Brahmin Tamil/Grammar4
Braahmik at one time had, like Tamil, separate auciliary verbs to give a reflexive, concessive or perfective sense to the main verb. Being a rapidly growing colloquial language, it contracted these auxiliary verbs into mere verbal suffixes to convert the main verb into a reflexive, concessive or perfective verb. The verbs are kohllu (reflexive / concessive) contracted to -ko and vidu (perfect tense auxiliary) contracted to -du.
In the following table, ordinary verbs and the corresponding reflexive / concessive and perfective verbs are given:
| Ordinary | Reflexive / concessive | Perfective |
|---|---|---|
| poo 'go' | pooyko 'you may go' | pooydu 'go away' |
| vaa 'come' | vandhuko / -ho 'you may come' | vandhudu 'come away' |
| edu 'take' | eduthuko 'you may take' | eduthudu 'ake it away' |
| okaaru 'sit down' | okaandhuko / -ho 'take your seat' | okandhudu '(just) sit down (and don't get up)' |
| sziri /chiri 'Laugh' | sziri- / chirichuko 'snuke, laugh in your sleeves' | sziri- / chirithudu 'burst out laughing' |
Cardinal Numerals
1 ohnnu, 2 rendu, 3 muuhnu / muunnu, 4 naalu, 5 anju, 6 aarru, 7 eezhu, 8 etu, 9 ombadhu, 10 pathu.
The verb iru does work for both 'to be' and 'to have', The difference is brought out by syntax :
Avan oru kozhandhei 'he (is) a child'
Avan u ku oru kozhandhei iruku 'he has a child'
Naan pahna kaaran 'I am a rich man'
En kite pahnam iruku 'I have money'
King Midas u ku kazhudhei kaadhu 'King
Midas has ass's ears'.
Enga thaathaa ku romba vayas aachu 'My gandfather is very old'.
Kozhandhei ki pathu vayasu 'The child is 10 years old'.
En kite oru pusthaham iruku 'I have a book'.
Ena k oru thambi irukaan 'I have a younger brother'.