thamil cases
thamil cases

Certain special suffixes in Thamil are known as case suffixes. There are about 7 case suffixes, and they are only added to nouns. Each has a different meaning. Examples of the meanings of some case suffixes include "at"/"in", "for"/"to", and "from". In a setence, words that have case suffixes usually appear after the noun but before the adverb.

case suffixes

Adding case suffixes is the second instance where the word changes before a suffix is added. The first was when making plural nouns.

adding case suffixes
  • If the word ends in -L or -W:
    • add the case suffix using the basic set of suffix addtion rules if:
      • the word is made of two short letters
      • the final -L or -W is preceded by a consonant
    • change -L to l;l; or -W to w;w; and add the case suffix for any other word
  • If the word ends in -k;:
    drop the -k;, add j;j;, and add the case suffix

Remember that a consonant is a letter that does not have a vowel sound (e.g. f;, q;, r;, etc.).

The pronouns change uniquely before adding suffix:

case suffixes - word changes
word change before adding case suffix word change before adding case suffix
ehd; vd;- ehk; ek;-
ehq;fs; vq;fs;-
eP cd;- ePq;fs; cq;fs;-
ePq;fs; cq;fs;-
mtd; mtd;- mtu;fs; mtu;fs;-
mts; mts;-
mtu; mtu;-
mJ mj;-/ mjd;- mit mtw;W-
word change before adding case suffix
vy;yhk; vy;yhtw;w;-

mJ changes very irregularly when adding case suffixes to it.

See the next lesson about direct objects to see examples of case suffix rules.