Table Of ContentB E aai 3Efi
rLBOROUQH-8 SELF-TAUGHT series
Grammar
[arT\U
Self-Taught.
(In Tamil and Roman Charaotebs.)
Second Edition
BY
Don M. de ZILVA WICKREMASFNQHE,
Epigraphist iothe Ceylon Governvtent;
Librarian andAssisiatit Keeperofthe Indian Institute^ Oxford.
Authorof
"Tamil Self-Taught," and "Sinhalese Self-Taught.""
Companion Volume;
"Tamil Self-Taught.*»
London
:
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 51, Old Bailey, E.G. 4.
tAlt Rights Reserved.]
TO
Te^ Eev. G. U. pope, m.a., d.d.,
I DEDICATE THESE PAGES
AS A TOKEN
OF SINCERE GRATITUDE FOR ASSISTANCE
RECEIVED
IN MY TAMIL AND TELUGU STUDIES.
M. DE Z. WiCKREMASINGHE.
Pi
Li^c;-^
PREFACE. )°l^h
The present work is chieflyintended for the use of thosewhowish
to acquire a knowledge of the grammar of colloquial Tamil within a
comparatively short time, either Tor practical purposes or as the
preliminary to a thorough study of the language.
Particularlybearing in mindstudentswhoworkwithout a teacher,
I have devoted some pages whollyto the subject ofpronunciation,and
have given the transliteration of all the Tamil words occurring in the
grammar, side by side with the native character. This will enable
the beginner gradually to acquire the Tamil character as he proceeds
with the studyof thegrammar itself,therebyavoiding aneedless waste
of time and trouble.
The chapter on euphonic changes will specially appeal to those
who ha\e a philological turn of mind; for this gives the key to the
solution of many difficulties that beset an ordinary student in the way
of analysing Tamil words and sentences and of mastering their
relationship to one another.
1 have added a few exercises in translation into and from the
Tamil, followed bya key; also aTamil-English vocabularycontaining
not only all the words found in the text of the grammarand in the
exercises but also very many others that are in common use. For a
regular series of progressive exercises in the Tamil character the
student is referred to Dr. Pope's Handbook, published by the Oxford
Clarendon Press.
Such are the scope and the arrangement of the present work, and
it only remains for me now to acknowledge my manifold indebtedness
lo Dr. G. U. Pope, who has guided my Tamil and Telugu studies, and
to whom this work is dedicated. My thanks are also due to the
present editor of the Self-Taught Series of Languages, for many
valuable suggestionsand emendations.
M. DE ZILVA WICKREMASINGHE.
IndianInstitute,
Oxford, September, 1906.
—
P.S. A companion volume, " Tamil Self-Taught," will be
published shortly, and will include an English-Tamil alphabetical
vocabulary, in addition to a large number of vocabularies and con-
versations classified according to subject. These two works will
enable one speedily to acquire as much Tamil as is necessary for
business purposes,andalso to lay a scientific foundation for the serious
study ofTamil literature.
304
PBEPATORY NOTE
By the Rev. G. U. Pope, m.a., d.d.
The author of this grammar has asked me to write »
few words of introduction to it. It gives me much pleasure-
to say that on carefully examining it I find that it gives a
very correct and lucid summary of the chief facts of the
spoken language, and that it will be a valuable introduction,
to the larger books. It cannot be too strongly impressed,
upon the student that every word must be connected in the-
mind with some useful sentence, which must be repeatedly
written and pronounced. Nothing will compensate for the
absence of this mechanical drill. It is of real importance
that the student should carefully note the pronunciation of
the Tamil character ^ when it occurs singly in the middle
of a word, as explained on page 9 otherwise the use of
;
the transliterative symbol d for this sound of the letter
might be a stumbling-blojk. I sincerely hope that the book
may have a wide circulation and that in any future edition^
;
ill may be substituted for d,
G. U. P.
Oxford, 1906.
CONTENTS.
PART
I.
GRAMMAR and SYNTAX.
PAOE
The Alphabet and Pronunciation ... ... ... 7
Vowels ... ... ... ... ... ... 8
Consonants ... ... ... ... ... ... 9
SylJabics ... ... ... ... ... ... 11
Conventional Characters ... ... ... ... 13
Phonetic Pronunciation ofTamil ... ... ... 14
Rules of Euphony ... ... ... ... ... 17
The Sounds of the Tamil Alphabet ... ... ... 18
Vowels with Vowels ... ... ... ... ... 19
Vowelswith Consonants ... ... ... ... 20
Consonants with Vowels ... ... ... ... 21
Consonants with Consonants ... ... ... ... 21
The Pauts of Speech ... ... ... ... ... 25
Articles ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Nouns ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Gender and Number ... ... ... ... ... 25
Declension ... ... ... ... ... ... 27
Pronouns ... ... ... ... ... ... 29
Personal ... ... ... ... ... ... 29
Demonstrative ... ... ... ... ... 32
Interrogative ... ... ... ... ... 34
Reflexive ... ... ... ... ... ... .34
Distributive... ... ... ... ... ... 34
Adjectives ... ... ... ... ... ... 35
DerivativeNouns ... ... ... ... ... 36
Numerals ... ... ... ... ... ... 88
Cardinals ... ... ... ... ... ... 38
Ordinals ... ... ... ... ... ... 40
Fractions ... ... ... ... .... ... 41
Verbs 41
Tenses ... ... ... ... ... ... 41
The Negative ... ... ... ... ••• 44
Models ... ... ... ... ... ... 47
6 CONTENTS.
Verbs, continued.
PAGE
Participles ... ... ... ... ... ... 5^^
Verbal and Abstract Nouns ... ... ... ' ... 55-
Infinitive Mood ... ... ... ... ... 58
Imperative Mo6"d ... ... ... ... ... 59
Potential, Optative, and Desideiative Verbal Forms ... 60
VerbalForms signifying Condition and Concession ... 62
Auxiliaryand Defective Verbs ... ... ... 61
Passive Voice ... ... ... ... ... 67
Causative and Denominative Verbs ... ... ... 68'
Adverbs ... ... ... ... ... ... 69
^
Postpositions ... ... ... ... ... ... 69
Conjunctions ... ... ... ... ... ... 70
Interrogatives... ... ... ... ... ... 71
Emphatic Particles ... ... ... ... ... 72
Interjections ... ... ... ... ... ... 73
Syntax ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 74
Subject ... ... ... ... ... ... 74
Object ... ... ... ... ... ... 75
Predicate ... ... ... ... ... ... 76
Adverbial Clauses ... ... ... ... ... 77
Comparison ... ... ... ... ... ... 73
Quotations ... ... ... ... ... ... 79
Ellipsis ... ... ... ... „, ,.. 80
PART
II.
EXERCISES
81
KEY
to the Exercises ... ... ... ... ,„ 85
PART
III.
TAMIL-ENGLISH VOCABULARY '
... 91
