The concept of ticai-c-col in Tamil grammatical literature and the regional diversity of Tamil classical literature

This article will explore the various conceptions underlying the use of the expression ticai-c-col (approximately “regional words”). After describing the role assigned to these by Tamil grammarians and Tamil grammatical commentators, we shall present a sketch of traditional Tamil linguistic geography, with its central and peripheral regions, and the way it has been reinterpreted in the course of history. We will also try to examine the actual linguistic data, the differences of opinion about it, and what they tell us about Tamil literature and the movement hiding below its classical surface