Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s3.3

c25.s3.3

*Tolkāppiyam*, the earliest extant grammar in Tamil, refers to the alphabet of thirty letters *a* to *ṉa* (*Tol. Eḻu*.1) and the *puḷḷi* (ibid. 15-16), indicating that the inner character of the writing at that time was the same as in the modern Tamil script. *Naṉṉūl*, the Tamil grammar (ca. 12th century *A.D.*) next only to *Tolkāppiyam* in importance, declares that "all letters are of ancient form" (*Naṉṉūl* 97). While linguistic changes with the passage of time are noticed in the grammatical treatises and the commentaries,¹ the original shapes of letters or their evolution with time are not referred to.