இலககண வசபபன தடரசசயல நனனல தனறயதன தவயம உர வசபபன நடசயம / Necessity of Nannool's Emergence in the Continuity of Grammatical Reading and the Extension of Textual Interpretation

This paper explores the evolution of Tamil grammatical traditions with particular emphasis on “Nannool”, a book that represents the records of Tamil linguistic scholarship. Tolkappiyam is the earliest Tamil grammatical treatise that stands as a foundational text of the historic Tamil intellectual background. The complexity and archaic nature of “Tolkappiyam” necessitated an extra grammatical framework for Tamil. This was shaped by the socio-cultural variations over centuries and has brought about the emergence of “Nannool”, about 1300 years after “Tolkappiyam”. Nannool thoroughly simplifies the difficult rules of “Tolkappiyam” while preserving consistency to its central standards. Among the earliest commentaries on “Nannool” is the commentary of Ilampooranar. It enriched its interpretive subculture. This paper situates the advent of “Nannool” from the cultural and ancient contexts of the later Cholas by highlighting how changing linguistic and literary values induced the improvement of recent grammatical texts. It displays the ethos of its society, and grammatical works can be studied as cultural texts that embody linguistic issues of the time. By inspecting the interrelationship among scriptures, grammar and literary expressions, the paper analyses how grammatical frameworks contribute to and shape literary language and facilitate its utilisation. In general, this article offers a comprehensive evaluation of how grammar, culture and literature are interlinked inside the Tamil lifestyle, by positioning “Nannool” as a milestone in the continuum of Tamil linguistic thought.