தலகபபய உரயயல மனவதத எடடததக நலகளல பல பரள கறதத ஒர சல ஆயவ / A Word about Many Meanings in Ettuthokai Books by the representation of Tolkappiya Uyriyal

“Tolkappiyam” is an ancient Tamil grammatical treatise that classifies words into four fundamental categories. They are ‘peyarchol’ (noun), ‘vinaichol’ (verb), ‘idaichol’ (particles) and ‘urichol’ (qualifiers). Among them, ‘urichol’ plays a vital role in elevating the meaningful potential of Tamil language through its descriptive strength. Tolkappiyar has identified 120 ‘urichol’ forms and organizing them under three primary functions namely ‘isai’ (musical or metrical function), ‘kurippu’ (indicative or emotive function) and paṇpu (qualitative or attributive function). These ‘urichols’ are notable for their semantic flexibility and a single word may convey multiple meanings and several words may join to express a single meaning. This paper focuses on the concept that a word that denotes many meanings as seen in the “Ettuthokai”. By analyzing the select verses from “Ettuthokai”, this study explores the fine distinction and application of ‘urisol’ and how multiple words are employed to convey a unified semantic or emotional resonance in Tamil Language. The study will be on the syntactic positioning of ‘urichol’ and the methods by which their meanings are contextualized and interpreted. This study reveals the depth of linguistic erudition in early Tamil poetics and also highlights Tolkappiyar's foresight in performing interplay between form and meaning of the language. Hence, the study highlights the aesthetic and philosophical implications of lexical plurality in classical Tamil language and literature.