i.e., 1763 A.D. It contains about 700 stanzas distributed under various eiukais. About 3200 homonyms are explained; and etukais of different kinds are not mixed up. The work marks an improvement both in its vocabulary and in its etukai order

VEDAKIRIYAR-NIKANTU

Another work of this type which calls for notice is Vâ€சீdakiriyar - nika--u. Its author was Vâ€சீdagiri Mudaliyar of kaËœatt‡r, who edited many Tamil works in the secondquarter of the last century. He improved the 11th section of Nika--u-c‡-Æ’ma-i andmade it into a separate treatise, nearly twice as long as the original, bringing the total number to 583 stanzas. This work was published by the jaffana Society in 1842 A.D., the which the 'jaffna Dictionary' appeared. The author himself provided a clear commentary on each of the 2526 homonyms treated in his work.

NANARTTA-TIPIKAI

NÆ’nÆ’rtta-tipikai1 isalso a work on homonyms exclusively. Its author was Muthuswami pillai of Tinnevelly. The date of the4 work is about 1850.It deals mostly with Sanskrit homonyms and contains 1100 stanzas and about 5430 homonyms. The etukai arrangement is perfected; and unnecessary adjuncts, which obscure the meanings in other nika--u works, do not appear in this work.

ARIYA-NIKANTU

Yet another work on homonyms of Sanskrit origin is Æ’riya-nika--u2. Nothing is known about it, except that it must have been composed in the sutra style, as is seen from a verse quoted by Å¡aÅ’kara Pa-ditar N…rvâ€சீli in his Caiva-p-pirakÆ’ca‹am.

VIRIVU-NIKANTU

V…rivu-nika--u3 is also a work on homonyms.Its author was Aru-ƒchala Nƒvalar of V…ravanall‡r. The probable date of this work is 1900. As the manuscript is not good condition, it is not possible to ascertain its extent. But the last stanza in the copy available bears the number 1150. The homonyms are arranged under various etukais and there are a good number of local and professional terms. Of all the works on homonyms, this seems to be the largest

CINTAMANI-NIKANTU

Mention must be here of Cintƒma–i-nika–—u , written by VaidyaliŒgam pillai of jaffna and published by his in 1874. etukai arrangement its followed in this work also, through it treats of words having only one meaning. It has 400 stanzas and the number of words explained is about 3000.

One class of nika–—us on homonyms has been considered so far. Its peculiar feature is ,as already noted, theetukai arrangement.As this arrangement was perfected more and more, the emphasis shifted from 'memorizing' to' reference'. We shall now consider works which gave up the etukai arrangement altogether and purported solely to be works of reference.

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¹ Now under publication by Mr.S. Anavaratavinayakam Pillai, M.A., Reader in Tamil, University of Madras.
² Not published
³ Not published