Manual on Tamil grammar

NANNOOL - A PERCEPTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH: Muthukrishna Sripathi; Mohamed Sathak College of Arts and Science, Chennai-600115. Rs. 2000.

NANNOOL, POPULAR for its brevity and clarity, has been a standard manual on Tamil grammar, composed by the Jain ascetic and scholar, Pavanandi, patronized by the chieftain, Amarabharana Siyaganga, ruler of the Gangadesa in Karnataka, under the suzerainty of Kulothunga Chola III ( 1178-1218 A.D.).

The text has been initially commented upon by another Jain scholar, Mayilainathar, deemed to be the author's disciple. Subsequently, many commentaries were written by specialists, including Sankaranamasivayar, to elaborate the contents with copious illustrations from Tamil classics.

Nannool, in its present form has two divisions, viz., ``Ezhuthuathikaaram'' and ``Collathikaram'' dealing with the essentials of phonology, morpho-phonemics, parts of speech and sentence structure. Though the author has closely studied the ancient Tamil grammar, Tolkappiyam, and incorporated in his text at least six sutras from it, his treatise varies widely from it in discussing the distribution of phonemes and different grammatical categories, indicating the drastic linguistic changes and developments which took place in the onward march of Tamil language.

Closely following Kumarila Bhatta (650 A.D.), who in his Tantravarttika permitted the assimilation of Tamil words into Sanskrit, if they were given Sanskrit terminations, Pavanandi had formulated the rules for absorbing Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali words within the fold of Tamil usages, in a separate chapter with the title, ``Padaviyal''. This section also analyses the various components of a word and their significance. The scholars are of the opinion that Tolkappiyam was descriptive, while Nannool has been prescriptive. It is pertinent to note that the latter distanced all other manuals on the subject written later.

The translator of this reputed text has adopted the possible modern techniques to explicate the contents of the aphorisms, bringing forth the genius of Pavanandi. The original text is given first, followed by a split version, for easy scanning and identification of the words. Then follows the transliterated forms and the free rendering of the aphorisms in intelligible English prose. He has also presented in English, the examples and quotations, cited by the learned commentators. Those who are interested in Tamil grammar and linguistics may be benefited by this splendid translation. However, the price of the book is very exorbitant.

S. N. KANDASWAMY

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