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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c27.s23: 7.20 Nouns

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c27.s23

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7.20 Nouns

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Nouns are names of people, places or things. From the grammatical point of view, nouns and pronouns are characterised by gender, number, person and especially case.

7.20.1 Classification of nouns

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Nouns occurring in the Corpus may be classified as proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns comprise personal names and place names, and the remaining are common nouns. (Participial nouns and verbal nouns are discussed in sections 7.30 & 7.31.)

7.20.2 Personal names (N.)

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These are listed in the Index to Personal Names (Appendix II). The Index lists personal names and segments of names in alphabetical order. Names in the feminine gender are marked (fem.), the rest being in the masculine gender.

7.20.3 Place names (P.)

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These are listed alphabetically in the Index to Place Names ( Appendix III).

7.20.4 Common nouns (n.)

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These are included in the Inscriptional Glossary (Appendix I) and again in the Etymological Indexes (Appendices IV-VI).

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| **Monosyllabic stems** | | | | VCVC: | | | |
| V: | *a-* | 'that' | 45.3.a | | *akaḻ* | 'tank, moat' | 76.3.a |
| | *i-* | 'this' | 13.3 | VCCVC: | | | |
| | *o* | 'to be agreeable' | 79.1.a | | *antay* | 'honorific (masc.) | 77.2.b |
| V̄: | *ā* | 'to be' | 41.2 | CVCV: | | | |
| | *ī* | 'to give' | 12.3 | | *piṟa* | 'to be born' | 49.3 |
| VC: | *il* | 'in, place' | 33.1.b | | *puli* | 'tiger' | 118.1.b |
| | *uḷ* | 'inside' | 60.2.b | | *veḷi* | 'open space' | 7.1.b |
| | *em* | 'our' | 19.1 | CV̄CV: | | | |
| V̄C: | *ūr* | 'village' | 19.2 | | *kōḻi* | 'cock' | 112.5 |
| CV̄: | *kā* | 'to protect' | 58.2 | | *cēri* | 'hamlet' | 112.2.b |
| | *kō* | 'king' | 61.6 | CVCCV: | | | |
| CVC: | *kal* | 'stone' | 61.15 | | *paḷḷi* | 'hermitage' | 83.6 |
| | *cey* | 'to make' | 49.7 | CVCVC: | | | |
| | *nel* | 'paddy' | 16.5 | | *kaṭal* | 'sea' | 1.7.a |
| | *poṉ* | 'gold' | 36.2.a | | *pokaḻ* | 'fame' | 83.1.b |
| CV̄C: | *kōṇ* | 'chief' | 73.4 | **Stems with three syllables** | | | |
| | *nīr* | 'water(course)' | 120.2.a | VCVCV: | | | |
| | *nōl* | 'to do penance' | 115.7 | | *erumi* | 'buffalo' | 49.1.a |
| | *mēl* | 'western' | 112.2.a | CVCVCV: | | | |
| **Stems with two syllables** | | | | | *muciṟi* | 'a place name' | 56.3 |
| VCV: | *aṇi* | 'that which is joined' | 44.2.b | CVCVCVC: | | | |
| | *iḷa-* | 'young' | 17.1.a | | *matiray* | 'a place name' | 36.1 |
| V̄CV: | *ēri* | 'lake' | 60.4 | | | | |
| VCCV: | | | | | | | |
| | *aṇṇi* | 'honorific (fem.)' | 83.4.c | | | | |
| | | | | (V: short vowel; V̄: long vowel; C: consonant) | | | |

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Table 7.3. Syllabic structure of stems in the Early Tamil inscriptions in the Corpus.

7.20.5 Appellative nouns

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Appellative nouns form a special category of nouns in Tamil to express various qualities or properties. They are derived from noun-, verb- or adjectival stems by the addition of pronominal (PNG) suffixes. Most of the appellative nouns in the Corpus serve as personal names (see section 4.19.1). Some of the appellative nouns occur as common nouns:

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| *iḷayar* | 'young persons' (clan title) < *iḷamai* 'youth' | 49.6 |
| *kiḻār* | 'owner (honorific singular)' < *kiḻa-mai* 'ownership' | 84.2 |
| *paṇa-aṉ* | 'servant' < *paṇ* 'to work' | 1.6 |
| *parampaṉ* | 'cultivator' < *parampu* 'to flatten land for cultivation, land so flattened' | 84.1.a |
| *poṉ-kolvaṉ* | 'goldsmith' < *kol* 'smith, blacksmith' | 36.2 |
| *ta(c)caṉ* | 'carpenter, stonemason '< *taccu* 'carpentry, stone masonry' | 73.8, 117.3.b |
| *nikama(t)tōr* | 'members of a merchant guild' < *nikamam* 'merchant guild' | 6.2. |

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