Tholkappiyam:

    Now let us take a brief look at Tholkappiyam. The subject matter in Tholkappiyam has been arranged topic-wise. It contains three a§ÁpÌJ i.e., gïGç , uÃpM and uÉpìP.  gïGǧÁpÌJ  is concerned with phonology and morpho-phonemics. uÃpMͧÁpÌJ is concerned with morphology (syntax), meaning of the words and so on. uÉpìЧÁpÌJ is mainly concerned with the science of poetry.
    We are concerned only with a part of gïGǧÁpÌJ and uÃpMͧÁpÌJ since we are dealing only with morphology and with the semantic aspects of the language. We'll look at sandhi, cases and compounds in the following section.

Sandhi:

Sandhi is called éÆLC£ in Tamil. Majority of sandhi rules in Tamil are descriptions of external sandhi and the only place where internal sandhi is found is in the declension  of nouns. A word is formed by the addition of case markers to nouns and some nouns take Ãp¬wË or inflectional  increments before the case marker is added. Tholkappiyar enumerates the case suffixes, Ãp¬wË and their alternate forms. He divides sandhi into vÎQñwÊI éÆLC£ or case relation sandhi and aMίI éÆLC£ or non-case relation sandhi, which is specific to Tamil. Sandhi rules in Tamil involve syntactic relations. Unless we learn the kind of  relationship that exists between the words in question, we will not be able to apply the  right kind of sandhi rules.

Nouns:

Tholkappiyar's description of nouns includes both morphological and syntactic aspects. Nouns are described in great detail by him. He also classifies nouns on the basis of §wÆ. Nouns denoting human beings are classified as eËL§wÆ. Nouns denoting non-humans are classified as ao±wÆ while common nouns are classified as ®Ìî§wÆ. In addition to this classification, he groups nouns as êwÑIuÉËL  (kinship term), ÊÌIuÉËL (tree name) and gFæIuÉËL (numeral). Gender of nouns can be decided by the endings of verbs with which the noun co-occurs in a sentence.

Cases:

The internal Sandhi rules relating to the morphological aspect of cases have already been mentioned. Two sections vÎQñwÊ and vÎQñwÊ ÊËAÁJ in uÃpMͧÁpÌJ are concerned with the syntactic and the semantic aspect of cases.Tholkappiyar makes use of two different terms to refer to case-suffix and case form. The former is called as vÎQñwÊ eìé  and latter as vÎQñwÊ.

Cases in Tholkappiyam are :

uÉËL vÎQñwÊ - This denotes the agent. (does not have any case marker)

j-vÎQñwÊ - this is the direct object.

kå-vÎQñwÊ - it denotes Áì® i.e., the instrument, or the agent in case of  passive sentences.

Ex:f£uËpå ç¦wËG wÇGvÇR ( 'I stitched the cloth with the needle' )

á-vÎQñwÊ

Ex: cÌpÊòAáC vÃpñ uÁpåGÇpR (He gave food to Raman)

cR-vÎQñwÊ

This denotes the nature of a thing in relation to another.

Ex: áʬ«R uÇQá (that which is south of Kanya Kumari)

aç-vÎQñwÊ 

This denotes the relationship that exists between an object and its part.

Ex: cÌpÊÒç wÁ (Raman's hand)

or the relationship that exists between a person and his property.

Ex: cÌpÊÒç Žå (Raman's house).

 

ÁF-vÎQñwÊ

This denotes the locus of action with respect to event, place or time.

Ex: uÃMÎHÇLÁF uÃMÎJ cìAáJ. (Wealth is present with  rich people)

Free variation of cases -

vÎQñwÊ ÊËAÁJ

Use of one case form in denoting another case relation is called as verrumai mayakkam in Tamil. These are of two types

uÉpìP ÊËAÁJ

This is the use of one case form to denote another semantic relation or the use of two different forms to denote the same case relation.

b®QáA ÁRñ instead of b®Òç ÁRñ

Áì¾ìAáA ¡ÏAá instead of Á쾬R ¡ÏAá

eìé ÊËAÁJ

This is use of one case affix in place of another.

ÈJ©Aá ÊÁR is to be used instead of ÈJ©«Òç ÊÁR

 

Compounds (thokai)

uÇpwÁ or compound is analogous to 'samaasa' in sanskrit. When words join, certain components may become 'hidden' i.e., implicit in the resulting compound word. This is called uÇpwÁ. Thokai in tamil means 'being hidden'. Tholkappiyam classifies Thokai broadly into vÎQñwÊ uÇpwÁ , ®wÒGuÇpwÁ, ÉFéGuÇpwÁ, eÎwÊGuÇpwÁ and eJwÊGuÇpwÁ. Further classification is also found in tholkappiam. However, we'll deal only with the above mentioned compounds.

vÎQñwÊ uÇpwÁ

Consider the phrase uÉpQuÑp¥ (golden bangle). Here  we're actually referring to a bangle uÇp¥ made of gold (uÉpR). Here, the third case (vÎQñwÊ) is hidden. The third case marker 'aal' (vÎQñwÊ eìé) can be considered as hidden. An equivalent phrase in which the case marker 'aal' appears explicitly is 'uÉpRÒpM b¡Ë uÇp¥' (bangle made of gold).

<®wÒGuÇpwÁ>

A familiar example given for vinai thokai is 'fñÁpK' (pickles). In a pickle, the unripe/ripe fruit is soaked in oil. The fruit has been soaking in the past. It is so in the present and will be so in the future. That is, 'fñÁpK' is 'f±Ë ÁpK', 'fñJ ÁpK' or 'fÑIvÉpáJ ÁpK'. We can't get the information about the tense just from the phrase 'fñÁpK'. This is called vinai thokai.

<ÉFéGuÇpwÁ>

Here, the 'ÉFéIuÉËL ®á§' or 'marker for names denoting quality' is hidden. Consider 'uÎFÇpÊwÌ' (white lotus). Here, the panbuppeyar is 'uÎFwÊ' (white color). But in the phrase 'uÎFÇpÊwÌ', the 'wÊ' vikudi is hidden. Such a compund is called panbu thokai.

<eÎwÊGuÇpwÁ>

In uvamai thokai, 'eÎÊ eìé' is hidden. In case of a simile (eÎwÊ), the marker that denotes the comparison is called the uvama urubu. For example, in 'ÇpÊwÌ vÉpRÑ ÁF' (eye which is lotus-like), 'vÉpRÑ' is the uvama urubu.  When this uvama urubu remains hidden in a phrase and still if the phrase conveys the sense of 'eÎwÊ', then it is called as 'eÎwÊGuÇpwÁ'.

<eJwÊGuÇpwÁ>

When we denote two objects, people etc. we use the 'eJ' vikudi. For instance, in the phrase, 'ÉpíJ ÉÏêJ' we denote 'milk and fruit'. When this 'eJ' vikudi is hidden in a phrase, it is ummai thokai. For instance, in the phrase 'Á©ÍÉÌÆL' we intend to denote 'Á©ÍL' and 'ÉÌÆL'. That is, we intend to say 'Á©ÍìJ ÉÌÆìJ' but leave off the 'um' vikudis and say 'Á©ÍÉÌÆL'.