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My purpose in this thesis is to examine the diction of the Tolkappiyam throughout and the subject matter as far as the Eluttu Patalam or atikaram is concerned. This examination has been made in close connection with the eighteen Tamil works, which are admittedly the earliest Dravidian poems extant. These are the Ettu Tokai or the Bight Anthologies and the Pattu Pattu or the Ten Songs. They all belong to the classical era of O. Tam., roughly between 200 B. C. and 400 A. D. It is here claimed that we can distinguish three stages of O. Tam. even in these works. There is a substantial difference between the diction and atmosphere of the Krt., for instance, and those of the Paripatal or Muruk. The Krt. belongs to the earliest, while the Paripa. was completed at the latest stage of O. Tam. The classical era is therefore sub-divided into three periods, which are here termed Early (B.C.), Middle (M.C.) and Late (L.C.). In the same way we can distinguish three stages in Tol. itself. Certain sutras in Tol. especially in the El., belong, by their diction and the peculiar usages sanctioned, to the earliest stage of Tam. literature. El. 62, 64 and 65, for instance, show us a stage of the Tam. language slightly anterior to that of the E.T. or P. P. The remaining sutras in El. for the most part fit in perfectly, both in their diction and in their regulations with E.C. Tam. The earlier portions of Col. and Por, harmonize with M.C., the later with L. C. Tam.
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