[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Archaeology, epigraphy and coins](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy) › [Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003) › c22.s2.t3 # Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c22.s2.t3: 3.2.3 Grammatical elements Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c22.s2.t3 - **Language:** English ### 3.2.3 Grammatical elements ### [c22.s2.t3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.1) (i) \*Pronouns\* (e.g.) Personal pronouns: \*em\* 'our' (exclusive). Demonstrative pronominal bases: \*a-\* 'that'; \*i-\* 'this'. Numeral pronouns: \*iruvar\* 'two persons'. ### [c22.s2.t3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.2) (ii) \*Numerals\* (e.g.) \*iru-\* 'two'; \*patiṉ-\* 'ten' (oblique); \*nūṟu\* 'hundred'. ### [c22.s2.t3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.3) (iii) \*Interjections\* (e.g.) \*ītā\* 'lo, behold!' ### [c22.s2.t3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.4) (iv) \*Particles\* (e.g.) \*-um\* 'also, too'; \*-ē\* 'emphatic particle' ### [c22.s2.t3.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.5) (v) \*Grammatical morphemes\* ### [c22.s2.t3.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.6) There are about 38 types of grammatical morphemes in the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions including pronominal (PNG) suffixes, suffix of the oblique case, case-endings, causative suffixes, tense markers, suffixes of the participial and verbal nouns, suffixes of the adjectival participles and suffix of the infinitive.¹ ### [c22.s2.t3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.7) ¹ See section 7.38 and Appendix VII (Index to Grammatical Morphemes) for details. ### [c22.s2.t3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.8) (vi) \*Rare grammatical usages\* ### [c22.s2.t3.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.9) (a) \*Absence of finite verbs:\* ### [c22.s2.t3.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.10) A remarkable feature of the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions is the absence of finite verbs, their place being taken by participial nouns or adjectival participles. (e.g.) \*antuvaṉ koṭupitavaṉ\* 'Antuvaṉ caused to be given'. \*(i)ḷaṅkō ceypita paḷi-i\* 'hermitage caused to be made by (I)ḷaṅkō'. ### [c22.s2.t3.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.11) (b) \*Absence of present tense:\* ### [c22.s2.t3.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.12) The Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions have only two tenses, the past and the non-past, and no present tense, agreeing in this respect with Old Tamil. The present tense in Tamil is a later development. ### [c22.s2.t3.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.13) (c) \*Rare grammatical morphemes:\* \*-a\* occurs as the accusative case suffix in \*itta\* 'this' (LT \*ittai\*). \*-a\* is the most common genitive suffix in the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions. (e.g., \*ciḻivaṉ-a\*, \*tiṭi-il-a\*, etc.). This suffix occurs only rarely in Old Tamil. \*-ā\* occurs as a genitive case suffix. (e.g.) \*nalliy-ūr-ā\* 'of Nalliyūr'. ### [c22.s2.t3.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.14) This morpheme is not attested elsewhere in Tamil. However, it occurs as a genitive suffix in Old Kannada inscriptions. ### [c22.s2.t3.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3.15) \*-ā\* occurs as an adjectival suffix in \*mutā\*/\*mūtā\* (\*mutu\*/\*mūtu\*+\*ā\*) 'senior, elder'. This morpheme is also not attested in Tamil. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c22.s2.t3) · Pramāṇa