Tholkappiam: The Ancient Grammar Prof K V Balasubramanian Tholhappiam laa,cllfotrlow,ed the traditionaX grarmrnatieal regulatrions of severarlthor,rsand years. trn its baekdrop, a iong -qrammmrtieal rtra'di iom hadl been aXive whictrr has providec] enormnous naater,iatr [o huild up tnae first avaitrahle gramamatieal freatise. The Taneils are forfilnate ito ree ver ThoXkappiarn intaet wirthout any tr'oss whi,ch has eseapecl from h,Lrge detruges that usurpeel many varluabne.w,orks of th,eir gloriours aneestors. holkappiam, a grammatical treatise in Tamil The Antiquity of Tholkappiam is the most ancient one, the age of which The Archaeological and historical evidences prove is considered by most as the fifth or sixth that Tholkappiam had emerged some two thousand century B.C.r No other contemporary work five hundred years ago when the whole of the lndian is available. The massive devastations that took place in subcontinent was ruled by several kings and chieftains. the seas of the Southern Peninsula had wiped off large Tholkappiam states that the Tamil land was ruled by quantities of palm leaf manuscripts which contained many 'three famous munificent patrons' (aLaiot1s,1p goeun). In the works of grammar and literature. Tholkappiam itself in prefatory verse of Thoikappiam, there is the mention of the the course of prescribing rules and regulations for various name of the Pandya king 'do6oo /o"Si urcoirr4uair' (one genres of literature and classifications of grammar refers to many ancient works which we do not know in detail.2 1. Winking of eyes and snapping of flngers is the measure ofsound in pronunciation as enunciated by scholars of minute perception.3 2. When 'th' comes, the stay of three-dotted letter .t is not a fault according to scholastic.a 3. The glorious scholars had devised and stated emphatically as parts of a poem.5 4. The verse, commentary book, utterance, riddle, satire, proverb, all the seven that in vogue inside the four boundaries ofthe three glorious patrons are said as the prosodic regulations by scholars.6 5. The scholars have poeticised that the aphorism is of multifaceted use.7 Above such references are made in 230 places of Tholkappiam. It is beyond all doubts that Tholkappiam had followed the traditional grammatical regulations of several thousand years. It has not sprouted up suddenly from a barren track. In its backdrop a long granrmatical tradition had been alive which has provided enorrnous material to build up the first available grammatical treatise, the Tholkappiam. The author is Former Hearl of the Deparlment, Department of Literature, Tamii Univcrsity, Thanjavur. Email: ve lavanbalu06(r)gmail.com 10 YOJANA F'ebruary 2021 - who afforded pandya the land). The king has afforded the dwelling sites to the Tamil people who had lost their land in a vast deluge. An apparent reference to this is found in 'Kalitokai', one of the Sangam classical anthologies. As the waves oJ'the seas abound to usurp the lancls, the southern king of unweariedfame, with his might not shrinked went over the enemies to seize their land removed the tiger and bow emblems ancl stamped with carps This great deluge had _ devastated a huge landed area which had immersed under the Indian dcean. Hence, there was the necessity to colonise the landless people. The prefatory verse ofTholkappiam denotes the southem .Kumari, boundary of Tamil land was which actually represents the Kumari hills. In those days, the Tamil land existed between the Venkatam hills and Kumari hills. Before the advent of Tholkappiam, the land in the south had been fuither extended largely and was close to the Australian continent. The Indus Valley civilisation is of the ancient Tamil speaking people, and the script found there, deciphered by Rev. Fr. Heras and Sir John Marshal, cleariy shows the identiry wirh rhe Tamil existing scripr. Tholkappiar speaks of the script form of certain letters and they aie deveioped from the Indus Valley script. ln the Indus Valley script, consonants do not have dots over them. In Tholkappiam, as a later development the same letters are said to have dots. Prof. Nilakanta Sastri also endorses this above_stated 'The view nature ofconsonants is to have dots, of Prof. Ramachandran.12 Nandas are also refered to in Sangam poetry. Tholkappiam had emerged Askoparpola and Iravatham Mahadevan long before had stated the the period Indus of Mauryas and Nandas. script is the native product and they are owned by Tamils.e Tholkappiar states how the two letiered word.*.b1 The Prefatory Verse which means the funeral rifual, changes in coalescence.r0 prefatory A verse to Tholkappiam rendered by one This clearly tells the Tamils of ancient Tamil land are Panamparanar, a contemporary to Tholkappiar provides used to bum the dead. The excavations of Indus Valley the following valuable information in fifteen also lines of the show the same practice. So the linguistic and cultural verse. tenets show that Tholkappiam had its origin from many l. The Tamil land in ancient sources, including that ofthe Indus Valley. the age of Tholkappiam is in between the norlhern Among Venkata hills and the the eight anthologies of Sangam age, southern Kumari. This Kumari 'Ahananuru'. denotes the hills that refers in three verses to the invasion of disappeared later. Maurya kings over the southern region. When the invasion took place? 2 Tholkappiam deals with the written and spoken Tamil versions that prevailed in Tamil land. "The Mauryan invasion of the Tamil country could be J. Tholkappiam is a three-fold placed therefore roughly behveen 29g B.C. uri ZIZ g.C. work dealing with the alphabets, the reign period of Bindusara.,,rL words, content and form. 4. Tholkappiar had referred to the ancient Tamil works and collected all appropriate materials of his Tholkappiar speaks of rhe scripr form age and of anthologised into an impeccable dissertation. certain letters and they are developed from the 5. Tholkappiam was presented before the learned lndus Valley script. In the Indus Valley script, audience of the pandya king named Nilamtharu consonants do not have dots over them. ln thriuvil Pandian. The Chairperson at that time was Tholkappialr, as a later development the same Athankottu Asan. This Athankottu Asan had been an Ietters are said to have dots. exponent of ethical justice and had mastery in the four Vedas. YOJANA February 2021 1t "t ar5 6. Tholkappiar had mastery over the Indhra Vyakarna. gl gGI 7 . The author of Tholkappiam is Tholkappiar, which is his g ff E- sE i T t, I proper name, and the work by him is named with that. Structure and Composition of the Work 6r 6I 6A E a7 tPs.. e e ai 6 Tholkappiam is a grammatical work and it is composed ? oIthree major divisions. They are: d, thr 6 €b L 6UUr 1. EluththuAthikaram (oqry$g@snrb) - the chapter ka *a (a fra fa na on the alphabets. * Ih U n: 1U 2. Col Athikaram {6le.nar,al,Sa$gil) - the chapter on t* pa tt1a ya v the words &) 6ir 6fi fn 3. Porul Athikaram (6urqgar@ansb) - the chapter * ry on the content and form. The breathing air starting from the navel 1. Eluththu Athikaram (arlggg$ailsb) The stays in the head, throat and chest, Chapter on the Alphabets. activated by the teeth, lips, nose and palate I i This chapter on the alphabets of the Tamil language, with that eight types of affiliations, contains nine subdivisions. In these, it tells about the the birth ofall the letters, having different identities, following. the occurrence happens to know.la The thirfy primary letters starting from 'a'to 'n'. The pronunciation of each letter is thus accurately determined. The three dependant letters, the short u, the short 'e'and Coalescence three dotted letters 'Aytham'.13 of Letters The thirty primary letters contain twelve vowels Tholkappiam reseryes six sections of the first chapter and eighteen consonants. The twelve vowels, in their to the coalescence of Tamil letters. In those, it enunciates the following: turn, contain five short vowels and seven long vowels. Among the consonants, there are three varieties: hard L Which letter will coalesce with which letter? consonants, soft consonants and medieval consonants. 2. The occurring ofhard consonants in the coalescence. The vowels and consonants combine to form vowel consonants, 12 x 18:216. 3. When two vowels coalesce, the process of assimilation (prevention of hiatus). The sound of each letter is measured as one, and the measurement is called 'ao$Scrl,s' (The winking of eyelids 4. The loss of a vowel or consonant when two words and snapping of fingers). coalesce. A word in Tamil is formed by letter or letters. Single- 5. One consonant turns into another consonant in the lettered words, double lettered words, and multi lettered combination of words. words are commonly found. Rules are there stating, what Tholkappiam points out the three major changes in are the first occurring letters in a word, and the letters at the combination of words. They are: Change of consonant the end and the sequence ofletters in a word are all stated $afuESlprg6i), Addition of a consotant (6tgsd) and in the first chapter. Elision of a consonant (@wailq) .In addition to these three, The Birth of Letters the fourth one that is without any change (6)-ut,J) is also mentioned. The most important feature of this first chapter is 'the birth of letters.'In this, the aphorism is noteworthy. Thus, the first chapter narrates about-the letters, the formation of words and the changes in the combination of In Porul Atlrikaram, the two rnaior divisions words. called the Ahathrhinai (subject matter dealing 2. Col Athikarap (6rrclar@ansb) - The Chapter on with the divine love and farnily life) and the Words Puraththinai {subiect matter dealing with the This chapter deals mostly with the four kinds of heroism, munificence, honour, friendship and words.