1. SOME SENTENCE TYPES IN TAMIL
In Tamil, we have sentences of the following type:
| 1 | atu | viTT-iR-ku | var-um |
| 'it' | 'house- to' | 'come-will' |
| 'It will come to the house.' |
| 2 | avai | viiTT-iR-ku | var-um |
| 'they (non-hum)' | 'house- to' | 'come-will' |
| 'They will come to the house' |
-um expresses the future tense when the subject NP happens to be non-human. One may describe this situation that -um is the future tense marker and PGN is unmarked. I of tense (in this case) controls the subject NP of the sentence.
In negative sentences, when tense is future, the non-human suffix -tu occurs.
| 3 | atu | viiTT-iR-ku | var-aa-tu |
| 'it' | 'house-to' | 'come-neg.fut.-it' |
| 'It will not come to the house' |
| 4 | avai | viiTT-iR-ku | var-aa-tu1 |
| 'they (neut.)' | 'house-to' | 'come-neg. fut-they' |
| 'They will not come to the house.' |
Here -aa expresses both negation and future tense. But -tu occurs with both the non-human singular and plural NPs when they function as subjects. Under non-human, singular vs. plural distinction is not made.
2. POSITIVE SENTENCES
| PERSON | FUTURE | AGR (PGN) |
| III (-hum) | -um | 0 (zero) |
3. NEGATIVE SENTENCES
| PERSON | FUTURE & NEG | AGR (PGN) |
| III (-hum) | -aa | -tu |
4. PAST AND PRESENT SENTENCES
When we consider the past and present tenses, PGN markers are found for all three persons. First we take the III P and see what are the markers available.
PAST
| 5 | avan | viiTT-iR-ku | va-nt-aan |
| 'he' | 'house-to' | 'come-past-he' |
| 'He came to the house' |
| 6 | avaL | viiTT-iR-ku | va-nt-aaL |
| 'she' | 'house-to' | 'come-past-she' |
| 'She came to the house' |
| 7 | avar | viiTT-iR-ku | va-nt-aar |
| 'he/she' | 'house-to' | 'come-past 'he/she-hon' |
| 'She/he (hon) came to the house' |
| 8 | avarkaL | viiTT-iR-ku | va-nt-aarkaL |
| 'they (hum)' | 'house-to' | 'come-past-they' |
| 'They came to the house' |
| 9 | atu | viTT-iR-ku | va-nt-atu |
| 'it' | 'house-to' | 'come-past-it' |
| 'It came to the house' |
| 10 | avai | viiTT-iR-ku | va-nt-an-a |
| 'They' (non-hum.) | 'house-to' | 'come-past-they' |
| 'They came to the house' |
PRESENT
| 11 | avan | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kiR-aan |
| 'he' | `house-to' | `come-pres-he' |
| 'He came to the house' |
| 12 | avaL | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kiR-aaL |
| 'She comes to the house' |
| 13 | avar | viTT-iR-kuM | varu-kiR-aar |
| 'He/she (hon.) comes to the house also.' |
| 14 | avarkaL | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'They come to the house' |
| 15 | atu | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kiR-atu |
| 'It comes to the house' |
| 16 | avai | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kinR-an-a |
| 'They come to the house' |
-ar is an alternant marker for III P human plural.2
| 17 | avarkaL | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-kinR-an-ar |
| ' They come to the house' |
The basic division in III P is human vs. non-human (uyartiNai vs. akRiNai). Under non-human, we have singular vs. plural distinction. The same distinction (singular vs. plural) is maintained under human also. Under singular, the major division is honorific vs. non-honorific. The distinction between masculine and feminine comes under non-honorific.
5. POSITIVE SENTENCES
As far as negative sentences are concerned, we have already mentioned that, in future, the PGN marker -tu occurs after the negative marker. The negative marker -aa may be specified as
+Neg.
+Fut.
-Hum.
When the NPs marked as + human occur, the markers given above in the table come with the negative marker -maaTTu.
| 17A | avan | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a-maaTT-aan |
| 'he' | 'house-to' | 'come-inf.-neg. fut.-he' |
| 'He will not come to the house' |
| 18 | avaL | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a-maaTT -aaL |
| 'She' | 'house-to' | 'come- inf. -neg. fut. -she' |
| 'She will not come to the house' |
| 19 | avar | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a-maaTT - aar |
| 'He/she will not come to the house' |
| 20 | avarkaL | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a-maaTT -aarkal |
| 'They will not come to the house' |
There is no agreement when Tense is non-future. In the place of maaTTu and -aa, illai occurs with all human and non-human subject NPs in III P.
| 21 | avan | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'he' | 'house-to' | 'come-inf.- neg. non-fut.' |
| 'He did/does not come to the house' |
| 22 | avaL | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'She did/does not come to the house' |
| 23 | avar | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'He/she (hon) did/does not come to the house' |
| 24 | avarkaL (hon.) | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'They did/do not come to the house' |
| 25 | atu | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'It did/does not come to the house' |
| 26 | avai | viiTT-iR-ku | var-a(v)-illai |
| 'They (non-hum) did/do not come to the house' |
6. NEGATIVE SENTENCES
In IP and II P, gender distinction is not made. The distinction between singular and plural is found in all three persons.
| 27 | naan | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-v-een |
| 'I' | 'house-to' | 'come-fut.-I' |
| 'I will come to the house' |
| 28 | naankaL | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-v-oom |
| 'We (excl.)' | 'house-to' | 'come-fut.-we' |
| 'We will come to the house' |
| 29 | naam | viiTT-iR-ku(p) | poo-v-oom |
| 'We (Incl.)' | 'house-to' | 'go-fut.-we' |
| 'We will go to the house' |
| 30 | nii | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-v-aay |
| 'you' | 'house-to' | 'come-fut.-you' |
| 'You will come to the house' |
| 31 | niir | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-v-iir3 |
| 'you (hon.)' | 'house-to' | 'come-fut.-you' |
| 'You will come to the house' |
| 32 | niinkaL | viiTT-iR-ku | varu-v-iirkaL |
| 'you (pl.)' | 'house-to' | 'come-fut.-you' |
| 'You will come to the house' |
Besides singular vs. plural distinction, honorific vs. non-honorific distinction is recognized in II P. In I P plural, inclusive vs. exclusive distinction is made morphologically and not syntactically. i.e. though we have two different forms naam and naankaL to denote exclusiveness and inclusiveness, the marker -oom is found in both the cases (see examples 28-29).
7. CONJOINED NOUN PHRASES
When two noun phrases of different personal pronouns are conjoined, the agreement marker shows number and follows the principle of hierarchy of personal pronouns. Examine the following sentences in Tamil in which different personal pronouns are conjoined.
| 33 | naan-um | niiy-um | poo-v-oom |
| 'I-and' | 'you-and' | 'go-fut.-we' |
| 'I and you will go/you and myself will go' |
| 34 | naan-um | niiy-um | avan-um | poo-v-oom |
| 'I-and' | 'you-and' | 'he-and' | 'go-fut.-we' |
| 'He, you and myself will go' |
In (33), I P and II P are conjoined and the PGN marker is -oom which is originally a marker of I P plural. When I P and II P are conjoined, it is the I P that is on the top of hierarchy. In (34), all three personal pronouns are conjoined and the PGN marker is I P plural. If II P and III P were conjoined, then it is the marker of II P plural that will appear as PGN.
| 35 | niiy-um | avan-um | poo-v-iirkaL |
| 'you-and' | 'he-and' | 'go-fut.-you (pl.)' |
| 'You and he will go' |
In III P, hierarchy is maintained. III P human plural suffix is used when III P masculine and III P feminine NPs are used as the subject of a sentence.
| 36 | avan-um | avaL-um | poo-v-aarkaL |
| 'he-and' | 'she-and' | 'go-fut.-they(hum.)' |
| 'He and she will go' |
There is a possibility to conjoin the III P human NP and III P non-human NP. In that case, the principle of hierarchy predicts that the marker PGN will be III P human plural.
| 37 | taruman-um | naay-um | meelooka-ttiiR-ku | cen-R-aarkaL |
| 'Dharma-and' | 'dog-and' | 'upper-world- | 'go-past-they(hum. and non-hum)' |
| 'Dharma and the dog went to heaven' |
| 38 | eevaa:L-um | paamp-um | iRaivan-ai | etir-tt-aarkaL |
| 'Eve-and' | 'snake and' | 'God-acc.' | 'oppose-past-they (hum. and non-hum)' |
| 'Eve and the snake opposed God' |
-aarkaL is III P human plural that occurs as PGN marker with verb when a human and non-human NPs are conjoined in subject position.
8. DISJUNCTED NOUN PHRASES
The principle of hierarchy we mentioned in the preceding section holds good.
| 39 | naan-aavatu | niiy-aavatu | poo-v-oom |
| 'I-or' | 'you-or' | 'go-fut.-we' |
| 'Either I or you will go' |
| 40 | niiy-aavatu | avan-aavatu | poo-v-iirkaL |
| 'Either you or he will go' |
In (39), the IP Pl. marker occurs when both I P and II P NPs come as the subject of the sentence. Similarly when II P and III P NP are used disjunctively, the II P Pl. marker -iirkaL occurs with verb. The III P human pl. marker will be used if III P human NP and III P non-human NP were used disjunctively. Examples (41) and (42) exemplify this point.
| 41 | avan-aavatu | avaL-aavatu | poo-v-aarkaL |
| 'he-or' | 'she-or' | 'go-fut.-they (hum.)' |
| 'Either he or she will go' |
| 42 | aracan-aavatu | yaanaikaL-aavatu | kooTTai(y)-ai | aZi-pp-aarkaL |
| 'king-or' | 'elephants-or' | `fort-acc.' | 'destroy-fut.-they (hum. and non-hum)' |
| 'Either the king or the elephants will destroy the fort' |
As far as personal pronouns are concerned either conjoined or disjuncted, the principle of hierarchy may be shown as
I P > II P > III P (human)
9. NPs WITH DISTRIBUTIVE QUANTIFIERS
In Tamil the head N precedes the quantifiers such as ovvoru, ellaa, etc.
| 43 | ovvoru | maaNavan -um |
| 'every student' |
| 44 | ellaa | aaciriyarkaL-um |
| 'all teachers' |
In the following sentences we have the head nouns such as amaiccar 'minister', naTikai 'actress', etc. But we have -aarkaL, a marker denoting III P human pl. occurring in these examples.
| 45 | ovvoru | paNiyaaLar-um | lancam | vaankuvatu | illai | enRu | capatam | eTu-tt-aarkaL4 |
| 'every' | 'employee' | 'bribe' | 'getting' | 'not' | compl. | 'oath' | 'take-past-they (hum.pl.)' |
'Every employee took an oath that they will not take bribe.'
| 46 | ovvoru | naTikar-um | iyakkunar-ai | aaTTi(p) | paTai(k)-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'every' | 'actor' | 'director-acc.' | 'control-pres.- they (hum.pl.)' |
'Every actor controls the director.'
The occurrence of anaphora taan changes the scene.
| 47 | ovvoru | maaNavan-um | tana(k)-ku | veelai | kiTaikk-um | enRu | ninai(k)-kiR-aan |
| 'every' | 'student' | 'one-self-to' | 'job' | 'get-fut.' | compl. | 'think-pres.-he'. |
'Every student thinks that he will get (some) job.'
| 48 | ovvoru | aaciriyar-um | tankaL-ukku | patavi | uyarvu | kiTaikk-um | enRu | nampu-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'every' | 'teacher' | 'themselves-to' | 'job' | 'promotion' | 'get-fut.' | compl. | 'believe-pres.- they (hum.)' |
'Every teacher believes that he will get promotion in job/career.'
It seems that the head N aaciriyar and tankaL denote plural and therefore the marker -aarkaL occurs with verb in (48). In (47), the head N is masculine singular maaNavan and the anaphora tan is singular. So we have masculine singular suffix -aan with the verb.
There are sentences in which we have both III P masculine/feminine singular marker and also III P human plural marker.
| 49 | ovvoru | natikai(y)-um | iyakkunar-ai | aaTTippoti(k)-kiR- aaL |
| 'every' | 'actress' | 'director-acc.' | 'control-pres-III P Fem. sg' |
'Every actress controls the director.'
| 50 | ovvoru | naTikai(y)-um | iyakkunar-ai | aaTTippaTai(k)-kiR-aarkaL |
'Every actress controls the director.'
| 51 | ovvoru | maaNavan-um | tana(k)-ku | veelai | kiTaikk-um | enRu |
ninai(k)-kiR-aarkaL |
'Every student thinks that he will get a job.'
In both (48) and (49) naTikai is the head N. But we find -aaL, III P feminine singular marker occurring with the verb aaTTippaTai in (48). In (49), -aarkaL, III P human plural suffix is occurring with the verb though naTikai III P feminine singular comes as the subject of the sentence. Similarly, we have sentences (47) and (51) in which maaNavan III P masculine singular functions as the subject. The difference between these two sentences is that in (47) -aan III P masculine singular occurs where as in (50) it is -aarkaL III P human plural that occurs with verb.
We have a situation in which the N which is III P human masculine/feminine singular occurring with distributive quantifiers is controlled by both III P human singular and plural markers. Similar trend is observed between III P human honorific singular and III P human plural.
| 52 | ovvaru | kuTimakanum | taankaL | cutantiramaanavarkaL | enRu | karutu-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'every' | 'citizen' | 'they' | 'free- compl.' | 'consider-pres-III P hum. pl' |
'Every citizen considers that he is free.'
| 53 | ovvoru | kuTimakan-um | taan | cutantiramaanavan | enRu | karutu-kiR-aan |
'Every citizen considers that he is free.'
Both -aar and -aarkaL occur even though the NP functioning as the subject of (51) and (52) is kuTimakan.
10. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
In Tamil we have interrogative pronouns which are controlled by the AGR when they occur in subject position.
| 54 | evan | va-nt-aan? |
| 'who-(mas.sg)' | 'come-past-he' |
| 'Who came?' |
| 55 | evaL | va-nt-aaL? |
| 'who-(Fem.sg) | 'come-past-she' |
| 'Who came?' |
| 56 | etu | va-nt-atu? |
| 'which-(sg)' | 'come-past-it' |
| 'Which came?' |
| 57 | evai | va-nt-an-a? |
| 'which-(pl)' | 'come-past-they(non-hum.)' |
| 'Which came?' |
| 58 | evar/yaar | va-nt-aar? |
| 'who (hum.hon.sg.)' | 'come-past-he/she(hon.)' |
| 'Who came?' |
With yaar, we have not only -aar as the PGN marker but also -aarkaL which denotes III P human plural.
| 59 | yaar | va-nt-aarkaL? |
| 'who (hum. pl)' | 'come-past-they(hum.pl.)' |
| 'Who came?' |
yaar occurs with both human singular and human plural markers -aar and -aarkaL.
The word yaar is no more an interrogative word when -um or -aavatu is added with this yaar-um is used in the sense of anybody and yaar-aavatu somebody. We get these meanings only in positive sentences.
| 60 | yaarum | naaLai | varal-aam |
| 'anybody' | 'tomorrow' | 'come-may' |
| 'Anybody may come tomorrow' |
| 61 | yaaraavatu | naaLai | varu-v-aarkaL |
| 'somebody' | 'tomorrow' | 'come-fut.-they(hum.pl.)' |
| 'Somebody will come tomorrow' |
In negative sentences, we have PGN marker.
| 62 | yaarum | naaLai | var-a-maaTT-aarkaL |
| 'Nobody will come tomorrow.' |
When yaaraavatu is used, we do not get a simple negative sentence. Negation combines with interrogation.
| 63 | yaaraavatu | naaLai | var-a-maaTT-aarkaL-aa-Q' |
| 'Won't someone come tomorrow?' |
yaaraavatu is used as a part of NP in which case it expresses the meaning of 'some' i.e. it is a determiner which is indefinite.
| 65 | yaaraavatu | oruvar | naaLai | varu-v-aar |
| 'some' | 'one' | 'tomorrow' | 'come-fut.-he/she(hum.sg.)' |
| 'Some one will come tomorrow.' |
| 66 | yaaraavatu | naalvar | naaLai | varu-v-aarkaL |
| 'some' | 'four' | -they (hum.pl.)' |
| 'Some four will come tomorrow.' |
Here the AGR controls the head vs. naalvar and oruvar depending on linguistic contexts it is to be decided whether yaaraavatu is a determiner or head N. yaaraavatu when it occurs as head N is controlled by the III P human plural marker -aarkaL.
11. INFINITIVAL CLAUSES
There are sentences in Tamil in which an infinitival clause is embedded. Examine the following sentences.
| 67 | raaman | ciitai(y)-ai(p) | paarkk-a | neeriT-T-atu |
| 'Raman' | 'Sita-acc' | 'see-to' | `happen-past-it'. |
| 'Raman happened to see Sita.' |
In (67), the PGN is -atu and we have to interpret the infinitive clause as the subject of the sentence. We have -aan as the PGN marker in (68) in which case raaman has to be interpreted as the subject.
| 68 | raaman | ciitai(y)-ai(p) | paarkk-a | neeriT-T-aan |
| 'Raman happened to see Sita.' |
Treating infinitive clause as the complement of neeriTu will lead us to take the position that the subject NP of the matrix is empty and it is filled up by the movement of NP raaman. Agreement is compatible with the I (-aan) and the subject NP raaman. But, in (67), the PGN marker is -atu. It may control either the NP specified as (‹+III, -Hum. - pl.›) or S functioning in the subject position. Will we say that the infinitive clause is moved to the subject position and it functions as a subject? Example (69) and (70) are also of the same kind.
| 69 | kauTaa | kaankiras-in | piTivaatatt-aal | patavi(y)-ai | iZakk-a | veeNTiyiru-nt-atu |
| 'Gowda' | 'congress-of' | 'obstinancy-cause' | 'position-acc' | 'lose-to' | 'has-past-it' |
'Gowda had to lose the position due to obstinancy of Congress.'
| 70 | kauTaa | kaankiras-in | piTivaat-att-aal | patavi(y)-ai | iZakk-a |
veeNTiyiru-nt-aar |
In (69), -atu is found as AGR marker whereas in (70) -aar is occurring as AGR marker.
An alternative way of dealing with these cases is that the infinitival clauses may be generated in the subject position of NP. In one case, the AGR controls the subject at D-structure level and in another case it is at S-structure level. Here the VP is extraposed and adjoined to VP of the matrix leaving the NP of the embedded sentences in order to function the subject of the matrix sentence at S- structure level. The PGN marker -atu controls at D-structure level and -aan/-aar at S- structure level. At present I am not in a position to argue for any stand though the first goes closer to the current framework of the theory and the second closer to the intuitive analysis of the grammatical structure.
12. INDIRECT SENTENCES
In indirect sentences, the pro-form taan (or its variant forms) denotes III P singular and taankaL III P plural. But the PGN marker does not agree with these forms. It agrees with the subject NP of direct sentence.
| 71 | ciitaa, | "naan | raavaNan-ai(p) | paar-tt-een" | enRu | con-n-aaL |
| 'Sita' | 'I' | 'Ravanan-acc' | 'see-past-I' | comp | 'say-past-she' |
| Sita said, "I saw Ravanan." |
The indirect sentence of (71) will be
| 72 | ciitaa | taan | ravaNan-ai | paar-tt-een | enRu | conn-aL |
| | self | | | | | |
'Sita said that she saw Raavanan'
The pronoun naan of (71) is replaced by taan in (72). PGN marker in the embedded sentence is -een whether naan or taan functions as the subject NP. Further it appears that taan is not controlled by the PGN marker -een. The controlling mechanism operates at D- structure level. It may further be strengthened by more evidences.
| 73 | aracan | makkaL-ai, | "niinkaL | veeru | naaTT-ukku | ooTiviT-unkaL," | enRu | kuuR-in-aan |
| 'king' | 'people-acc.' | 'you' | 'other' | 'country-to' | 'run-you-pl.' | comp | 'say-past-he' |
'The king told (his) people, "you run away (from my country) to other country." '
| 74 | aracan | makkaL-ai | taankaL | veeru | naaTT-ukku | ooTiviT-unkaL | enRu | kuuR-in-aan |
'The king told his people that they run away to other country.'
The PGN marker -unkaL does not share the features of taankaL. One could say that the number agreement (singular vs. plural) is found between the PGN marker and the subject NP of the embedded sentence. It is also doubtful because we have sentences of the following kind.
| 75 | kaamaraajar | kaankiras | teertal-il | tooRRat-aR-ku | taan-taan-aa | kaaraNam-aaka | iru-nt-oom | enRu | varunt-in-aar |
| 'kamaraj' | 'congress-in' | 'election-in' | 'defeat-to/for' | 'self-emph-Q | 'reason' | 'be-past-we' | comp | 'feel-past-he(hon.)' |
'Kamarajar felt sad that he was responsible for the defeat of Congress in election.'
In (74) taan functions as the subject NP of the embedded sentence but the PGN marker is I P plural -oom. One may be led to take the position that the control AGR/INFL on the subject NP in these cases is at the level of D-structure. The position is also questioned when we examine passive sentences in later section.
13. NP OF OBLIQUE OBJECT
So far we were concerned with the AGR controlling the NPs in subject position though there were cases in which the control of AGR could be either D-structure level or S-structure level. Here we examine some of the sentences in which the AGR controls either the head N of subject NP or the NP of oblique object i.e., it controls the NP of PP.
| 76 | enkaL-il | palar | avan-ai(p) | virumpu-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'we-in' | 'many' | 'he-acc' | 'like- pres.-we' |
| 'Many of us like him.' |
| 77 | enkaL-il | palar | avan-ai | virumpu-kiR-oom |
| | | | '-we' |
| 'Many of us like him.' |
In (76) palar is controlled by the PGN marker -aarkaL whereas in (77) enkaL of enkaLil is controlled by the PGN marker -oom, I P plural. This is true with second person also.
| 78 | unkaL-il | palar | avan-ai | virumpu-kiR-aarkaL |
| 'you-in' | | | '-they(hum.pl.)' |
| 'Many of you like him.' |
| 79 | unkaL-il | palar | avanai | virumpu-kiR-iirkaL |
| 'you-in' | | | | -they(hum.pl.)' |
The PGN marker - iirkaL controls the NP of PP unkaL, II P plural. Both enkaL in (77) and unkaL in (79) do not function as the subject of these sentences. There are cases in which we find agreement not only between PGN and subject NP but also between PGN and the oblique object.
14. NON-NOMINATIVE NPs
There are verbs of the following in Tamil that take non-nominative NP (= datives) which, it is said, is controlled by the PGN marker.
| 80 | enak-ku(p) | paci(k)-kiR-atu |
| 'me-to' | 'hungry-pres.-it' |
| 'I am hungry.' |
| 81 | ena(k)-ku | vali(k)-kiR-atu |
| 'me-to' | 'pain-pres.-it' |
| 'I am feeling pain.' |
| 82 | ena(k)-ku | amaiccar-ai(t) | teriy-um |
| 'me-to' | 'minister-acc.' | 'know-fut.' |
| 'I know the minister.' |
| 83 | ena(k)-ku | tamiLh | teriy-um |
| 'I know Tamil.' |
In sentences (80-82), we do not have nominative NP which is controlled by the PGN marker. In (83), the NP tamiLh is not the subject of the sentence. It is rather the object of the sentence. The accusative marker is optionally marked when the NP is inanimate. Marking of accusative marker is obligatory when the NP is animate (see example (82)). -um is here to be regarded not a marker for denoting future tense. It is rather denoting the habituality of an action. In Tamil, the future tense marker is used to express the habituality of an action.
| 84 | avan | tinamum | paLLikkuuT-att-iR-ku(p) | poo-v-aan |
| 'he' | 'daily' | 'school- to' | 'go-fut.-he' |
| 'He goes to school every day.' |
| 85 | cuuriyan | kiLhakke | utikk-um |
| 'sun' | 'east' | 'rise-fut.-o' |
| 'The sun rises in the east.' |
-um and its other variant forms express both future tense and habituality. When the marker -um occurs with the verbs of feeling/emotion/cognition, etc. it expresses the meaning of habituality. These verbs combined with aspectual auxiliary take the nominative NPs.
| 86 | cujaataa | kataikaL | avan-ukku(p) | piTi-tt-iru-nt-an-a |
| 'sujatha' | 'stories' | 'he-to' | 'liked-have- past -they(non-hum.)' |
| 'The stories of Sujatha were liked by him.' |
| 87 | niRaiya | moLhikaL | avaL-ukku | terint-iru-nt-an-a |
| 'many' | 'languages' | 'she-to' | 'known-have-past-they(non-hum.)' |
| 'Many languages are known to her.' |
(87) has alternant sentence in which avaL is the subject of the sentence controlled by the PGN marker.
| 88 | avaL | niRaiya | moLhikaL | terint-iru-nt-aaL |
| 'she' | 'many' | 'languages' | 'known-has-past-she' |
| 'She knows many languages.' |
In (88), we have two NPs that are not marked explicitly for case, the PGN marker controls the NP that functions as the subject of the sentence. In (87), there is only one NP that is nominative and the PGN marker controls the subject NP niRaiya moZikaL. Examine the following sentences in which we have different NPs functioning as the subject even though the verb is same.
| 89 | avan | niRaiya | cinimaa | naTikarkaL-ai(t) | terintiru-nt-aan |
| 'he' | 'many' | 'cinema' | 'actors-acc.' | 'known-has-past-he' |
| 'He knew many cinema actors.' |
| 90 | niRaiya | cinimaa | naTikarkaL | avan-ukku(t) | terint-iru-nt-aarkaL |
| | | | | -they(hum.pl.)' |
| 'Many cinema actors were known to him.' |
| 91 | avan-ukku | niRaiya | cinimaa | naTikarkaL-ai(t) | terint-iru-nt-atu |
| 'Many cinema actors were known to him.' |
It is clear that -aan in (89) and -aarkaL in (90) control their NPs functioning as the subject of the sentence. It is difficult to associate the PGN marker -atu in (91). Both NPs are [+ human] and inflected for cases. It remains to be explained the control of -atu or its variant form -tu in negative sentence in the type of sentences given above. Let me give some more examples in which -atu/-tu occurs but we are unable to associate with an antecedent NP.
| 92 | enakku | vali(y)-aaka | iruk-kiR-atu |
| 'to me' | 'pain' | 'be-pres.-it' |
| 'I am feeling pain.' |
| 93 | enakku | ippoLhutu | un(n)-ai(p) | puri-kiR- atu |
| 'to me' | 'now' | 'you-acc' | 'understand-pres.-it' |
| 'Now I understand you.' |
| 94 | periyavarkaL | viiTT-il | kiTai(y)-aa-tu |
| 'elders' | 'house-in' | 'be-not-it' |
| 'The elders are not in the house.' |
Specifying -atu/-tu as III P non-hum.sg. does not lead us anywhere near to understand the agreement phenomenon in these kinds of sentences. Further in-depth analysis is required to understand the agreement phenomenon as a whole.
*** *** ***
NOTES
1The example given here though occurs more frequently, it is insisted that the sentence given below is correct.
avai viiTT-iR-ku vaar-aa
The PGN is unmarked even in the negative sentences when TEN is FUT and the subject NP non-human plural. Acceptance of (4) will lead us to treat -tu as non-human marker. The distinction between singular and plural is erased. This tendency is found spreading in other type of sentences too.
2-ar and -aarkaL are in complementary distribution. -ar occurs after the caariyai (the increment) -an which follows TEN. -aarkaL comes when there is no caariyai.
| avarkaL | neeRRu | va-nt-an-ar |
| `they (hum)' | `yesterday' | `come-past-F-they' |
| `They came yesterday.' |
| avarkaL | neeRRu | va-nt-an-aarkaL |
| `They came yesterday.' |
3The II p honorific form niir is not used frequently. niinkaL is used mostly to express honorific. In some dialects both niir and niinkaL are used to denote honorific. niir is used when the addressee is equal and not very high in social status. niinkaL is used to express high level of respect. With the exception of Brahmin and some southern dialects, most of the dialects use niinkaL only to denote honorific.
4Nouns such as paNiyaaLar, naTikar are singular honorific nouns,. But in (45) and (46) function as plural subject. In certain phrases these nouns denoting singular in isolation express plural number.
| maaNavar | viTuti |
| Student's | hostel |
| naTikar | cankam |
| Actors's | association |
| aaciriyar | kuuTTaNi |
| Teacher's | federation |
HOME PAGE | Devanagari in Indian Railways | Adult Interaction with Children: Language Use | Child Language Development in Indian Literature | The Influence of the Dominant Language | Language News This Month | FEBRUARY 2002 ISSUE | CONTACT EDITOR
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Deapartment of Linguistics
Tamil University
Thanjavur 613 005, Tamilnadu, India
E-mail: raj_ushush@yahoo.com.