Dear Professor Tieken,
Hope you’re doing well in this difficult CORONA Times. We are managing things ok in California. God bless the world.
Professor Tieken, no offense meant but I wonder why you have taken my wording ஓர் அயலகத் தமிழாய்வாளர் (ōr ayalakattamiḻāyvāl̥ar) as pointing to you!! It could refer to Dr. S. Palaniappan or anyone else!
I guess there’s a problem in translating my phrase ஓர் அயலகத் தமிழாய்வாளர்.
Here, you have translated ஓர் as ‘some,’ while I meant ‘one.’ As you well know, ஓர் can be translated as ‘a/one/specific.’ It is not derogative at all. அயலகத் தமிழாய்வாளர் could refer to anyone such as myself, George Hart, Palaniappan, Jean-Luc Chevillard, and some other friends of mine who are very much interested in Tamil and ask me questions now and then. We all live in foreign countries, so we all are அயலகத் தமிழாய்வாளர்.
Anyway, as I said, no offense please.
In any case, I wish to respond to your query about "this type of compound." I’ll reply soon.
Meantime, peace.
Thanks and regards,
rajam
I apologize for the fact that the message below was by accident also sent to the list. I do take this opportunity to add that I am glad that I am also a sanskritist: Sanskrit does not have speakers. This is true in the sense that one is not born a Sanskrit speaker, or a "son of Mother Sanskrit", to vary on Tamilttāy.
Dear Jean-Luc, thank you very much for the information.
24-1-2011 (January) I replied to a message of Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan, who replied to today. From your message I have learned that the discussion has gone on on other lists in Tamil, initiated by Rajam on 16-2-2021 (February), referring to me as "some foreign Tamil researcher" (ōr ayalakattamiḻāyvāl̥ar). Too often in Tamil publications I am referred to in this way, as a foreigner, who, by implication, has no right to say anything about Tamil.
Herman
Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands