Translation:Tolkappiyam/Case systems

by Tolkappiyar

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Source in Tamil

• Note

1. The first serial number denotes the verse in the whole literature Tolkappiyam .
2. The second one denotes the verse in the Second section of the literature.
3. The third one denotes the verse in the part of the literature dealt here.

Translation Example to the verse, cited by Elamburanar, an interpreter to the literature ‘Tolkappiyam’ who belongs to 11th century A.D. and others is given indented star-mark.

This chapter speaks on the case systems.

Class types

• There are seven classes, the learned say. 546, 63, 1
• Vocative, that signals one addressed, includes eight in number. 547, 64, 2
• First – nominative case, second - case, third – instrumental case, forth – dative case, fifth – ablative case, sixth – genitive case, seventh – locative case and eighth – vocative case. 548, 65, 3

First – nominative case

• The nominative case is a name. 549, 66, 4
• The nominative case ends in predicate that designates: agentive role, optative mood, performance, interrogation, attribute, substitute, etc. 550, 67, 5
• The nominative case ends also in noun-phrase. 551, 68, 6
• Names of three (first, second, third) persons end in their respective form of predicate. 552, 69, 7

The processor of adding case morphemes

• The case morpheme is added to the preceding noun. 553, 70, 8
• Noun does not time sense save to added predicate. 554, 71, 9

Accusative case

• The second case, ‘ai’-morpheme always afford with object. The declension of the obje4ct will be: protect, compare, ride (a vehicle), make (build), scare away, praise, despise, acquire, lose, love, anger, conquer, rejoice, learn, sever, shorten, gather, divide, weigh, measure, count, change, reach, advance, be accustomed to, lock at, fear, urine, etc. 555, 72, 10

Instrumental case

• The third case, ‘odu’-morpheme makes the agentive or instrumental function. The function bears: the material case of a thing, the defining attribute of the noun, the instrument of an action, the becoming due to a given case, an object that facilitate an exchange, an object being mixed with another, a common verb for one accompanying another, different verbs for one pairing with another, one pairing with another of contrasting nature, one that informs the state of limbs and sense, one that defines the cause of things, etc. 556, 73, 11

Dative case

• The fourth case, ‘ku’-morpheme makes the recipient wherever it is. It concords with words: that are indirect object or of recipient function, the terminal object of an action, subjecting oneself or consenting to an action, thing or quality apportioned and assigned to an object, that which takes the transformation, that which goes in consonance with another, the case of an effect, indication of friendship, enmity, love, eminence, etc. 557, 74, 12,

Ablative case

• The fifth case, ‘in’ morpheme, stands in relation to another. It occurs with declination of nouns: color, shape, measure, taste, coolness, hotness, fear, goodness, evil, smallness, largeness, hardness, softness, ferocity, agedness, youth, superiority, inferiority, novelty, oldness, source (of becoming), absence, possession, small, going without, multitude, fewness, detachment, etc. 558, 75, 13

Genitive case

• The sixth case, ‘athu’-morpheme, makes the possessive in subjective genitive and objective genitive. It is the declination of noun and pronoun goes with the words in concord that do indicate: a thing or person’s being, possession, kinship, relation of things to one another, deed done, consummation, occupation, instrument, companionship, document, the whole, limb of a whole, collection, structured composition, state, residence, etc. 559, 76, 14

Location case

• The seventh case, ‘kan’-morpheme points the context of situational, temporal and spatial. It ramifies into [kaal], [pur’am], [agam], [ul’], [ul”ai], [kiil”], [mee’l], [pin], [saar], [ayal], [pudai], [thee’], [mun], [idai], [kadai], [thalai], [valam], [idam], etc. 560, 77, 15

Functional nature of case morphemes

• Case morpheme is linked in noun phrase as suffix. 561, 78, 16
• It correlates the noun with other portion of the sentence. 562, 79, 17