Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s17.t2: 6.17.2 Doubling of consonants in Tamil words

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s17.t2

Language: English

6.17.2 Doubling of consonants in Tamil words

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There are numerous examples, especially in the Early Period, of Tamil words written with single consonants in lieu of doubled consonants:¹

(e.g.) *aṟu(p)pi(t)a* (62.14), *u(p)pu* (39.¹.a), *ko(ṭ)ṭiy-avaṉ* (4.³), *ko(ṭ)ṭi-ōr* (6.3), *ko(ṟ)ṟi* (65.⁴.b), *to(ṭ)ṭa* (84.⁵), *tai(t)ta* (101.²), *pa(ḷ)ḷi-* (1.9), *ma(l)laṉ* (42.2.b), *vai(k)ka* (16.2);

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(cf. also) pi ṭā ṇa for *pi(ṭ)ṭaṉ* (13.2.c and in a legend on a coin from Sri Lanka²).

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The number of native words employing doubled consonants is more than that of such loanwords, especially in the Late Period and in the Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions. Of special interest are pairs with and without doubling of consonants in adjoining inscriptions proving conclusively that the doubled consonants were present in the spoken language:

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(e.g.) *koṟi*/*koṟṟi* (65.⁴.b & 66.4.b), *nali-*/*nalli-* (65.¹.a & 66.1.a), *paḷi-*/*paḷḷi* (89.4 & 88.1).

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A few of the numerous Tamil words written with doubled consonants are given below:

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(e.g.) *aṟaṭṭa* (60.7.a), *īttavaṉ* (12.³), *koṭṭupitta-* (1.8), *koṟṟantai* (67.¹.a), *ceyvittāṉ* (88.²), *nōṟṟa* (116.3), *peruṅkūṟṟaṉ* (88.6), *muṭitta* (115.8), *yāṟṟūr* (61.3);

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² See No. 6, Table 1.6.

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(cf. also) *cāttaṉ āvi*, *tevvaitattu* and *uttiraṉ* (pottery inscriptions from Arikamedu).³

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³ R.E.M. Wheeler *et al.* 1946: Figs. 46-47: Nos. 9 & 19; I. Mahadevan 1996a: No. 5.30 respectively. See also Table 1.5, Nos. 1 & 2 and Figs. 1.19A & B in this vol.

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*atiṇṇaṉ* (coin from Andippatti).⁴

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⁴ See No. 13, Table 1.6.

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*tittaṉ* (silver ring from Karur).⁵

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⁵ See No. 12, Table 1.8 and Fig. 1.24 D.

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There are also a couple of hypercorrect forms with doubled consonants in lieu of single consonants in Tamil words in the Early Period before the orthographic conventions settled down.

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(e.g.) *vaḷutti-* for *vaḷuti* (1.7.b), *mattirai-* for *matirai* (38.¹).

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¹ See Appendix IV for the word list.