Page:History Of Tamil Lexicography.pdf/5



Lexicography has now grown into a separate branch of study in European languages. In Tamil too we have had lexicons or dictionaries from time immemorial, but we have no book giving an elaborate account of all of them in Tamil. We find only a brief account of a few Nikandus and Dictionaries in the Tanil Lexicon of the Madras University, in the "கலைக் களஞ்சியம்" (Kalai Kallanchiyam) (Tamil Encyclopaedia) and in the research-articles of Thiru. S. Vaiyapuri Pillai.

So a book giving detailed information about the different lexicons written by various poets or scholars for three thousand years has been a desideratum. In order to supply this need, I undertook the task of doing some research in the field of Tamil Lexicography. I took great pains to collect as far as possible all the details relating to the different lexicons that are now available, and I have written a book entitled "தமிழ் அகராதிக் கலை" - Thamizh Akaraathi Kalai (Tamil Lexicography) which, I hope, will serve as a good reference book. This research work of mine is now being published. So far as I know, I think that no bock of this sort has ever been published and that mine is the first great research work in the field of Tamil lexicography.

I have translated the above said book into English, and this English translation entitled "History of Tamil Lexicography" is very concise and it is only one tenth of