பக்கம் எண் :

132THE PRIMARY CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

(i) The remote demonstrative - ƒ or a
(ii) The proximate demonstrative -, or i.
(ii) The frontal demonstrative - or u.

      The mouth actually points, by its wide opening when producing the sound ƒ, to a remote place or object in the opposite direction; by the drawing back of the lips when producing the sound ,, to a place or object in the lateral proximity; and by the protruding of the lips when producing the sound u, to a place or object in the immediate front of the speaker.

      Thus, all the three demonstrative sounds have originated in Tamil only as oral pointers, and with the exception of the frontal demonstrative which has become obsolete, are unfailingly performing their functions even to this day, while their derivatives in other languages, especially in the West Aryan and Vedic Aryan, have become so corrupted as to become not only inconsistent but also indistinct and disguised.

      All the vowels in Tamil seem to have originated only in their long form, and become short later on during the Inflexional stage of development of the language.

      Tolkƒppiyam, which is only a copy of earliesr grammatical works for the most part, says

      “ Ne——eut t„‰„ †reut torumoi” (43)

      (Only the seven long vowels can serve as mono-literal or monosyllabic words), and

      “kuŠŠeut taindun moiniŠai bilav.” (44)

      (All the five short vowels cannot be perfect words)

      All the three demonstrative vowels occur only in their long form, in the most ancient words or usage.