BRIEF INTRODUCTION

TO TAMIL VERB TEACHING

PACKAGE
 CHAPTER 3

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO TAMIL VERB TEACHING PACKAGE

3.1.General
The rapid spread of computer has been spurred by intensive development not only in
the field of computer technology, but also in the area of Language Teaching and Learning.
Utilizing the computer in the field of Language Teaching and Learning is a new development,
in the domain of computer technology. There is no doubt that computer can make useful
contribution in the field of language teaching.

The CALL package can be physically situated in the learning /teaching situation It
can be used in the class room and it may be considered as a special Language Laboratory The

CALL package is used by group of students and it is also useful for individual learning The
package for a particular language can be developed according to the Learner's situation and
need. The present work aim to prepare a Grammar Learning Package for Tamil verb system

The present "GRAMMAR LEARNING PACKAGE" is developed for second

language learners i.e., the learners who want to learn Tamil as second Language In this
package the medium of instruction or the source language, that is the users language is
English and it does not require the human assistance. So, it is considered as an Automatic Self

Learning Package. It acts as a teacher. Since the pattern of package is modeled in "quiz
type".

Further, it also provides a detailed information to the learner's questions This study
avails data of the a specific grammatical category, namely, verb.

This chapter describes how the data have been organized, formulated and used for this
study.

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3.2. Structure of data base system

Relevant data are prerequisite for each and every study but the method, collection and
organization of data vary from study to study. For this study, mere data alone are not enough.
Since the computer has to analyze the data and to provide proper report about the data,
detailed information about the data are imperative. It also requires the detailed information

about the theories, grammatical rules etc., to be used in this study.

Generally, Man Aided analysis is different from Machine Aided analysis In the
machine aided analysis program is maintained for the processes of analysis and checking. So
computer needs the complete information about the items to be analyzed.

3.2.1.Procedure of data collection

3.2.1.1 Data base
It is an organized collection of related information. A data base is made up of a
collection of similar records. All items of data pertaining to a particular entry together make
up a record. Every item of data is called filed.

3.2.1.2. Organization of data

The computer is able to store and manipulate a large amount of data. Data is stored in
the Data Base in various dimensions. The Data Base is a combination of both explicit and
tacit knowledge about the particular domain. Depending upon the domain characteristics,
which are utilized in KBS, vary both in declarative and procedural knowledge and also can be
presented.

The study presents data in an explicit way and the knowledge is acquired from books,
mannuals and historical records. With the help of these explicit data the researcher has
developed an excellent automatic model for analysis. In this study with the help of the above
mentioned data the KBS information and data organization have been developed and
presented as below.

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 Figure 5 ORGANIZATION OF DATA

Knowledge
[Automation of decisions problems
solutions]

Date Organization

J Type of Input 1

The above illustrated diagram shows the data organization i.e., the first data base
consists of problems and its solution. The word formation and word selectional problems are
declared by the number value. For giving solution to those problems the grammar rules are
followed.

So the rules i.e., morphophonemic rules and principles and parameter approach

theory and X-bar syntax theory model are also applied in the form of program. These rules
are declared by the syntax. With the help of those grammatical rules the machine takes the
decision automatically. The device checks the given valid input from the given source
knowledge and provides the proper output. These processes are controlled over by the
program which was written and kept inside the device.

As far as data organization is concerned, based on the method of analysis the

collected data are stored in separate records. In those developed records the data as well as
the number values of each item and the type of data are stored.

The above mentioned two process are compiled by the program which gives clear
answer to the learner's question. Here, the question asking method i.,e giving the
question/information through key board, is referred to as input.

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Example 1

(1) ENTER THE VERB/SENTENCE: paaTu

When the above mentioned input is given in the device through the keyboard, there is
an output derived such process is illustrated below as such.,

The given input is been processed through the software device which is been
developed and brings out proper result for the input in the screen. This process is known as

analysis / checking.

Example
i) First step ENTER THE VERB/SENTENCE : paaTu

ii) Second Step Result

For the above verb (paaTu), It gives finite and nonfinite verb conjugation, with all
inflectional and Sandhi changes information.

Example 2
Suppose the learner gives the input as a sentence:
ENTER THE VERB/SENTENCE: I am going to the temple

As soon as the input is given the device (software) converts the above sentence to
Tamil version.

" naan koovilu kku cenRukoNTirukkiReen"

After this process, the sentence is segmented through the morpheme analyzer, and
shows the morphemes for the same.

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 een —► I person singular
kkiR ——► Present Tense Marker
iru —► Auxiliary verb
koNT——► Auxiliary' verb
cenRu -----► Main verb
ukku -----► Case marker
koovil —-----► Noun

naan -----► I person

VERB PHRASE ; cenRu koNTirukkiReen

CHANGES : koNTu + iru-------- ► koNTirukkiReen
RULE : u’ before i' final V gets deleted.
MAIN VERB cel
CHANGES : cel becomes cenRu (verbal participle)

3.2.I.3. Knowledge requirements

For these processes the following knowledge requirements are necessary to give the
fruitful result in the domain of CALL package development.

As far as this study is concerned, the following rules of grammar and data entering
rule are required.
1. Grammar rules
2. Automatic of Decisions (Program)
3. Problems and Solutions and
4. Clear Data (Enough amount)

Tamil Grammar is taught taking into account linguistic principles. That is language
level analysis is very much important for the development of Grammar Learning Package. So
special attention has been given to the above mentioned components.

The above mentioned requirements are arranged according to the nature of this
analysis. In this study there are TWO PHASES involved, viz.,

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 1. The phase of imparting language knowledge
2. The phase of testing language knowledge

In the first phase i.e., (imparting language knowledge) there are two sub phases
involved, namely

a) Morphological Phase and

b) Syntactical Phase

The morphological phase is to provide the morpheme segmentation to the given input,
it should be loaded in the form of a word or a sentence to incur the exact morpheme
segmentation. On the contrary, the Syntactical Phase provides the verb functional information
in the sentence construction. On the otherhand the Testing Phase gives the various types of
drills and exercises to the learners.

The above mentioned phases include TWO more linguistic components processes, viz.,

1. Compositional process and

2. Translation process

Compositional process includes two sub level component processes, namely,

a. Morphological level process and

b. Syntactic level process
The above mentioned three processes are explained in the fourth and fifth chapters In
the present chapter the data organization and rules arrangements are explained under the

following heads.

3.3. Data organization for morphological process

Every language possesses a grammatical structure. The Grammatical structure consists
of language components. Grammar is very important element for acquiring and learning a

language.

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 It is believed that biologically all the human beings possess universal grammar in their
mind. According to the language one learns he/she sets the grammar of the particular language
with the help of the innate universal grammar. The men acquire the language from the world
with their inherent biological endowment.

3.3.1 Language framework

Each language has its own unique structure, the components which are present in one
language may or may not be found in other languages. So the grammar of the language vary
from language to language. Eventhough there is a difference in language structure, almost all
the languages have a systematic grammatical structure and unique language elements. The
following structural framework is used to explain the language structure

Figure -6 FRAME WORK OF LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE

Medium of Transmission

Phonetics Graphimics
(letter)

The above described model explains the organization of language. Any language is
organized by means of linguistic components. The arrangement of those components are

altogether termed as Grammar.

The phonetics script system with some modification has been used to encode the data
in this study. Further for the syntactic study the "semantics" is included Here the term
semantics is referred to "giving translation equivalences from the English Language to

Tamil Language".

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 According to the above described model the maximum amount of data are collected
and organized. For the data base the situation oriented materials are used. The situation
includes i.e., Railway station, Theater, School, Office, Shop and other domestic
situations and the activities of these situation the dialogues are prepared.

The systematic way of leaming/teaching can provide enough knowledge about the
learning language. Hence, the present study concentrates on the systematic way of teaching.
And the method of teaching is ’’simple to Complex’’, so the first part of learning material
teaches the lower unit of language i.e., morpheme. Because the morpheme is the lowest unit
which have certain grammatical structure and as morphemes are used to build words.

3.4.Verb morphology
In the area of morphology there are two main processes viz.,

1. Inflectional process and

2. Derivational process

For this study, the inflectional morphology alone has been taken into consideration.
The study of inflectional morphology is the way in which the words vary in order to express
the grammatical contrast in sentences.

The knowledge base which is found in the present package has been arranged in the
following way for the segmentation of morphemes.

1. In the process of the segmentation of morphemes the input should be valid finite
verb. It must be given either in Tamil or in English. In the above said process the following

components are required. They are,

1. Verb Roots
2. Tense Suffixes and
3. PNG Markers
These elements are needed for finite verb construction, but this morphological analyzer
will be able to segment all type of morpheme, i.e, finite verb, nonfinite verb, sentences This

35
segmentation process can be done by the end of the sentences or finite or nonfinite verb For

this study the collected data are classified and stored in the data base. The diagram illustrated
below shows the verb root data base structure.

3.5. Verb root data base structure

Figure 7 STRUCTURE OF VERB ROOT DATA BASE

Main Label: Verb Root

[Class 1 VRJ

[Class 2 VRJ

[Class 3 VRJ

[Class 4 VRJ

[Class 5 VRJ

[Class 6 VRJ

[Class 7 VRJ

The above illustrated verb data base shows the arrangements of verbs in the data
base. The verbs are classified on the basis of Past Tense Markers. There are many scholars
who have classified the verbs on the basis of past tense suffixes either into four or nine classes
But for this present study, i.e., for the purpose of computer aided analysis, the verbs are
classified into seven classes on the basis of following past tense suffixes. These past tense
suffixes and other tense suffixes (present and future) are stored in the knowledge base. The
diagrammatic representation below shows the organization of Tense Markers in the data base

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3.5.1. Tense markers data base structure

Figure 8 ORGANIZATION OF TENSE MARKERS

PP v

3.5.2. PNG marker data base structure

According to the past tense marker, the future tense marker and present tense marker

are added to the verb roots. While forming the Finite verb , verb root takes the PNG suffixes.
The PNG suffix can be selected according to the agreement of the subject. For the finite verb
construction the PNG suffixes are organized in the following way in the software.

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 Figure 9 ORGANIZATION OF PNG MARKERS

3.6. Problems in tense formation

When forming the finite verb construction there are some problems in the third class
verbs, the problems are not only in the particular class, but also in other classes There are few
irregular verbs found in Tamil language, these will pose the problem in the construction of
finite forms. Those problematic type of verbs are taken separately for the analysis,

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considering as special category. In this study, this problematic group is considered in the
programmed verbs, viz., Verb root 'koIYcel' and 'veP takes the past tense suffix nR\ But in
the tense knowledge base the suffix'R’ alone is kept,because 'R’ is alone considered as the

Tense suffix and all other regular verbs they take R’ as the past tense suffix. In the regular
formation the suffixes are automatically joined with the root form without any changes. But

in the above mentioned problematic cases the final T present in the verb root is dropped and
V is added to the root form After this process, the regular past tense suffix R’ can be added
to the root. For this problem the program has been written in the following way

♦Exception : If verb root is kol/vel/cel/nil drop T and add’V* at the end

This statement declares that the verb roots and what letter should be deleted and what
should be added are written in the special statement routine. With the help of this statement
the verb root can take the tense and conjugates.

In the same class there are some other problematic irregular verbs, i.e.,
'kalYvilYtooI' Which also take the same past tense suffix 'R'. The difference between these
two groups is that the final T gets deleted and directly the past tense suffix'R’ is added in
one group of verbs. But, the past tense suffix 'R* remains as it is while adding the present and
or future tense suffixes in another group of verbs. For these problematic verbs program is
written in the following way.

*verbroot='kalYvil’'toor tverbroot =Ieft(tVerbroot,nLenl) tverbroot =tverbrrot + "R"

So, the third group of verb has two distinct groups. Each one has its own unique
nature. According to the nature of the verbs the programs are written separately And also the
verbs are declared in the program statements. A special observations are also made in this
problematic verbs.

Apart from these verbs there is yet another problematic group of verb, which is also
arranged in the same class i.e.,'peRu\ it takes the past tense marker "R”. While adding the
past tense marker to the verb root which ends with 'u' the 'u' is dropped. This change

39
occurs only when the formation of past tense is taking place. For this type of verb the

program is written as follows

tverbroot = "peRu"tverbroot ="peR"tverbroot = +'R'

Apart from the third class verbs there are another set of irregular verbs

'vaa’/pooVcolYtaaVcaa' and 'nooV Of these 'vaa1 and 'taa' come under the class seven
i.e., the verbs which take 'nd' as past tense marker.

In the above mentioned two verb constructions, while adding the past tense suffix to
the root the long vowel which is present in the end of the root gets shortened. Due to this
shorting process the past tense suffix 'nd' can join with root form and form the past tense
finite form. These two verbs have separately been programmed in the following way.
if tverbroot = "vaa"
tverbroot = ”va"
if tverbroot = "taa"
tverbroot = "ta"
This statement can be used only in the past tense formation routine.

The verb "poo" takes 'in’ as the past tense marker. When adding the ’in’ to the root
the *i’ can get deleted. Hence, for this problematic verb the program is written as

case tclass = 7
do case
case overbroot = "poo"
tverbroot = tverbroot + "n"

The verb "col" also takes the same suffix 'in’. But in the formation of finite verb the
'n' gets doubled. For this process the program is written as

case verbroot = "col"

tverbroot = "conn"

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 Another verb is "caa". This verb is classified under the fifth class . While adding the
past tense marker 'th' to the root, the root itself changed into "cee" and it takes the past

tense marker " th". This process is written in the statement routine as

ifverbroot = "caa"
tverbroot ="cee"

In this study, the problematic verbs are separately written in the program. Almost all
the irregular verbs are programmed in such a way to get the conjugation and to suit well for
the purpose of morphophonemic analysis.

3.6.1. Irregular verb construction

The program has been written for the tense formation of irregular verb in the following

way:
if cTense=l
cVerbroot = "va"
else
cCIass = 1
cVerbroot = "varu"

The verb"vaa" gets shortened while adding the tense markers i.e, present, past and
future tenses. In the past tense formation the verb is constructed as "vandeen", present
finite verb construction is"varukiReen" and the future tense finite verb construction is
"varuveen".So the ’cVerbroot = "varu" can be taken as the base form for both present and
future tense formation. The same procedure is followed for the verb"taa".i,e,,

"tandeen","tarukiReen" and "taruveen".

The other verbs like "caa" is written as

case cverbroot = "caa"
if cTense = 1
cCIass = 5
 cverbroot = "cee"

else
cClass = 1

cVerbroot ="caa"

While adding the present and future tense markers to the verb root,the base forms
remains as it is. i.e., ("caakiReen" and ""caaveen") but, while addding the past tense suffix
the verb root gets changed into cee' and it is formed as ceetheen'

The verb "noo" takes the "nd" as the past tense marker while adding the past tense
marker to the root form the long vowel gets shortened i.e., 'noo’ —► no’. For this verb the
program is written as
case cVerbroot = ”noo"
if cTense =2 .or.cTense =3
cClass = 1
cVerbroot = "noo"
endif
if cTense = 1
cVerbroot = "no"
endif.

By adding the tense suffixes to the root forms , the root is changed into no’ and it is
formed as nondeen1 This shorting process can only occur in the formation of past tense finite
verb. And in the present and future tense finite verb construction the root can remain as
"nookiReen" and "nooveen" respectively.

3.7. Verb conjugation

For verb conjugation process the machine requires the following information
1. Possible verb roots in sequences and
2. Information about PNG agreement

42
 In the present study almost all verb root and information of PNG agreement are given
inside the knowledge base and additional information with regard to English verbs are also
included in it. As this study concentrates on two languages the package has been developed
with the information of two languages viz., English and Tamil. English and Tamil verb roots

sequences and PNG agreement information are also given in a systematic way.

Markers denoting of Person, Number and Gender(PNG) are complicated in English.

In Tamil the Finite form itself (for exampIefnaTandaaL*) denotes the Person, Number and
Gender categories. In English it is not possible.

So the sense denoting has to be provided in the paradigm table of English data as follows .

he III Person Masculine avan

she III Person Feminine avaL
I I Person Singular naan
You U Person Singular nii
we I Person plural naangkaL

The above table provides the PNG markers of Tamil and English. According to the
verb root the selection of the PNG marker is made. For this process the program is written in
the following way.
*obtaining the PNG marker from the data base

select 3
locate for person = cPerson .and.;
number = cNumber .and.;
gender = cGender

With these details the device will be able to construct the finite verbs.

The present package is developed by using various language components and

grammar rules. On par with the number of components the data base is created. As this study
concentrates on the functions of verb, the sentence construction has been also taken into
consideration. There are various databases. Each one is devoted for a separate category of

43
component, namely, noun, verb, adverb, adjective and auxiliary These components are
grouped under two main labels i.e., noun and verbs.

3.8. Structure of noun data base

In this study the below mentioned data base is created for storing the noun.
Model

^Record No# Noun Enoun Gender Number Person Animate

The First column shows the Record number It keeps the serial number of the data
which is entered into the system. Simultaneously in the same column the Tamil noun data is
stored under noun column and English noun data is also stored under the Enoun column.

In this study the number value is given for the PNG markers. That number is taken

into the PNG markers paradigm table and that will be equavated to the PNG markers So, for
programming purpose the PNG marker number values are taken into consideration. The PNG

(person, number and gender) number value is given in the following way

3.8.1. Gender
For Gender category the masculine gender value is denoted by the number 1, the
feminine gender value is denoted by the number 2 ,the epicene plural value is denoted by the

number 3 and the neuter gender value is denoted by the number 0.

3.8.2. Number
Then for the Number suffixes also number value is given. The number value given for

singular is 1 and for the plural 2.

Further, for the application of selectional restrictional rules, the given entries are grouped
into animate and inanimate categories. These classified categories are denoted with the
number values.The animate category is denoted by the number 1 (one) and the inanimate
category is denoted by the value 0 (zero).This type of number value is equivated with the
particular form and its number value is used for program.

44
3.9 PNG markers number value
The data base is created for PNG Marker is diagramatically described in the
following way.
Model

Field Field Name Type Width Dec Index

1 PNG Character 10
2 PNG Type Character 10
3 Person Numeric 1
4 Number Number 1
5 Gender Number 1

** Total 'ft* 23

The above illustrated structure of the PNG suffixes data base shows the column for
entering the data. The below described structure shows the arrangements of the marker in the
above mentioned data base structure.
Model
Record# PNG PNG Type Person Number Gender
*
1 een I per.Sg. 1 1
*
2 oom I per.PI. 1 2
it
3 aay II per.Sg. 2 1
it
4 iirkaL n per.PI. 2 2
5 aan Ill Mas. 3 1 l
it
6 aarkaL in Hon. 3 2
7 atu Neuter Sg. 3 1 3
8 ana Neuter PI. 3 2 3
it
9 avar Ill Epi. 3 2
10 aaL Ill Fern. 3 1 2

45
The above described data base shows the PNG values with these numerical values.

Apart from verb conjugation process there are many processes involved in the data
arrangements. In some cases especially in imperative verb, verb itself conveys the meaning. It
need not require any suffix for denoting the concept of imperative. There is no special
program routine for this category.

3.10. Syntactic information

For the syntactic study the data are arrranged in the following way. The knowledge
base required is not only the verbs, but also Adverbs, Auxiliary verbs, Adjectives, Nouns and
Pronouns. Because the syntactic study, not only concentrates on the verb phrase, but also
analyses the adverbial phrase. So the data collected for the syntactic information base are
arranged in the following way.

3.10.1. Noun number value

Figure 10 ORGANIZATION OF NOUN DATA BASE

In the finite verb construction the subject should be either a noun or pronoun. The
noun groups are classified as common noun and proper noun. The classification which are
mentioned above are illustrated as follows:

46
1. Person names, such as masculine and feminine (e g. raaja, siita etc.,) are declared by the

number value for masculine as number 1 and for feminine number 2.

2. Addressing terms, such as e g. aaciriyar, maaNavar, maaNavi, thangkai etc., are declared

by the number value for masculine addressing term as number 3 and for feminine as
number 4.
3. Other neuters, such as animate and inanimate e g. cow, dog etc., and tree, house,
mountain, fruits etc., are declared by the number value 0.
4. All abstract nouns are declared by the number value 5, e g. koopam. paaTal, kavithai etc.,

3.10.2. Case suffixes

Almost all the nouns require the case suffixes for constructing a proper sentence. The
knowledge base requires the case suffixes . For this purpose, the case suffixes are organized in
the following way.
Figure 11 DATA BASE ORGANIZATION OF CASE SUFFIXES

Main Label: Case Suffix

Dative Case

Sociative Case

-¥ Instrumental Case

-* Locative Case

■* Accusative Case

For the syntactic study, the data base which is developed for case suffix is
diagramatically presented in the following way.

47
Number of data records :

Field Field Name Type Width Dec Index

~1 MARKER CHARACTER 7

2 TYPE CHARACTER 15
3 EMARKER CHARACTER 33

In the marker field, the case markers are stored. The type field the case types are
stored. English Marker field English equivalences are stored,

3.10.3. Adverbs
For the syntactic study the knowledge base needs the adverb data also, it can be stored
in the data base under the following main labels. This is diagramatically presented below.

Figure 12 DATA BASE ORGANIZATION OF ADVERB

As far as the adverb of Tamil is concerned there are some pure adverbs and there are
some derived adverbs (nouns with case suffixes). There are some adverbs which are all
inherently adverbs and there are some derived forms. They are also treated under the label of
'adverb'. These two types of adverbs have been included in present study.

48
 As nouns and case suffixes have already been arranged in the data base, again the case
frames organization for derived adverb is not needed. For getting the forms presenting
adverbial functions the items can be taken from the noun and case suffixes which are kept in
the databases.

Further, this study needs the some clitics,link words and adjectives.These are also
included in the Data Base. Considering the Adverb category the specified derived forms
come under the derived adverb category. The diagrmatical representation given below shows
the structure of the adverbs and adjectives in the data base.

3.10.4. Clitics, Link words and Adjectives

Figure 13. DATA ORGANIZATION OF CLITICS,LINK WORDS AND ADJECTIVES

Main Label: Clitics

1 2 3
(urn) (ee) (00)

Here the clitics , link words and adjectives are grouped under a separate main lable and
there are some sub classifications those are also grouped under the main label.

49
 Concluding these data base structure altogether there are two main categories
i.e., verbs and nouns. For the analysis purpose the morphological and syntactic analysis all the
models which are all illustrated above are compiled together by the program. The following
diagram is the architecture of the morphological analyzer which shows the data base
compilations and how the analyzer can analyze the finite verb.

3.11. Analyzer
Figure 14 ARCHITECTURE OF FINITE VERB MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYZER

Output

In the above illustrated diagram , a given valid input goes to the data base and checks
whether the given information is correct or not and after this process, according to the given
input (verb) the analyzer can choose other markers which are to be added with that particular
verb. The whole process is undertaken by the analyzer.

50
 Figure -15 ANALYZER'S ARCHITECTURE

Verb Root Knowledge Base

Tense Suffixes Knowledge Base

PNG Marker Knowledge Base

3. Adverb Knowledge Base

Pure ADV Derived Adverbs

4. Auxiliary Verbs
Knowledge base

5. Analyser

rrrr
12 3 4
1. Morphophonemic rules
2. Aggrement rules

6. 3. Selectional Restriction Rules

1

4. Theory (Principle and Parameter

Approach), Generative
Gramm^nrules

7. Clitics and Linkadverbs KBS

8. Case Suffix KBS

51
3.12.Description of the analyzer's architecture

Figure 16 ANALYSIS ARCHITECTURE

Morphological Analyzer

^Morphological Analyzer / Syntactic Analyzer

Finite verb Simple Sentence

WORD
1 /
SENTENCE

INPUT

I
User

If the given input is finite verb, the analyzer search the verb root, tense marker and
PNG suffixes or if the input is sentence the first part will be a morphological analysis and the
second part is a syntactic analysis. In the first part itself the analyzer shows the word's
category with the help of morpheme segmentation. So almost all the processes are controlled
by the morphological analyzer.

All the above illustrated models are not only used in the analysis purpose but also used
for the purpose of word formation That is the verb conjugation. Apart from this analysis,
there is one more important part present in this study. This can be viewed elaborately in the
forthcoming chapters. This section of this chapter is devoted for the totality of architecture of
the analyzers.

3.13. Data arrangement

The knowledge base requires the equivalences from English and Tamil Languages for
the translation process.

52
 The equivalence knowledge base is used in almost all the phases. Particularly the use
of equivalence data base is more in the syntactic study. In the morphological analysis the
morphophonemie rules are needed, that can be taken from the knowledge base which

possesses grammatical rules.

In the present study there are three sub grammatical categories Those are analyzed
systematically. Thus the study can be divided into three internal sub divisions Under the sub
category there are many problems encountered with regard to the classification of
data(auxiliary and adverb). Though there are problems in the classification, this study classifies
the data by using the X-bar syntax and principles and parameters approach. These theories and
principles are especially used in the syntactic analysis. The data of the subcategorize and
theories are used according to the nature of the present study.

All the languages posses many grammatical items. In Tamil suffixes, tense and case
are critrial sense, they are used to identify and decide a category as a verb or noun. The verbs
normally takes the finite verbal forms to show the tense and person markers in verb.
Organizing the data base for this is easier, because the case and tense are finite in number.
Creating the data base for storing the suffixes is not a problem.

For the word formation i.e., for the formation of verb conjugation the present device
needs the rules. Each verb has its own unique nature and is followed various rules of
conjugation. So all the rules which have been applied for this study are morphophonemie
rules. The selectional rules are stored in the separate data base. This data are compiled with
the word formation program. So whenever the conjugation of a verb is taking place the rules
kept in the data base can be implemented and that ensures proper conjugation.

As mentioned earlier in the study English equivalents are included and discussed
already. The use of grammatical items and their arrangements are illustrated below.

53
 Grammatical Items

1. Verb knowledge base

la. English verb equivalents
2. Tense
3. PNG markers
4. Noun knowledge base
4a. English noun equivalence
5. Pronoun
5a. English pronoun equivalents
6. Adverb
6a. English adverbs equivalents
7. Case suffixes
7a. English case suffixes equivalents
8. Auxiliaries
8a. English auxiliaries equivalents
9. Adjectives
9a. English adjectives equivalents
10. Clitics and link words
10a. English linkwords
11. Case and agreement rules
12. Selectional restrictional rules
13. Morphophonemic rules
14. X-bar syntax and Principles and Parameters Approach
theory rules (syntactic analysis only)
15. PNG inflectional rules on the verb system

By using these facts how the study is going to have the effectiveness in the learning
situation and how the interaction is going to be held through this media are discussed in the
following sub headings.

54
3.14. Software dialogue design

By using the above described knowledge base, the following software dialogue design
has been developed. In the market, there are several types of dialogue design available But
for this present study the tools have been prepared based on research work. The main aim of
this study is to provoke the learners in the field of using the softwares in the language learning
domain.

3.14.1. Learning interface

In the second language learning environment how the software meant for teaching and
learning language can be used and how the interface is developed are the big questions. The
following generated interface diagram stands as an answer.

Figure 17. LEARNING INTERFACE

The above illustrated model consists of several dialogue sets This model has been
developed by using the set of rules viz., program.

55
 Further this model provides the dialogue box in the quiz pattern. The main aim of
this dialogue interface is to motivate the learners to learn the language an effective way.

This model also provides the prehand information about the learning material. The text
is also found in the help menu. The learner need not worry about the menu. There is a easy
way to get the message about the prehand information, because the information can be
displayed whenever the learner opens the device to learn.

The set of dialogue consists of the error messages and the validation report. These
information are alone programmed in the set of dialogue model. This model file will send the
messages to the information file. These two processes are controlled over by the selected

menu.

The whole process is done by a program, which is formatted inside. According to the
application the algorithm is developed. The user/leamer can give the input/information, if the
information is valid, the valid information can be taken into the source data base i.e.,
knowledge base. The knowledge base plays a central role in the device, because whatever
information is given by the learner that can be thoroughly analyzed and checked in the data
base with the help of analyzer.

With these type of analyzers the following GTP is developed. It has been detailed in
the following sub heads,

3.15. Grammar Teaching in the Present CALL Package

As mentioned earlier there are three types of packages found in the field of language
teaching and learning. Concerning those three packages , for the present study the automatic

self learning package is adopted

This package which has been developed for the present study is entirely different from
other packages. The present package possesses the automatic corrector. Because of this the
learner can easily correct their mistakes and they can develop their knowledge Further this
device provides an ample amount of information in response to the learner's questions

56
 The present package was developed with the help of the linguistics rules Since it
concentrates only on the verb system, the whole verb phrases are taken into analysis. The verb
phrases also possess the Adverb and Auxiliary verb.Hence the observation is also made in
those sub categories, namely adverb and auxiliary.

3.15.1. Learning modules

Present Grammar Learning Package(GLP) has the following modules, viz.,

1. Verb learning module

2. Adverb learning module
3. Auxiliary verb learning module
4. Verb function learning module and
5. Testing module

These modules are designed under the morphological and syntactic processes The
learning module meant for Adverb and Auxiliary verb is in the syntactic process. This section
deals only about the verb system. The verb system is divided into three types namely,

1. Study on verb system

2. Finite and Nonfinite verb system in - Morphological point of view
3. Finite and Nonfinite verb conjugation

These divisions are clearly discussed in the following sections.

3.16. Study on verb system

The Tamil verbs are very productive and complex in nature. Tamil verbs are found
either in finite or non finite forms. If the verb is finite it is capable of giving the complete sense
and it also under goes the formation of conjugation with tense suffixes and PNG suffixes The
finite forms make the sentence complete and grammatical.

57
3.16.1.Verb in Transformational Grammar

l.S------------------------ ► NP + VP
2 ---------------------------► NP-* N +PP
3. ------------------------ *- PP ~► ADV + AUX +VP
4. ------------------------ ► VP —► ADV + COMPOUND VERB

----------------------- p, ADVERB + COPULA VERB

For the purpose of computer aided learning the above mentioned TG grammar can be treated
as follows.
Figure -18

1. VP NP + VP

N PP

ADVERB AUXILIARY VERB PHRASE

PP T P M LINK COPULA VERB

(Main/Aux./Adv)

The first and formost aim is to learn the verb conjugation system through this package.
By the package the learner can learn the verb types, tense suffixes and PNG markers Besides,
the following developmental process are also introduced to the learners through this package.

3.16.2. Finite verb morpheme segmentation

Verb root : All the verb roots are imperative in nature. They do not have any
additional markers. But in the finite verb formation the verb needs the PNG markers
including the Tense suffixes.

The finite verb formation: Verb Root + Tense Marker + PNG Suffix

58
 For example, if the learner wants to know a given input i.e., verb then the package
can provide the following information.

Example

ENTER THE VERB : ezuthu

<---------

After entering the input ,if the input is valid the system provides the following.
Verb Type
Tense Marker
PNG MARKER

I person singular een

I Person Plural 00m
n person Singular aay
11 Person Plural iirkaL
hi Person Masculine Gender aan
ra Person Feminine Gender aaL
m Epicene Plural aarkaL
Neuter Singular atu
Neuter Plural ana

The above given PNG markers are added to the verb root without any morphological
changes.

If the learner gives the input as a finite verb to the system the system will not provide
information mentioned above. Instead of that the system provides all the markers which are
present in the form, and type of verb, and morphophonemic rules. While the verb takes the
tense marker if there will be a change in the verb root that change can be either in the last
letter of the verb root, or the first letter of the tense marker. The change will be of deletion of
any letter or addition of any letter. This graphemic change will be called as morphophonemic
rules. Consider the following example

Bharathlar University
'7 7 4 - -
Library

73457
LINGUISTICS
Example
ENTER THE VERB : vaangkineen ^

Meaning of the verb : 'get'

Morphemes Found in the verb

VERB ROOT : vaangku 'to get’

TENSE : Past Tense Marker in
PNG MARKER : een
Change : vaangku + in ------ ► vaangkin
V gets deleted by adding ‘in’ tense marker

Rule : WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WORDS CONSISTING OF TWO SHORT OPEN

SYLLABLES, ALL WORDS ENDING IN THE VOWEL V ,WHEN COMBINES WITH
A SUFFIX OR A WORD BEGINNING WITH A VOWEL DROP FINAL u*.

3.16.3. Morpheme segmentation

The another procedure of learning process which is found in the present package is the
'reverse learning* i.e., when the learners do not know the verb type i.e, imperative and finite
verb, they can give verb as an input. The input can be either a finite verb or an imperative
verb. The system will provide all relevant information of the input verb.

Example
If the learner gives a verb as an input, the system will be display the verb conjugation
and the morphophonemic rules operated in it. Otherwise the input is finite form the system
will provides the morphemes information as well as the rules.

FINITE VERB : ooTinaay

Entered form is finite verb

60
 ooTu is the verb root

in past tense marker

aay II person singular PNG marker
Rule applied : V before 'i' the 'u' gets deleted

While learning this, the learner can get some doubts about the present tense markers.

Because there are two different markers available in the verb system One is kiR and the
another one is kkiR. Generally the verb roots are classified on the basis of Past tense marker
they take The morphophonemic changes take place only in the slot where a past tense suffix
occurs. Eventhough there is no change in that slot while taking the present tense there will
be a difficulty to the learners while learning the verb system. Hence, this study tries to solve
this problem in the following way.

There is yet another problem in identifying a particular verb, i.e., whether the verb is
strong or weak. Traditionally the verb which takes present tense marker kiR will be
considered as the weak, and which takes a suffix kkiR will be considered as strong. The
similar pattern is adopted in programming these verb. There will be a problem when such verb

root inherently has kk. Consider the following example.

Example
ENTER THE VERB: viLakku .

'to explain'
Tense suffix to be added to the root is

Past Tense Suffix : in

Present Tense Suffix : kiR

Future Tense Suffix : v

In this formation the verb root itself has kk, so the learner get confused in identifying
the verb type. In this case the following model is provided as a basic clue to identify the verb

type.

61
Example
viLa(kk)u + in + een —► viLakkineen
viLa(kk)u + kiR + een—► viLakku(kiR)een

viLa(kk)u + v +een ---- ► viLakkuveen

While displaying the present tense formation the present tense marker alone will blink.
Which enable the learner to identify the verb type. This blinking stratergy is availed only when
displaying the problematic cases.

3.17. Verb learning system

This study possesses a separate model for learning system. Before learner entering
into the material the following forehand information will be given through the system.
1. All the verb roots are imperatives
2. Verb inflection
1) Verb + Tense + PNG

INFLECTED VERB

VERB INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES

I I ^ I 1
MOOD TENSE PERSON NUMBER GENDER

(2) Imperative-----► Verb + (Imperative Marker) + Negative + Plural

Verb + Imperative +Positive + Singular
Verb + Imperative + Positive + Plural

(3) Imperative Plural: (POSITIVE)

Verb Stem + ng + kaL-------- ► ooTungkaL

62
Imperative Singular :(POSITIVE)

Verb Root------ ► ooTu

(5) Imperative Negative Plural: (NEGATIVE)

Verb Stem + aat + iirkaL------ ► ooTaatiirkaL

(6) Verb Stem +kk + aat + iirkaL------ ► naTakkaatiirkaL

(7) Imperative Negative Singular

Verb Stem + aat + ee------ ► ooTaatee
Change
A WORD ENDING WITH V IS ADDED WITH A MARKER WHICH BEGINS
WITH LONG VOWEL, THE FINAL V OF THE FIRST WORD WILL BE LOST

(8) Indicative Verb:

Verb Stem + Tense Marker + Person + Number + Gender

(9) Presnt Tense Suffixes

Verb Stem + kiR

Verb Stem + kkiR

(10) Past Tense Suffixes

Verb Stem +1
Verb Stem + NT
Verb Stem + R
Verb Stem + nd
Verb Stem + th
Verb Stem + T
Verb Stem + in

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(11) Future Tense Suffixes

Verb Stem + v
Verb Stem + pp

(12) PNG Suffixes

PERSON NUMBER GENDER

I (1) naan Singular -cen-
I (WE) naangkaL Plural -oom-
n (YOU) nii Singular -aay-
II (YOU) niingkaL Plural -iirkaL-
III (mas.) HE ]avan] -aan-
III (fern.) SHE [avaL] -aaL-
III Epi. {he/she/ avan /avaL] Plural -aarkaL-
NEUTER (atu) Singular -tu-
NEUTER (avai) Plural -ana-

3.18. Negative indicative verb

VERB STEM + NEGATIVE + PERSON + NUMBER + GENDER

The verb maaTTu----------► maaTT is added to the verb stem for giving the negative sense
with all PNG Suffixes.

Example
varamaaTTeen --------------- ► I SINGULAR
varamaaTTaay --------------- ► II SINGULAR
varamaaTTaaL--------------- ► III FEMININE
varamaaTTaan ------------ —► in MASCULINE

The second type of negative indicative verb is 'viTu' leave'. By adding the PNG
suffix with this verb 'viTu' gives the negative meaning.
64
Example
viTTeen ------- --------- 1 I SINGULAR
viTTaay ------- --------- ► n SINGULAR
viTTaan ------- --------- ► HI MASCULINE
viTTaaL ------- --------- » in FEMININE
viTTatu ------- --------- ► NEUTER SINGULAR

The third type of negative indicative verb is 'illai'. This negative form is added to the
infinitive form of verb for giving the negative sense.

Example
viTa + illai--------► viTavillai
While this indicative verb formation is taking place the following rule is constantly
used .

RULE
Words ending with 'a' is combined with a suffix or a word beginning with a vowel *i*
the semi vowel V will be inserted.

The next type of negative verb suffix is aatu (not). This suffix can be added to all the
infinitive verb forms and give the negative sense.

3.18. Negative verb formation

Verb Root + Infinitive Suffix + aatu
This is one type of negative verb formation. The another one is

VERB ROOT + INFINITIVE SUFFIX + ANOTHER VERB(iyal, muTi) + aatu

Example
1. ooTa + aatu---- ► ooTaatu
2. ooTa + iyal + aatu------► ooTaiyalaatu
While adding this negative suffix to the base form of the verb the following rule is
operated in some cases.

65
RULE
ALL THE WORDS ENDING WITH THE VOWEL 'iVeVoVaW, WHEN
COMBINING WITH LONG VOWEL THE FINAL VOWEL CAN BE DROPPED

3.19. Non finite verb teaching

It is to be mentioned that the nonfinite verb markers has to be introduced to the
learners before they learn the nonfinite verb system.

INFINITIVE ----------- » -a-

TEMPORAL ----------- ► -pozuthu
CONDITIONAL ----------- 1 -aal
OPTATIVE --------- ► -laam
HORTATIVE ----------- 1 -aTTum
RELATIVE PARTICIPLE ----------- * -a
VERBAL PARTICIPLE ----------- » V / ’i’

The verbal participle consists of three tenses.

^VERB^ ^LPARTICIPLE

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

3.19.1. Infinitive markers information

VERB ROOT + NONFINITE MARKER

3.19.1.1. Non finite verb formation

VERB ROOT + NONFINITE MARKER

ADDING TENSE SUFFIX / INFINITIVE MARKER

66
 The non finite form will not give the complete sense It needs one more form to
convey the complete sense. Though the nonfinite verb do not convey a complete sense for the
purpose of usage the learners need to learn the nonfinite forms. The present study has been
organized so as to give the nonfinite forms and their formation.

Moreover teaching of nonfinite verb system provides the morphological information of

nonfinite verbs.

Example
ENTER THE VERB ceytaal

Given input is conditional form

VERB ROOT---------- ► cey

TENSE MARKER-------- ► t (Past tense marker)

CONDITIONAL MARKER---- ► aal

VERB INFLECTION
VERB ROOT+ PAST TENSEMARKER+CONDITIONAL MARKER
Example
ENTER THE VERB : naTandu

4.......... -

Given form is verbal participle

VERB ROOT: naTa
VERBAL PARTICIPLE MARKER : V
VERB INFLECTION : VERB ROOT + PAST TENSE SUFFIX + VP MARKER

The verbal participle form consists of three tenses viz., past, present, futute tense The
structure of the verbal participle is
VERB ROOT + TENSE MARKER + VERBAL PARTICIPLE MARKER
VERB INFLECTION : VERB ROOT + PRESENT TENSE SUFFIX + VP MARKER
VERB ROOT + FUTURE TENSE SUFFIX + VP MARKER

67
3.20. Finite verb and nonfinite verb conjugation
3.20.1. Tense formation
An important part of a meaning of sentence is constituted by the temporal information.
The tense of the verb indicates the relation between the situation described in the sentence and
the moment in which the sentence is uttered and may also indicate more subtle relations
between the main situation and other situations described in . Other information derived from
the mood and aspect of the verb, from the lexical category to which the verb is a member of
and more generally from several kinds of temporal expressions, that may appear in the
sentence. Very complex relationship exists among all these features which are automatically
taken into account by native speakers in understanding a sentence.

Figure 19. CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR VERB TENSE FORMATION

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 Figure-20

PNG SUFFIXES

■* llSg. (een)l
11 PI. (oom) 1
+ [II Sg. (aay) ]
•* | II PI. (iirkaL) [
[ III Mas. (aar) [
-*> l III Fem. (aaL) 1
-*■ [ Neu. Sg. (tu) 1
♦ [ Neu. PI. (ana) ]

3.21. Verb formation

Figure 21. VERB FORMATION

The problem of the choice of the correct tense of the verb in order to convey the exact
meaning a sentence is intended to express has aroused the interest of linguists, philosophers,
logicians and people interested in computational, accounts of language use.

The fundamental step of the verb generator is tense selection. While generating the
verb or the verb root taking the tense there should be some changes that can be identified by
the learners.

69
 The finite verb takes tense suffixes and PNG markers. But the nonfinite verb takes the
suffixes of the following categories viz.,conditional, optative, hortative, verbal participle and
relative participle. But these suffixes will not carry complete meaning without adding another
form i.e., the nonfinite form will not give complete sense.

The whole conjugation of verb system will help the learners to know the verb structure
and the morphological approach will help the learners to develop their language competence
in the level of structural identification of the verb system.

3.22. Algorithm adopted

Above described system is programmed in the following way.
♦first part of the algorithm is used for morphological analysis.

Purpose for this Algorithm is to identify the root and grammatical features of a given
input .

♦Algorithm:
1. W : = empty set
2. if X is LI with entry a then add a to W
3. for y: = 0 to length of X do
let s = suffix of length q in r
for each paradigm table P
for each entry a (consisting of a pair) in P do
if s = suffix in entry a then
begin
* r = root of paradigm table P
* j = number of characters to be deleted as shown in a
* proposed root = (x suffix s) + suffix of r consisting of j characters
* If (proposed root is in DR) and (the root has paradigm P)
then construct a lexical entry W by combining (a)features given in DR with the proposed root,
and (b) features associated with.

70
 * Add 1 to set W
end of begin
end of begin
end of every entry in P
end of every paradigm
end of every Y
4. If W is empty
then return "Unknown word r"
else return (W)

This model is adopted for this study and this is implemented in the Foxpro 2.5
package. The same kind of program model is used for the morphological analysis also

With this , each entry in every paradigm table is scanned and compared with every
possible suffix for given word. This search can take a long time. It turns out that the search
can be speeded up enormously by analyzing the paradigm tables and the information contained
there in beforehand, and generating another table or data structure suitable for this search.
This whole process is called compilation. Once the new data structure is generated and is
used by the morphological analyzer the paradigm tables are no longer needed. For the
compilation process of a language, all the paradigm tables must be available

3.23.Testing module
This package posses the testing module. This will help the learners to get immediate
feedback from the device. For this process, the data are utilized from the above mentioned
same data base. Each and every processes the language generator can retrieve the data from
the KBS.For verb checking and morpheme segmentation testing the on-line generator will

produce the correct output by checking the KBS.

For Verb Phrase checking part the module is designed in the following way.

71
 Maximum number of English sentences (simple) and their Tamil equivalent sentences
are given in the data base. The analyzer take the input and matches, if the given input is
correct it provides the Tamil verb phrase marked sentence. Another pattern is also arranged
inside the device. In this process the device, itself produce the both English and Tamil
sentences. The verb phrase is marked in the Tamil sentences. This will help the learners to
identify the verb phrase. For this testing module the pattern matching method is
followed. With these information the forthcoming chapter describes the morphological
analysis and testing module preparation. It is to be mentioned that up to this part no special
theory frame work was adopted.

3.24. Summary
This study consists of three parts viz., i) knowledge, ii) process and iii) display.
Knowledge consists of data, information of data processing (process) and displaying
information. Storing full-fledged information about the target work is a knowledge.
According to this study the data requirements are verbs, auxiliary verb, adverbs, nouns,
adjectives, clitics and link words. Apart from these main data the case, tense and PNG
information are also need. The above said grammatical items are classified and stored in the
separate data bases with the numerical value.

Synthesizing purpose or analyzing purpose grammar rules are used. Analyzing or data
synthesizing knowledge i.e., cross checking, word formation and segmentation process (rules)
are also in the same knowledge base. Including these information, the out put process i.,e
display unit needed information are also in the same knowledge base. These are the overall
content of the knowledge base. Processing data base has consists of the processing methods
and the displaying unit properly consists of the material which is to be displayed.

With these information the system enable to achieve the work easily. In this study,
morphological and syntactical analysis alone taken into consideration. Morphological process
the morphological analyzer is developed for morpheme segmentation. This analyzer will also
take part in the syntactic analysis. One part of the syntactic study deals only about the verb
phrase, here the analyzer check the sentence and cuts the verb phrase separately and display it.

72