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TAMIL STUDIES

come at the end of Tamil words. But as Nacchinarkiniyar has observed the examples for eighteen of these (namely, டே, டோ, ணே, ணோ, தெ, மே, யி, யீ, யு, யே, ரே, லே, ழே, ழோ, ளே, ளை, றே, and றோ) are not to be found in any Tamil dictionary.

MIDDLE LETTERS: In the middle of Tamil words the letters க, ச, த, ப, ங, ஞ, ந and ம coming after the consonants ய், ர் and ழ் must double. Of these ர் and ழ் will not come after short vowels or consonants, nor can they double in any position. In poetry ன் and ம் may join together as in போன்ம். The letters க, ச and ப will follow ட், ற், ல் and ள் ; and ய and வ may come after ல் and ள். After nasal consonants will come their corresponding surds. The seven letters க, ச, ஞ, ம, ய and வ may join with ண் and ன். Combinations of letters like ஞ்ய, ந்ய, ம்ய, ல்ய, ள்ய, வ்ய and ம்வ were tolerated in Tamil words, but are now obsolete. And the consonants ய், ர் and ழ் may precede க, ங, ச, ஞ, த, ந, ப, ம, ய and வ.

The remaining two subjects, namely, the word-building and word-combination (கிளவியாக்கம் and புணர்ச்சி ) will be dealt with in the next essay.