Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s6.t9.40

c28.s6.t9.40

Even though *atai* is regarded here as a variant of *antai*, the possibility of reading *atai* as *attai* by doubling the consonant *-t-* cannot be ruled out. The existence of *attai* as a masculine honorific may be inferred from the name *añci-y-attai makaḷ nākaiyār* 'Nākai, the daughter of Añci-y-attai' (author, *Aka.* 352). The traditional reading and interpretation, *attaimakaḷ* 'aunt's daughter', is doubtful, as invoking such an unusual relationship in describing a person is not met with elsewhere. Apparently *attai* as a masculine honorific went out of use to avoid the confusion with the more common *attai* (fem.) 'aunt'.