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4. Pattu Kuṟṟam – The Ten Demerits

Any article or book should avoid the following ten aspects for it to be good:

ற ற , மிைகபட ற ,
Translitertion:
kuṉṟak kūṟal, mikaipaṭak kūṟal,
றிய ற , மா ெகாள ற ,
வ உ ெசா ண த , மய!க ைவ த , kūṟiyatu kūṟal, māṟukoḷak kūṟal, vaḻūuccoṟ
ெவ ெறன ெதா# த , ம ெறா வ$% த , puṇarttal, mayaṅka vaittal,
ெச ேத'( இ த , நி பயன* ைம veṟṟeṉat toṭuttal, maṟṟoṉṟu virittal,
ceṉṟutēyntu iṟutal, niṉṟu payaṉiṉmai
எ றிைவ ஈைர! ற. / ேக.
eṉṟivai īraiṅ kuṟṟam nūṟkē.

4.1 kuṉṟak kūṟal:
This is being deficit in words or explanation. Using lesser words than is necessary to adequately
explain a concept / idea will lead to incompleteness. Thus it becomes a demerit.

4.2 mikaipaṭak kūṟal:
This is the other extreme of the above - presence of superfluous language or being redundant. This
will lead to unnecessary confusion and will also dilute the rigor of the article or book and hence a
demerit.

4.3 kūṟiyatu kūṟal:
This is a common aspect seen in many contemporary books – repeating or redefining what stated or
defined already. Apart from raising unwanted misunderstanding, repeating definitions will
compromise the structure of a book. It also assumes that the readers are not capable of understanding
or remembering things in the first go itself.

4.4 māṟukoḷak kūṟal:
This is defining or stating something that is ambiguous or not in line with the already defined things.
This obviously leads to uncertainty in conveying the intended message.

4.5 vaḻūuccol puṇarttal:
Using wrong words or terms is an obvious demerit. This includes both grammatically incorrect
words as well as misnomers – terms that don’t fit the context and/or glossary of the subject being
treated.

4.6 mayaṅka vaittal:
Phrasing sentences that lead to ambiguous interpretations. Ambiguity should be avoided at any cost.
(However, there is a technique, one of the 32, known as ‘iraṭṭuṟa moḻital’ (இர0#ற ெமாழித ) where
the author purposely encodes the verse to be interpreted in two or more different ways. This is used
to encode / encrypt more precious information or simply to be economic. This technique differs from
the current demerit in that the many possible interpretations are all contextually correct and useful
ones and do not lead to any ambiguity or confusion.

4.7 veṟṟeṉat toṭuttal:
Adding content that doesn’t add any useful information to the subject being discussed leads to this
demerit. Some authors fall in to the fallacy of counting pages and would write simply to add more
pages to their article or book without regard to whether they really add weight to the subject. This
would obviously tire down the reader and make the book / article boring and repulsive!

4.8 maṟṟoṉṟu virittal:
This is taking a detour and expounding on some other topic in the middle of a topic. This dilutes both
the current topic and the detour topic by scattering the attention of the reader (and that of the author,
often!) and is thus a demerit.

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