Lesson - 4 : A05134

TAMIL DURING THE AGE OF
THE CHOLAS - MORPHOLOGY

From this lesson you can learn all about the literary and grammatical works, stone and copper inscriptions, records and other documents, which tell us of the changes brought about in the words of the Tamil language during the age of the Cholas.

    The Chola period belongs to the medieval age. During this time, there was an all-round growth in economy, culture, art and the Tamil language. Saivism, Vaishnavism, Jainism and Buddhism made significant literary contributions which enriched Tamil literature. Because of this, the Chola period may be considered as the Golden Age of Tamil Literature. Naturally, several changes took place in Tamil. There was a mixture of Manippravaalam in the literary works of that age. Several grammatical works based on Sanskrit grammar appeared in Tamil also.

    When we compare Chola Tamil with ancient Tamil, we find important changes in the sounds, forms and grammar of the language. Notable among them is the change in the forms of the pronouns.

    For example:

        yaankal, naankal
        enkal, nankal
        neenkal, neerkal
        nunkal, unkal
        tankal, taankal
        avarkal, ivarkal

    There were changes in the forms of verbs also. Some were brought about by the influence of Sanskrit. Two ways in which Sanskrit words were adapted and absorbed into Tamil are ‘Tharpavam’ and ‘Tharsamam’.

    For Example:

        tarpavam - suki, poki, gnanam
        tarcamam - kamalam, kunkumam

    Thus this lesson gives you an account of the changes which took place in the Tamil language during the Chola period.