CHAPTER - V - TAMIL - THE ARCHAEO MODERN INTELLECTUAL LANGUAGE

 T-A-M-I-L

THE ARCHAEO MODERN INTELLECTUAL LANGUAGE

CHAPTER - V

 

 

Introduction

In the previous chapter, we have seen about the formation of vowel sounds in Tamil language and how it was declared by Tholkaappiar in the relevant poems of his famous work Tholkaappiam.

In this chapter, we will see about the formations of consonant sounds of Tamil language with reference to Tholkaappiam poems.

Formation of Vallinam and Mellinam:

We have seen earlier that the eighteen consonant sounds of Tamil are divided into three groups viz. vallinam, mellinam and itaiyinam and each group has six consonants. Tholkaappiar has mentioned about the formation of mellinam sounds in his following poem.

Mellezuththu aarhum pirhappin aakkam

Colliya palhlhi nilaiyina aayinum

Mookkin valhi icai yaappurha thoandrum – poem no. 18

The above poem means that, although the six mellinam consonants have the same place of sound generation as that of vallinam consonants, they will form only when the articulated air passes through the nose. That means, the mellinam sounds are of nasal type and can be jointly articulated with vallinam consonants. Hence, Tholkaapiar also submits the formation of vallinam and mellinam consonants jointly in the following single poems.

Formation of consonants k and ng:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam clealy informs about the formation of the vallinam consonant k and mellinam consonant ng.

Kakaara ngakaaram muthalnaa anhnham – poem no. 7

The above poem means that, both these consonants form by the contact of the muthalnaa i.e. the rear stout portion of the tongue with the anhnham, i.e. palate of the mouth. When we try to make these sounds, we can notice that, the rear stout portion of the tongue rises upward and touches the back portion of the palate. Since ng is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonants c and gn:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vallinam consonant c and mellinam consonant gn.

Cakara gnakaaram itainaa anhnham – poem no. 8

The above poem means that, both these consonants form by the contact of the itainaa i.e. middle portion of the tongue with the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the middle portion of the tongue rises upward and touches the middle portion of the palate. Since gn is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonants t and nh:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vallinam consonant t and mellinam consonant nh.

Takaara nhakaaram nuhninaa anhnham – poem no. 9

The above poem defines that, both these consonants form by the contact of the nuhninaa i.e. tip of the tongue with the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the tip portion of the tongue rises upward and touches the front portion of the palate. Since nh is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonants th and n:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vallinam consonant th and mellinam consonant n.

Anhnham nanhnhiya pal muthal marunkil

Naa nuhni paranthu meyyurha orhrha

Thaam inithu pirhakkum thakaara nakaaram – poem no. 11

The above poem defines that, both these consonants form by the contact of the parantha nuhninaa i.e. flattened tip portion of the tongue with the conjunct front portion of the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the tip portion of the tongue rises upward and gets flattened by hitting / pushing  the conjunct front portion of the palate i.e. the place where the front row of upper teeth joins with the palate. Since n is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonants p and m:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vallinam consonant p and mellinam consonant m.

Ithaz iyainthu pirhakkum pakara makaaram – poem no. 15

The above poem defines that, both these consonants form by the joining of the upper and lower lips. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the lower jaw of mouth moves upwards and the lower lip joins with the upper lip thus closing the mouth. Since m is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonants rh and hn:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vallinam consonant rh and mellinam consonant hn.

Anhari nuhninaa anhnham orhrha

Rhaqkaan hnaqkaan aayirantum pirhakkum – poem no. 12

The above poem defines that, both these consonants form by the contact of the bent nuhninaa i.e. bent tip of the tongue with the front portion of the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the tip of the tongue rises upward, leans backward and touches the front portion of the palate. Since hn is a mellinam consonant, it should be articulated through the nose.

Formation of consonant y:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of itaiyinam consonant y.

Anhnham caerntha mitarhrhu ezu valhi icai

Kanhnhurhrhu ataiya yakaaram pirhakkum – poem no. 17

The above poem defines that, this consonant forms by the reaching of the articulated air to the front portion of the palate. When we try to articulate this sound, we can notice that, the middle portion of the tongue rises upward and gently pushes the articulated air to the front of the palate.

Formation of consonants r and z:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of itaiyinam consonants r and z.

Nuhninaa anhari anhnham varuta

Rakara zakaara aayirantum pirhakkum – poem no. 13

The above poem defines that, these consonants form by the caressing of the raised nuhninaa i.e. tip of the tongue, with the middle portion of the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the tip of the tongue rises upwards, touches and caresses the middle portion of the palate gently. We can also notice that, when the tip of the tongue caresses the palate from back to front, the consonant z forms and consonant r forms when the tip of the tongue caresses the palate from front to back.

Formation of consonants l and lh:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of itaiyinam consonants l and lh.

Naa vilhimpu veenki anhpal muthal urha

Aavayin anhnham orhrhavum varutavum

Lakara lhakaaram aayirantum pirhakkum – poem no. 14

The above poem defines that, these consonants form by the touching and caressing actions of the nuhninaa i.e. tip of the tongue, with the conjunct front portion of the palate. When we try to articulate these sounds, we can notice that, the edges of the tongue get bulged and touches the bottom of upper row of teeth, the tip of the tongue rises upwards, touches and caresses the conjunct front portion of the palate gently. We can also notice that, when the tip of the tongue touches the conjucnt front palate, consonant l forms and consonant lh forms when the tip of the tongue caresses the conjunct front palate gently upwards.

Formation of consonant v:

The following poem of Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of itaiyinam consonant v.

Pal Ithaz iyaiya vakaaram pirhakkum – poem no. 16

The above poem defines that, this consonant forms by the joining of the upper row of teeth with the lower lip. When we try to articulate this sound, we can notice that, the lower jaw moves upward and the top row of teeth touches the lower lip.

Summary:

We can find all the aforesaid formations of consonant sounds of tamil language in a summarised table form as given below.

 

Consonants	Place of origin	Organ of origin	Method of origin	Position of origin
K, ng (nasal)	Rear palate	Rear tongue	Touching	Opening
C, gn (nasal)	Middle palate	Middle tongue	Touching	Opening
T, nh (nasal)	Front palate	Tip of tongue	Touching	Opening
Th, n (nasal)	Conjunct front palate	Flattened tip of tongue	Pushing	Opening
P, m (nasal)	Lips	Lips	Touching	Closing
Rh, hn (nasal)	Front palate	Bent tip of tongue	Touching	Opening
Y	Front palate	Middle tongue	Raising	Opening
R, Z	Middle palate	Bent tip of tongue	Caressing	Opening
L	Conjunct Front palate	Tip of tongue	Touching	Opening
Lh	Conjunct Front palate	Tip of tongue	Caressing	Opening
V	Lips	Upper teeth	Touching	Closing

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CHAPTER - IV - TAMIL - THE ARCHAEO MODERN INTELLECTUAL LANGUAGE

 

T-A-M-I-L

 The Archaeo Modern Intellectual Language

 CHAPTER - IV

 

 Introduction

In the previous chapters, we have seen about the archaeic nature of Tamil language,   which is quite compromising with the second syllable description of TAMIL (The Archaeo Modern Intellectual language). We have also seen that Tamil is the only FHL of the world, developed and used the early Cavemen.

Before going to the third syllable definition of TAMIL, i.e. Modernity, we will see about the fourth syllable description i.e. Intellectuality of Tamil language in this chapter.

Intellectuality of a Language:

What does the Intellectuality of a Language mean?. What characters of a language determine whether that language is intellectual or not?. First we will see the answers for these questions.

The Intellectuality of a language is determined by the following characters of that language.

1.  Grouping of voiced sounds based on the science of human sound generation.

2.  Allocation of voiced sounds to notify specific verbs based on the position of sound generators of human body.

3.  Formations of primary and secondary words from the combinations of root words, purely on scientific basis.

We will see the intellectuality of Tamil language based on the above characters one by one under separate headings.

Grouping of Tamil sounds:

Present Tamil has the following two groups of voiced sounds:

a)  Vowels – a, aa, e, ee, o, oo, eh, ae, ai, oh, oa, au

b) Consonants – k, c, t, th, p, rh, y, r, l, v, z, lh, ng, gn, nh, n, m, hn

The eighteen consonants shown above are further sub divided into three groups as given below:

Vallinam       : k, c, t, th, p, rh

Mellinam       : ng, gn, nh, n, m, hn

Idaiyinam      : y, r, l, v, z, lh

Science of voiced sounds:

In general, humans generate different voiced sounds using different voice generators including nose, tongue, teeth, lips and palate of their mouth. As per the present Linguistic scenario, voiced human sounds are classified into various types including Nasal, Palatal, Labial, Dental, Alveolar etc. based on the place of sound generation.

Modern science of linguistics uses various technologies to identify the exact place of sound generation inside the mouth. Several efforts are also made to understand how different sounds are produced inside the mouth by varying the contacts of the sound organs inside the mouth.

On the other hand, the mechanism of sound generations inside the mouth along with the contact positions of sound organs was clearly written by a great Tamil scholar named Tholkaappiyar even before three thousand years in his famous work, Tholkaappiam. We will see below about the details written by Tholkaappiar about the voiced sound generation.

Tholkaappiam and Sound generation:

In the Pirhappiyal chapter of Tholkaappiam, he briefly explains about how the voiced sounds are generated within human body in the following poem:

Unthi muthalaa munthu valhi thoandri

Thalaiyinum mitarhrhinum negncinum nilaiyi

Pallum ithazum naavum mookkum

Anhnhamum ulhappata enhmurhai nilaiyaan

Urhuppu urhrhu amaiya nerhippata naati

Ehllaa ehzuththum collum kaalai

Pirhappin aakkam vaerhu vaerhu iyala

Thirhappata theriyum kaatci aana – poem no.1

The meaning of the above poem is given below:

The primal air, which evolved from the abdomen, by staying in lungs, throat and head and articulated by teeth, lips, tongue, nose and palate, thus totalling to eight varieties, generates sounds by varying contacts of organs, and hence to explain the generation of sounds, the differential nature of sound formation needs to be evaluated carefully.

Definitions and Criteria in Tholkaappiam:

Before we see the various poems in Tholkaappiam about tamil sounds generation, we need to know about the definitions of some technical terms used in Tholkaappiam.

Annpal          : This term refers to the top row of teeth.

Muthalnhaa   : This term refers to the stout portion of    

   tongue

Itainhaa        : This term refers to the middle portion of

  the tongue

Nhuninhaa    : This term refers to the tip of the tongue

Thokaappiam also describes about the following four criteria involved with the voiced sound formation.

1.  Place of sound formation

Example: palate, nose etc.

2.  Organ of sound formation

Example: Tongue, Lips etc.

3.  Method of sound formation

Example: touching, caressing etc

4.  Position of sound formation

Example: opening, closing etc.

 

Formation of Tamil vowels: 

Tholkaappiam describes about the formation of vowel sounds in tamil language as follows:

a aa aayirantu ankaanthu iyalum – poem no: 3

The above poem means that, the vowels a and aa will form by simply longitudinal opening the mouth. That means, the primal air evolved from abdomen due to our speaking effort, passes through and vibrates the throat muscles and finally gets out of mouth in open condition thus producing a and aa sounds. In this position, the mouth appears to be opened longitudinally’.

The formation of the vowel sounds e, ee, eh, ae, ai is described in Tholkaappiam in the following poem.

e ee eh ae ai ena icaikkum

appaal ainthum avatru oar anna avai thaam

anhpal muthalnaa vilhimpu urhal utaiya – poem no 4

The above poem means that, the five vowel sounds e, ee, eh, ae, ai form in the same position of mouth like that of a and aa, differing in the way of annpal touching the edges of the muthalnhaa. That is, when we try to articulate these sounds, the lower jaw moves upwards and the top row of the teeth touches the edges of the stout portion of the tongue. At this position, the mouth appears to be opened laterally wide.

The formation of tamil vowels o, oo, oh, oa, au is described in Tholkaappiam in the following poem.

o oo oh oa au ena icaikkum

appaal ainthum ithaz kuvinthu iyalum – poem no 5

The above poem means that, the vowel sounds o, oo, oh, oa, au are formed by the process of closing the lips in a convergent condition. That is, when we try to make these sounds, both the lips move forward, converge at the centre leaving just a small opening for the escape of articulated air from the mouth. In this position, the mouth appears to be closed by the converged lips.

In the previous poems 3, 4 and 5 of Tholkaappiam, we have seen that, the vowels are formed in three different positions of mouth i.e. longitudinal opening, lateral wide opening and convergent closing. In each position of the mouth, two or more vowels are formed. Hence, to differentiate a vowel from another which also formed in the same position of mouth, tholkaappiar has written the following poem.

Thaththam thiripae cirhiya enpa -  poem no. 6

The above poem means that, although more than a vowel forms in the same position of mouth, very little and insignificant changes in the method of articulation leads to the slight variations in the sound.

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