Lyra" in GMA Network. She later joined "Kaybol" before starring in ABS-CBN's afternoon drama series "Marinella", playing the role of Rina. In 2000, when Magdayao was 11 years old, she released a self-titled debut album with Star Records. The carrier single was "Sayaw Sweet Lullabye". In the same year, she starred in Laurice Guillen's film "Tanging Yaman", where she won a Best Child Actress award from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards. She received an award for her role in "Ang Tanging Ina". Other awards under Magdayao's belt include the Best Child Performer award from the "Parangal ng Bayan" in 1999, and Best New TV Personality in the 1999 Star Awards.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: In 2005, she was included in the cast of the Philippine primetime drama series "Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin" along with ABS-CBN's brightest stars such as Claudine Barretto, Diether Ocampo, Angelika dela Cruz, Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz. She was also one of the lead casts of Erik Matti's television series, "Rounin", under Chito S. Roño's direction, via ABS-CBN in 2006.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: She is part of the regular cast at ABS-CBN's Sunday afternoon show, "ASAP". She starred in "Kambal sa Uma", an afternoon drama series on ABS-CBN.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: In 2010, she starred in her very first solo lead role in the afternoon soap opera "Alyna". The show's critical success gave Magdayao the title ABS-CBN's ‘Kapamilya Gold’ Queen.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Magdayao starred in the OFW-themed series "Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo" with Jake Cuenca. In 2013, she was added to the main cast of "Juan dela Cruz".


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: In 2015, she was paired with Gerald Anderson on the New York Festival-nominated family television series about angels "Nathaniel". She headlined Cinema One's first breakthrough series about millennials "Single/Single" as Joee.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: In 2016, she played Billie Pono, the female lead of Quantum Films' "My CandiDate" with Derek Ramsay. She joined Book 2 of "The Story of Us" as Lucia Cristobal. She rehashed her role as Joee on the second season of "Single/Single".


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Shaina stars alongside the daytime drama queen Julia Montes in "Asintado", where the portray the Ramirez Siblings.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: Shaina Magdayao works with diverse NGO's and orphanages such as Hospicio de San Jose and St. Luke Reach Out Foundation. In 2014, using her own funds and donations from her friends in and out of the show-business, she went to remote Typhoon Yolanda-stricken towns and brought relief goods to those who were affected. On her recent trip to Italy in 2015, she stayed in a convent at San Giovanni Rotondo and served children with terminal illnesses.


title: Shaina Magdayao

text: In 2013, Magdayao joined the PETA campaign, Free Mali. Mali is the only captive elephant in the Philippines; residing at Manila Zoo where she is alone, in a tiny enclosure and in need of adequate care. The campaign focus is to have her moved from the zoo to Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Since the Iron Age in India, the native languages of the Indian subcontinent are divided into various language families, of which the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian are the most widely spoken. There are also many languages belonging to unrelated language families such as Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan, spoken by smaller groups.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Proto-Indo-Aryan is a proto-language hypothesized to have been the direct ancestor of all Indo-Aryan languages. It would have had similarities to Proto-Indo-Iranian, but would ultimately have used Sanskritized phonemes and morphemes.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a large collection of hymns, incantations, and religio-philosophical discussions which form the earliest religious texts in India and the basis for much of the Hindu religion. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda to be the earliest. The hymns preserved in the Rigveda were preserved by oral tradition alone over several centuries before the introduction of writing, the oldest Aryan language among them predating the introduction of Brahmi by as much as a millennium.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the Upanishads, which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations, dated to roughly 500 BCE. It is around this time that Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of Classical India.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The oldest language surviving Sanskrit grammar is Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight-Chapter Grammar") dating to c. the 5th century BCE. It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, i.e., an authority that defines (rather than describes) correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Pāṇini's time.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit, while broadly similar, are separate varieties, which differ in a number of points of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Prakrit (Sanskrit "prākṛta" प्राकृत, the past participle of प्राकृ, meaning "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", i.e. "vernacular", in contrast to "samskrta" "excellently made", both adjectives elliptically referring to "vak" "speech") is the broad family of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. Some modern scholars include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the rubric of "Prakrits", while others emphasise the independent development of these languages, often separated from the history of Sanskrit by wide divisions of caste, religion, and geography.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by kings identified with the kshatriya caste. The earliest inscriptions in Prakrit are those of Ashoka, emperor of the Maurya Empire, and while the various Prakrit languages are associated with different patron dynasties, with different religions and different literary traditions.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: In Sanskrit drama, kings speak in Prakrit when addressing women or servants, in contrast to the Sanskrit used in reciting more formal poetic monologues.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The three Dramatic Prakrits – Sauraseni, Magadhi, Maharashtri, as well as Jain Prakrit each represent a distinct tradition of literature within the history of India. Other Prakrits are reported in historical sources, but have no extant corpus (e.g., Paisaci).


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Pali is the Middle Indo-Aryan language in which the Theravada Buddhist scriptures and commentaries are preserved. Pali is believed by the Theravada tradition to be the same language as Magadhi, but modern scholars believe this to be unlikely. Pali shows signs of development from several underlying Prakrits as well as some Sanskritisation.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Prakrit of the North-western area of India known as Gāndhāra has come to be called Gāndhārī. A few documents are written in the Kharoṣṭhi script survive including a version of the Dhammapada.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Prakrits (which includes Pali) were gradually transformed into Apabhraṃśas (अपभ्रंश) which were used until about the 13th century CE. The term apabhraṃśa, meaning "fallen away", refers to the dialects of Northern India before the rise of modern Northern Indian languages, and implies a corrupt or non-standard language. A significant amount of apabhraṃśa literature has been found in Jain libraries. While Amir Khusro and Kabir were writing in a language quite similar to modern Hindi-Urdu, many poets, especially in regions that were still ruled by Hindu kings, continued to write in Apabhraṃśa. Apabhraṃśa authors include Sarahapad of Kamarupa, Devasena of Dhar (9th century CE), Pushpadanta of Manikhet (9th century CE), Dhanapal, Muni Ramsimha, Hemachandra of Patan, Raighu of Gwalior (15th century CE). An early example of the use of Apabhraṃśa is in Vikramōrvaśīyam of Kalidasa, when Pururava asks the animals in the forest about his beloved who had disappeared.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Hindustani is right now the most spoken language in the Indian subcontinent and the fourth most spoken language in the world. The development of Hindustani revolves around the various Hindi dialects originating mainly from Sauraseni Apabhramsha. A Jain text Shravakachar written in 933AD is considered the first Hindi book. Modern Hindi is based on the prestigious Khariboli dialect which started to take Persian and Arabic words too with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate; however, the Arabic-Persian influence was profound mainly on Urdu and to a lesser extent on Hindi.Khadiboli also started to spread across North India as a vernacular form previously commonly known as Hindustani. Amir Khusrow wrote poems in Khariboli and Brajbhasha and referred that language as Hindavi. During the Bhakti era, many poems were composed in Khariboli, Brajbhasa, and Awadhi. One such classic is Ramcharitmanas, written by Tulsidas in Awadhi. In 1623 Jatmal wrote a book in Khariboli with the name 'Gora Badal ki Katha'.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The establishment of British rule in the subcontinent saw the clear division of Hindi and Urdu registers. This period also saw the rise of modern Hindi literature starting with Bharatendu Harishchandra. This period also shows further Sanskritization of the Hindi language in literature. Hindi is right now the official language in nine states of India— Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh—and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Post-independence Hindi became the official language of the Central Government of India along with English. Urdu has been the national and official language of Pakistan as well as the lingua franca of the country.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Outside the India, Hindustani is widely understood in other parts of the Indian subcontinent and also used as a lingua franca, and is the main language of Bollywood.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Marathi is one of several languages that further descend from Maharashtri Prakrit. Further change led to the Apabhraṃśa languages like Old Marathi, however, this is challenged by Bloch (1970), who states that Apabhraṃśa was formed after Marathi had already separated from the Middle Indian dialect. The earliest example of Maharashtri as a separate language dates to approximately 3rd century BCE: a stone inscription found in a cave at Naneghat, Junnar in Pune district had been written in Maharashtri using Brahmi script. A committee appointed by the Maharashtra State Government to get the Classical status for Marathi has claimed that Marathi existed at least 2300 years ago alongside Sanskrit as a sister language. Marathi, a derivative of Maharashtri, is probably first attested in a 739 CE copper-plate inscription found in Satara After 1187 CE, the use of Marathi grew substantially in the inscriptions of the Seuna (Yadava) kings, who earlier used Kannada and Sanskrit in their inscriptions. Marathi became the dominant language of epigraphy during the last half century of the dynasty's rule (14th century), and may have been a result of the Yadava attempts to connect with their Marathi-speaking subjects and to distinguish themselves from the Kannada-speaking Hoysalas.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Marathi gained prominence with the rise of the Maratha Empire beginning with the reign of Shivaji (1630–1680). Under him, the language used in administrative documents became less persianised. Whereas in 1630, 80% of the vocabulary was Persian, it dropped to 37% by 1677 The British colonial period starting in early 1800s saw standardisation of Marathi grammar through the efforts of the Christian missionary William Carey. Carey's dictionary had fewer entries and Marathi words were in Devanagari. Translations of the Bible were first books to be printed in Marathi. These translations by William Carey, the American Marathi mission and the Scottish missionaries led to the development of a peculiar pidginized Marathi called "Missionary Marathi” in the early 1800s.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: After Indian independence, Marathi was accorded the status of a scheduled language on the national level. In 1956, the then Bombay state was reorganized which brought most Marathi and Gujarati speaking areas under one state. Further re-organization of the Bombay state on 1 May 1960, created the Marathi speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati speaking Gujarat state respectively. With state and cultural protection, Marathi made great strides by the 1990s.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages that are mainly spoken in southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka, as well as certain areas in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and eastern and central India, as well as in parts of southern Afghanistan, and overseas in other countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The origins of the Dravidian languages, as well as their subsequent development and the period of their differentiation, are unclear, and the situation is not helped by the lack of comparative linguistic research into the Dravidian languages.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Many linguists, however, tend to favor the theory that speakers of Dravidian languages spread southwards and eastwards through the Indian subcontinent, based on the fact that the southern Dravidian languages show some signs of contact with linguistic groups which the northern Dravidian languages do not. Proto-Dravidian is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian and Proto-South Dravidian around 1500 BCE, although some linguists have argued that the degree of differentiation between the sub-families points to an earlier split.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: It was not until 1856 that Robert Caldwell published his "Comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian family of languages", which considerably expanded the Dravidian umbrella and established it as one of the major language groups of the world. Caldwell coined the term "Dravidian" from the Sanskrit "drāvida", related to the word 'Tamil' or 'Tamilan', which is seen in such forms as into 'Dramila', 'Drami˜a', 'Dramida' and 'Dravida' which was used in a 7th-century text to refer to the languages of the southern India. The "Dravidian Etymological Dictionary" was published by T. Burrow and M. B. Emeneau.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the 6th millennium BCE. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were the culture associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian. The linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE and Old Tamil emerged around the 6th century BCE. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been written shortly thereafter. Among Indian languages, Tamil has one of the ancient Indian literature besides others.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods, Old Tamil (400 BCE – 700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from around the 6th century BCE in caves and on pottery. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the Brahmi script called Tamil Brahmi. The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the Tolkāppiyam, an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the 2nd century BCE. A large number of literary works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as Sangam literature. These poems are usually dated to between the 1st and 5th centuries CE, which makes them the oldest extant body of secular literature in India. Other literary works in Old Tamil include two long epics, Cilappatikaram and Manimekalai, and a number of ethical and didactic texts, written between the 5th and 8th centuries.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Old Tamil preserved some features of Proto-Dravidian, including the inventory of consonants, the syllable structure, and various grammatical features. Amongst these was the absence of a distinct present tense – like Proto-Dravidian, Old Tamil only had two tenses, the past and the "non-past". Old Tamil verbs also had a distinct negative conjugation (e.g. ' (காணேன்) "I do not see", ' (காணோம்) "we do not see"). Nouns could take pronominal suffixes like verbs to express ideas: e.g. ' (பெண்டிரேம்) "we are women" formed from ' (பெண்டிர்) "women" + "-" (ஏம்) and the first person plural marker.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Despite the significant amount of grammatical and syntactical change between Old, Middle and Modern Tamil, Tamil demonstrates grammatical continuity across these stages: many characteristics of the later stages of the language have their roots in features of Old Tamil.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The evolution of Old Tamil into Middle Tamil, which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century, was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme, the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals, and the transformation of the alveolar plosive into a rhotic. In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb ' (கில்), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an aspect marker to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ' (ன்). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – "" (கின்ற) – which combined the old aspect and time markers.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Middle Tamil also saw a significant increase in the Sanskritisation of Tamil. From the period of the Pallava dynasty onwards, a number of Sanskrit loan-words entered Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious and philosophical concepts. Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs, and phonology. The Tamil script also changed in the period of Middle Tamil. Tamil Brahmi and Vaṭṭeḻuttu, into which it evolved, were the main scripts used in Old Tamil inscriptions. From the 8th century onwards, however, the Pallavas began using a new script, derived from the Pallava Grantha script which was used to write Sanskrit, which eventually replaced Vaṭṭeḻuttu.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Middle Tamil is attested in a large number of inscriptions, and in a significant body of secular and religious literature. These include the religious poems and songs of the Bhakthi poets, such as the Tēvāram verses on Saivism and Nālāyira Tivya Pirapantam on Vaishnavism, and adaptations of religious legends such as the 12th-century Tamil Ramayana composed by Kamban and the story of 63 shaivite devotees known as Periyapurāṇam. Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, an early treatise on love poetics, and Naṉṉūl, a 12th-century grammar that became the standard grammar of literary Tamil, are also from the Middle Tamil period.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Nannul remains the standard normative grammar for modern literary Tamil, which therefore continues to be based on Middle Tamil of the 13th century rather than on Modern Tamil. Colloquial spoken Tamil, in contrast, shows a number of changes. The negative conjugation of verbs, for example, has fallen out of use in Modern Tamil – negation is, instead, expressed either morphologically or syntactically. Modern spoken Tamil also shows a number of sound changes, in particular, a tendency to lower high vowels in initial and medial positions, and the disappearance of vowels between plosives and between a plosive and rhotic.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Contact with European languages also affected both written and spoken Tamil. Changes in written Tamil include the use of European-style punctuation and the use of consonant clusters that were not permitted in Middle Tamil. The syntax of written Tamil has also changed, with the introduction of new aspectual auxiliaries and more complex sentence structures, and with the emergence of a more rigid word order that resembles the syntactic argument structure of English. Simultaneously, a strong strain of linguistic purism emerged in the early 20th century, culminating in the Pure Tamil Movement which called for removal of all Sanskritic and other foreign elements from Tamil. It received some support from Dravidian parties and nationalists who supported Tamil independence. This led to the replacement of a significant number of Sanskrit loanwords by Tamil equivalents, though many others remain.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people from Tamil Nadu, Sri Lankan Tamils from Sri Lanka, and from Tamil diaspora. Also, there have been notable contributions from European authors. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social and political trends of various periods. The secular nature of the early Sangam poetry gave way to works of religious and didactic nature during the Middle Ages. Jain and Buddhist authors during the medieval period and Muslim and European authors later, contributed to the growth of Tamil literature.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: A revival of Tamil literature took place from the late 19th century when works of religious and philosophical nature were written in a style that made it easier for the common people to enjoy. Nationalist poets began to utilize the power of poetry in influencing the masses. With the growth of literacy, Tamil prose began to blossom and mature. Short stories and novels began to appear. The popularity of Tamil Cinema has also provided opportunities for modern Tamil poets to emerge.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Kannada is one of oldest languages in South India. The spoken language is said to have separated from its proto-language source earlier than Tamil and about the same time as Tulu. However, archaeological evidence would indicate a written tradition for this language of around 1600–1650 years. The initial development of the Kannada language is similar to that of other south Indian languages.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: By the time Halmidi shasana (stone inscription) Kannada had become an official language. Some of the linguistics suggest that Tamil & HaLegannada are very similar or might have same roots. Ex: For milk in both languages it is 'Haalu', the postfix to the names of elders to show respect is 'avar / avargaL'.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: During this era, language underwent a lot of changes as seen from the literary works of great poets of the era viz Pampa, Ranna, Ponna.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Vijayanagar Empire which is called the Golden era in the history of medieval India saw a lot of development in all literary form of both Kannada and Telugu. During the ruling of the King Krishnadevaraya many wonderful works. Poet Kumaravyasa wrote Mahabharata in Kannada in a unique style called "shatpadi" (six lines is a stanza of the poem). This era also saw the origin of Dasa Sahitya, the Carnatic music. Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa wrote several songs praising Lord Krishna. This gave a new dimension to Kannada literature.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The first written record in the Kannada language is traced to Emperor Ashoka's "Brahmagiri edict" dated 200 BCE. The first example of a full-length Kannada language stone inscription ("shilashaasana") containing Brahmi characters with characteristics attributed to those of protokannada in "Hale Kannada" ("Old Kannada") script can be found in the Halmidi inscription, dated c. 450, indicating that Kannada had become an administrative language by this time. Over 30,000 inscriptions written in the Kannada language have been discovered so far. The Chikkamagaluru inscription of 500 CE is another example. Prior to the Halmidi inscription, there is an abundance of inscriptions containing Kannada words, phrases and sentences, proving its antiquity. Badami cliff "shilashaasana" of Pulakeshin I is an example of a Sanskrit inscription in "Hale Kannada" script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Examples of early Sanskrit-Kannada bilingual copper plate inscriptions ("tamarashaasana") are the Tumbula inscriptions of the Western Ganga Dynasty dated 444 AD The earliest full-length Kannada "tamarashaasana" in "Old Kannada" script (early 8th century) belongs to Alupa King Aluvarasa II from Belmannu, South Kanara district and displays the double crested fish, his royal emblem. The oldest well-preserved palm leaf manuscript is in "Old Kannada" and is that of "Dhavala", dated to around the 9th century, preserved in the Jain Bhandar, Mudbidri, Dakshina Kannada district. The manuscript contains 1478 leaves written in ink.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Telugu is hypothesised to have originated from a reconstructed Proto-Dravidian language. It is a highly Sanskritised language; as Telugu scholar C.P Brown states in page 266 of his book "A Grammar of the Telugu language": "if we ever make any real progress in the language the student will require the aid of the Sanskrit Dictionary". Prakrit Inscriptions containing Telugu words dated around 400–100 BCE were discovered in Bhattiprolu in District of Guntur. English translation of one inscription as reads: "Gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha".


title: Linguistic history of India

text: From 575 CE, we begin to find traces of Telugu in inscriptions and literature, it is possible to broadly define four stages in the linguistic history of the Telugu language:


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The first inscription that is entirely in Telugu corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history. This inscription, dated 575, was found in the districts of Kadapa and Kurnool and is attributed to the Renati Cholas, who broke with the prevailing practice of using Prakrit and began writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in Anantapuram and other neighboring regions. The earliest dated Telugu inscription from coastal Andhra Pradesh comes from about 633 .


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Around the same time, the Chalukya kings of Telangana also began using Telugu for inscriptions. Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit than Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. One of the oldest Telugu stone inscriptions containing literature was the 11-line inscription dated between 946 and 968 found on a hillock known as Bommalagutta in Kurikyala village of Karimnagar district, Telangana. The sing-song Telugu rhyme was the work of Jinavallabha, the younger brother of Pampa who was the court poet of Vemulavada Chalukya king Arikesari III. This literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as Nannayya's "Mahabharatam" (1022 ). During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. This was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary language. Ketana (13th century CE) in fact prohibited the use of the vernacular in poetic works. During this period the divergence of the Telugu script from the common Telugu-Kannada script took place. Tikkana wrote his works in this script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Telugu underwent a great deal of change (as did other Indian languages), progressing from medieval to modern. The language of the Telangana region started to split into a distinct dialect due to Muslim influence: Sultanate rule under the Tughlaq dynasty had been established earlier in the northern Deccan during the 14th century CE. South of the Krishna River (in the Rayalaseema region), however, the Vijayanagara Empire gained dominance from 1336 CE until the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered to be its golden age. "Padakavithapithamaha", Annamayya, contributed many "atcha" (pristine) Telugu "Padaalu" to this great language. In the latter half of the 17th century, Muslim rule extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the princely state of Hyderabad by the Asaf Jah dynasty in 1724 CE. This heralded an era of Persian/Arabic influence on the Telugu language, especially on that spoken by the inhabitants of Hyderabad. The effect is also felt in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the "Kaifiyats".


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the influence of the English language and modern communication/printing press as an effect of the British rule, especially in the areas that were part of the Madras Presidency. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by scholars like Kandukuri Viresalingam, Gurazada Apparao, and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Since the 1930s, what was considered an elite literary form of the Telugu language has now spread to the common people with the introduction of mass media like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools as a standard. In the current decade the Telugu language, like other Indian languages, has undergone globalization due to the increasing settlement of Telugu-speaking people abroad. Modern Telugu movies, although still retaining their dramatic quality, are linguistically separate from post-Independence films.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: At present, a committee of scholars have approved a classical language tag for Telugu based on its antiquity. The Indian government has also officially designated it as a classical language.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Though Carnatic music, one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu traditions, has a profound cultural influence on all of the South Indian states and their respective languages, most songs (Kirtanas) are in Kannada and Telugu. Purandara Dasa, said to have composed at least a quarter million songs and known as the "father" of Carnatic music composed in Kannada.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The region to the east of Tamil Nadu stretching from Tanjore in the south to Andhra Pradesh in the north was known as the Carnatic region during 17th and 18th centuries. The Carnatic war in which Robert Clive annexed Trichirapali is relevant. The music that prevailed in this region during the 18th century onwards was known as Carnatic music. This is because the existing tradition is to a great extent an outgrowth of the musical life of the principality of Thanjavur in the Kaveri delta. Thanjavur was the heart of the Chola dynasty (from the 9th century to the 13th), but in the second quarter of the 16th century a Telugu Nayak viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the emperor of Vijayanagara, thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. The Nayaks acted as governors of what is present-day Tamil Nadu with their headquarters at Thanjavur (1530–1674 CE) and Madurai(1530–1781 CE). After the collapse of Vijayanagar, Thanjavur and Madurai Nayaks became independent and ruled for the next 150 years until they were replaced by Marathas. This was the period when several Telugu families migrated from Andhra and settled down in Thanjavur and Madurai. Most great composers of Carnatic music belonged to these Telugu families.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Telugu words end in vowels which many consider a mellifluous quality and thus suitable for musical expression. Of the trinity of Carnatic music composers, Tyagaraja's and Syama Sastri's compositions were largely in Telugu, while Muttuswami Dikshitar is noted for his Sanskrit texts. Tyagaraja is remembered both for his devotion and the bhava of his krithi, a song form consisting of pallavi, (the first section of a song) anupallavi (a rhyming section that follows the pallavi) and charanam (a sung stanza which serves as a refrain for several passages in the composition). The texts of his kritis are almost all in Sanskrit, in Telugu (the contemporary language of the court). This use of a living language, as opposed to Sanskrit, the language of ritual, is in keeping with the bhakti ideal of the immediacy of devotion. Sri Syama Sastri, the oldest of the trinity, was taught Telugu and Sanskrit by his father, who was the pujari (Hindu priest) at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. Syama Sastri's texts were largely composed in Telugu, widening their popular appeal. Some of his most famous compositions include the nine krithis, Navaratnamaalikā, in praise of the goddess Meenakshi at Madurai, and his eighteen krithi in praise of Kamakshi. As well as composing krithi, he is credited with turning the svarajati, originally used for dance, into a purely musical form.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Malayalam is thought to have diverged from Middle Tamil approximately the 6th century in the region coinciding with modern Kerala. The development of Malayalam as a separate language was characterized by a moderate influence from Sanskrit, both in lexicon and grammar, which culminated in the "Aadhyaathma Ramayanam", a version of the Ramayana by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan which marked the beginning of modern Malayalam. Ezhuthachan's works also cemented the use of the Malayalam script, an alphabet blending the Tamil Vatteluttu alphabet with elements of the Grantha script resulting in a large number of letters capable of representing both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian sounds. Today, it is considered one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was declared a classical language by the Government of India in 2013.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken in the western Himalayas (Himachal Pradesh) and in the highlands of Northeast India. The Sino-Tibetan family includes such languages as Meitei (officially known as Manipuri), Tripuri, Bodo, Garo and various groups of Naga languages. Some of the languages traditionally included in Sino-Tibetan may actually be language isolates or part of small independent language families.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language) was the ancient court language of Manipur Kingdom (), which was used with honour before and during the kingdom's Durbar (court) sessions, until Manipur was merged into the Republic of India on 21 September 1949.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Besides being the native tongue of the Meiteis, Meitei language was and is the lingua franca of all the ethnic groups living in Manipur.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: "The beginning of this old Manipuri literature (as in the case of Newari) may go back to 1500 years, or even 2000 years, from now."


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Meitei language has its own script, the Meitei script (), often but not officially referred to as the Manipuri script. The earliest known coin, having the script engraved on it, dated back to the 6th century CE. Renowned Indian scholar Kalidas Nag, after observing the Meitei writings on the handmade papers and agar pieces, opined that the Manipuri script belongs to the pre-Ashokan period. Ancient and medieval Meitei literature are written in this script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: According to the "Report on the Archaeological Studies in Manipur, Bulletin No-1", a Meitei language copper plate inscription was found to be dated back to the 8th century CE. It is one of the preserved earliest known written records of Meitei language.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: In the 18th century CE, the usage of Meitei script was officially replaced by the Bengali script for any forms of writings in Meitei language right from the era of Meitei King Gharib Niwaj () (1690–1751), the Maharaja of Manipur kingdom. It was during his time Kangleipak, the Meitei name of the kingdom, was renamed with the Sanskrit name Manipur, thereby creating the mythical connecting legends with that of the Manipur (Mahabharata), which is clarified by the modern Indian Hindu scholars as a coastal region in Odisha, though eponymous with the Meitei kingdom.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: In modern era, the ""Manipur State Constitution Act 1947"" of the once independent Manipur Kingdom accords Meitei language as the court language of the kingdom (before merging into the Indian Republic).


title: Linguistic history of India

text: In the year 1972, Meitei language was given the recognition by the National Sahitya Akademi, the highest Indian body of language and literature, as one of the major Indian languages.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: On the 20th August 1992, Meitei language was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and made one of the languages with official status in India. The event was commemorated every year as the Meitei Language Day (officially called Manipuri Language Day).


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Starting from the year 2021, Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek) was officially used, along with the Bengali script, to write the Meitei language, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021". It was declared by the Government of Manipur on 10 March 2021.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: In September 2021, the Central Government of India released as the first instalment for the development and the promotion of the Meitei language and the Meitei script in Manipur.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Austroasiatic family spoken in East and North-east India. Austroasiatic languages include the Santal and Munda languages of eastern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and the Mon–Khmer languages spoken by the Khasi and Nicobarese in India and in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and southern China. The Austroasiatic languages arrived in east India around 4000-3500 ago from Southeast Asia.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: On the Andaman Islands, language from at least two families have spoken: the Great Andamanese languages and the Ongan languages. The Sentinelese language is spoken on North Sentinel Island, but contact has not been made with the Sentinelis; thus, its language affiliation is unknown. While Joseph Greenberg considered the Great Andamanese languages to be part of a larger Indo-Pacific family, it was not established through the comparative method but considered spurious by historical linguists. Stephen Wurm suggests similarities with Trans-New Guinea languages and others are caused by a linguistic substrate.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Juliette Blevins has suggested that the Ongan languages are the sister branch to the Austronesian languages in an Austronesian-Ongan family because of sound correspondences between protolanguages.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Nihali language is a language isolate spoken in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Affiliations have been suggested to the Munda languages but they have yet to be demonstrated.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Indus script is the short strings of symbols associated with the Harappan civilization of ancient India (most of the Indus sites are distributed in present-day Pakistan and northwest India) used between 2600 and 1900 BCE, which evolved from an early Indus script attested from around 3500–3300 BCE. Found in at least a dozen types of context, the symbols are most commonly associated with flat, rectangular stone tablets called seals. The first publication of a Harappan seal was a drawing by Alexander Cunningham in 1875. Since then, well over 4000 symbol-bearing objects have been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia. After 1500 BCE, coinciding with the final stage of Harappan civilization, use of the symbols ends. There are over 400 distinct signs, but many are thought to be slight modifications or combinations of perhaps 200 'basic' signs. The symbols remain undeciphered (in spite of numerous attempts that did not find favour with the academic community), and some scholars classify them as proto-writing rather than writing proper.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The best-known inscriptions in Brāhmī are the rock-cut Edicts of Ashoka, dating to the 3rd century BCE. These were long considered the earliest examples of Brāhmī writing, but recent archaeological evidence in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu suggest the dates for the earliest use of Tamil Brāhmī to be around the 6th century BCE, dated using radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating methods.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: This script is ancestral to the Brahmic family of scripts, most of which are used in South and Southeast Asia, but which have wider historical use elsewhere, even as far as Mongolia and perhaps even Korea, according to one theory of the origin of Hangul. The Brāhmī numeral system is the ancestor of the Hindu-Arabic numerals, which are now used worldwide.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Brāhmī is generally believed to be derived from a Semitic script such as the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, as was clearly the case for the contemporary Kharosthi alphabet that arose in a part of northwest Indian under the control of the Achaemenid Empire. Rhys Davids suggests that writing may have been introduced to India from the Middle East by traders. Another possibility is with the Achaemenid conquest in the late 6th century BCE. It was often assumed that it was a planned invention under Ashoka as a prerequisite for his edicts. Compare the much better-documented parallel of the Hangul script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Older examples of the Brahmi script appear to be on fragments of pottery from the trading town of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, which have been dated to the early 400 BCE. Even earlier evidence of the Tamil -Brahmi script has been discovered on pieces of pottery in Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu. Radio-carbon dating has established that they belonged to the 6th-century BCE.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The origin of the script is still much debated, with most scholars stating that Brahmi was derived from or at least influenced by one or more contemporary Semitic scripts, while others favor the idea of an indigenous origin or connection to the much older and as yet undeciphered Indus script of the Indus Valley civilisation.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Kharoṣṭhī script, also known as the Gāndhārī script, is an ancient abugida (a kind of alphabetic script) used by the Gandhara culture of ancient northwest India to write the Gāndhārī and Sanskrit languages. It was in use from the 4th century BCE until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE. It was also in use along the Silk Road where there is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century CE in the remote way stations of Khotan and Niya.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Scholars are not in agreement as to whether the Kharoṣṭhī script evolved gradually, or was the work of a mindful inventor. An analysis of the script forms shows a clear dependency on the Aramaic alphabet but with extensive modifications to support the sounds found in Indian languages. One model is that the Aramaic script arrived with the Achaemenid conquest of the region in 500 BCE and evolved over the next 200+ years to reach its final form by the 3rd century BCE. However, no Aramaic documents of any kind have survived from this period. Also intermediate forms have yet been found to confirm this evolutionary model, and rock and coins inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE onward show a unified and mature form.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The study of the Kharoṣṭhī script was recently invigorated by the discovery of the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, a set of birch-bark manuscripts written in Kharoṣṭhī, discovered near the Afghan city of Haḍḍā (compare Panjabi HAḌḌ ਹੱਡ s. m. "A bone, especially a big bone of dead cattle" referring to the famous mortuary grounds if the area): just west of the Khyber Pass. The manuscripts were donated to the British Library in 1994. The entire set of manuscripts are dated to the 1st century CE making them the oldest Buddhist manuscripts in existence.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The Gupta script was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of India which was a period of material prosperity and great religious and scientific developments. The Gupta script was descended from Brahmi and gave rise to the Siddham script and then Bengali–Assamese script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Siddhaṃ (Sanskrit, accomplished or perfected), descended from the Brahmi script via the Gupta script, which also gave rise to the Devanagari script as well as a number of other Asian scripts such as Tibetan script.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Siddhaṃ is an abugida or alphasyllabary rather than an alphabet because each character indicates a syllable. If no other mark occurs then the short 'a' is assumed. Diacritic marks indicate the other vowels, the pure nasal (anusvara), and the aspirated vowel (visarga). A special mark (virama), can be used to indicate that the letter stands alone with no vowel which sometimes happens at the end of Sanskrit words. See links below for examples.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: The writing of mantras and copying of Sutras using the Siddhaṃ script is still practiced in Shingon Buddhism in Japan but has died out in other places. It was Kūkai who introduced the Siddham script to Japan when he returned from China in 806, where he studied Sanskrit with Nalanda trained monks including one known as Prajñā. Sutras that were taken to China from India were written in a variety of scripts, but Siddham was one of the most important. By the time Kūkai learned this script the trading and pilgrimage routes overland to India, part of the Silk Road, were closed by the expanding Islamic empire of the Abbasids. Then in the middle of the 9th century, there were a series of purges of "foreign religions" in China. This meant that Japan was cut off from the sources of Siddham texts. In time other scripts, particularly Devanagari replaced it in India, and so Japan was left as the only place where Siddham was preserved, although it was, and is only used for writing mantras and copying sutras.


title: Linguistic history of India

text: Siddhaṃ was influential in the development of the Kana writing system, which is also associated with Kūkaiwhile the Kana shapes derive from Chinese characters, the principle of a syllable-based script and their systematic ordering was taken over from Siddham.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, "Marathónas"; Attic/Katharevousa: , "Marathṓn") is a town in Greece and the site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. Today it is part of East Attica regional unit, in the outskirts of Athens and a popular resort town and center of agriculture.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: The name "Marathon" () comes from the herb fennel, called "marathon" () or "marathos" () in Ancient Greek, so "Marathon" literally means "a place full of fennel".


title: Marathon, Greece

text: It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: In ancient times, Marathon () occupied a small plain in the northeast of ancient Attica, which contained four places, Marathon, Probalinthus, Tricorythus, and Oenoe, which originally formed the Tetrapolis, one of the 12 districts into which Attica was divided before the time of Theseus. Here Xuthus, who married the daughter of Erechtheus, is said to have reigned; and here the Heracleidae took refuge when driven out of Peloponnesus, and defeated Eurystheus. The Marathonii claimed to be the first people in Greece who paid divine honours to Heracles, who possessed a sanctuary in the plain. Marathon is also celebrated in the legends of Theseus, who conquered the ferocious bull, which used to devastate the plain. Marathon is mentioned in Homer's "Odyssey" in a way that implies that it was then a place of importance. In mythology, its name was derived from an eponymous hero Marathon, who is described by Pausanias as a son of Epopeus, king of Sicyon, who fled into Attica in consequence of the cruelty of his father Plutarch calls him an Arcadian, who accompanied the Dioscuri in their expedition into Attica, and voluntarily devoted himself to death before the battle.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: After Theseus united the 12 independent districts of Attica into one state, the name of Tetrapolis gradually fell into disuse; and the four places of which it consisted became Attic demi, Marathon, Tricorythus, and Oenoë belonging to the tribe Aeantis, and Probalinthus to the tribe Pandionis; but Marathon was so superior to the other three, that its name was applied to the whole district down to the latest times. Hence Lucian speaks of "the parts of Marathon about Oenoë".


title: Marathon, Greece

text: Few places have obtained such celebrity in the history of the world as Marathon, on account of the victory which the Athenians here gained over the Persians in 490 BCE (Battle of Marathon). After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the Dilessi murders, which happened nearby in 1870.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: In the 19th century and beginning of twentieth century the village was inhabited by an Arvanite population.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: The sophist and magnate Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km² of forested land were flooded to form Lake Marathon.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town. The beach is a popular as a spot for windsurfing spot and the Olympic Rowing Center used for the 2004 Summer Olympics is also located there. At the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Marathon was the starting point of the marathon races (for both women and men in 2004). The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli especially in 2006.


title: Marathon, Greece

text: The municipality Marathon was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:


title: Marathon, Greece

text: The other settlements in the municipal unit are Agios Panteleimonas (pop. 1,591), Kato Souli (2,142), Vranas (1,082), Avra (191), Vothon (177), Ano Souli (232), and Schinias (264).


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He worked as a sharecropper and began playing at dances and parties, singing to a melodious fingerpicked accompaniment. His first recordings, made for Okeh Records in 1928, were commercial failures, and he continued to work as a farmer.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Dick Spottswood and Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, located Hurt in 1963 and persuaded him to move to Washington, D.C. He was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This helped further the American folk music revival, which led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt performed on the university and coffeehouse concert circuit with other Delta blues musicians who were brought out of retirement. He also recorded several albums for Vanguard Records.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Material recorded by him has been re-released by many record labels. His songs have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey, Gillian Welch, Josh Ritter, Chris Smither, Guthrie Thomas, Parsonsfield, and Rory Block.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Hurt was born in Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, and raised in Avalon, Mississippi. He taught himself to play guitar at the age of nine, stealthily playing the guitar of William Henry Carson, a friend of his mother Mary Jane's, who often stayed at the Hurt home while courting a woman who lived nearby. As a youth, he played old-time music for friends and at dances. He worked as a farmhand and sharecropper into the 1920s.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: His fast, highly syncopated style of playing was meant for dancing. On occasion, a medicine show came through the area. Hurt recalled that one wanted to hire him: "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home." In 1923, he played with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for Narmour's regular partner, Shell Smith.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records as a prize for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, he recommended Hurt to Okeh producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, Hurt took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City. While in Memphis, he recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more." Hurt described his first recording session:


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Hurt attempted further negotiations with Okeh to record again, but his records were commercial failures. Okeh went out of business during the Great Depression, and Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing at local parties and dances.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Hurt's renditions of "Frankie" and "Spike Driver Blues" were included in "The Anthology of American Folk Music" in 1952 which generated considerable interest in locating him. When a copy of "Avalon Blues" was discovered in 1963, it led musicologist Dick Spottswood to locate Avalon, Mississippi, in an atlas, and ask Tom Hoskins, who was traveling that way, to enquire after Hurt.


title: Mississippi John Hurt

text: Upon locating Hurt, Hoskins persuaded him to perform several songs, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced and, seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and perform for a broader audience. His performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival caused his star to rise in the folk revival occurring at that time. Soon after, in 1964, he recorded live for radio in Massachusetts with Skip James.