Page:Tamil studies.djvu/389

362 D155 (dense, thick) is only a vulgar form of Tam. S scor

S. Most of the Tamil words used in this extract, which are still current in Tamil, have become obsolete in Malayalam giving way to words of Sanskrit origin. Here the verbs are always inflected and the practice of dropping the personal endings has not yet come into existence. It is a translation of a Sanskrit work and Sanskrit words and expressions are freely used to the extent of about 50 per cent, though the grammar is throughout Tamil. On account of these peculiarities which bring it closer to Tamil, the author has been styled by Malayalam scholars rightly, perhaps wrongly, the Chaucer of Malayalam literature,

The second extract is from the Krishnappattu of Cherusseri Namburi (A. D. 1550). The author uses only one Sanskrit word (Caloofl) in the first quotation, which is written in pure colloquial Tamil. The only Malayalam peculiarities are som bor for gc0r267, 916157 for அங்கு and சொல்லினாள் for சொன்னாள். A Tamilian may not use அம்ம and செம்மே in poetry, because they are colloquial and considered slang in Tamil. In the second passage, the writer uses two Sanskrit words கார்ப்பாஸம் (cotton) and கூர்ப்பாஸம் (coat), which no Tamil writer will ordinarily use. The rest are Tamil words, some being slightly modified. bubunyi is Qunu go, ,:51 is gis g. Though the author was a Brahman Sanskrit scholar he has not used so many Sanskrit words as Kannassa Panikkar, because the work was primarily intended for females and ordinary readers. The Krishnagatha is written