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The Tolkappiyam (தொல்காப்பியம் in Tamil) is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language. Written in the form of poems called sootirams (formulae), this ancient work attributed to Tolkaappiyar, is one of the world's oldest surviving grammar for any language. The name Tolkappiyam derived from the combination of the two words Tonmai and kappiyam. Tonmai means ancient and Kappiam means literature. We do not know the exact date of Tolkappiyam, but based on linguistic evidence, it is dated to around the 1st century BCE. There is also no firm evidence to assign the authorship of this treatise to any one author.

Tolkappiyam defines the syntax and poetic grammar to be used when writing poetry in Tamil. It also includes classification of habitats, animals, plants and human beings. The discussion on human emotions and interactions is particularly significant.

Influence of Sanskrit grammarians

Tolkappiyam is said to have been modelled on the Sanskrit grammar of the Aindra school,. Some scholars have refuted this claim casting doubt on the existence of an 'Aindra school' of Sanskrit grammar. The Aindra schools of Sanskrit grammarians was one of a dozen or so ancient sanskrit schools 'each of which is represented by a reputed writer or established reputation'. Indra, or Aindra is mentioned as the first of the grammarians. This was later subplanted by Panini's schools of grammar. Though the relation of Tolkappiyam to various Sanskrit grammar works remains an unsolved issue among the scholars, it has been identified that Tolkappiyam and other Sanskrit grammar works share some charactersitics, but also show significant dissimilarities, regarding their method of description.

The theory of Sanskrit influence on Tolkappiayam has been deduced from Ilampuranar's twelfth century annotation on the first book of Tolkappiyam. In the invocatory poem Ilampuranar refers to Tolkappiyar as aintiram nirainta Tolkappiyan which was interpretted later by Nachinarkiniyar in his commentary on Ilampuranar's annotation written in the 14th century as " who is well vered in the aindra grammar is of the old vilalge of kappiya", which means, according to Naccinarkiniyar, an ancient Brahmin family of Kavya gotra. There is no further information on the source for these claims.

Derived literature from Tolkāppiyam

Over the centuries, many books came interpreting and clarifying Tolkāppiyam. Some of which where the ones written by "Ilampooranar", "Deivachilaiyaaar", "Natchinaarkiniyar" 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 "Pavananthi Munivar".

Overview

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-Panini 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. 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".

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.

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)

PiRappiyal

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.

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

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Urubiyal

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

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

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

PuLLi Mayangial

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

KutriyalukarappunaRiyal

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

Sollathikaaram

Sollathikaaram deals with words and parts of speech. It classifies Tamil words into four categories -

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.

VEtRumaiyiyal

VEtrumaimayangial

ViLimaRabu

Peyariyal

This section deals with nouns.

Vinaiyiyal

This section deals with verbs.

Idaiyiyal

Uriyiyal

This literally translates to the nature or science of qualifiers and deals with adjectives and adverbs.

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

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

PoruLiyau

Meyppaattiyal

Uvamayiyal

The name Uvamayiyal literally translates to the nature or science of metaphors.

SeyyuLiyal

This interesting section deals with a grammar for classical Tamil Poetry based on principles of prosody.

Marabiyal

Footnote

1. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, p. 130.
2. George Cardona, Panini: a survey of research (1998), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., pp 151
3. Takanobu Takahashi, Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics (1995) Brill Academic Publishers ISBN: 9004100423 pp 26
4. Rajam, V. S. (1981), A comparative study of two ancient Indian grammatical traditions: The Tamil Tolkappiyam compared with the Sanskrit Rk-pratisakhya, Taittiriya-pratisakhya, Apisali siksa, and the Astadhyayi (Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania: 1981)
5. Takanobu Takahashi, Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics (1995) Brill Academic Publishers ISBN: 9004100423 pp 26
6. 247 = 12 +18 + (12 × 18) + 1

External links

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

• Tamil-language literature
• Tamil language
• Tamil literature