Page:Tamil studies.djvu/391

364 pura &c.; relative pronouns like tat, mat, tava, &c. He has even added Sanskrit case terminations to Tamil nouns as in கரே, இவ் விடே ; and locatives in ங்கல் (correctly, 56 + Qov = in the place) make their first appearance. Awkward combinations of Sanskrit and Tamil words like Asgan4, snimador coot, வசத்வேனசெய்யுந்நு &c., and the arbitrary construction of Tamil words so as to obscure their derivations as in $(155600, 641506 orant, 2 flwrs, 648 Do, &c., were introduced by this writer. He followed no rules of grammar or vocabulary, because there was no grammar neither before nor after him in the Malayalam language. It is in his works that we find uninflected verbs largely used, though occasionally appear verbs with personal endings. It would be difficult for any one to read his works without a good knowledge of Sanskrit. To him the study of Malayalam meant the study of Sanskrit. We might boldly say that Ezhuttachchan was the first Malayalam writer who gave a death blow to Tamil his mothertongue. For this act of vandalism he is admired by the people of Malabar as the “Father of the Malayalain classical literature,

The latest writer we have to deal with is Unnayi Variyar who lived about A.D. 1750. His Nalacharitam is an admirable production. Though he was a good Sanskrit scholar like Ezhuttachchan, he has not spoilt his work by introducing into it too much Sanskrit. His setting of Sanskrit slokas is choice and his use of the Manipravala style is graceful. In the two passages