A B C Of Tamil. Book 1

Description

Publisher: Tamil Nadu Text Book SocietyPublication date: 2000Number of pages: 60Language:English/TamilThiru T.B. Siddalingaiah, a wellknown and erudite scholar, has brought out this book ‘ABC of Tamil’ and fulfilled a long-felt need. While writing this he had in view the grammatical peculiarities of the language as well as the difficulties in pronunciation and syntax experienced by the non-Tamil students in learning it. His experience in teaching Tamil in Delhi, Calcutta, Varanasi and other centres has enabled him to understand their problems and to present every step in a clear and simple manner. Obviously he is not in favour of teaching the spoken dialects alone without any heed to the standard language or the written language. I, too, have found that method less useful. Many non-Tamils who learned only the spoken form find themselves unable to read or write a few sentences in the language and when they cease to have any contact with the people of the language forget it altogether.The object of this book is to assist non-Tamils in India and elsewhere at the beginning of their study of the Tamil language. Therefore, the system of the language has been explained here as far as it is essential for the beginners. The examples and illustrations given are quite apt and adequate, simple and direct.Tamil is one of the most ancient languages of the world which are still spoken and used for all purposes of communication. It belongs to the Dravidian family of South India and has a hoary literary tradition 2000 years old. It is found to be a useful vehicle of modern thought as well. There are many writers even now enriching the language through their poetry andfiction as well as book of knowledge. It is quite natural that many non-Tamils now desire to learnthe language but good guide books written in a practical and useful method are not found. Thiru T.B. Siddalingaiah, a wellknown and erudite scholar, has brought out this book ‘ABC ofTamil’ and fulfilled a long-felt need. While writing this he had in view the grammatical peculiarities of the language as well as the difficulties in pronunciation and syntax experienced by the non-Tamil students in learning it. His experience in teaching Tamil in Delhi, Calcutta, Varanasi and other centres has enabled him to understand their problems and to present every step in a clear and simple manner. Obviously he is not in favour of teaching the spoken dialects alone without any heed to the standard language or the written language. I, too, have found that method less useful. Many non-Tamils who learned only the spoken form find themselves unable to read or write a few sentences in the language and when they cease to have any contact with the people of the language forget it altogether.The object of this book is to assist non-Tamils in India and elsewhere at the beginning of their study of the Tamil language.Therefore, the system of the language has been explained here as far as it is essential for the beginners. The examples and illustrations given are quite apt and adequate, simple and direct.It is my earnest hope that the two more books promised by the author will be brought our early. By completing this project he will be one of those men of learning who render valuable service to humanity by bringing minds together.