for its pronunciation is to 'apply the tip of the tongue as far back as you can to the palate and pronounce a rough r in which a sound of 2 will mingle.' This is only an English rendering of the Naunul sutra,—
அண்ணநுனிநா வருடாழவரும்.
Even the Tamils cannot pronounce this letter correctly, and in some districts they substitute ள, ய, and ஸ for it or omit it altogether. In Madras ய and ஸ are used by the lower classes, while in Madura and Tinnevelly ள is preferred. I presume that it was this letter which frightened Mr. J. C. Molony and led to his remark on the Tamil language, which any Tamilian would resent, notwithstanding his indirect compliment to the people that speak it. 'Few would call Tamil beautiful ; yet its great harsh words, that one can almost bite as they pass the teeth, the stubborn inelasticities of its construction, suggest a certain doggedness in the people who have subdued such an untractable organ to their daily use.' (C.R.p.7) The letter ற has the sound of a rough r and ற் ற that of tr. The sounds of ந and ன are almost identical and it may be supposed that the second ன is redundant. But their origin shows a slight variation and justifies the necessity for the existence of both, because ந is a dental while ன is a palatal letter.
In Tamil no distinction is made between an accent, and an emphasis or intonation. There is only one word in the Tamil language which changes its meaning by the accent or intonation, that is தபு, tapu.
