Much of Tamil grammar is extensively described in the oldest available grammar book for Tamil, the Tolkāppiyam (dated between 300 BCE and 300 CE). Modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th century grammar Naṉṉūl, which restated and clarified the rules of the Tolkāppiyam with some modifications.
Parts of Tamil grammar Traditional Tamil grammar consists of five parts, namely eḻuttu, sol, poruḷ, yāppu and aṇi. Of these, the last two are mostly applicable in poetry. The following table gives additional information about these parts. Tamil name Meaning Main grammar bookseḻuttuletterTolkāppiyam, NannūlsolwordTolkāppiyam, NannūlporuḷcontentTolkāppiyamyāppucompilationYāpparuṅkalakkārikaiaṇidecorationTaṇṭiyalaṅkāram
Eḻuttu (writing) defines and describes the letters of the Tamil alphabet and their classification. It describes the nature of phonemes and their changes with respect to different conditions and locations in the text.
Sol defines the types of the words based on their meaning and the origin. It defines the gender, number, cases, tenses, classes, harmony etc. This chapter also provides rules for compounding the words.
Porul defines the contents of poetry. It gives guidance on which topic to choose for poetry based on certain conditions like the nature of the land or time or the people. It gives a distinction between Agam (internal / love life) and Puram (external / worldly life).
Yāppu defines rules for composing Traditional poetry. It defines the basic building block Asai and describes how asai should be joined to form a sīr, joining sīr for an adi.
Aṇi defines techniques used for comparing, praising and criticizing the taken topics.
Letters
The script of Tamil Language consists of 247 letters. The script falls under the category Abugida, in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as a unit. The grammar classifies the letters into two major categories. Prime Letters – Dependent Letters –
Prime letters 12 vowels and 18 consonants are classified as the prime letters. The vowels ( ): அ (a), ஆ (ā), இ (i), ஈ( ī), உ (u), ஊ (ū), எ (e), ஏ (ē), ஐ (ai), ஒ (o), ஓ (ō), ஔ (au) The consonants ( ): க், ங், ச், ஞ், ட், ண், த், ந், ப், ம், ய், ர், ல், வ், ழ், ள், ற், ன்
The vowels are called uyir, meaning soul, in Tamil. The consonants are known as mey, meaning body. When the alphasyllabary is formed, the letter shall be taking the form of the consonants, that is the body, and the sound shall be that of the corresponding vowel, that is the soul.
The vowels are categorized based on the length, as short (kuril) and long(nedil). The short vowels are pronounced for a duration 1 unit, while the long vowels take two units. Based on the duration of the sound, the vowels form 5 pairs. The other two vowels ஐ(ai) and ஔ(au) are diphthongs formed by joining the letters அ(a)+இ(i) and அ(a)+உ(u). Since these two are a combination two short letters, their pronunciation takes 2 units of time, that is they fall under nedil category. ஐ(ai) and ஔ(au) can also be spelt அய் and அவ். This form is known as eḻuttuppōli and is generally not recommended.
The consonants are categorised into three groups, (hard), (soft) and (medium), based on the nature of the sound. வல்லினம் are various non-nasal consonants, மெல்லினம் are the nasal versions of the corresponding வல்லினம் consonant, and இடையினம் are other non-nasal consonants. Most often, when there is a nasal sound preceding a வல்லினம் consonant, it is the corresponding மெல்லினம் consonant of the said வல்லினம் consonant.
valliṉam melliṉam iṭaiyiṉam க் k ங் ṅ ய் y ச் s ஞ் ñ ர் r ட் ṭ ண் ṇ ல் l த் t ந் n வ் v ப் p ம் m ழ் ḻ ற் ṟவல்லெழுத் தென்ப க ச ட த ப ற.-தொல்காப்பியம் 19 ன் ṉமெல்லெழுத் தென்ப ங ஞ ண ந ம ன.-தொல்காப்பியம் 20 ள் ḷஇடையெழுத் தென்ப ய ர ல வ ழ ள.-தொல்காப்பியம் 21
From the 30 prime letters, the dependent letters are formed.
Dependent letters
Tamil grammar defines 10 categories of Dependent letters.
Alphasyllabic letters Aidam Elongated vowel Elongated consonant Shortened u Shortened i Shortened ai Shortened au Shortened m Shortened Aidam
The alphasyllabic letters – 216 in total – are formed by combining the consonants and the vowels. The duration of the sound is that of the vowel attached to the consonant (or the inherent vowel, in case of the pure consonants). For example, the table below shows the formation of க் based letters.
Combination Uyirmei form ISO 15919 IPA க் + அ க க் + ஆ கா க் + இ கி க் + ஈ கீ க் + உ கு , க் + ஊ கூ க் + எ கெ க் + ஏ கே க் + ஐ கை க் + ஒ கொ க் + ஓ கோ க் + ஔ கௌ
Aidam is also known as (stand alone). The aidam is always preceded by a single short letter ( ) and followed by a hard alphasyllabic letter ( ). It takes half unit time for pronunciation.
() and () are formed by elongating the duration of pronunciation of a letter to satisfy certain grammatical rules while composing poetry. In Uyiralapetai, the intrinsic vowel of the letter that is elongated is written next to it, to indicate that the letter now is pronounced for 3 units of time.
In Kutriyalukaram, the duration of the short 'u' letters of vallinam category (கு, சு, டு, து, பு, று) is reduced to half units, when the letter is found at the end of the word, preceded by multiple letters or a single nedil(long) letter.
If a word with kutriyalikaram is followed by a word with 'ய'(ya) as the first letter, the u sound is corrupted to i sound and takes a half unit of time for pronunciation.
In Aikarakurukkam and Aukarakurukkam, the duration of the letters ஐ and ஔ are reduced to 1 1/2 units if they are the first letters of the word. If situated elsewhere it is reduced to 1 unit.
Vanjiyar
In Tamil, a single letter standing alone or multiple letters combined form a word. Tamil is an agglutinative language – words consist of a lexical root to which one or more affixes are attached.
Most Tamil affixes are suffixes. These can be derivational suffixes, which either change the part of speech of the word or its meaning, or inflectional suffixes, which mark categories such as person, number, mood, tense, etc. There is no absolute limit on the length and extent of agglutination, which can lead to long words with a large number of suffixes, which would require several words or a sentence in English. To give an example, the word () means "for the sake of those who cannot go", and consists of the following morphemes: gobe possible (impersonal)epenthetic approximant letterbreaks illegal diphthongsnegation(impersonal)nominalizerhe/she who doesplural markertoforpōkamuṭiyātavarkaḷukkuāka
Words formed as a result of the agglutinative process are often difficult to translate. Today Translations, a British translation service, ranks the Tamil word (, meaning a certain type of truancy) as number 8 in their The Most Untranslatable Word In The World list.
In Tamil, words are classified into four categories namely, Nouns Peyarsol Verbs Vinaisol Particles and Pre-/Postpositions Idaisol Adjective and Adverbs Urisol
All categories of nouns are declinable. Verbs are conjugated to indicate person, tense, gender, number and mood. The other two classes are indeclinable.
Nouns
Noun
Nouns are inflected based on number and grammatical case, of which there are 9: nominative case, accusative case, dative case, instrumental case, sociative case, locative case, ablative case, genitive case, and vocative case. If the plural is used, the noun is inflected by suffixing the noun stem with first the plural marker -kaḷ, and then with the case suffix, if any. Otherwise, if the singular is used, the noun is instead inflected by suffixing either the noun stem with the case suffix, or the oblique stem with the case suffix. An optional euphonic increment -iṉ or -aṉ can occur before the case suffix. casesuffixnominative -∅accusative-aiinstrumental-āl, -(aik) koṇṭusociative-ōṭu, -uṭaṉdative-(uk)ku, -iṉ poruṭṭu, -iṉ nimittambenefactive-(u)kkākaablative-il(ē) iruntu [irrational], -iṭam iruntu [rational], -iṉiṉṟugenitive-atu, -uṭaiyalocative-il(ē) [irrational], -iṭam [rational], -kkul [deeper sense, within]vocative-ē, -ā
Nominative case The nominative case is used for the subject of an intransitive verb, the agent of a transitive verb, the predicate of a nominal sentence, and subject and object complements. It is the base form of the noun with no suffix.
Kumār māṇavaṉ. "Kumar (is) (a) student." Kumār māṇavaṉāka ākiṉṟāṉ. "Kumar becomes (a) student." Katavu tiṟantatu. "The door opened."
It can also be used to mark the direct object when it is indefinite and irrational.
Accusative case The accusative case marks the direct object of a transitive verb. It is marked by the suffix -ai. It is required when the direct object is rational. When used with irrational nouns, the accusative must be used when the direct object is definite. When an irrational direct object is indefinite, the nominative is used instead, unless there is an explicit indefinite determiner present, in which case either the nominative or accusative may be used.
Kumār paiyanai pārttāṉ. "Kumar saw a/the boy." (rational direct object, the accusative must be used regardless of definiteness) Nāṉ eṉ cāviyai tolaittēṉ. "I lost my key." (irrational direct object, the possessive pronoun eṉ makes the noun definite, the accusative must be used) Nāṉ cāviyai tolaittēṉ. "I lost the key." (irrational direct object, the accusative shows the noun is definite) Nāṉ cāvi tolaittēṉ. "I lost a key." (irrational direct object, the nominative shows the noun is indefinite) Nāṉ oru cāvi(yai) tolaittēṉ. "I lost a key." (irrational direct object, the determiner oru makes the noun explicitly indefinite, accusative is optional)
Dative case The dative case is marked with -ukku, -kku, or -ku. It expresses an indirect object, a goal of motion, a purpose, or an experiencer.
Kumār appāvukku oru paṭattai kāṭṭiṉāṉ. "Kumar showed father a picture." (indirect object) Kumār ūrukku pōṉāṉ "Kumar went to a town." (goal of motion, in this sense restricted to inanimate nouns) Kumār taṉ uṭampukku ṭāṉik uṭkoḷkiṟāṉ. "Kumar takes tonic for his health." (purpose) Kumārukku oru vīṭu vēnṭum. "Kumar wants a house." (experiencer)
Instrumental case The instrumental case is shown with -āl. It marks the instrument, means, source, or reason by which an action occurs.
Kumār kattiyāl paḻattai veṭṭiṉāṉ. "Kumar cut the fruit with a knife."
It also marks the agent in passive constructions.
Kumār appāvāl aṭikkappaṭṭāṉ. "Kumar was beaten by father."
Sociative case The sociative case is marked with either -ōṭu or -uṭaṉ. The latter is almost only used in poetic and written Tamil. It shows that the noun it modifies is involved in the action of the sentence.
Kumār taṉ maṉaiviyōṭu vantāṉ.Kumār taṉ maṉaiviyuṭaṉ vantāṉ. "Kumar came with his wife."
Locative case The locative case is marked with either -il or -iṭam. -il occurs with inanimate nouns and plural animate nouns, while iṭam occurs with animate nouns in both numbers. It shows location. The locative also has -kkul, which is a deeper sense of being within something.
Kuruvi marattil uṭkārkiṟatu. "The sparrow is sitting on the tree." Atu vīṭukkul irukkiṟatu. "That is within the house."
Vocative case
The vocative case is marked with multiple suffixes. The two main ones are ē and ā. The ē ending can be used for any word. The ā ending can only be used for words ending with -an or -am (keep in mind that these words that can use the ā ending can still use the ē ending). Along with this, many times, people use other rules to turn words into the vocative case. The word often stays the same or gets stress or an elongated vowel at the end of the word. In colloquial speech and slang, the vocative is often paired with Ey!
Ey! Murugā! "Hey! Murugan!" Naaykalē, kadikkaathe."Dogs, don't bite."Aasiriyarē, enne ceyye pōkirōm?"Teacher, what are we going to do?"Lakshmiyē, ingae pāru."Lakshmi, look here."Thambi! Engae irukkukiraay!?"Little brother! Where are you!?"
Ablative case