Tamil prosody
Tamil prosody defines several metres in six basic elements[1] covering the various aspects of rhythm. Most classical works and many modern works are written in these metres.
Tolkappiyam represents the older tradition in Tamil prosody while yapparungalam and yapparungalakkarigai represent the later tradition. The prosodic structure of literary works from the Sangam era has to be analysed according to the Tolkappiyam. The rules given in Yapparungalakkarigai are used in the scansion of later works.
Development
The development of Tamil prosody can be broadly broken into four stages. The first stage is predominantly indigenous, pre-
The third stage is marked by the gradual coming together of poetry and music starting with the use of fixed melody types (paṇ) in
Basic elements
The basic prosodic unit is the asai (acai) which is composed of ezhuttu (eḷuttu), the letters of the Tamil language or more accurately, the speech sounds in Tamil. Asais are the components of the metrical foot or cīr which, in turn, are the components of the adi (aṭi), a line of poetry. Other elements include todai (toṭai, alliteration) and vannam (vaṇṇam, "rhythmic effect", lit. colour or beauty).[3]
Metres
See also
Notes
- ^ Niklas 1988.
- ^ a b Zvelebil 1975, Appendix II, p.278.
- ^ Rajam 1992, pp. 40, 50–51.
References
- Niklas, Ulrike (1988). "Introduction to Tamil Prosody". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. 77 (1): 165–227. ISSN 0336-1519.
- ISBN 9789004041905. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- Rajam, V. S. (1992). A reference grammar of classical Tamil poetry : (150 B.C. - pre- fifth/sixth century A.D.). Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. ISBN 9780871691996. Retrieved 31 May 2017.