Aytam
Encyclopedia
Āytam is a special sound in the Tamil Language. It is represented in the Tamil script
by the character ஃ. It is special in the senses of not being an independent sound and being archaic and employed only in idiomatic and fossilized words such as அஃது, இஃது etc.
The sound āytam is mentioned in the earliest available Tamil grammatical treatise Tolkāppiyam
(1:1:2) where it is categorized as an allophone
(or cārpezuttu "Dependent Sound").
As stated by Krishnamurti (Krishnamurti:2003 p154 ) "The properties of āytam, as described by Tolkāppiyam
, were: (1) it occurred after a short vowel and before a stop (voiceless), and its place of articulation is like that of the stop. In other words, ... assimilates to the following voiceless stop".
Tamil script
The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...
by the character ஃ. It is special in the senses of not being an independent sound and being archaic and employed only in idiomatic and fossilized words such as அஃது, இஃது etc.
The sound āytam is mentioned in the earliest available Tamil grammatical treatise Tolkāppiyam
Tolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
(1:1:2) where it is categorized as an allophone
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
(or cārpezuttu "Dependent Sound").
As stated by Krishnamurti (Krishnamurti:2003 p154 ) "The properties of āytam, as described by Tolkāppiyam
Tolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
, were: (1) it occurred after a short vowel and before a stop (voiceless), and its place of articulation is like that of the stop. In other words, ... assimilates to the following voiceless stop".
See also
- Tamil languageTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
- AsterismAsterism (typography)In typography, an asterism, from the Greek astēr , is a rarely used, and "nearly obsolete", symbol consisting of three asterisks placed in a triangle . It is used to, "indicate minor breaks in text," call attention to a passage, or to separate sub-chapters in a book...
- Therefore signTherefore signIn a mathematical proof, the therefore sign is a symbol that is sometimes placed before a logical consequence, such as the conclusion of a syllogism. The symbol consists of three dots placed in an upright triangle and is read therefore. It is encoded at . While it is not generally used in formal...