This is the Preface of the Tholkappiam book on Tamil Grammar,
நிலம் தரு திருவின் பாண்டியன் அவையத்து
அறம் கரை நாவின் நான்மறை முற்றிய
அதங்கோட்டு ஆசாற்கு அரில் தபத் தெரிந்து
மயங்கா மரபின் எழுத்து முறை காட்டி
மல்கு நீர் வரைப்பின் ஐந்திரம் நிறைந்த
தொல்காப்பியன் எனத் தன் பெயர் தோற்றிப்
பல் புகழ் நிறுத்த படிமையோனே
Translation :
Tamil speaking land extends from Venkatam (Tirupathi) in the north to Kumari ocean (Kanyakumari) in the south,
Written and spoken tamil language is the source of this work,
He extends his study on phonetic letters, word syntax and all the matter it reveals thereby,
He has studied well the culture of the people's language and his predecessors conventions and has written this work on Linguistic knowledge.
This book has been published in the court of Nilantharu Thiruvin Nediyon.
His teacher is Atankoott Aashaan, who is a man of well balanced virtuous character.
He is well versed in the four Vedas
and during writing this book some of the doubts of his teacher was cleard,
This work is unambiguous and the author of this work is well versed in "Aindiram".
This should put to rest any and all speculation about the sanskrit and vedic origins of Tamil grammar.
