L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

A South Indian (Malayalam) Evaluation of Sanskrit t and d

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

This linguistic study investigates how Malayalam grammarians have evaluated and adapted the Sanskrit dental and retroflex plosives represented by the letters “t” and “d” in their writing and…

Dravidic 'Eating' and 'Drinking'

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

“Dravidic ‘Eating’ and ‘Drinking’” is a linguistic study that classifies verbs for eating and drinking across the Dravidian family. The author notes that semantic classification of related verbs…

Dravidic "Water"

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

This linguistic study examines the Dravidian word for ‘water’ and the difficulties of reconstructing Proto‑Dravidian. The author notes that divergences in vocabulary, morphology and phonology across…

Notes on Dravidian

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

Notes on Dravidian

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

The text discusses two main topics: the origins of Mahayana Buddhism and the evolution of case terminations in Dravidian languages. Regarding Mahayana, it questions the traditional attribution of…

Notes on Dravidian

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

Under the rubric ‘Miscellany’, this note highlights features of Dravidian languages and their relationship to Indo‑Aryan. The author summarises phonological traits such as retroflex consonants, vowel…

Notes on Dravidian

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

The alveolar plosive /t/ in Tamil-Malayalam, distinct from other modern Dravidian languages, serves as a separate phoneme. Examples include minimal pairs like *patti* (snake's hood) vs. *pasi*…

Notes on Dravidian

By L. V. Ramaswami Aiyar

This linguistic study explores several features of the Dravidian languages. In the first section it examines the suffix –ga/–ge found in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and tribal dialects, arguing that it…