ONORATO DA UDINE (Franciscus Honoratus ad Utino, lay Giangiacomo). Tomba near Udine 7.11.1757 — Rome 8.12.1836. Italian Capuchin Missionary in India. Went to India in 1792, worked many years in Pondicherry, Surat, Madras and Masulipatan. Very little is known of his life (except some contradicting mentions, claiming he worked in Tibet, Madagascar, or Congo). Also the details about his grammar are missing, but he used Beschi and his system of transliteration.
Publications: Autograph manuscript of Grammatica Tamulica, early 19th century, in Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele in Rome, with a Tamil–Portuguese glossary.
Sources: A. Sorrentino, “A Forgotten Tamil Grammar of the 18th Century”, La conoscenza dell’ Asia 3, 1989, 689-701.
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