INTRODUCTION
‘A.symbol is something that a particular culture considers to mean something else. A symbol may seem to be the same as a sign; but the difference lies in their roles. A sign exists only to convey meaning; nothing more. A symbol on the other hand, exists in its own right, not just as a conveyor of meaning. In Jung's words, “what we call a symbol is a term, a name or even a picture that may be familiar in daily life, yet that possesses specific connotations in addition to its conventional and obvious meaning. Thus a word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than its obvious and immediate meaning”. Unlike signs, the meanings carried by symbols are loose, that is often capable of more than one interpretation, and beyond precise definition. The world of symbols is a world of inference and suggestion, rather than of concrete facts and definite statements' (1000 Symbols, Preface).
Symbolism is a common feature in all cultures of the world, tribal or civilized. Naturally it has taken a prominent place in oral and written literature too. There are many dictionaries of symbols and imagery in English and other foreign languages. Though there are ample studies about similes, metaphors and suggested meanings in Tamil literature, there is a dearth of such studies about signs, signals and symbols in Tamil. With the ancient Tamil literatures and other medieval writings as the corpus, the present project collects the different symbols and gives their meanings, with referred examples. To have a comparative idea of symbolism in other cultures/world languages, connotations are given under possible entries.
The dictionary is made up of three sections,viz., Introduction, Word entries and Bibliography.
The Introduction, ‘Kuriyitu', is a study on what symbolism is and gives the working methodology of preparing the dictionary.
As per Tamil, literary symbol, as a figure of speech, was not given a separate entity in the study of rhetorics in the ancient period. Uvamam, Ullurai, Iraicci and Kurippu were in vogue even from Tolkappiyam, the earliest extant treatise of the Tamils, dating back to 3rd c B.C.
The word kuri meaning sign, is available in Tolkappiyam. The word kuriyitu, now used to refer to symbol is of a later addition. Kuri, the sign, when stands to represent something else, something more than mere denotation, becomes kuriyitu, ie., symbol. Uvamam, ie., simile, forming the foundation and base of many symbols is seen in Tamil literature. The commonness and parallelism in characteristics bring together two different things in the simile. While comparing, the intricate qualities of flora, fauna and other concrete and abstract things form the basis on which symbols are built. The Cankam Akam poems, with their different intricacies, have given room for the subtle feature, viz., ullurai, ie., suggestion. This is also rooted in simile, though, with a variation. Many of these allow a symbolic analysis. Flowers being used to denote certain stages of love has come from Tolkappiyam to Cankam poetry.
Flowers are also used to denote certain stages of war. The development of sign and ensign are seen here. The totemic flowers of kings, worn as sign by the soldiers of their army is also a notable feature.
Colours like black and red, symbolizing wrath/anger are seen from Tolkappiyam onwards. Dream symbols, augury and omen as corpus for symbolic interpretation are available from the Cankam period. Heaven and earth, characters and people, the body and
