Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s21.t3.3

c23.s21.t3.3

A frequent honorific affix (masc.). It can occur as an independent word either before a personal name as in *aṉtai pikaṉ* (No. **20**) or after as in *kuvira-aṉtai* (No. **32**) or as a bound suffix as in *korṟantai* (No. **67**). The honorific signifies the seniority or status of the member of a family or group. It is to be noted especially that *-antai* as a bound suffix also serves as an honorific and does not mean 'father of' as interpreted in Tamil grammatical tradition. The variant *atai* (for *antai* or *attai*) occurs in a couple of inscriptions (Nos. *30* & *56*).