12: Aku neții notu vaňkuril Iranțoțu Öreļu; tiyalpata māzeļ cirappina. Six among the vowels and Ma series of vowel consonants, five among the Ta and Pa and Na series, four among the Ka, Va and Ca series, one among the Ya series are the one-lettered words of long sounds which are forty in number. Along with these are the two short sound one-lettered words, namely, No and Tu, thus making the total number of important one-lettered words forty-two. Viramāmunivar, who lived in the eighteenth century, in his Tamil grammar, Tonnül Vilakkam, has simply reproduced this and the next Sūtram of Bavananti as one sitram itself and has given the commentary also.*® From this Sūtram of Nanniil we get a more precise idea of not only the number of one-lettered words but also the exact onelettered words in usage. Further we find Bavanandi mentioning only six letters in the vowel series, and not seven as Tolkāppiar mentions in his Sūtram. This perhaps points out the fact that one vowel, viz: Au should have become obsolete by the time of Bavananti Munivar. Mayilainātar, Sañkaranamaccivāyar, Visākap Perumālaiyar, V. M. Sadagopa Ramanujachariar, the learned commentators to Nannā, and Viramāmunivar, the author of “Tonnii Vilakkam taking advantage of the expression “cirappina” (important) give a list of one-lettered words, which they call as ‘not so important.” They are as follows according to them.11: Even about the ‘important’ one-lettered words there is difference in the interpretation of the commentators. While that of Gankaranamaccivāyar, Visakapperumal Iyar and V. M. Gopalakrishnamachariyar is identicalli the interpretations of Mayilainătar” differ, Mayilainătar, while adding osm and Gau, drops out es and Gloisir. Viramämuryivar, in his commentary to Tonnül Vilakkam— Sūtram No-48, like Moyilainătar adds Gau and drops out Glousf.14 With the help of the above-mentioned sources, the Tamil Lexicon” published by the University of Madras, the treatise on
