Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c27.s39: 7.36 Interjections
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c27.s39
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7.36 Interjections
c27.s39.1
Interjections are exclamatory words expressing strong emotions like wonder, surprise, etc. The following interjections occur in the Corpus:
c27.s39.2
*ittā-a* 'lo, behold, look here !' 1.4 *ītā* 'lo, behold, look here !' 2.4, 16.1
c27.s39.3
The interjections *itā* and *ītā* occur in Literary Tamil in the same sense; the latter is regarded as more ancient. While *ittā* is not attested elsewhere, it may be regarded as a variant of *itā*. The two forms recorded in the Corpus seem to be derived from the proximate demonstrative pronoun *iḵtu* 'this':
c27.s39.4
*iḵtu* + *ā* > *ittā* / *ītā*.
c27.s39.5
The loss of *ḵ* is compensated by the doubling of the following consonant in *ittā-*, and by the elongation of the preceding vowel in *ītā*. The elongation *-ā-a* in *ittā-a* to further emphasise the sense of wonder seems to be a case of *uyiraḷapeṭai* (vowel elongation). See Commentary (1.4 & 2.4) for further discussion.