HISTORY OF TAMIL LEXICOGRAPHY-8

i.e., 1763 A.D. It contains about 700 stanzas distributed under various eiukais. About 3200 homonyms are explained; and  etukais of different kinds are not mixed up. The work marks an improvement both in its vocabulary and in its etukai order

VEDAKIRIYAR-NIKANTU

Another work of this type which calls for notice is V„dakiriyar - nika--u. Its author was V„dagiri Mudaliyar of ka˜att‡r, who edited many Tamil works in the second  quarter of the last century. He improved the 11th section of Nika--u-c‡-ƒma-i and  made it into a separate treatise, nearly twice as long as the original, bringing the total number to 583 stanzas. This work was published by the jaffana  Society in 1842 A.D., the which the 'jaffna Dictionary' appeared. The author himself provided a clear commentary on each of the 2526 homonyms treated in his work.

NANARTTA-TIPIKAI

Nƒnƒrtta-tipikai1 is  also a work on homonyms exclusively. Its author was Muthuswami pillai of Tinnevelly. The date of the4 work is about 1850.  It deals mostly with Sanskrit homonyms and contains 1100 stanzas and about 5430 homonyms. The etukai arrangement is perfected; and unnecessary adjuncts, which obscure the meanings in other nika--u works, do not appear in this work.

ARIYA-NIKANTU

Yet another work on homonyms of Sanskrit origin is ƒriya-nika--u2. Nothing is known about it, except that it must have been composed in the sutra style, as is seen from a verse quoted by šaŒkara Pa-ditar N…rv„li in his Caiva-p-pirakƒca‹am.

VIRIVU-NIKANTU

V…rivu-nika--u3 is also a work on homonyms.  Its author was Aru-ƒchala Nƒvalar  of V…ravanall‡r. The probable date of this work is 1900. As  the manuscript is not good condition, it is not possible to ascertain its extent. But the last stanza in the copy available bears the number 1150. The homonyms are arranged under various etukais and there are a good number of local and professional terms. Of all the works on homonyms, this seems to be the largest