Editing Tamil language (section)

== Grammar ==<!---
NOTE:
Before editing this page for unicode errors please check your OS configuration for complex character support. You can check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:INDIC and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)
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{{Tamils}}
{{Dravidian}}
{{Listen
| type          = speech
| header        = Tamil tongue twisters.
| filename      = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி வாக்கியம் 7.ogg
| title         = ல-கரம், ழ-கரம்.
| description   = <small>'குலை குலையாய் வாழைப்பழம், மழையில் அழுகி கீழே விழுந்தது.'</small>
| filename2     = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி 2.ogg
| title2        = (பேச்சுத் தமிழில்)  ந-கரம், ட-கரம்.
| description2  =<small>கொக்கு நெட்ட கொக்கு. நெட்ட கொக்கு இட்ட முட்ட, கட்ட முட்ட.</small>
| filename3     = Tamil tongue twister.ogg
| title3        =  ழ-கரம்.
| description3  = <small>ஏழை கிழவன் வாழைப் பழத் தோல் மேல் சருசருக்கி வழுவழுக்கி கீழே விழுந்தான்.</small>
| filename4     = நா நெகிழ் பயிற்சி வாக்கியம் 10.ogg
| title4        = ல-கரம், ள-கரம்.
| description4  =<small>'அவள் அவலளந்தால், இவள் அவலளப்பாள். இவள் அவலளந்தால், அவள்  அவலளப்பாள். அவளும் இவளும் அவல் அளக்காவிட்டால்,  எவள் அவலளப்பாள் ?'</small>
}}

{{main|Tamil grammar}}

Tamil employs [[Agglutination|agglutinative]] grammar, where suffixes are used to mark [[noun class]], [[grammatical number|number]], and [[Grammatical case|case]], verb [[grammatical tense|tense]] and other grammatical categories. Tamil's standard [[metalanguage|metalinguistic]] terminology and scholarly vocabulary is itself Tamil, as opposed to the [[Sanskrit]] that is standard for most [[Indo-Aryan languages]].<ref name="metalanguage_zvelbil">{{citation |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |title=The Smile of Murugan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF2VMUoY_okC&pg=PA4 |publisher=BRILL |year=1973 |page=4 |isbn=978-90-04-03591-1}}</ref><ref>Ramanujam, A. K.; Dharwadker, V. (eds.) (2000) ''The collected essays of A.K. Ramanujam'', Oxford University Press, p. 111. {{ISBN|0-19-563937-5}}</ref>

Much of Tamil grammar is extensively described in the oldest known grammar book for Tamil, the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]''. Modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th-century grammar ''{{IAST|Naṉṉūl}}'' which restated and clarified the rules of the ''Tolkāppiyam'', with some modifications. Traditional Tamil grammar consists of five parts, namely ''{{IAST|eḻuttu}}'', ''{{IAST|col}}'', ''{{IAST|poruḷ}}'', ''{{IAST|yāppu}}'', ''{{IAST|aṇi}}''. Of these, the last two are mostly applied in poetry.<ref name="five_parts_grammar">{{citation |title=Five fold grammar of Tamil |url=http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil/lit.html |url-status=dead |work=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=1 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609115617/http://www.southasia.upenn.edu/tamil/lit.html |archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref>

Tamil words consist of a [[lexeme|lexical root]] to which one or more [[affix]]es are attached. Most Tamil affixes are [[suffix]]es. Tamil suffixes can be [[Morphological derivation|derivational]] suffixes, which either change the part of speech of the word or its meaning, or [[inflection]]al suffixes, which mark categories such as [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical mood|mood]], [[Grammatical tense|tense]], etc. There is no absolute limit on the length and extent of [[agglutination]], which can lead to long words with many suffixes, which would require several words or a sentence in English. To give an example, the word ''pōkamuṭiyātavarkaḷukkāka'' (போகமுடியாதவர்களுக்காக) means "for the sake of those who cannot go" and consists of the following [[morpheme]]s:

{{fs interlinear|indent=2
|போக  முடி  ஆத்  அ  வர்  கள்  உக்கு  ஆக
|pōka  muṭi  āt  a  var  kaḷ  ukku  āka
|go accomplish {{gcl|NEG|negation}}.IMPRS PTCP {{gcl|NMLZ|nominalizer ("he/she who does")}} PL to for
|}}

=== Morphology ===

<!---
NOTE:
Before editing this page for unicode errors please check your OS configuration for complex character support. You can check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:INDIC and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)
--->

Tamil nouns (and pronouns) are classified into two super-classes (''{{IAST|tiṇai}}'')—the "rational" (''{{IAST|uyartiṇai}}''), and the "irrational" (''{{transliteration|ta|ISO|akṟiṇai}}'')—which include a total of five classes (''pāl'', which literally means "gender"). Humans and [[deity|deities]] are classified as "rational", and all other nouns (animals, objects, abstract nouns) are classified as irrational. The "rational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of three classes (''pāl'')—masculine singular, feminine singular, and rational plural. The "irrational" nouns and pronouns belong to one of two classes: irrational singular and irrational plural. The ''pāl'' is often indicated through suffixes. The plural form for rational nouns may be used as an [[honorific]], gender-neutral, singular form.<ref name="classes_of_nouns">{{Citation

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AfwCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Classes+of+nouns+in+Tamil%22&pg=RA1-PA156
| title = Classes of nouns in Tamil
| access-date =1 June 2007
| publisher = Trübner
| last1 = Caldwell | first1 = Robert
| year = 1875}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|-
|colspan="5" style="background: #f2f2f2;"  align="center"|'''peyarccol (Name-words)'''<ref name="classes_of_nouns2">{{citation
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AfwCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Classes+of+nouns+in+Tamil%22&pg=RA1-PA156
| title = Classes of nouns in Tamil
| access-date = 1 June 2007| last1 = Caldwell
| first1 = Robert
| year = 1875
}}</ref>
|-
|colspan="3" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''''uyartiṇai'''''<br />(rational)
|colspan="2" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''''aḵṟiṇai'''''<br />(irrational)
|-
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''āṇpāl''<br />Male
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''peṇpāl''<br />Female
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''palarpāl''<br />Collective
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''oṉṟaṉpāl''<br />One
|align="center" style="background: #f9f9f9;"|''palaviṉpāl''<br />Many
|-
|colspan="5" style="background: #f2f2f2;" align="center"|'''Example: the Tamil words for "doer"'''
|-
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavaṉ''<br />He who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavaḷ''<br />She who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavar(kaḷ)''<br />They who did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytatu''<br />That which did
|align="center" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|''ceytavai''<br />Those ones which did
|}

Suffixes are used to perform the functions of [[Grammatical case|cases]] or [[postposition]]s. Traditional grammarians tried to group the various suffixes into eight cases corresponding to the cases used in [[Sanskrit]]. These were the [[nominative case|nominative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[dative case|dative]], [[sociative case|sociative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], [[instrumental case|instrumental]], [[locative case|locative]], and [[ablative case|ablative]]. Modern grammarians argue that this classification is artificial,<ref name='CaseMarkerZvelebil'>{{citation|title=Dravidian Case-Suffixes: Attempt at a Reconstruction|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|date=April–June 1972|first=K. V.|last=Zvelebil|volume=92|issue=2|pages=272–276 |jstor=600654|quote=The entire problem of the concept of "case" in Dravidian will be ignored in this paper. In fact, we might posit a great number of "cases" for perhaps any Dravidian language once we departed from the familiar types of paradigms forced upon us by traditional, indigenous and European grammars, especially of the literary languages. It is, for instance, sheer convention based on Tamil grammatical tradition (influenced no doubt by Sanskrit) that, as a rule, the number of cases in Tamil is given as eight.|doi=10.2307/600654}}</ref> and that Tamil usage is best understood if each suffix or combination of suffixes is seen as marking a separate case.<ref name="Standard restandard" /> Tamil nouns can take one of four [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefixes]]: ''i'', ''a'', ''u'', and ''e'' which are functionally equivalent to the [[demonstrative]]s in English. For example, the word ''vazhi'' (வழி) meaning "way" can take these to produce ''ivvazhi'' (இவ்வழி) "this way", ''avvazhi'' (அவ்வழி) "that way", ''uvvazhi'' (உவ்வழி) "the medial way" and ''evvazhi'' (எவ்வழி) "which way".

Tamil verbs are also inflected through the use of suffixes. A typical Tamil verb form will have a number of [[suffix]]es, which show person, number, mood, tense, and voice.
* Person and number are indicated by suffixing the [[oblique case]] of the relevant pronoun. The suffixes to indicate tenses and voice are formed from [[grammatical particle]]s, which are added to the stem.
* Tamil has two voices. The first indicates that the subject of the sentence ''undergoes'' or ''is the object of'' the action named by the verb stem, and the second indicates that the subject of the sentence ''directs'' the action referred to by the verb stem.
* Tamil has three simple tenses—past, present, and future—indicated by the suffixes, as well as a series of perfects indicated by compound suffixes. Mood is implicit in Tamil, and is normally reflected by the same [[morpheme]]s which mark tense categories. Tamil verbs also mark [[evidentiality]], through the addition of the hearsay [[clitic]] ''{{IAST|ām}}.''<ref name="steeverevidentiality">{{Citation |first=Sanford B. |last=Steever | editor-last=Güldemann | editor-first=Tom | editor2-last=von Roncador | editor2-first=Manfred | contribution=Direct and indirect discourse in Tamil |title=Reported Discourse: A Meeting Ground for Different Linguistic Domains |year=2002 |page=105 | place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company   |isbn=978-90-272-2958-8}}</ref> Verb inflection is shown below using example ''aḻintukkoṇṭiruntēṉ''; (அழிந்துக்கொண்டிருந்தேன்); "(I) was being destroyed".

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|-
|align="center"|''அழி''
|align="center"|''ந்து''
|align="center"|''கொண்டு''
|align="center"|''இரு''
|align="center"|''ந்த்''
|align="center"|''ஏன்''
|-
|align="center"|''aḻi''
|align="center"|''ntu''
|align="center"|''koṇṭu''
|align="center"|''iru''
|align="center"|''nt''
|align="center"|''ēn''
|-
|align="center"|'''root'''<br />destroy
|align="center"|'''transitivity marker'''<br />intransitive
|align="center"|'''aspect marker'''<br />continuous
|align="center"|'''aspect marker'''<br />continuous
|align="center"|'''tense marker'''<br />past tense
|align="center"|'''person marker'''<br />first person,<br />singular
|-
|}

Traditional grammars of Tamil do not distinguish between [[adjective]]s and [[adverb]]s, including both of them under the category ''uriccol'', although modern grammarians tend to distinguish between them on morphological and syntactical grounds.<ref name="lehmann1989">{{Citation |last=Lehmann |first=Thomas |title=A Grammar of Modern Tamil |year=1989 |publisher=Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture |location=Pondicherry|pages= 9–11}}</ref> Tamil has many [[ideophone]]s that act as adverbs indicating the way the object in a given state "says" or "sounds".<ref>{{Citation |last=Swiderski |first = Richard M. |title=The metamorphosis of English: versions of other languages |publisher=Bergin & Garvey |location=New York |year=1996 |page=61 |isbn=978-0-89789-468-5 }}</ref>

Tamil does not have [[article (grammar)|articles]]. Definiteness and indefiniteness are either indicated by special grammatical devices, such as using the number "one" as an indefinite article, or by the context.<ref name="steeversummary">{{Harvnb|Annamalai|Steever|1998|p=109}}</ref> In the first person plural, Tamil makes a distinction between [[Clusivity|inclusive]] pronouns {{lang|ta|நாம் }} ''{{IAST|nām}}'' (we), {{lang|ta|நமது}} ''{{IAST|namatu}}'' (our) that include the addressee and exclusive pronouns {{lang|ta|நாங்கள் }} ''{{IAST|nāṅkaḷ}}'' (we), {{lang|ta|எமது}} ''{{IAST|ematu}}'' (our) that do not.<ref name="steeversummary"/>

=== Syntax ===
Tamil is a consistently [[head-final]] language. The verb comes at the end of the clause, with a typical word order of [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV).<ref name="SOV_language">{{Citation|url=http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/lx001/Discussion/d02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030919235821/http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/lx001/Discussion/d02.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 September 2003 |title=Tamil is a head-final language |access-date=1 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_tml |title=WALS – Tamil |publisher=Wals.info |access-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> However, word order in Tamil is also flexible, so that surface permutations of the SOV order are possible with different [[pragmatics|pragmatic]] effects. Tamil has [[postposition]]s rather than [[prepositions]]. Demonstratives and modifiers precede the noun within the noun phrase. Subordinate clauses precede the verb of the matrix clause.

Tamil is a [[null-subject language]]. Not all Tamil sentences have subjects, verbs, and objects. It is possible to construct grammatically valid and meaningful sentences which lack one or more of the three. For example, a sentence may only have a verb—such as ''{{IAST|muṭintuviṭṭatu}}'' ("completed")—or only a subject and object, without a verb such as ''{{IAST|atu eṉ vīṭu}}'' ("That [is] my house"). Tamil does not have a [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] (a linking verb equivalent to the word ''is''). The word is included in the translations only to convey the meaning more easily.