Page:Tamil studies.djvu/186

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
PLACE OF TAMIL IN PHILOLOGY
159

It will be seen from the examples given above that the formative elements or terminations are all post-positions, and that the roots rarely change their forms, barring the shortening or lenthening of verbs as in கண்-காண், விடு-வீடு, and the slight consonantal changes peculiar to Tamil euphony.

On the other hand, the terminations used to form derivative bases in Sanskrit are of two classes :—

(1) Krt or primary affixes which are added to verbs to form nouns, adjectives, &c. For example, karah (the hand) is the noun form of kri, to do; chur (to steal) becomes chorayat, stealing ; ukta is the adjectival form of vach, to speak; and ishta from yaj, to sacrifice, &c., Prepositions are prefixed to roots to form nouns, &c., as in a-kash, nis-chitya, vij-kri, &c.

(2) The taddhita or secondary affixes are added to substantives to form secondary nominal bases. One studying Vyakarana is a vaiyakarani ; that which is made by a kulala is kaulalakam ; father of pita is pitamaha ; son of Dakshi is Dakshayanah ; son of Agni is Agneyah ; a herd of hastin is hastikam; belonging to Panini is Panineya ; one possessing vak is vachalah, &c.

A comparison of the terminations or affixes used to form words, and of the methods of forming them, in Tamil and Sanskrit will convince the reader that they differ in both languages. The taddhita class, especially, is characteristic of Sanskrit, and it was only the lack of the historic sense, so common among the Tamil grammarians, that led the author of Prayoka