Introduction
The theory of word formation propounded by
many including Aronof (1976) and Bauer (1983) in general aims to cater to
lexicon with word formation rules. As
the dictionaries become unending list of words, it become inevitable for us to
capture this unending growth of dictionaries by understating the productivity
in the formation of lexical items in terms of nonce formation coupled with
semantic extension by polysemy.
Pustejovsky (1996) views the lexicon as generative. He tries to capture polysemy by means of
generative mechanism. We find many
lexical items listed in dictionaries as the lexicographers find them
idiosyncratic in their formation and/or meaning. But a semantic lexicon should explain these
idiosyncrasies, and then only it can severe as a useful tool complementing a
grammar. The semantic lexicon, unlike a
lexicographer’s lexicon should explain the creativity of formation of new words
or new meaning from the already existing stock.
So it is proposed here to understand the formation of nouns form the
already existing lexical items without bothering about the productivity of the
concerned word formation rules. The
formation of nouns in Tamil is explained keeping in mind the creative aspect of
lexical items.
Nouns
can be formed from the words belonging to all parts of speech in Tamil. Based
on the grammatical category from which the nouns are derived, the derivation of
nouns can be classified mainly into:
Formation of nouns from nouns
Formation of nouns form verbs
Formation of nouns from adjectives
The formation of nouns by
compounding is not the part of this paper.
1. Formation Of Nouns From Nouns
Formation
of nouns from nouns by affixes needs to be classified into three:
Nominalization by human suffixes
Nominalization by non-human suffixes
Nominalization by prefixes
1.1. Nominalization By Human Suffixes
A considerable number of
suffixes or suffix like bound forms are used to form human nouns from nouns.
The formation of these nouns can be understood by analyzing the nouns carrying
gender-number suffixes denoting human beings. The gender suffixes used are
listed in the following table.
| Masculine gender suffixes
|
Feminine gender suffixes
|
Honorific suffixes neutral to gender
|
|
an, aan, oon, njan
|
aL, aaL, atti,
aatti, aaTTi, tti, acci, cci, i,
mi, and ai
|
ar, aar, oor, avar
and njar
|
The forms such as kuruTan ‘blind man’, kuruTi ‘blind woman’, kuruTar ‘blind person’ can be considered
as derived from the noun kuruTu ‘blindness’
by suffixation. Similarly the forms ciRuvan 'boy', ciRumi 'girl' and ciRuvar
'boy/girl' can be considered as derived from the adjectival base ciRu 'small'. But the forms such as pulavan ‘male poet’, pulavar ‘poet’ make us to posit pula as a base which is less than a word and which is not a noun, adjective or
verb. Probably we have to arrive at the
base pula from the non-rational noun pulam ‘knowledge’ by truncation. Or we have to say that pulam becomes pula when
suffixed by rational suffixes. But the
forms kaNavan and kaNavar, which from the truncated base kaNa, could not be related to a non-rational
noun or adjective or verb. It is
possible to consider kaNavan and kaNavar as unanalysable monomorphemic
nouns, but that will deny the relation between kaNavan and kaNavar. Probably if we can consider word and paradigm
approach, we need not bother about the derivation of the forms like kaNavan and kaNavar from a base and at the same time we can relate them by
analysis. Anyhow, four types of bases are involved in the formation of gender
marked rational nouns. nominal base, bound base, adjectival base, nominal base
and verbal base.
Nominal
base + gender suffix
kaatal
'love' + an > kaatalan 'lover'
kaatal
'love' + i > kaatali 'female love'
kaatal
'love' + ar > kaatalar 'lovers'
Bound
base + gender suffix
kizha
'old' + an > kizhavan 'old man'
kizha
'old' + i > kizhavi 'old woman'
kizha
‘old’ + ar > kizhavar 'old man (honorific)'
Adjecive
base + gender suffix
ciRu
'small' + an > ciRuvan 'boy'
ciRu
'small' + mi > ciRumi 'girl'
ciRu 'small' + ar > ciRuvar 'boy/girl'
Numeral
adjectival base + gender suffix
oru
'one' + an > oruvan 'one male person'
oru
'one' + tti > orutti 'one female person'
oru
'one' + ar > oruvar 'one person'
Verbal
base + gender
tiruTu
'steal' + an > tiruTan 'male thief'
tiruTu
+ i > tiruTi 'female thief'
tiruTu
'steal' + ar > tiruTar 'male/female thief'
Interestingly
with the base pula we get only two
forms pulavan and pulavar and there is no *pulavi.
Similarly with the base kaNa,
we get kaNavan and kaNavar and there is no *kaNavi. Base on this lexical gap, the
bases to which the derivative suffixes are added can be grouped into at least
five types:
1. Those which
take masculine, feminine and honorific suffixes
2. Those which
take masculine and feminine suffixes
3. Those which
take masculine and honorific suffixes
4. Those which
take only feminine suffix
5. Those which
take only honorific suffix
The following table shows the
possible classification base on the type of bases and the sets of suffixes.
(‘-‘ denotes the absence of the concerned suffix in the order of masculine,
feminine and honorific.)
|
Base
|
Suffixes
|
Masculine form
|
Feminine form
|
Honorific form
|
|
Nominal free base
talai 'head'
|
an, i, ar
|
talaivan‘hero’
|
talaivi ‘heroine’
|
talaivar ‘hero’
|
|
Bound
kuRa
|
an, tti, ar
|
kuRavan‘man of the Kurava
community’
|
kuRatti
|
kuRavar
|
|
Nominal bound base
iTai
|
an, cci, ar
|
iTaiyan‘man of shepherd community
|
iTaicci ‘women of shepherd community’
|
iTaiyar 'person of shepherd
community’
|
|
Nominal bound base
cempaTa
|
an, atti, ar
|
cempaTavan ‘man of fisherman
community’
|
cempaTavatti ‘woman of
|
cempaTavar
|
|
Nominal free base
tamizh
|
an, acci, ar
|
tamizhan ‘man of Tamil society’
|
tamizhacci
|
tamizhar
|
|
Nominal bound base
aaciri
|
an, ai, ar
|
aaciriyan ‘male teacher’
|
aaciriyai ‘female teacher’
|
aaciriyar ‘teacher’
|
|
Nominal bound base
pula
|
an, - , ar
|
pulavan ‘male poet’
|
-
|
pulavar ‘poet’
|
|
Nominal free base
kalai 'art'
|
njan, -, njar
|
kalainjan‘male artist’
|
-
|
kalainjar ‘artist’
|
|
Nominal bound base
mak
|
an, aL, -
|
makan ‘son’
|
makaL ‘daugher’
|
-
|
|
Nominal bound base
kaNa
|
an, -, ar
|
kaNavan ‘husband’
|
|
kaNavan ‘husband’
|
|
Nominal free base
manai ‘house’
|
-, i, -
|
|
manaivi ‘wife’
|
|
|
Nominal free base
kiraamam’village’
|
aan, -, aar
|
kiraamattaan ‘male villager’
|
-
|
kiraamattaar ‘villager’
|
|
Nominal bound base
taTT
|
aan, aatti, aar
|
taTTaan ‘man of goldsmith
community’
|
taTTaatti ‘woman of goldsmith
community’
|
taTTaar ‘person of
goldsmith community’
|
|
Nominal bound base
pir
|
aan, -aaTTi, -
|
piraan ‘god’
|
piraaTTi ‘goddess’
|
-
|
|
Nominal bound base
mac
|
aan, aaL, -
|
maccaan ‘brother-in-law'
|
maccaaL ‘sister-in-law'
|
-
|
|
Nominal free base
taTTaccu 'typewiting'
|
-, -,
-ar
|
|
|
taTTaccar ‘typist’
|
|
Nominal free base
vaan ‘sky’
|
-, -, -oor
|
-
|
-
|
vaanoor ‘heavenly immortals’
|
|
Nominal free base
viN ‘sky’
|
-, -, -avar
|
-
|
-
|
viNNavar ‘heavenly immortals’
|
In addition to the
above-mentioned suffixes, the suffix -i forms rational nouns from non-rational
noun stems. This suffix is not marked for gender.
Ex.
paavam + i = ‘sinner’,
vivacaayam
+ i = vivacaayi ‘farmer’
According to
Pillai (1961) the derivation of nouns from nouns by suffixation is uncommon and
the only one suffix which seems to be productive is -kaar which has a singular masculine form -kaaran, singular feminine form -kaari
and singular honorific form kaarar. Parallel to these suffixes are -aaLan, iinan, ciilan, -candtan and -vandtan which are masculine singular forms,
-aaTi, -vatai and -vati which are feminine singular forms,
-aaLar, -iinar, -ciilar, -candtar and
-vandtar which are honorific singular
forms and -aaL, -aaLi, -caali, -vaati,
-maani, -maan, -taari and -eeRi
which are rational singular forms not distinguished for gender. These suffixes are not productive. Based on
the gender marking, the forms can be classified into four sets:
1. Those which
have all the three gender marked forms.
2. Those which
have only masculine and honorific gender marked forms.
3. Those which
have only masculine and honorific gender marked forms, and
4.Those which
have only non-gender marked forms.
The following table will show the
above-mentioned classification.
|
Base
|
Suffixes
|
Masculine gender marked word
|
Feminine gender marked words
|
Honorific gender marked work
|
|
Nominal base
veelai 'work'
|
kaaran, kaari, karar
|
veelaikkaaran ‘male servant’
|
veelaikkaari ‘female servant’
|
veelaikkaarar ‘servant’
|
|
Nominal base
peeccu 'speech'
|
aaLan, -, aaLar
|
peeccaaLan 'male speaker'
|
-
|
peeccaaLar ‘speaker’
|
|
|
aaLan, aaTTi, -
|
maNavaaLan 'bridegroom'
|
maNavaaTTi 'bride'
|
-
|
|
|
iinan, -, iinar
|
mativiinan 'fool (male)'
|
-
|
mativiinar ‘fools’
|
|
Nominal base cattiyam 'truth'
|
ciilan, -, ciilar
|
cattiyaciilan ‘man of his
words’
|
-
|
cattiyacilar ‘person of his words’
|
|
Nominal base cattiyam 'truth'
|
candtan, -, candar
|
cattiyacandtan man of his
words’
|
-
|
cattiyacandtar ‘person of his
words’
|
|
Nominal base cattiyam 'truth'
|
vandtan, vati, -
|
cattiyavantan man of his words’
|
cattiyavati ‘woman of her
words’
|
cattiyavantar ‘person of his
words’
|
|
Nominal base
tanam 'wealth'
|
vandtan, -, vandtar
|
tanavandtan ‘rich man’
|
-
|
tanavandtar ‘rich person'
|
The suffixal forms such a aaL, aaLi, caali, maan, taari and eeRi do not carry gender marker.
Ex.
camaiyal + aaL
> camaylaaL ‘cook’
ndooy + aaLi
> ndooyaaLi > ndooyaaLi ‘patient’
putti
'knowledge' + caali > putticaali ‘intelligent person’
ndiiti
'justice' + maan > ndiitimaan ‘honest person’
paTTam
'degree' + taari > taaTTataari ‘degree holder’
coompu
'laziness' + eeRi > coompeeRi 'lazy person’
Nominalization by
kaaran, kaari, and kaarar
The
suffix set kaaran, kaari, kaarar are
productive suffix which form a number of human nouns form non-human nouns.
Ex.
veelai
'work' + kaaran > veelaikkaaran 'male servant'
veelai
'work' kaari > veelaikkaari 'female servant'
veelai
'work' + kaaran > veelaikkaarar 'servant'
The nominalization by kaaran/kaari/ kaarar results in the
meaning of 'person concerned with possession, property, relation, work, job,
action'.
Ex.
vaNTi
'cart' + kaarar > vaNTikkaarar 'person who owns or drives a cart'
kutirai
'horse' + kaarar > kutiraikkaarar 'person who owns a horse'
kaaval
'guard' + kaarar > kaavaRkaarar 'watchman'
caati
'caste' + kaarar > caatikkaarar 'person who belongs to a particular caste'
kaTci
'party' + kaarar > kaTcikkaarar 'person who belongs to a particular party'
camaiyal
'cooking' + kaarar > camaiyal kaarar 'cook'
tooTTam
'garden' + kaarar > tooTTakkaarar 'gardner'
Nominalization by aaLar, aaL, aaLi
The
nominalizers aaLar, aaL, aaLi forms
third persons human nouns which are not distinguished for gender. Depending on the noun which is personalized
the resultant nouns can be interpreted with different relation.
Ex.
ceyal
'action' + aaLar > ceayalaaLar ‘secretary’
kaNkaaNippu
'watching' + aaLar > kaNkaaNippaaLar 'superintendent'
meeRpaarvai
'supervising' + aaLar > meeRpaaravaiyaaLar 'supervisor'
tayaarippu
'production' + aaLar > tayaarippaaLar 'producer'
viRpanai
'sale' + aaLar > viRpanaiyaaLar 'salesman'
kaacu
'money' + aaLar > kaacaaLar 'accountant'
poruL
'money' + aaLar > poruLaaLar 'financial officer'
urimai
'ownership' + aaLar > urimaiyaaLar 'proprietor'
koTai
'gift' + aaLar > koTaiyaaLar 'philanthropist'
aayvu
'research' + aaLar > aayvaaLar 'researcher'
iRakkumati
'import' + aaLar > iRakkumatiaaLar 'importer'
curukkezhuttu
'shorthand' + aaLar > curukkezhuttaaLar 'shorthand expert'
Even if aaL and aaLar are
suffixed to the same noun, the nominalized form by aaL will be used to denote
workers of low level jobs and aaLar is used to denoted worker of higher level
jobs.
| N + aaL
|
N + aaLar
|
|
utavi ‘help’+ aaL> utaviyyaL
'helper'
|
utavi+aaLar> utaviyaaLar 'assistant'
|
|
kaappu’protection’ +aaL 'guard'
|
kaappu+aaLar> kaappaaLar
'curator, warden
|
|
meel ‘above’ +aaL> meelaaL
'maistry'
|
meel+aaLar> meelaaLar
'manager'
|
aaL is used to demarcate lower
level works and aaLar is used to demarcate the higher level works.But aaLi is used to coin general personal
nouns where the question of lower and higher level work does not arise.
Ex.
kuRRam 'crime’ +
aaLi > kuRRavaaLi 'culprit'
kolai
'murder' + aaLi > kolaiyaaLi 'murderer'
kuuTTu
'companionship' + aaLi > kuuTTaaLi 'partner'
mutal
'capital' + aaLi > mutalaaLi 'boss'
tozhil
'labour' + aaLi > tozhilaaLi 'labourer'
ndecavu
‘weaving' + aaLi > ndecavaaLi 'weaver'
ndooy
'disease' + aaLi > ndooyaaLi 'patient'
pangku
'share' + aaLi > pangkaaLi 'partner'
Nominalization by taar/taari
taar, taari are used with the meaning
'person'. They came to Tamil by the
contact of Arabic language.
N
+ taar
jamiin
'land' + taar > jamiindtaar 'landlord'
jamee
+ taar > jameetaar ‘a rank in army’
cupee
+ taar > cupeetaar ‘a rank in army’
taacil
+ taar > taaciltaar 'revenue official’
miraacu
+ taar > miraacutaar ‘landlord’
N
+ taari
veeTam
'disguise' + taari > veeTataari 'cheat'
paTTam
'degree' + taari > paTTataari 'degree holder'
taar has changed to taarar by
taking the honorific ar in Tamil.
Ex.
aTamaanam
'pledge' + taarar > aTamaanataarar 'pledger'
aayakkaTTu
‘extent of land’ + taarar > aayakkaTTutaarar ‘tax gatherer’
kuTivaaram
+ taarar > kuTivaarataarar
pangku
'share' + taarar > pangkutaarar 'shareholder'
paattiyam
'inheritance' + taarar > paattiyataarar 'inheritors'
piNai
'pledge' + taarar > piNaitaarar 'pledger'
viNNappam
'application' + taarar > viNNappataarar 'applicant'
taar, taarar, and taari
are not productively used in the modern Tamil.
So all these formations get listed in the lexicon. Anyhow, any technical term or administrative
term, even if they are coined anew, get lexicalized and entered in a glossary
or dictionary. But the suffix if used
for coining new words should be considered productive suffix.
Nominalization by njar
njar is also used with the meaning
'person'. It is used to form human nouns
from non-human nouns. Nouns ending i
and ai takes njar to form human nouns.
kalai
'art' + njar > kalanjar 'artist'
kavi
'poem' + njar > kavinjar 'poet'
aayvinai
+ njar > aayvinainjar
ceyaRpoRi
+ njar > ceyaRpoRinjar
Nominalization by i
With
a set of nouns i forms female human nouns.
kuruTu
‘blindness’ + i > kuruTi 'female blind person'
malaTu
'sterility' + i > malaTi 'sterile woman'
aracu
'government' + i > araci 'queen'
As these words are lexicalized
they are entered in the dictionary. It
appears that i is not a productive suffix for coining new words which
denote female person. It may be
possible that this suffix is in complementary distribution with the suffix
denoting female person such as vi, tti,
cci, atti, ai, aL , aatti, aaTTi, aaL.
With
a certain set of nouns it gives the meaning 'person'
ndirvaakam
'administration' + i > ndirvaaki 'administrator'
payaNam
'travel' + i > payaNi 'traveler'
patil
'reply' + i > patili 'one who replies'
1.2. Nominalization By
Non-Human Suffixes
A
number of suffixes or suffix-like bound forms are used to coin nouns form nouns
denoting non-human nouns.
Nominalization by mai
mai forms a number of nouns by combining with
nouns. It may be possible to capture the
selectional restriction behind the formation mai-nominals from
nouns. Most of the mai-nominals
are listed in dictionaries without bothering about the bases form which they
are formed.
aaN
‘male being’ + mai > aaNmai ‘manliness’
peN
‘female being’ + mai > peNmai ‘feminity’
taay
‘mother’ + mai > taaymai ‘motherhood’
Nominalization by am
am with a set of nouns forms nouns whose
resultant meaning cannot be predicted. The following am-suffixed nominal
forms are found in the dictionaries of administrative/technical terms.
aaNai
'order' + am > aaNaiyam 'office'
paccai
'green' + am > paccaiyam 'chlorophyl'
kari
'charcoal' + am > kariyam 'blankness'
Nominalizaion by mam
The
mai-suffixed nouns which denote quality get nominalized by the
truncation of mai followed by the
suffixation of mam. It can also be interpreted that the bound
forms which are adjectival in function get nominalized by mam. The following mam-suffixed
nominal forms are found in DTTT.
urimai
'ownership' > uri, uri + mam > urimam
kuTimai
‘> kuTi, kuTi + mam > kuTimam
tanimai
'being alone > tani, tani + mam > tanimam 'element'
nduNmai
'being minute' > nduN, nduN + mam
> nduNmam
perumai
'pride' > peru, peru + mam > perumam
There are nouns which are
nominalized by mam too.
kuzhu
+ mam > kuzhumam
kani
+ mam > kanimam
min
+ mam > minmam
Nominalization by paaTu
The
nominalized form paaTu of the verb paTu, functions as a nominalizer with
nouns. It is difficult to generalize
its meaning as a nominalizer.
iTar
'problem' + paaTu > iTarpaaTu 'difficulty'
kaTan
'debt' + paaTu > kaTanpaaTu 'indebtness'
payan
'use' + paaTu > payanpaaTu 'usefulness'
It is possible to take them
derived from their respective compound verb by the process of nominalization by
phonemic change.
iTar
paTu 'suffer' > iTarpaaTu 'difficulty'
payanpaTu
'be useful' > payanpaaTu 'usefulness'
uTanpaTu
'agree' > uTanpaaTu 'agreement'
Nominalization by iiTu
The
nominalized form of the verb iTu
'put', function as a nominalizer forming nouns from nouns.
kuRippu 'mark' + iiTu > kuRippiiTu 'reference'
veLi
'outside' + iiTu > veLiyiiTu 'publication'
kuRukku
'crosswise' + iiTu > kuRukkiiTu 'inteference'
muRai
'justice' + iiTu > muRaiyiiTu 'argument'
matippu
'worthiness' + iiTu > matippiiTu 'estimation'
It is possible to take them
derived from their respective compound verb by the process of nominalization by
phonemic change.
kuRippiTu
'point out' > kuRippiiTu 'reference’
veLiyiTu
'publish' > veLiyiiTu 'publication'
kuRukkiTu
'interfere' > kuRukkiiTu 'inference'
muRaiyiTu
'argue' > muRaiyiiTu 'argument'
matippiTu
'estimate' > matippiiTu 'estimatation'
Nominalization by tanam
A
set of nouns is nominalized by tanam
by converting their meanings into quality.
maTam
'foolish' + tanam > maTattanam 'foolishness'
pookkiri ‘one who creates nuisance’ + tanam >
pookkirittanam 'nuisance’
muTTaaL
'fool' + tatam > muTTaaLtanam 'foolishness'
Many concrete nouns can be
converted into qualities by adding tanam to them. tanam
serves to coin qualitative nouns from concrete as well as abstract nouns at the
spur of the movement.
kurangku
‘monkey’+ tanam > kurangkuttanam 'qulaity of monkey'
ravuTi
'rowdy' + tanam > ravuTittanam 'quality of rowdy'
Nominalization by iyal
iyal which is basically an independent
word function as a suffix to form nouns adding the meaning 'education' to the
newly formed nouns.
aRivu
'knowledge' + iyal > aRiviyal 'science'
puvi
'earth' + iyal > puviyiyal 'geography'
mozhi
'language' + iyal > mozhiyiyal 'linguistics'
Nominaliztion by akam
The
word akam having lost its
independence also function as a suffix to form nouns implying 'place' from nouns.
accu
'print' + akam > accakam 'printing press'
nduul
'book' + akam > nduulakam 'library'
uNavu
'food' + akam > uNavakam 'hotel'
tuutar
'ambassador' + akam > tuutrakam '
1.3. Nominalization by prefixes
Prefixation
is not a native process. It is borrowed
from Sanksrit tradition. But there are
certain bound forms which functions as prefixes forming nouns from nouns. They have listed either as iTaiccol 'particles' or as bound
adjectives or nouns in dictionaries.
Under this category we can list bound forms such as mun ~ muR, pin ~ piR, meel ~ meeR, tan ~ taR, put ~ putu. It is possible to take
these prefixal forms as bound forms and the process of nominalization as a sort
of compounding. But as these forms a
number of new nouns with nouns in which they can be given generalized meanings, it possible to take
them as prefixes. Truly speaking any
affixation has its origin in compounding in which the affixes are nothing but
word forms functionally reduced to affixes. tiru can also be included under
this list. Some Tamil scholars have made
use of al as a prefix as found in forms like alcangkandaTai 'non Sangam style', altamizhar 'non Tamils', alndaakariikam
'non culture', alndeRi 'non code
of conduct'
NominalizaTion by mun
mun
'anterior' functioning as a prefix nominalize a noun forming another noun with
derived meaning implying 'previous,
earlier, etc.'
mun
+ pakal 'day' > muRpakal 'forenoon'
mun
+ aayvu 'research' > munnaayvu 'pre-research'
mun
+ iruppu 'existence' > munniruppu 'pre invesment'
mun
+ eccarikkai 'warning' > munneccarikkai 'pre warning'
mun
+ otukkiiTu 'allotment' > munotukkiiTu 'pre allotment'
mun
+ urimai '> munnurimai 'first preference'
Nominalization by pin
pin 'posterior' functioning as prefix
nominalize a noun forming another noun with additional meaning implying 'later'
pin
+ palam > pinpalam '
pin
+ paTToor > piRpaTToor 'backward class'
Nominalization by meel
meel 'superior' forms new nouns when
prefixed with nouns which imply an additional meaning implying 'above'.
meel
+ paalam 'meempaalam 'over bridge'
meel
+ paTToor 'experienced person' > meeRpaTToor 'people of higher strata'
meel
+ ulaku 'earth' > meelulaku 'heaven'
meel
+ atikaari > meelatikaari 'boss'
meel
+ ndaaTu > meelndaaTu 'foreign country'
meel + ndaTavaTikkai > meelndaTavaTikkai
'further action'
Nominalization by kiizh
kiizh 'inferior' forms new nouns when
prefixed to already existing nouns which imply an additional meaning 'below'.
kiizh
+ caati > kiizhcaati 'low caste'
kiizh
+ muuccu > kiizhmuuccu 'exhaling'
kiizh
+ maTTam > kiizhmaTTam 'lower strata'
kiizh
+ taram > kiizhtaram 'undignified manner'
Nominalization by put
put 'new' the adjectival bound form of
putu, nominalize a noun by prefixation giving additional meaning of 'new'
put
+ oLi > puttoLi 'new light'
put
+ aaTai > puttaaTai 'new cloth'
put
+ uNarcci > puttuNarcci 'rejuvenation'
put
+ ilakkiyam > puttilakkiyam 'modern literature'
Nominalization by tan
which is an adjectival form of taan 'self', nominalize a nouns by
prefixation forming new nouns from the already existing noun by implying the
meaning 'self'.
tan + ndiRaivu > tanniRaivu 'self sufficiency'
tan
+ ndinaivu > tandinaivu ' self conscience'
tan
+ aTakkam > tannaTakkam 'humility'
tan
+ aaTci > tannaaTci ' autonomy'
Nominaliztion by tiru
tiru also function as a prefix
nominlizing a noun to form new nouns which imply 'speciality' or
'divinity' or 'holiness'.
tiru
+ ndiiRu 'ash' > tirundiiRu 'holy ash'
tiru
+ maRai 'epic' > tirumaRai 'bible'
tiru
+ manacu 'mind' > tirumanacu 'holy mind'
tiru
+ paatam 'foot' > tiruppaatam 'holy
foot'
2. Formation Of Nouns From Verbs
Formation
of nouns from verb, i.e. deverbal nominalization can be distinguished into two,
based on the type of stem which undergoes nominalization:
1. Nominalization on tensed/negativized verb
stems
2.
Nominalization on non-tensed/non-negativized verb stems
The same dichotomy can be
rephrased as (1) suffixation on non-tensed/non-negative verbal bases and (2) suffixation on
tensed/negative verb stems respectively as the relativization involves
suffixation of tense or negation after the basal verb stems.
Examples:
Suffixation
non-tensed/non-negativized verb stems:
varu-tal `coming'
var-al `coming'
varu-kai `coming/visit'
var-aamai `not coming'
var-avu `income'
paTi-ppu 'education'
Suffixation
on tensed/negativizd verb stems:
va-ndt-a-van
come_PAST_RP_he
`he who came'
varu-kiR-a-van
come_PRES_RP_he
`he who is
coming'
varu-p-a-van
come_FUT_RP_he
`he who will
come'
varu-v-a-tu
come_FUT_RP_it
`that which
comes/coming; act of comming'
Nominalization on non-tensed/non-negativized stems
Nominalization
on non-tensed/non-negativized stems is mainly by suffixation. Suffixation is
the crucial process by which nouns are derived from verbs apart from
compounding. There are two kinds of suffixes which are involved in the
nominalization of non-relativized verb stems.
A set of suffixes which form nouns when added with verbs are irregular
in their behaviour in the sense that the verb stems to which they are added
cannot be generalized but only listed; these suffixes cannot be added to all
the verbs. More over, the resultant
meaning of the deverbal nouns cannot be predicted easily. Another set of suffixes which form nouns when
added to verbs are regular in their behaviour in the sense that these suffixes
can be added to all the verbs and the resultant meanings of the deverbal nouns
can be predicted easily. Thus there are
two types of suffixation on
non-relativized stems:
1.
Nominalization by irregular suffixation and related processes
2.
Nominalization by regular suffixation
The same type of dichotomy can be
rephrased as (1) nominalization by
suffixes that cannot be added to all verbal bases and (2) nominalization by
suffixes that can be added to all the verbal bases. The following table shows
the two sets of suffixes:
|
1st set of
suffixes that cannot be added to all verbal bases
|
2nd set of
suffixes that can be added to all the verbal bases
|
|
-am, -i, --ai, cal, -ccal, -ci,
-cci, ppaan
-pu, -ppu, -mai, -vi, -vu,
-vai, etc
|
1.-tal ~ -ttal
2. -al ~ -kal ~ -kkal
3. -kai~ -kkai
|
It has been
noted that the nominalization by the second set of suffixes is productive and
the nominals derived from these suffixes are rich resources from which
derivative nouns can be obtained by the process of semantic lexicalization. It
has been also noted that there are suffixes among the first set which are
productive if we can condition them by conjugation class, and/or phonological
environments and/or syllabic patterns. It is interesting to note that some of
the deverbal nominals available in the sangam and post-sangam periods are
extinct in the modern Tamil and new forms have replaced the old forms. It
appears that analogy plays an important role in the derivation of the deverbal
nouns.
Nominalization by Irregular Suffixation and Related Processes
The
earlier linguistic studies on the formation of nouns from the verbs are in tune
with the earlier grammatical tradition.
The nominal formation from verbs was considered irregular and
non-productive. Kamaleswaran (1974)
while distinguishing tal ~ ttal suffixed deverbal nouns
(which he calls as verbal nouns) from other deverbal nouns (which he calls as
verbal derivatives or derivative nouns) mentions that “while the formation of
verbal nouns is very productive without any exception, the formation of
derivative noun is not as productive as the former” (Kamaleswaran;
1974:11). In the light of present day
theoretical knowledge on word formation, it can be argued that the deverbal
noun formation in Tamil appears to be a greater extent rule governed. Deverbal
nouns of irregular type are formed by suffixation, ablaut and conversion. The
process by which the deverbal nouns are derived from the verbs can be captured
by the following word formation rules.
V by [Suffixation / Stem modification/Conversion ] ® N
Nominalization by Irregular Suffixes
As
noted already, the nominalization of non-relativized verb stems by suffixation
by certain set of suffixes is irregular from the point of view of
morphological, syntactic and semantic properties. The irregularity can be understood by
comparing the processes of suffixation on verb stems by irregular suffixes with
the regular ones. The regular nominalization by suffixation shows regularity in
the levels of morphology, syntax and semantics.
In
Tamil, most of the deverbal nouns are derived by suffixation. A number of suffixes are involved in the
formation of deverbal nouns. The unproductive suffixes are more in number than
the productive ones. The word formation rule of nominalization on verb stems by
suffixation can be stated as follows: