I have been fascinated by the Tamil language since my school days. My Tamil teachers have not only contributed a great deal to my knowledge but have stimulated my keen interest in Tamil language and literature. My primary acknowledgment is due to all of them. But it was my non-native Tamil students who first provided me with an opportunity to develop an "outsider's view" of Tamil, and I wish to thank them as well.
I owe a great deal to my guru, M. Shanmugam Pillai, who introduced me to the study of linguistics and to friends like Don Larkin who have contributed immensely to my knowledge and under-standing of linguistics. I want to mention especially my friend and tutor, James M. Lindholm, who has been of indispensable help in my graduate education. It is impossible for me to enumerate the many ways he has helped me in my studies and in preparation of this thesis. I am greatly indebted and deeply grateful to him.
I have had the privilege and honor of being a student of James D. McCawley who encourages and guides free thinking among his students. He has been most influential in defining the nature of my linguistic training. I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to him as well as to A. K. Ramanujan who has been kind and considerate throughout my graduate education. I would like to thank Vijayarani Fedson who provided grammaticality judgments as well as editorial and other invaluable help.
I would like here also to acknowledge the financial support which made my graduate study possible the travel grant I received from the USEFI, Delhi and fellowship/stipend support I received from the University of Chicago through the Humanities Division and the Committee on South Asian Studies.
I also owe thanks to Norman Cutler for typing this manuscript.
My wife and children have silently borne the hardships of separation for these five years. I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to them for the patience and understanding they have shown.
This dissertaion is submitted to the faculty of the Division of the Humanities in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of philosophy through the Department of Linguistics.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist