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Venpa

VenpaorVenba(வெண்பாinTamil) is a form of classicalTamilpoetry.Classical Tamil poetry has been classified based upon the rules ofmetric prosody.[1]Such rules form acontext-free grammar.Every venba consists of between two and twelve lines. The venpa meter is used in songs of the types neṭu veṇ pāṭṭu ('long song in venpa meter'), kuṟu veṇ pāṭṭu 'short song in venpa meter', kaikkiḷai "one-sided love," and paripāṭṭu 'song that is quite accommodative' and in satirical compositions (aṅkatac ceyyuḷ).[2]

Venba in Aathichoodi
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  1. All 1330 couplets from theThirukkural,composed byThiruvalluvar,are examples of venba. Tirukkural comes under a sub-category of venba calledKural venba,wherein each kural or couplet has only two lines.
  2. Nala venba1is another classical work written in venba style.
  3. Niti venba2is another venba style book that preaches values.
  4. Acharakkovai3is another venba style book that preaches values

Basic elements of meter in classical Tamil poetry

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•Vowelsand consonant-vowel compounds(such as ka, kā, ki, kī) inTamil Alpha bethave been classified into ones with short sounds (kuril) and the ones with longer sounds (nedil).

•Asai(Acai):Vowels and such vowel-consonant compound/s optionally followed by a consonant is known asasai(lit. move).The Tamil wordasairoughly corresponds tosyllable/a group of syllables.Asaiis of two types -Nēr(lit. linear/straightforward)asaiandNirai(lit.waves) asai.

•Sīrorcīr:Sīris themetrical footin Tamil poetry.

•Thalai(lit. binding):Thejuxtapositionof metrical foot patterns.

Note that the official terms for the different "asai" s are self-descriptive. For example, the word "ner" is itself classified as ner asai. And the word "nirai" is a nirai asai.

Grammar for meter in Venba

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A set of well defined metric rules define the grammar for venba. Such rules have been proved to form acontext-free grammar.[3]

One set of rules constrains the duration of sound for each word orcīr,while another set of rules defines the rules for the possible sounds at the beginning of a word that follows a given sound at the end of the preceding word. Any venbā should conform to both these sets of rules.

Following is the set of production rules corresponding to the first set of rules. 

<VE NBA A> → <ADI>{1-11} <EETRADI>
<ADI> → <CHEER> <CHEER> <CHEER> <CHEER>
<EETRADI> → <CHEER> <CHEER> <EETRU CHEER>
<CHEER> → <EERASAI>| <MOOVASAI>
<EETRU CHEER> → <NAAL>| <MALAR>| <KAASU>| <PIRAPPU>
<EERASAI> → <THEMAA>| <PULIMAA>| <KARUVILAM>| <KOOVILAM>
<MOOVASAI> → <THEMAANGAAI>| <PULIMAANGAAI>| <KOOVILANGAAI>| <KARUVILANGAAI>
<THEMAA> → <NER> <NER>
<PULIMAA> → <NIRAI> <NER>
<KARUVILAM> → <NIRAI> <NIRAI>
<KOOVILAM> → <NER> <NIRAI>
<THEMAANGAAI> → <THEMAA> <NER>
<PULIMAANGAAI> → <PULIMAA> <NER>
<KARUVILANGAAI> → <KARUVILAM> <NER>
<KOOVILANGAAI> → <KOOVILAM> <NER>
<NAAL> → <NER>
<MALAR> → <NIRAI>
<KAASU> → <NER> <NER>
<PIRAPPU> → <NIRAI> <NER>
<NER> → <KURIL>| <NEDIL>| <NER> <OTRU>
<NIRAI> → <KURIL> <KURIL>| <KURIL> <NEDIL>| <NIRAI> <OTRU>
<KURIL> → {VOWELS OR COMPOUNDS WITH A SHORT SOUND}
<NEDIL> → {VOWELS OR COMPOUNDS WITH A LONG SOUND}
<OTRU> → {CONSONANTS, WHICH HAVE AN EXTREMELY SHORT SOUND}

1. {1-11} is not a standardBNFnotation but a widely acceptedEBNFnotation indicating
repetition of number of times specified in the range.
2. The grammar has some redundant productions that have been retained so as to preserve
the semantics as described originally inTamil grammar.

Following is the set of production rules corresponding to the second set of rules. 

<VE NBA A> → <X>| <Y>
<X> → <THEMAA> <Y>
<X> → <KOOVILAM> <X>
<Y> → <PULIMAA> <Y>
<Y> → <KARUVILAM> <X>
<X> → <NAAL>| <KAASU>
<Y> → <MALAR>| <PIRAPPU>

[If the above rules are conformed to, thethalaiis said to beIyarcheer vendalai]

<X> → <THEMAANGAAI> <X>
<X> → <KOOVILAANGAAI> <X>
<Y> → <PULIMAANGAAI> <X>
<Y> → <KARUVILANGAAI> <X>

[If the above rules are conformed to, thethalaiis said to beVencheer vendalai]

Example

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Following is a couplet fromTirukkural:

Parse treefor the above Kural for the first set of grammar rules given inthe grammar section-Note:0represents 'kuril'and1represents 'nedil'
Set of productions for the sameKuralfor the second set of rules given in the grammar section

Notes

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  1. ^Niklas 1988,pp. 165–227.
  2. ^Rajam 1992,p. 169.
  3. ^BalaSundaraRaman 2003,p. 128-136.
  4. ^Pope, G. U.(1886).The 'Sacred' Kurraḷ of Tiruvaḷḷuva-Nâyanâr(PDF).London: W. H. Allen & Co. p.109.

References

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