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The author of this grammar has asked me to write a few words of introduction to it. It gives me much pleasure to say that on carefully examining it I find that it gives a very correct and lucid summary of the chief facts of the spoken language, and that it will be a valuable introduction, to the larger books. It cannot be too strongly impressed, upon the student that every word must be connected in the mind with some useful sentence, which must be repeatedly written and pronounced. Nothing will compensate for the absence of this mechanical drill. It is of real importance that the student should carefully note the pronunciation of the Tamil character த் when it occurs singly in the middle of a word, as explained on page 9; otherwise the use of the transliterative symbol ḏ for this sound of the letter might be a stumbling-block. I sincerely hope that the book may have a wide circulation ; and that in any future edition th may be substituted for d,

G. U. P. Oxford, 1906.