A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil (Reference Grammars)

This is a reference grammar of the standard spoken variety of Tamil, which differs radically from the literary language. This book, a much expanded version of the author's Grammar of Spoken Tamil (1979) is the first such grammar to contain examples both in Tamil script and in transliteration, and is designed to be accessible to students studying the modern spoken language at all levels as well as to linguists and other specialists. The book has benefited from extensive native-speaker input and the author's own long experience of teaching Tamil to English-speakers.

Customer Reviews:

A useful reference for adult learners

By agnet1976 - October 19, 2010

This book delivers what the title suggests, namely that it is a "reference" grammar for spoken Tamil. Professor Schiffman takes a linguist's structured approach to the language, with detailed descriptions of parts of speech, declension of nouns, and conjugation of verbs, and idioms in sentence structure.

As an adult learner, Prof Schiffman's book is a useful part of one's collection as a reference. I would recommend purchasing the book along with 1-2 other "learning" textbooks, such as Asher and Annamalai's Colloquial Tamil: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series) or Hart's Tamil for Beginners. I would also recommend the University of Pennsylvania website, "Tamil Language in Context" to any adult Tamil learner.

A Reference, just as the title indicates

By VeggieSD - October 30, 2009

This is a spectacularly well done book. ***However, this is not a beginner's book.*** It includes charts and diagrams, is very nicely organized, but generally assumes that you already have an understanding of Tamil before you begin. After having studied for a few months, I can go back to it and look up rules and questions I have.

It would work best as a reference (as it says in the title) in conjunction with a Tamil learning textbook.

Luckily, both google books and professor Harold Schiffman's current university web page have much of the text online, so you can take a look before you buy.

If you were interested in studying the linguistic side of the Tamil language, this is the book for you.