Editing Grammatical case (section)

=== Tamil ===
The [[Tamil language|Tamil]] case system is analyzed in native and missionary grammars as consisting of a finite number of cases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/public/h_sch_9a.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040328173005/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/public/h_sch_9a.pdf |archive-date=2004-03-28 |url-status=live |title=The Tamil Case System |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |access-date=20 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="JSTOR600654">{{cite journal |title=Dravidian Case-Suffixes: Attempt at a Reconstruction |author=K. V. Zvelebil |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=92 |issue=2 |year=1972 |pages=272–276 |jstor=600654 |doi=10.2307/600654}}</ref> The usual treatment of Tamil case (Arden 1942)<ref>Arden, A.H. 1942, repr. 1969. ''A Progressive Grammar of the Tamil Language''. Madras: Christian Literature Society.</ref> is one in which there are seven cases: nominative (first case), accusative (second case), instrumental (third), dative (fourth), ablative (fifth), genitive (sixth), and locative (seventh). In traditional analyses, there is always a clear distinction made between post-positional morphemes and case endings. The vocative is sometimes given a place in the case system as an eighth case, but vocative forms do not participate in usual morphophonemic alternations and do not govern the use of any postpositions. Modern grammarians, however, argue that this eight-case classification is coarse and artificial<ref name="JSTOR600654" /> and that Tamil usage is best understood if each suffix or combination of suffixes is seen as marking a separate case.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Standardization or restandardization: The case for "Standard" Spoken Tamil |author=Harold F. Schiffman |journal=Language in Society |volume=27 |issue=3 |date=June 1998 |pages=359–385 |doi=10.1017/S0047404598003030}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Case !! colspan="2" | Suffixes!! Example: மன்னன் (mannan) [king]
|-
| First case ||[[nominative case|Nominative]]|| colspan="2" | —
| 
* மன்னன் (mannan)
|-
| Second case ||[[Accusative case|Accusative]]|| 
* ai
|
* ஐ 
| 
* மன்னனை (mannanai)
|-
| Third case ||[[Instrumental case|Instrumental]]|| 
* al
* udan, 
* kondu
|
* ஆல், உடன்
* கொண்டு 
| 
* மன்னனால் (mannanaal)
* மன்னனுடன் (mannanudan)
* மன்னனோடு (mannanOdu)
|-
| Fourth case || [[Dative case|Dative]] || 
* (u)kku
* poruttu
* aaga
|
* கு
* பொருட்டு
* ஆக 
| 
* மன்னனுக்கு (mannanukku)
* மன்னனின்  பொருட்டு (mannanin poruttu)
* மன்னனுக்காக (mannanukkaaga)
|-
| Fifth case || [[Ablative case|Ablative]]|| 
* in
* il
* ilrundu
|
* இன்
* இல்
* இருந்து 
| 
* மன்னனின் (mannanin)
* மன்னனில் (mannanil)
* மன்னனிலிருந்து (mannanilirundu)
|-
| Sixth case || [[Genitive case|Genitive]] || 
* athu
* udaiya
|
* அது
* உடைய 
| 
* மன்னனது (mannanadu)
* மன்னனுடைய (mannanudaiya)
|-
| Seventh case || [[Locative case|Locative]] || 
* il
* idam
* kaṇ (Old Tamil)
|
* இல்
* இடம்
* கண் (Old Tamil) 
| 
* வீட்டில் (vīṭṭil)
* மன்னனிடம் (mannanidam)
|-
|Eighth case ||[[Vocative case|Vocative]]||
* e
* a
|
* ஏ
* ஆ 
| 
* மன்னனே (mannanE)
* மன்னவா(mannavaa)
|}