Primarily Aspectual Verbs

• (v)iDu `completive'.

  This aspectual verb adds a notion that an action was, is, or will be complete or definite. It is similar to aspectual verbs in other languages (Russian, Hindi, etc.) that impart the notion of `perfective' (not perfect). Examples:
  • avan pooyiTTaan `he went away; he's definitely gone'
  • naan vandiDureen `I am definitely coming; I'll come for sure.'
  • avane anuppiccuDu `Send him away; get rid of him'
  • ade saappiTTuTTeen `I ate it all up'

• vayyi `future utility'.

  The aspectual verb vayyi has a lexical analog vayyi `put away, put somewhere for safekeeping'. It is usually used with transitive main verbs only (since the MV vayyi is definitely transitive,) but may occur with some intransitive verbs, such as siri `laugh' (see example below). Other aspectual verbs (e.g. viDu ) may follow vayyi , but vayyi always follows immediately after the AVP of the main verb. The aspectual notion conveyed by vayyi is the notion that some action is performed because it will have future consequences, use or benefit; it is often translatable as `in reserve' or `up', e.g. `stock up (on)', `read up (on) s.t., `study up on s.t.', `lay in (or up) a stock of (s.t.)'. In the examples below, the glossed portion within square brackets is not literally present in the Tamil sentence, but is given as what might be inferred by the use of a particular aspectual verb.
  • taNNiirek kuDiccu veppoom `We will tank up on water' [We will drink our fill of water so as to avoid future thirst.]

  • ammaa piLLengalukku doose suttu veccaa `The mother made dosas for the children [to eat later].' `The mother cooked up some dosas [to have ready] for the children [to eat later].'

  • pooliiskiTTe edeyaavadu olari vekkaadee `Don't go blabbing things to the police [to get yourself into even more hot water later].'

  • naan naaye kattivekkalle `I neglected to tie up the dog [and keep it from biting people, messing up people's yards, etc.].'

  • sundaram tan mahaLukku nalla eDattle kalyaaNam senjuveccaar "Sundaram got his daughter married off well [and nicely set up for the future].'

  • talevar kuuTTatte taLLiveccaar `The chairman postponed the meeting.' (/ tallu `push' + vayyi `fut. util.' = `postpone')

  • dairektar oru jook sonnaar; naan ciriccu vecceen `The Director told a joke, and I [dutifully] laughed [just in case.]'

  • kalyaaNa viiTTle tummi kimmi vecciDaadee `Don't do anything [stupid] like sneeze or anything during the wedding ceremony [and bring bad omens].'

• aahu `expected result; finality'.

  This aspectual verb is usually used only in the neuter past, i.e. aaccu . Suffixed to a main verb it expresses the notion that the action was expected, or occurred after a long wait, or as a regularly expected occurrence.

  • poosT vandaaccu The mail has come [as expected].
  • inda kaNakk-ellaam paattaaccu `These bills have finally all been checked.'

• vaa `iterative; connected continuity'.

  The aspectual verb vaa has a lexical analog vaa which of course means `come'. The notion conveyed by aspectual vaa is that an occurrence is or was of long-standing duration, but more as a series of connected events (or waves of occurrences) rather than as uninterrupted continuity. (The latter is expressed by kiTTiru.) vaa may often express a kind of `narrative' or `historical' (or perhaps even `mythological') past, describing an action that was common practice in a past time. Since it is mostly only used in LT, the example(s) below are in LT rather than ST.
  • (LT) anta kaalattil intiyaavil aneeka aracarkaL aaNTu vantaarkaL `At that time [it was the custom that] many kings were ruling in India.'

• poo `completive of change of state'.

  The aspectual verb poo resembles the lexical verb poo `go' in its morphology. It is used to express the notion that a change of state has definitely taken place (or will definitely occur). As such it is aspectually completive but the main verbs to which it is attached always have some semantic notion of change of state; the addition of poo shows that the change is complete.
  • avan settu poonaan `He died. [He is definitely dead]'
  • adu keTTu pooccu `It got spoiled.'
  • tuNiyellaam kaanju poohum `The clothes will all get dry.'

• kiTTiru Durative or Continuous Action.

  Durative or continuous action similar to the `progressive' construction verb+ing in English, developed from the combining of kol in its LT AVP form koNDu with the `stative' aspectual verb iru , i.e. koNDiru, (in ST kiTTiru ) which is affixed to the AVP of a main verb: vandu + kiTTirundeen `I was com-ing.' In modern ST, kiTTiru ought to be taken as a separately grammaticalized semantic unit, i.e. koL has been recruited here, fused with iru and results in something different from the other avatars of koL. Explaining how the meanings of koL and iru are combined to express duration will be done below, i.e. which elements of these lexical verbs have metonymically been extended and recruited in the grammaticalization of kiTTiru is a story in itself. In ST radical phonological changes have resulted in koNDiru being realized as kiTTiru in non-Brahman dialect, and -NDiru in Brahman dialect. Also, kiTTiru, because of its grammaticalization as the marker of duration, may lose its initial k- and occur just as -iTTiru

  This lenition and deletion of initial v- and k- I have dealt with in my 1993 article ``Intervocalic V-deletion in Tamil: Its Domains and its Constraints." Journal of the American Oriental Society 113(4)513-528.

  • ellaarum peesikkiTTrundaanga `Everyone was talking.' (or: peesiTTrundaanga )

  • raaman saappiTTu(kk)iTTirukkaaru `Raman is eating.'

  • kamalaa vanda poodu, naan paDiccu(kk)iTTirundeen . `When Kamala arrived, I was reading.'

  • koRande eeRu manikkuLLee tuungi(k)iTTirukkum. By 7:00, the child will be sleeping.

  • engee pooy (k)iTTirukkriinga ? `Where are you going?'

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