The Tolkāppiyam (தொல்காப்பியம் in Tamil) is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language. Written in the form of poems (or short hymns) around the 3rd century BC by Tolkāppiyar, is said to be the world's oldest surviving grammar for any language, except Sanskrit. Sangam Literature is the collective name for the Tamil literature created over 1800 years ago. ... Akananuru (அகநானுறு) is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. ... Pura Nanooru or Pura Nanuru is an ancient Tamil Sangam collection of poems, dating from 900 BCE to 220 CE. It is one of the oldest Tamil anthologies. ... Pattupattu (பத்துப்பாட்டு) – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mind length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. ... Tiruvalluvar statue at Kanyakumari Tirukural (திருக்குறள் in Tamil) is an important work of Tamil literature by Tiruvalluvar written in the form of couplets expounding various aspects of life. ... Manimegalai, Seevaga Sindhamani, Valayaapathi, Kundalakesi and Silapadhigaaram constitute the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... Cilappatikaram (The Anklet) also spelled as Cilappadhikaram or Silappadhigaram, is one of the five great epics of ancient Tamil Literature. ... Manimekalai is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature and belongs to The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... The Sangam is a collection of Tamil literature composed between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) // Events Teotihuacán, Mexico begun The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Gaulish migration to Macedon, Thrace and Galatia 282-226: Colossus of Rhodes 281 BC Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम्) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ...

All the words, poems and literature that came in Tamil language after that followed the grammar as explained by Tolkāppiyam. The name Tolkāppiyam can be split as Tolkāppiyam = Tonmai + kāppiyam. Tonmai means archeologically old and Kappiam is a literature master piece or epic.

Over the centuries, many books came interpreting and clarifying Tolkāppiyam. Some of which where the ones written by "Ilampooranar", "Deivachilaiyaaar", "Natchinaarciniyar" etc. They were called as "Urai-asiriyargal"or equivalently explanatory commentators.These commentators explained Tolkāppiyam in their own view and expressed their opinions on the subjects dealt by Tolkāppiyam, in their own times. Many grammar works came in Tamil after Tolkāppiyam, based on that. However, one that is most popular and used in place of Tolkāppiyam now is "Nannūl" written by "Pavananti Munivar".

The Tolkāppiyam classifies the Tamil language into "senthamil" and "kotunthamil". The former refers to the classical Tamil used exclusively in literary works and the latter refers to the colloquial Tamil, spoken by the people. The book is based on the analysis of both spoken and written Tamil.

Scientific treatment to Natural Language Grammar

The classification of the alphabet into consonants and vowels by splitting the conso-vowels was a scientific breakthrough. Grammatising this phenomenon was also an achievement of that time. The Tolkāppiyam starts by defining the alphabet for optimal writing, grammatises the use of words and syntaxes and moves into higher modes of language analysis. The style and structure of narration of these rules is similar to that of the Backus-Naur form, which was formalised only as recently as 1963. The Tolkāppiyam formulated thirty characters and three diacritic like symbols for Tamil. The 12 vowels combine with the 18 consonants bringing the total tally of characters to 247(12 + 18 + (12x18) + 1 = 247). The alphabet has evolved since then. For a detailed treatment of the alphabet see Tamil alphabet. Though the alphabet has evolved largely, the language as such has remained mostly intact earning the sobriquet, kannith thamil, which can mean ever-young Tamil or "virgin Tamil". The Backus-Naur form (BNF) (also known as Backus normal form) is a metasyntax used to express context-free grammars: that is, a formal way to describe formal languages. ... Template:C20YearInnTopic 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... A sobriquet is a nickname or a fancy name, usually a familiar name given by others as distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise. ...

Chapters

The Tolkāppiyam is organised into the following three chapters each of which is sub divided into 9 sections.

1. Ezhuththathikaaram
2. Sollathikaaram
3. PoruLathikaaram

Ezhuththathikaaram

Ezhuththathikaaram is further subdivided into the following 9 sections.

1. Nuul Marabu
2. Mozhi Marabu
3. PiRappiyal
4. PuNaRiyal
5. Thokai Marabu
6. Urubiyal
7. Uyir Mayangial
8. PuLLi Mayangial
9. KutriyalukarappunaRiyal

Nuul Marabu

This section enumerates the characters of the language, organises them into consonants, vowels and diacritic symbols. The vowels are sub classified into short and long vowels based on duration of pronunciation. Similarly, the consonants are sub classified into three categories based on the stress.

Mozhi Marabu

This section defines rules which specify where in a word can a letter not occur and which letter can not come after a particular letter.

It also describes elision, which is the reduction in the duration of sound of a phoneme when preceded by or followed by certain other sounds. The rules are well-defined and unambiguous. They are categorised into 5 classes based on the phoneme which undergoes elision. In music, see elision (music). ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

1. Kutriyalukaram - the (lip unrounded) vowel sound u
2. Kutriyalikaram - the vowel sound i(as the vowel in 'lip')
3. Aiykaarakkurukkam - the diphthong ai
4. Oukaarakkurukkam - the diphthong au
5. Aaythakkurukkam - the special character (aaytham)

In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek and ending tongue positions. ...

PiRappiyal

Excerpt from the Tolkāppiyam showing the style of narration

Excerpt from the Tolkāppiyam on articulatory phonetics

This is a section on articulatory phonetics. It talks about pronunciation methods of the phonemes at the level of diaphragm, larynx, jaws, tongue position, teeth, lips and nose. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (657x729, 15 KB) Excerpt from Tolkaappiyam that shows the style of narration. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (657x729, 15 KB) Excerpt from Tolkaappiyam that shows the style of narration. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (442x715, 16 KB) - made (?) the screenshot myself. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (442x715, 16 KB) - made (?) the screenshot myself. ... The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics. ... The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ... A diaphragm is some sort of separating membrane. ... The larynx (plural larynges), or voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production. ...

Also, the visual representation of the letters is explained.

PuNaRiyal

This section talks about the changes to words due to the following word i.e. it specifies rules that govern the transformations on the last phonem of a word (nilaimozhi iiRu) because of the first phonem of the following word (varumozhi muthal) when used in a sentence.

Thokai Marabu

Urubiyal

This section talks about the word modifiers that are added at the end of nouns and pronouns when they are used as an object as opposed to when they are used as subjects.

Uyir Mayangial

PuLLi Mayangial

KutriyalukarappunaRiyal

Sollathikaaram

Sollathikaaram deals with words and parts of speech. It classifies Tamil words into four categories - In grammar, a part of speech or word class is defined as the role that a word (or sometimes a phrase) plays in a sentence. ...

1. iyar chol - Words in common usage

2. thiri chol - Words used in Tamil literature

3. vata chol - Words borrowed from Sanskrit

4. thisai chol - Words borrowed from Other Languages

There are certain rules to be adhered to in borrowing words from Sanskrit. The borrowed words need to strictly conform to the Tamil phonetic system and be written in the Tamil script.

The chapter Sollathikaaram is sub divided into the following 9 sections.

1. KiLaviyaakkam

2. VEtRumaiyiyal

3. VEtrumaimayangial

4. ViLimaRabu

5. Peyariyal

6. Vinaiyiyal

7. Idaiyiyal

8. Uriyiyal

9. Echchaviyal

KiLaviyaakkam

KiLaviyaakkam literally translates to word formation. This section deals with gender, number, person etc. The shield and spear of the Roman god Mars are often used to represent the male sex. ... Number is the current mathematics collaboration of the week! Please help improve it to featured article standard. ... Person, in the classic sense, refers to a living human being. ...

VEtRumaiyiyal

VEtrumaimayangial

ViLimaRabu

Peyariyal

This section deals with nouns. A noun, or noun substantive, is a part of speech (a word or phrase) which can co-occur with (in)definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the head of a noun phrase. ...

Vinaiyiyal

This section deals with verbs. A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ...

Idaiyiyal

Uriyiyal

This literally translates to the nature or science of qualifiers and deals with adjectives and adverbs. An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... An adverb is a word that modifies any other part of language (verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, clauses, and sentences) except for nouns; modifiers of nouns are primarily determiners and adjectives. ...

Echchaviyal

PoruLathikaaram

The Tolkāppiyam is possibly the only book on grammar that describes a grammar for life. PoruLathikaaram gives the classification of land types, and seasons and defines modes of life for each of the combinations of land types and seasons for different kinds of people. This chapter is subdivided into the following 9 sections. 1. AkaththiNaiyiyal 2. PuRaththiNaiyiyal 3. KaLaviyal 4. KaRpiyal 5. PoruLiyal 6. Meyppaattiyal 7. Uvamayiyal 8. SeyyuLiyal 9. Marabiyal Look up life and living in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

AkaththiNaiyiyal

This section defines the modes of personal life i.e. life of couples.

PuRaththiNaiyiyal

This section defines the modes of one's public life.

KaLaviyal

KaRpiyal

PoruLiyal

Meyppaattiyal

Uvamayiyal

The name Uvamayiyal literally translates to the nature or science of metaphors. In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ...

SeyyuLiyal

This interesting section deals with a grammar for classical Tamil Poetry based on principles of prosody. Prosody may mean several things: Prosody consists of distinctive variations of stress, tone, and timing in spoken language. ...

Marabiyal

External links

• Tolkāppiyam Complete
• Tolkāppiyam PoruLatikaaram
• Tolkāppiyam partial list
• Tolkāppiyar's Literary Theory - Research paper (1996)