Nouns.

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Nouns.

The simplest Tamil sentence consists of two Noun Phrases, with no verb present in the surface structure:

Éâ äöÓ»´£ idu pustaham `This (is a) book.'

Such Noun-Noun constructions can also be very complex, with embedded verbal constructions, adjectival participles, and what-not:

Nouns which are the subject of a sentence are usually in the nominative case, except in certain constructions involving stative and/or defective verbs, and in constructions involving Éç iru when it means `have'.

Noun phrases which are the subject of a sentence are generally the first constituent in the sentence. Adjectives and other members of the Noun Phrase precede the Noun. Case markers, plural markers, and certain quantifiers follow the Noun, as in:

ÇÂí¡Þ avan-ukku `to him'
×´ÔÃÿ×»õ´ koandenga `children'
½Ô§ Í§ÁÔ£ paal-ellaam `all the milk'

Harold_F.Schiffman