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How to Writeow to Write a Good Book a Good Book –– A TamiA Tamill Grammar PerspectiveGrammar Perspective
How to WriteHow to Write a Good Book a Good Book –– A TamiA Tamill Grammar PerspectiveGrammar Perspective

1. Introduction

Writing is easy, good writing is not! Be it a single page monograph or an entire book, when it comes
to conveying something technical you need to learn some essential rules – one such set is available in
traditional Tamiḻ grammars. Though these ideas are conceived and conveyed as early as 2000 or
2500 years before, they are embedded precisely and nicely in a 1000 year old Tamiḻ grammar named
Naṉṉūl (ந ). This article aims to provide a concise yet comprehensive glimpse of this age old
definitions of good writing. (Interestingly, the name Naṉṉūl literally means ‘good book’ – this is
considered to be a name given due to the well framed structure of the work!)

2. Tamil Grammar and Naṉṉūl

Tamiḻ grammar tradition is very old. In fact, it is one of the oldest among the world languages. Tamiḻ
grammar tradition starts with Tolkāppiyam (the oldest extant Tamil grammar as well as literature).

Tolkāppiyam expounds on the three basic aspects of the language in detail, viz. eḻutu (phonology),
col (morphology) and poruḷ (context & content). The poruḷ part of Tolkāppiyam also incorporates
yāppu (versification / prosody) and aṇi (aesthetics / poetic instruments) grammars. Together, all these
make up the five-fold grammar of Tamiḻ (Tamiḻ Aintilakkaṇam).

Naṉṉūl, which appeared approximately 1500 – 1700 years after Tolkāppiyam, talks only about eḻutu
and col. Though there are other works in between, most of them are lost to time. Naṉṉūl serves to
highlight the development of the language since the time of Tolkāppiyam, thus serving as an
important milestone in the road of Tamiḻ grammar. This and the fact that Naṉṉūl’s treatment is easier
to approach than that of Tolkāppiyam, owing to its chronology, makes the book preferable as an
introductory level text to teach Tamiḻ grammar. Thus Naṉṉūl finds its place among school text
books. Students are made to commit Naṉṉūl verses to memory – a common practise in our ancient
teaching tradition!

3. Pāyiram – The Preface

It is customary for Tamiḻ books, especially the technical ones, to begin with a pāyiram – the preface.
Pāyiram is of two types: the special (ciṟappu-pāyiram) and the general (potu-pāyiram). Ciṟappu
pāyiram basically enumerates the bibliography; giving details such as the title, author, context,
intended readers, purpose, etc. (And hence it is unique to each book, thus the name!) However, the
potu-pāyiram talks about the general aspects of the four basic elements: the book (nūl), the author
(āciriyar), the student (māṇavar), and the process of teaching-learning (pāṭam collal / pāṭam kēṭṭal).

It is the potu-pāyiram that we are interested in, for it expounds on the aspects of a good book (potu-
pāyiram’s description of the author, student and the teaching –learning process are subjects for
separate articles!)

Naṉṉūl’s potu-pāyiram starts by describing the qualities of a book. It defines a book, its types,
purpose, stance, demerits, merits, techniques, and structure.

I wish to discuss the ten demerits and the ten merits, as enumerated in Naṉṉūl’s potu-pāyiram, a
book / an article should avoid and incorporate, respectively, to be designated as ‘good’.

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