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Unit: 1, Lesson: 1
NounNounsentences
Simple sentences in Tamil can be made by joining two nouns or noun phrases without any linking or
copula verb. In such sentences the first noun acts as the subject and the second as the predicate.
Such predicates are called adjectival predicates because they act as modifiers to the subject.
1. ooo eJu
muruhanvaattiyaar
Murugan teacher
'Murugan is the teacher' or 'Murugan is a teacher!'
Here neither the link verb o 'LL' LLL LLL LLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLL o 'L' LL LLLLLLLL. It is possible to make
corresponding sentences with a determiner o and a 'be' verb, for example or
ooo o eJ oeJu LLLLLLL 'LLLLLLL LL LLLLLLL' LL Murugan is a teacher, but they are
used only in restricted contexts. (The main verb , which is a typical form of the Tamil verb
consists of the root verb (), tense suffix () and person, number and gender suffix ()). A
detailed discussion on forming Tamil verbs may be found in the section on present tense.
Sentence 1 can also be written as , where a shift in focus of the subject is
understood with a meaning that 'the teacher is Murugan' rather than 'Murugan is a teacher'. In most
cases the order of words in Tamil sentences is found to be flexible.
Pronounsandcorrespondingpossessive('oblique')forms
Class Pronouns
Possessive ('oblique')
form
I person singular o 'I' o 'my'
I person plural (inclusive) u ( ` 'LL' u ( u` 'LLL'
I person plural (exclusive) ao ( a` 'LL' ao (a` 'LLL'
II person singular
} 'LLL' o 'your'
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(impolite/intimate)
} 'LLL' o 'your'
II person plural (polite) }ao ( }a` 'LLL' ao (a` 'LLLL'
II person plural (equals) }u 'LLL' u 'LLLL'
III person singular masculine
(impolite/intimate)
o 'LL' o 'LLL'
III person singular masculine
(polite)
u 'LL' u 'LLL'
III person singular feminine
(impolite/intimate)
o (` 'LLL' o(` 'LLL'
III person singular
feminine/masculine plural/polite
uo (ca`
'they-human'
uo (ca` 'LLLLL
human'
Neuter singular _ 'LL' o (` 'LL'L'
Neuter plural 'LLLLLLLL.'
o{ 'LLLLL
neut'
Question word - human u 'LLL'
u{o
yaaroote'whose'
Question word - neuter _ 'LLLLL'
o{_
'whose' (its)
Noun-noun sentences in Tamil can also be made using demonstrative pronouns such as (itu) 'this',
_ (LLLL` 'LLLL' LLL., LLL LLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLL LLLL LL o (LL` 'LL', o (LL` 'LLLLLLLLLLLL', ao
- a 'LLLLLLLLLL' LLL.
_ o Leu
ituenputtaham
This my book
'This is my book!'
Changing the order as in would mean 'among a set of books the one that is referred is
my book'.
Similarly, each of these noun phrases can co-occur with adjectives as follows.
ao Leu Leu
a Leu Leu (spoken)
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Your book good book
'Your book is a good book
Questions can be made in a similar manner, but by the substitution of question words such as
(enna) 'what', (edu) 'which-thing', a (LLLLLL` 'LLLLL', u (LLLL` 'LLL' LLL Ln_{
L_ (LLLLLLLLL{LLLLLLL` 'LLLL'. In many instances, these words occur at the end of
sentences.
ao u o
a o o
Your name what?
'What is your name?
o u oo
o o oo
My name Valli?
'My name is Valli?
uo u _
ca o _
His/her {native town} which?
'Which is her/his native town?
uo u o
ca o o
His/her native town Palani
'His/her native town is Palani
NegationofNounnounsentences
The negative form of noun-noun sentences is made using the negative word occuring at the
end of the sentence. The use of this word is obligatory in all such negative sentences. It is also
necessary that this word must occur at the end of the sentence.
ao u _
a o _
Our {native town} Madurai not
'Our native town is not Madurai'
_ o Leu
_ o Leu
This my book not
'This is not my book'
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Dialogue:
Choose a partner and exchange greetings, ask each other's names and names of parents, ask about
what they have etc. Use the following words and expressions:
eu
a a
LL oea
eJ
_ o
_ o
u u
u u
TranslatethefollowingintoTamil:
1) My name is (your name).
2) My home town is (your home town).
3) There is a big temple in my home town.
4) That is a big temple in my hometown.
5) That temple is a small temple in our town.
6) The name of the temple is Sivan temple.
7) There is no big store in my town.
8) This book is a good book.
9) This is my pencil not yours.
10) That house is your house.
Dialogue:http://www.thetamillanguage.com/unit_01/section_A/lesson01.asp
South Asia Language Resource Center (SALRC)