Funny things in languages

[app_engine]

Each language has its peculiarities and comical things.

Most in pronunciation rules, some in grammar, some in vocabulary.

Let's share here, without being too tight, what we find funny with any language in a light-hearted mode.

As most hubbers are bi, tri, multi linguals , each can chip in with something they find funny.

[app_engine]

Let me start with a funny thing in Hindi, a language that many want to be termed as the "only national / official language of India".

Till a few months back, my little daughter couldn't get a correct word when talking about the past happenings. For example, when someone asks her 'when did you play with snow balls', the answer used to be 'நாளைக்கு' :-) It was not only her, I've observed the same when my son was little and also with nephews / nieces.

Recently she has changed and started referring anything in the past as "நான் சின்னப்பிள்ளையா இருந்தப்ப" (even if that incident was only a few days old) :-)

Well, children at least change as they grow up but Hindi cannot. That language has the same word for Yesterday and Tomorrow : कल :lol:

So, நேற்று-இன்று-நாளை in Hindi is "कल-आज-कल" (kal-aaj-kal) :-)

[bingleguy]

Interesting app :) good one .....

i get reminded of some quotes in English ... :)

"I had to subject the subject to a series of tests"

"They were too close to the door to close it"

"She could not live with a live mouse in the house"

amazingly we still understand them after reading it :)

[app_engine]

That's one of the funniest things in English, bingleguy! Same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning:-)

Whenever people here say "oh, how do you read those complex-looking characters", pointing to one of the Indian languages, I tell them that they are mostly phonetic and relatively easier to read. And immediately tell them to pronounce 'w-i-n-d'. If they say வின்ட், my reply is 'well, I'll read it வைன்ட்' :-)

They usually get the point and concede that English has the craziest pronunication rules among all!

[bingleguy]

True app :)

and yet amazingly its one of the largest spoken and probably easily learnt too ;-) i guess hehehhee

idai pathi pesum podhu .... Chinna Goundar padathula Senthil kekkura kelvi dhaan nyabagathukku varudhu :P

kai la molaicha kai mudi
kal la molaicha kal mudi
nenju la molaicha nenju mudi
:rotfl: Goundar tensan aayiduvaaru ...
mugathula molaicha muga mudi nnu dhaanE sollanum, en nE thaadi nnu solraanga nnu sadhu pullaiyaatam Senthil kettu kittu nipparu :))

[rajraj]

bad guy-nnaa ketta paiyan
nice guy-nnaa nalla paiyan
stupid guy-nnaa muttaaL paiyan

bingleguy-nnaa?

[PatchyBoy]

"Mandhi" (மந்தி)- means "Monkey" in Tamil, but "People" in Kannada and ironically, "Manga" (மங்கா) is the name of a woman in Tamil, but means "Monkey" in Kannada!!!!!

[bingleguy]

bad guy-nnaa ketta paiyan
nice guy-nnaa nalla paiyan
stupid guy-nnaa muttaaL paiyan

bingleguy-nnaa?

chella payyan ;-)

[bingleguy]

patchy .... u reminded me of some close similarities ....

we dont have to worry for certain words as to what would they mean in either languagues ;-) Thamizh or Kannada .... one letter change could help us ;-)

Ha to Pa

Halu in Kannada, Palu in Thamizh meaning MILK
Hasivu in Kannada, Pasi in Thamizh meaning HUNGER
Hadu in Kannada, Padu in Thamizh meaning SING
Hasu in Kannada, Pasu in Thamizh meaning COW
Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

[app_engine]

I had 'halluppodi' advertisement in Bangalore radio and interpreted as 'palluppodi' :-)

அது சரி, பல்லுக்கு ஹல்லு, பொடிக்கு ஏன் ஹொடி இல்ல? :confused2:

[bingleguy]

I had 'halluppodi' advertisement in Bangalore radio and interpreted as 'palluppodi' :-)

அது சரி, பல்லுக்கு ஹல்லு, பொடிக்கு ஏன் ஹொடி இல்ல? :confused2:

:lol:

hesarukku pesarunnu sonna ... namma makkalukku pressure vandhidum sir ;-)

adaan :P

[bingleguy]

"thooral ninnu pochu" Kerala la release panni padam eduthavanga patta paadu ..... :lol:

[app_engine]

It's well-known to anyone who knows Thamizh that there are relatively less # of consonants and thus the limitation in bringing out the "exact" pronunciation of foreign language words.

Actually, to accommodate north-Indian languages, Thamizh had to add the extras such as ஸ், ஷ், ஜ், ஹ் (வடமொழி எழுத்துகள்). That's fine.

However, why should it handle native consonants in two different ways? That's the most funny part in Thamizh (unfunny to anyone who tries to learn the language).

e.g. Why கல் is pronounced as "kal" and பகல் is pronounced as either "pagal" or "pahal"? Those who learn Thamizh tend to pronounce this as pa-kal which sounds rough :-)

[Wibha]

Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

I had so much issues. I always ended up mixing tamil and kannada words.
I used to say pogo in tamil for po....

In dance class for
for utkolthini (tie ) I used to say katkolthini (with a mix of tamil and kannada)

[bingleguy]

Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

I had so much issues. I always ended up mixing tamil and kannada words.
I used to say pogo in tamil for po....

In dance class for
for utkolthini (tie ) I used to say katkolthini (with a mix of tamil and kannada)

:lol: idu enna pa .... Mysore Iyengars solluvAngo paaru :) amazing

vandhkondu poikondu irukaanga :)

[bingleguy]

Actually, to accommodate north-Indian languages, Thamizh had to add the extras such as ஸ், ஷ், ஜ், ஹ் (வடமொழி எழுத்துகள்). That's fine.


irundhalum pala peru use panna maatengraanga ;-)



However, why should it handle native consonants in two different ways? That's the most funny part in Thamizh (unfunny to anyone who tries to learn the language).

e.g. Why கல் is pronounced as "kal" and பகல் is pronounced as either "pagal" or "pahal"? Those who learn Thamizh tend to pronounce this as pa-kal which sounds rough :-)

:thumbsup:

[rajraj]

Actually, to accommodate north-Indian languages, Thamizh had to add the extras such as ஸ், ஷ், ஜ், ஹ் (வடமொழி எழுத்துகள்). That's fine.


irundhalum pala peru use panna maatengraanga ;-)


:thumbsup:

Those are known as grantha script - sa, ja,sha, ksha and ha.
When there were more sanskrit words in Tamil they used all those letters. If you go back to the literature of 19th and early 20th centuries you will come across a lot words using those letters.

[rajraj]

app_engine: You left out French in your survey.
I found that to be the most difficult language to learn.

[app_engine]

The ka v/s ha/ga confusion exists in Malayalam as well, wherever it uses words borrowed from Thamizh, the easy example being മകന്* (மகன்). Though strictly it should be read as ma-ka-n, it's softened, adding to the fun.

There was this Bengali trainee engineer who was at Palakkad when ராஜாவின்டெ மகன் got released. He used to say 'rAjAvinte makkan' :-)

[app_engine]

app_engine: You left out French in your survey.
I found that to be the most difficult language to learn.

It was / is there:-)

I thought there won't be many hubbers who know the language and hence bundled it with other euro languages in the option.

[PatchyBoy]

[tscii:3deb41deba]
app_engine: You left out French in your survey.
I found that to be the most difficult language to learn.

Very true.

French gender is a constant headache. Why is manteau masculine and montre feminine, when both men and women wear both of them? What's the logic behind gender in French? There's no simple answer to this question, and no simple way to know the gender of every noun other than just learning the gender with each word. :banghead: :banghead:

Not to mention pronunciation. For example, Hors d'œuvre is pronounced ôr dûrv and the 'r' is very soft :banghead: :banghead:

The language is far from phonetic :)

Rajan[/tscii:3deb41deba]

[rajraj]

app_engine: It is there with German and Spanish. French and spanish have pronunciation quirks. German is the most straightforward. You pronounce 'as it is written'. I remember our German teacher scolding us for pronouncing German like English. Her frequent admonition was: " It is not English.".

[bingleguy]

German :roll: French :shock:

way beyond my knowledge to understand n ponder :P

[rajraj]

German :roll: French :shock:

way beyond my knowledge to understand n ponder :P

bingle: In my days in IISc we were required to learn a foreign language to get our degrees. I learnt German,French and Russian ( because I was offered a scholarship to study in Russia by the Russian govt! :) ) I don't remember much of them. In this country, in my days, we were required to learn two foreign languages to get our Ph.D. I took the test in German and passed. They treated English as a foreign language and gave me a test ! :lol:

After I passed the tests they removed the requirement ! :lol:

[Wibha]

[tscii:0335904268]
app_engine: You left out French in your survey.
I found that to be the most difficult language to learn.

Very true.

French gender is a constant headache. Why is manteau masculine and montre feminine, when both men and women wear both of them? What's the logic behind gender in French? There's no simple answer to this question, and no simple way to know the gender of every noun other than just learning the gender with each word. :banghead: :banghead:

Rajan[/tscii:0335904268]

That goes to spanish as well. I dont get the gender thing. its just so annoying. and spaniish grammar was just SO confusing and annoying.

[podalangai]

அது சரி, பல்லுக்கு ஹல்லு, பொடிக்கு ஏன் ஹொடி இல்ல? :confused2:

In Old Kannada (Halegannada), all the "h-" words began with "p-" as they do in Tamil. Pampabharata - the oldest kavya in Kannada - uses "palu" for milk, "puvu" for flower, "pandi" for pig, and so on. The language started changing in the 12 or 13th century, and the current written standard was established before the p -> h shift was completed. In most spoken dialects (spoken by people who haven't learned literary Kannada), the word for powder is "hodi" or "hudi." It is also used in written Kannada sometimes.

The Badagas speak a language which is close to Kannada, but descends from an older form of Kannada. As a result, they have a lot of words which begin with "p" - e.g. "pogu" for go rather than "hogu".

[Anoushka]

Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

I had so much issues. I always ended up mixing tamil and kannada words.
I used to say pogo in tamil for po....

In dance class for
for utkolthini (tie ) I used to say katkolthini (with a mix of tamil and kannada)

:lol: idu enna pa .... Mysore Iyengars solluvAngo paaru :) amazing

vandhkondu poikondu irukaanga :)

oh I love the iyengar's tamil... we have a good laugh at it every time we hear our friends speak :D

[Anoushka]

on the gender bit... ditto for hindi. Why is aloo(potato) male & palak (spinach) female?

[podalangai]

Those who have struggled with German (such as myself) will appreciate Mark Twain's essay about the language. An excerpt from his discussion of grammatical gender in German:


Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera.

To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all.

Now, by the above dissection, the reader will see that in Germany a man may think he is a man, but when he comes to look into the matter closely, he is bound to have his doubts; he finds that in sober truth he is a most ridiculous mixture. A Woman is a female; but a Wife (Weib) is not -- which is unfortunate. A Wife, here, has no sex; she is neuter; so, according to the grammar, a fish is he, his scales are she, but a fishwife is neither.

You can read the whole thing at:
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html

[Lambretta]

patchy .... u reminded me of some close similarities ....

we dont have to worry for certain words as to what would they mean in either languagues ;-) Thamizh or Kannada .... one letter change could help us ;-)

Ha to Pa

Halu in Kannada, Palu in Thamizh meaning MILK
Hasivu in Kannada, Pasi in Thamizh meaning HUNGER
Hadu in Kannada, Padu in Thamizh meaning SING
Hasu in Kannada, Pasu in Thamizh meaning COW
Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

Also palli in tamil (even telugu), halli in kannada! :)

[Lambretta]

Hogo in Kannada, Po in Thamizh meaning GO

what say ????? :)

I had so much issues. I always ended up mixing tamil and kannada words.
I used to say pogo in tamil for po....

In dance class for
for utkolthini (tie ) I used to say katkolthini (with a mix of tamil and kannada)

:lol: idu enna pa .... Mysore Iyengars solluvAngo paaru :) amazing

vandhkondu poikondu irukaanga :)

Irukaanga illai, irukaa-nu matrum solluva nenaikirEn....."nga" suffix is only in TN tamil If I'm not mistaken! :)

[Sanjeevi]

It's well-known to anyone who knows Thamizh that there are relatively less # of consonants and thus the limitation in bringing out the "exact" pronunciation of foreign language words.

Actually, to accommodate north-Indian languages, Thamizh had to add the extras such as ஸ், ஷ், ஜ், ஹ் (வடமொழி எழுத்துகள்). That's fine.

However, why should it handle native consonants in two different ways? That's the most funny part in Thamizh (unfunny to anyone who tries to learn the language).

e.g. Why கல் is pronounced as "kal" and பகல் is pronounced as either "pagal" or "pahal"? Those who learn Thamizh tend to pronounce this as pa-kal which sounds rough :-)

Though tamil has only one ka and sa, they are used in different dictions (polymorphism). Like you said (kal, pahal), the sa will be used as cha in Chakkaram and we use like sa in paasam.

[Anoushka]

It's well-known to anyone who knows Thamizh that there are relatively less # of consonants and thus the limitation in bringing out the "exact" pronunciation of foreign language words.

Actually, to accommodate north-Indian languages, Thamizh had to add the extras such as ஸ், ஷ், ஜ், ஹ் (வடமொழி எழுத்துகள்). That's fine.

However, why should it handle native consonants in two different ways? That's the most funny part in Thamizh (unfunny to anyone who tries to learn the language).

e.g. Why கல் is pronounced as "kal" and பகல் is pronounced as either "pagal" or "pahal"? Those who learn Thamizh tend to pronounce this as pa-kal which sounds rough :-)

Though tamil has only one ka and sa, they are used in different dictions (polymorphism). Like you said (kal, pahal), the sa will be used as cha in Chakkaram and we use like sa in paasam.

My husband always brings this up about tamil. He finds it really funny!

[app_engine]

ஐயா பொடலங்காய், நீர் ஒரு பெரிய என்ஸைக்ளோப்பீடியா என்று சொன்னால், அது மிகை ஆகாது! :clap:

Thank you for the insight on Kannada's pA and German's gender!

[P_R]

Those who have struggled with German (such as myself) will appreciate Mark Twain's essay about the language. An excerpt from his discussion of grammatical gender in German:


Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera.

To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all.

Now, by the above dissection, the reader will see that in Germany a man may think he is a man, but when he comes to look into the matter closely, he is bound to have his doubts; he finds that in sober truth he is a most ridiculous mixture. A Woman is a female; but a Wife (Weib) is not -- which is unfortunate. A Wife, here, has no sex; she is neuter; so, according to the grammar, a fish is he, his scales are she, but a fishwife is neither. :lol:

[app_engine]

Most Indian languages has this addition of a "u" when consonants are pronounced (in spoken languages / songs etc). However, in Thamizh, it's generally considered pattikkAdu or unsophisticated to add this.

OTOH, it seems it's not only grammatically accepted but also considered quite OK for all in Hindi. It almost sounds to me like the opposite of the Thamizh "குற்றியலுகரம்" where the u actually loses half mAththirai. Here, people ADD u, sometimes more than half mAththirai:-)

For e.g. कितना (kithnA) is often pronounced "kiththunA" ("mErA dhil bhi kiththunA pAgal hai" is the first line of a song in Saajan):-) I see it very prevalent in HF songs ( "yEh dOssuththi", "bahuththu pyAru kartE hai" etc)

[app_engine]

My husband always brings this up about tamil. He finds it really funny!

Interestingly, this is not universally true in Thamizh either. For the 'n' sound , we have three(ந, ண, ன). Also for the 'l' sound, we have three more (ல, ள, ழ).

While Hindi & Malayalam has 2 each for n sound, Hindi has only one for l sound but Malayalam embraced all three of Thamizh for the l sound :-)

[podalangai]

Though tamil has only one ka and sa, they are used in different dictions (polymorphism). Like you said (kal, pahal), the sa will be used as cha in Chakkaram and we use like sa in paasam.

My husband always brings this up about tamil. He finds it really funny!

It seems this used to be the case in Kannada (purvahalegannada) as well. A few vestiges still remain in modern Kannada, where "k-" sounds change to "g-" sounds and are written as such. For example, the language is called "Kannada", but the initial "k-" changes to "g-" in combinations like "sirigannada" or "halegannada." Of course, it's written with a "g" in modern Kannada, but the sound changes just as in Tamil.

[Roshan]

Those who have struggled with German (such as myself) will appreciate Mark Twain's essay about the language. An excerpt from his discussion of grammatical gender in German:


Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera.

To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all.

Now, by the above dissection, the reader will see that in Germany a man may think he is a man, but when he comes to look into the matter closely, he is bound to have his doubts; he finds that in sober truth he is a most ridiculous mixture. A Woman is a female; but a Wife (Weib) is not -- which is unfortunate. A Wife, here, has no sex; she is neuter; so, according to the grammar, a fish is he, his scales are she, but a fishwife is neither.

You can read the whole thing at:
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html

That's really funny :lol:

[Anoushka]

ah podalai, thanks for that! :) & the bit on German too...

[Anoushka]

btw, kannadigas seem to add "u" to the end of words... like "bus" is english & "bus-u" is kannada :) (I mean spoken kannada)

[rajraj]

For e.g. कितना (kithnA) is often pronounced "kiththunA" ("mErA dhil bhi kiththunA pAgal hai" is the first line of a song in Saajan):-) I see it very prevalent in HF songs ( "yEh dOssuththi", "bahuththu pyAru kartE hai" etc)

In singing it is permitted to ensure smooth flow and to fit the tune.
You can see(hear) that in Hindustani vocal also. They have a word for such 'distortion'. When I recall that word I will let you know.

[rajraj]

How do you pronounce 'ghoti' ( not a real word)?

FISH ! :)

Why?

-gh as in laugh or tough

-o as in wOmen

-ti as in relation, nation or motion

Who said that?

George Bernard Shaw when trying to reform English spelling.

My English teacher in high school told us this story to explain the quirks in the English language.

I found a link:

http://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.htm

GBS also said that America and England were separated by a common language! :)

[app_engine]

rajraj :-)

Many friends used to ask me here, do they speak "queen's english" in India (that too after listening to my Thamilized version) and my answer is typically no, it's another version. Sometimes they want to know more and I end up explaining the various versions we speak from state to state :-)

[app_engine]

The funny things of English pronunciation is endless.

Some try to explain the bouquet / depot kind of "silence" as 'hey, we borrowed such peculiarities from french', but they cannot explain the know / knife silence :-) Very comical to see their faces and I always get a kick!

[app_engine]

Talking about this 'silent' business, the most funny thing is about words starting with h in English.

Honest is pronounced ஆனஸ்ட் (நம்ம ஆனஸ்ட்ராஜ் ஹப்பர் உடனே ஞாபகத்துக்கு வரார்:-) ). The silence of H is so much emphasized that the article used in front of this word is an and not a ("an honest day's work" etc)

ok, English can get away with it as it doesn't claim a phonetic language anyways.

OTOH, what happened to Hindi? They have totally embraced this h-to-be-silent thingy.

All the numbers from 11-18 end with a h character that never gets pronounced.

For e.g. 11 is pronounced as "gyArA" (க்யாரா) while written as ग्यारह (க்யாரஹ்) .

ஏக் தோ தீன் சார் பாஞ்ச் சே சாத் ஆட் நௌ தஸ் க்யாரா பாரா தேரா is a very popular song :-)

[app_engine]

Other than the 'h' thingy, I feel the influence of English on Hindi is also felt in the way the letter 'r' is pronounced by indhiwalas.

Often, it's simply r

Sometimes, ru - 'pyAr karta hai' as 'ப்யார் கருத்தா ஹேய்'

And on occasions, it's ழ் :lol:

Whenever people sing "karta / darta" as "கழ்தா, டழ்தா", I'm reminded of Malayalees who do the same damage to English r, when they transliterate certain words :-)

teachers - ടീച്ചേഴ്സ് - டீச்செழ்ஸ்
jewellers - ജുവേല്ലെഴ്സ് - ஜுவேல்லேழ்ஸ் :-)

[app_engine]

One more funny thing about our "phonetic" Hindi language (i.e. if it claims so, I don't think it can).

The add or don't add of vowel 'a' to consonants :-)

It's almost like a big set of pronunciation rules with which a new learner can find at least 5% of the difficulty associated with English vowel rules :-(

Simple example :
ललित (la-li-th, the first character is pronounced as ல, with an அ added to the consonant)

दिल (dhi-l, the exact same character, just in a different position in the word and no vowel is added)

[Sudhaama]

.


Every Language has something FUNNY.!

... by Others YARDSTICK... and Outlook.! ...


.. Tamil too... NOT AN EXCEPTION. !



Some of the Non Tamilians used to ask me some Questions which appeared Funny in Tamil for them...

...while such facts are interesting for we Tamilians too.!


One Hindiwala asked me...

"How You Tamilians differentiate between வாய்க்கால் (Vaaykaal) and கால்வாய் (Kaalvaay).

Even after repeated reminders and corrections.. I often wrongly use the words.

May I know on what basis you differentiate.?"

I replied KAALVAAY means CANAL in English...

...while VAAYKAAL means CHANNEL in English.

He laughed and asked... Is it Not FUNNY in your Language Tamil.?

There is NOTHING FUNNY in it. Every Language some such usages. I can quote ample Examples from your Mother-Tongue in Hindi ...

...as well as the so called International Language English too.

For example take the same case here.

What much difference it makes in English... between the words CANAL and CHANNEL.

Still you are not mistakig in identification. Is it Not.?

He blinked.

Then I clarified the Tamil uniqueness.

In Tamil...

VAAY means MOUTH .... KAAL = SECTION / BRANCH

Thus the Main Branch-off from a River or Reservoir is meant by KAALVAAY (Canal)

...and again further Branchiing off the KAALVAAY (Canal)...

...is practically a SUB-CANAL... So it is another ENTRY SUB-BRANCH..... meant by the word VAAY-KAAL.

(2) Then one Telugu Man asked me another Question...

How is it you Tamilians are using the words in Tamil...

...as KATHIRI-KOAL. கத்திரிக்கோல்... for Scissors..

...and KATHIRI-KAAY... கத்திரிக்காய்... for a Vegetable Brinjal. ?

What connection is there between these words... to justify the link by KATHIRI.?

Dear Friends,

What is your Answer please.?

.

[app_engine]

சுதாமாஜி,
இந்த இழைக்கு நல்வரவு!

தாங்கள் பலமொழிகளில் வல்லுநர் அல்லவா, அவற்றின் விசித்திரங்களை / வினோதங்களை இங்கு பகிர்ந்து கொண்டால் எல்லோருக்கும் நன்மை :-)

[app_engine]

It's common knowledge that the "spoken" language isn't the same as the "written" language in almost every case.

However, IMO, there are degrees in this w.r.t each language and Thamizh seems to be an extreme case in this. (I'm only taking an average spoken language here and not such extreme cases as heavy mix / accent etc, like in the case of madrAs bAshai).

The other day, one of my Detroit friends showed me a "travel help" book that has standard statements used in a number of languages and I had to LOL on seeing the Thamizh page.

If he practices that and speaks in TN, people will have a tough time to control their laughter either :-) It'll be like Shivaji Ganesan uttering thirvarutchelvar / thiruviLaiyAdal dialog!

In sharp contrast, in the case of Malayalam (or even Hindi), what was written in that book is what people speak in their day to day life, without sounding odd!

[Sanjeevi]

It's common knowledge that the "spoken" language isn't the same as the "written" language in almost every case.

However, IMO, there are degrees in this w.r.t each language and Thamizh seems to be an extreme case in this. (I'm only taking an average spoken language here and not such extreme cases as heavy mix / accent etc, like in the case of madrAs bAshai).

The other day, one of my Detroit friends showed me a "travel help" book that has standard statements used in a number of languages and I had to LOL on seeing the Thamizh page.

If he practices that and speaks in TN, people will have a tough time to control their laughter either :-) It'll be like Shivaji Ganesan uttering thirvarutchelvar / thiruviLaiyAdal dialog!

A big true, and I believe no one language comes close to tamil in this matter. The only simple reason for this - tamil is probably the most ancient language.

[PatchyBoy]

Oh. You mean இலக்கண தமிழ்? I still remember a bus conductor in the mid 70s on T-Nagar - Parrys route, who used to speak in such தமிழ்.

It used to be fascinating and humorous at the same time :)

Rajan

[app_engine]

Simple example,

in Malayalam, the written sentence for 'what is your name' is typically :
നിങ്ങളുടെ പേര്* എന്താണ്? (நிங்ஙளுடெ பேர் எந்தானு?)

And it's spoken almost exactly the same way without sounding odd to a native.

in Thamizh, the written sentence goes like
'உங்களுடைய பெயர் என்ன?' and if someone asks that way, it does sound odd! Almost 100% of the people ask 'ஒங்க பேர் என்னங்க' or 'ஒங்க பேர் என்ன' :-)

Both sound way different from the written :-)

[app_engine]

Oh. You mean இலக்கண தமிழ்? I still remember a bus conductor in the mid 70s on T-Nagar - Parrys route, who used to speak in such தமிழ்.

It used to be fascinating and humorous at the same time :)

Rajan

:)

My younger brother once visited our relative in Madurai who is a "Tamil MA" and they both had a chance meeting with Thamizhkkudimagan (who later served as the assembly speaker in TN). He had a gala time watching those two gentlemen (our uncle and TKmagan) converse to each other in senthamizh for almost an hour :lol:

[app_engine]

After posting the above, I realized that perhaps Thamizh is one of the rarest few lanugages where you'll be ridiculed for speaking "correctly" :-)

In other languages, you can speak distorted or correct and both will be acceptable, with the correct one even getting an appreciation. In TN, if you keep speaking like 'உங்கள் மனநிலை எனக்குப்புரிகிறது', people will start doubting your 'மனநிலை' :-)

[app_engine]

Same word with different meanings and different words for one thing - these are general features for many languages. (Please post here if any language forbids these two phenomena).

However, meanings like the 'kal' word of Hindi are hilarious as we've seen in the outset.

This one in Thamizh is quite funny too :

அகராதி - dictionary as in "மன்னிப்பு என்ற வார்த்தை என் அகராதியிலேயே கிடையாது"

அகராதி - arrogant / proud as in "அதோ போறாம்பாரு ரொம்ப அகராதி புடிச்ச பய" (colloquial)

:-)

[Sanjeevi]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்
யானை / ஆனை
கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை / அவ்வை

[Sanjeevi]

எண்ணெய் என்றால் எள் + நெய் என்று அர்த்தம். அதாவது நல்ல எண்ணெய். நியாப்படி தேங்காய் எண்ணெய், கடலை எண்ணெய், மண்ணெண்ணெய் என்பது தவறு தேங்காய் நெய், கடலை நெய், மண் நெய் என்று தானே சொல்ல வேண்டும். இனிமேல் ஒன்றும் செய்ய முடியாது :lol:

[app_engine]

மண் நெய்

:)

அதற்கு அருமையான பெயர் நாட்டுப்புறத்தில் இருக்கிறது - "சீமைத்தண்ணீர்" :-)

சென்னைக்காரர்களுக்கு "க்ருஷ்ணாயில்" :-)

ஆனை - யானை , ஆறு - யாறு

இவை இரண்டுமே சரியானவை தாம் :-)

[VinodKumar's]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்
யானை / ஆனை
கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை / அவ்வை

Bold pannirukarathu lam sari endru ninaikiraen. Mayyam theriyala :roll:

Thamizh la adikathathuku manichukavum. Eppdi adikirathunu kathukitu adutha muraiyil irunthu adikiraen :wink:

[app_engine]

அ-ஆ-இ-ஈ படிக்கும் போதே ஒண்ணாம் வகுப்புப்புத்தகத்தில் "ஔ"க்கு "ஔவையார்" படம் தானுங்க போட்டிருப்பாங்க:-)

எல்லாம் இந்த "அவ்வை சண்முகி"யால் வரும் ஐயங்கள் (ஆம்பளயே பொம்பளயா ஆகும்போது, ஔ அவ் ஆகாதா என்ன?) :-)

[VinodKumar's]

அ-ஆ-இ-ஈ படிக்கும் போதே ஒண்ணாம் வகுப்புப்புத்தகத்தில் "ஔ"க்கு "ஔவையார்" படம் தானுங்க போட்டிருப்பாங்க:-)

எல்லாம் இந்த "அவ்வை சண்முகி"யால் வரும் ஐயங்கள் (ஆம்பளயே பொம்பளயா ஆகும்போது, ஔ அவ் ஆகாதா என்ன?) :-)

:ashamed:

But naan neraya edathula அவ்வை nu paatha maari oru nyabagam.

[app_engine]

ஐயா , அய்யா இரண்டும் மரியாதை அழைப்புகள் என்றாலும் சின்ன வேறுபாடு உண்டோ என்று ஒரு ஐயம் :-)

ஐயா - எழுத்துதமிழில் சரியானது - 'அன்புள்ள ஐயா'ன்னு எத்தனை கடிதம் எழுதி இருக்கோம் ஸ்கூலில் :-)

அய்யா - நாட்டுப்புறங்களில் அப்பாவின் அப்பாவை "அய்யாப்பன்" என்றும் அதையே சுருக்கமாக "அய்யா" என்றும் அழைப்பதுண்டு. என் கருத்துப்படி, இது வேறு - அது வேறு :-)

[app_engine]

லை,ளை,னை,ணை - இவற்றிலெல்லாம் எழுத்து சீர்திருத்தம் கொண்டுவந்த போது, ஐ-ஔ இவற்றை ஒழித்து விட்டு அய்-அவ் என மாற்றி விட வேண்டும் என்று ஒரு கருத்து இருந்தது. ஆனால் பரவலாக ஏற்கப்படவில்லையென்று நினைக்கிறேன்.

ஆதலால் "மய்யம்" எல்லாம் தமிழ் பரிட்சையில் எழுத முடியாது (மையல் - மைதிலி எல்லாம் அவற்றின் தன்மையை இழந்துவிடும் என்பது என் கருத்து) :-)

[app_engine]

One more funny word in Thamizh with two extremely different meanings : பால் (milk & gender) :-)

[NOV]

kEl - listen and ask....

[Plum]

idhellAm pOga, there is a unique coincidence between tamil and English:

போர் = War (in English)
வார் = Pour(in English)

[NOV]

what is saaral in english?

[Plum]

drizzle

[Plum]

க்ருஷ்ணாயில்
I have spent quite a few hours in childhood trying to decipher the etymology of this.
How the heck did they arrive at this name?

[Sanjeevi]

One more funny word in Thamizh with two extremely different meanings : பால் (milk & gender) :-)

silEdai

[app_engine]

[tscii:6989e05e34]Good finds, NOV & Plum :-)

I was about to type something about 'இடக்கரடக்கல்' in Thamizh which can be roughly translated as euphemism. (This could really pose a big challenge to new learners of the language. Well, it's a very similar case in many other languages as well. Text book example in Thamizh is 'கால் கழுவுதல்'. Also phrases like 'ஓடிப்போயிட்டா' take an entirely different meaning in usage. English has its own too, for e.g., she 'lied' with him.)

While verifying the spelling for இடக்கரடக்கல், I stumbled upon this Jeyamohan link, that's really funny :
http://www.jeyamohan.in/?p=161



சபரிமலையில் ஒருநாளைக்கு எட்டு லட்சம்பேர் ஒரே பாதையில் மலையேறி காலைக்கடன் கழிக்கிறார்கள். ஏன் கடன்? திருப்பி நாம் எடுத்துக்கொள்ளபோவதேயில்லையே? போகட்டும். அய்யப்பன்கள் எங்கும் மஞ்சளாகப் பூத்திருக்கும் அதை மங்கலமாக ‘பூச்சாமி’ என்று சொல்கிறார்கள். பம்பையில் மூழ்கி எழுந்தால் பூச்சாமி வந்து தோளைத்தட்டி கூப்பிடுமாம்.


[/tscii:6989e05e34]

[NOV]

what is saaral in english?

drizzle
:banghead:

no wonder both english and tamil are funny :lol2:

drizzle is thooral, not saaral :poke:

[app_engine]

Nov,

Thooral is loose-motion in Malayalam. That's why the K Baghyaraj movie had to be renamed there as 'chAral ninnu pOyi' :-)

[app_engine]

There are many such funny usages of (originally) Thamizh words in Malayalam.

தூக்கம் is sleep in Thamizh, weight in Malayalam

தூங்கி is used in past tense of sleep in Thamizh as in தூங்கிட்டான் but it means 'hanged' in Malayalam ('thoongi marichchu' means committed suicide by hanging)

However, the funniest one is தணல். This means flames in Thamizh but shadow in Malayalam :-)

[PatchyBoy]

ஏடு + இட்டோர் + இயல் = Editorial :)

[PatchyBoy]

what is saaral in english?

drizzle
:banghead:

no wonder both english and tamil are funny :lol2:

drizzle is thooral, not saaral :poke:

தூறல் = Drizzle
சாரல் = Mist Spray or Spray of Mist

And talking of how corrupt the language can get:

தண்ணிர் = Cold Water ( தண்மை + நீர்)
வெந்நீர் = Hot Water ( வெப்பம் + நீர்)

இது சரியானல்,

What is சுடுதண்ணி?

[bingleguy]

there is a term for these kinda words ..... somebody remind me ...

nadu-center .... etc ....

[ajaybaskar]

A_E,

Once I was watching TV with my mallu friend. There was one song from an SPB starrer, 'Vazhi vidu, Vazhi vidu, En Devi varugiraal'. That guy just ROTFLed...

[rajraj]

க்ருஷ்ணாயில்
I have spent quite a few hours in childhood trying to decipher the etymology of this.
How the heck did they arrive at this name?

They were probably praying Krishna for kersosene oil ! :lol:

[app_engine]

A_E,
Once I was watching TV with my mallu friend. There was one song from an SPB starrer, 'Vazhi vidu, Vazhi vidu, En Devi varugiraal'. That guy just ROTFLed...

I'm not sure about the pronunciation in that song - either it was bad or your friend could have probably got reminded of the general TN pronunciation of ழ.

This is a standard ridicule by all KSRTC bus conductors that run between Coimbatore & Palakkad - you should see their face when they say வளி விடு :-) (வளி = gas)

[ajaybaskar]

The pronunciation was good. There can't be a difference of opinion on SPB's pronunciation. But my friend made a mockery of that. He was paying it back for my take on 'Otto' and 'Hoaspital'..

[Sudhaama]

.



............. I'm not sure about the pronunciation in that song - either it was bad or your friend could have probably got reminded of the general TN pronunciation of ழ.

This is a standard ridicule by all KSRTC bus conductors that run between Coimbatore & Palakkad - you should see their face when they say வளி விடு :-) (வளி = gas)


I am glad to note the ACTIVE PARTICIPATION by SEVERAL Friends...

...on this RICH SUBJECT.. of Common interest.

Thanks to Mr "app" for initiating this WORTHY THREAD... of FORUM-SENSE...

...Useful for all

The Word வளி (VALHI) in Tamil-- does not mean as GAS...

...But as காற்று (Wind)

.
.

[bingleguy]

.



............. I'm not sure about the pronunciation in that song - either it was bad or your friend could have probably got reminded of the general TN pronunciation of ழ.

This is a standard ridicule by all KSRTC bus conductors that run between Coimbatore & Palakkad - you should see their face when they say வளி விடு :-) (வளி = gas)


I am glad to note the ACTIVE PARTICIPATION by SEVERAL Friends...

...on this RICH SUBJECT.. of Common interest.

Thanks to Mr "app" for initiating this WORTHY THREAD... of FORUM-SENSE...

...Useful for all

The Word வளி (VALHI) in Tamil-- does not mean as GAS...

...But as காற்று (Wind)

.
.

means fart in malayalam illiyO ???? :roll: i thought he meant in malayalam

[Sudhaama]

.



Funny Usages of (originally) Thamizh words in Malayalam.

தூக்கம் is sleep in Thamizh, weight in Malayalam

தூங்கி is used in past tense of sleep in Thamizh as in தூங்கிட்டான் but it means 'hanged' in Malayalam ('thoongi marichchu' means committed suicide by hanging)
:-)

Good point.

But in Tamil... தூக்கு போட்டான் (THOOKKU POATTAAN)...

தூக்கில் தொங்கினான் (THOOKKIL THONGINAAN)...

... for either Punishment or Suicide by HANGING.

..

[app_engine]

Just to avoid this confusion, I've switched to உறக்கம் for sleep, even when speaking in Thamizh - a common word :-)

There's another word (that I suspect an import from sanskrit into Thamizh) with a different meaning between these two languages - அவசரம்.

Typically, Thamizh adds an 'அம்' suffix whenever it borrows a word from sanskrit, just to use it "smoothly" - Anandh to Anandham, bayangar to bayangaram, kasht to kashtam etc.

I suspect it got 'avasar' likewise and started using it as 'avasaram'. Malayalam took it with the same meaning as in sanskrit - opportunity. OTOH, Thamizh gave it another meaning - urgency.

It must be one of those 'progressive thinkers' in TN who converted an 'opportunity' to one of 'urgency' :-)

[podalangai]

தூங்கி is used in past tense of sleep in Thamizh as in தூங்கிட்டான் but it means 'hanged' in Malayalam ('thoongi marichchu' means committed suicide by hanging)

தூங்கி means 'hanged' in Jaffna Tamil too. The common way of saying "to sleep" in Yazh Tamil is நித்திரை கொள்ள. For that matter, it has that meaning in TN Tamil too. I remember once in my parents' village, a migrant labourer hanged himself by the roadside one morning due to debts, and all the workers who saw his corpse came to my parents house for water to wash themselves (my parents' house was the closest) - they said "thookku pottu thoongittan".

[podalangai]

Another funny word with very different meanings in Malayalam and Tamil is സംസാരം / சம்சாரம் which means "conversation" in Malayalam and "wife" in Tamil. If a Malayalee tells a Tamil "ninte samsaram romba mosam", hilarity is guaranteed :lol2:

[Sudhaama]

.


One FUNNY EPISODE. -- Malayalam Vs Tamil


One Malayalee Girl was wedded to a Tamilian.

One day, her mother-in-law in the process of Cooking rice... gave the new Daughter -in-law one Vessel full of Rice and asked her...

..."இந்த அரிசியை களை (Indha Arisiyai Kalhai).. "

"மொத்தம் களையணமோ.? (Moththam Kalyaiyanhamoa.?) " asked the Malaiyalee Daughter in law.

"ஆமா மொத்தம் களையணும் (Aama moththam Kalhaiyanhum)-- "

Then the Girl went out and threw the whole vesselful of Rice in the Dustbin in the Street and returned to her Mother in law and said...

...களைஞ்சிட்டேன் (Kalhainjittaen)

சரி களைஞ்சதை கொடு. (Sari Kalhainjadhai Kodu.)

அது தான் களைஞ்சிட்டேனே.! இதோ காலி பாத்ரம் (Adhu thaan Kalhainjittaenae. Idho Kaali paaththiram) " showed the Empty vessel.

Mother-in-law could not follow. but blinked in confusion.

Because in Tamil-- களை (KALHAI) means... wash it in water

whereas the same word KALHAI in Malayalam means THROW IT OUT (Dispose off)

..

[Sanjeevi]

.


One FUNNY EPISODE. -- Malayalam Vs Tamil


One Malayalee Girl was wedded to a Tamilian.

One day, her mother-in-law in the process of Cooking rice... gave the new Daughter -in-law one Vessel full of Rice and asked her...

..."இந்த அரிசியை களை (Indha Arisiyai Kalhai).. "

"மொத்தம் களையணமோ.? (Moththam Kalyaiyanhamoa.?) " asked the Malaiyalee Daughter in law.

"ஆமா மொத்தம் களையணும் (Aama moththam Kalhaiyanhum)-- "

Then the Girl went out and threw the whole vesselful of Rice in the Dustbin in the Street and returned to her Mother in law and said...

...களைஞ்சிட்டேன் (Kalhainjittaen)

சரி களைஞ்சதை கொடு. (Sari Kalhainjadhai Kodu.)

அது தான் களைஞ்சிட்டேனே.! இதோ காலி பாத்ரம் (Adhu thaan Kalhainjittaenae. Idho Kaali paaththiram) " showed the Empty vessel.

Mother-in-law could not follow. but blinked in confusion.

Because in Tamil-- களை (KALHAI) means... wash it in water

whereas the same word KALHAI in Malayalam means THROW IT OUT (Dispose off)

..

Actually both languages has quite same meanings for களை. It should come from "களை edukkurathu from vayal" which means vendatha sedigalai pudungi veliyu vesurathu / edukkurathu". So களை does not mean "wash it in water" directly. Remove களை (kal, man, etc) by using water or muRam.

[Plum]

Just to avoid this confusion, I've switched to உறக்கம் for sleep, even when speaking in Thamizh - a common word :-)

There's another word (that I suspect an import from sanskrit into Thamizh) with a different meaning between these two languages - அவசரம்.

Typically, Thamizh adds an 'அம்' suffix whenever it borrows a word from sanskrit, just to use it "smoothly" - Anandh to Anandham, bayangar to bayangaram, kasht to kashtam etc.

I suspect it got 'avasar' likewise and started using it as 'avasaram'. Malayalam took it with the same meaning as in sanskrit - opportunity. OTOH, Thamizh gave it another meaning - urgency.

It must be one of those 'progressive thinkers' in TN who converted an 'opportunity' to one of 'urgency' :-)

In Mumbai express, Kamal used created a bunch of word plays based on different meanings in telugu and tamil fo the same word. Forgotten the sequence but it exploits all the below:

avasaram = need in telugu, urgency in Tamil
pramaadham = excellent in tamil, accident in telugu
and a few more, whcih I have sadly forgotten

[joe]

.


One FUNNY EPISODE. -- Malayalam Vs Tamil


One Malayalee Girl was wedded to a Tamilian.

One day, her mother-in-law in the process of Cooking rice... gave the new Daughter -in-law one Vessel full of Rice and asked her...

..."இந்த அரிசியை களை (Indha Arisiyai Kalhai).. "

"மொத்தம் களையணமோ.? (Moththam Kalyaiyanhamoa.?) " asked the Malaiyalee Daughter in law.

"ஆமா மொத்தம் களையணும் (Aama moththam Kalhaiyanhum)-- "

Then the Girl went out and threw the whole vesselful of Rice in the Dustbin in the Street and returned to her Mother in law and said...

...களைஞ்சிட்டேன் (Kalhainjittaen)

சரி களைஞ்சதை கொடு. (Sari Kalhainjadhai Kodu.)

அது தான் களைஞ்சிட்டேனே.! இதோ காலி பாத்ரம் (Adhu thaan Kalhainjittaenae. Idho Kaali paaththiram) " showed the Empty vessel.

Mother-in-law could not follow. but blinked in confusion.

Because in Tamil-- களை (KALHAI) means... wash it in water

whereas the same word KALHAI in Malayalam means THROW IT OUT (Dispose off)

..

Actually both languages has quite same meanings for களை. It should come from "களை edukkurathu from vayal" which means vendatha sedigalai pudungi veliyu vesurathu / edukkurathu". So களை does not mean "wash it in water" directly. Remove களை (kal, man, etc) by using water or muRam.
:exactly:

களை என்ற தமிழ் வார்த்தையை உண்மையான அர்த்தத்தில் மலையாளத்தில் தான் கடைபிடிக்கிறார்கள் என தெரிகிறது.
'உன் ஆணவத்தை களை' என்றால் 'உன் ஆணவத்தை விட்டு விடு' என்று அர்த்தமே தவிர 'உன் ஆணவத்தை தண்ணியில் போட்டு கழுவு' என்றல்ல :lol:

[Plum]

'உன் ஆணவத்தை களை' என்றால் 'உன் ஆணவத்தை விட்டு விடு' என்று அர்த்தமே தவிர 'உன் ஆணவத்தை தண்ணியில் போட்டு கழுவு' என்றல்ல
:lol:

[Plum]

களை என்ற தமிழ் வார்த்தையை உண்மையான அர்த்தத்தில் மலையாளத்தில் தான் கடைபிடிக்கிறார்கள் என தெரிகிறது
Isnt this true for a large number of Malayalam words, joe?

[NOV]

தூறல் = Drizzle
சாரல் = Saralz

[joe]

Another funny word with very different meanings in Malayalam and Tamil is സംസാരം / சம்சாரம் which means "conversation" in Malayalam and "wife" in Tamil. If a Malayalee tells a Tamil "ninte samsaram romba mosam", hilarity is guaranteed :lol2: :lol:

[joe]

களை என்ற தமிழ் வார்த்தையை உண்மையான அர்த்தத்தில் மலையாளத்தில் தான் கடைபிடிக்கிறார்கள் என தெரிகிறது
Isnt this true for a large number of Malayalam words, joe?

True ..There are many .

[joe]

app,
பசிக்கவில்லையா ? or பசிக்கிறதா? என்பதற்கான மலையாள வார்த்தை என்ன?

[Plum]

veshakkunnu/vishakkunnu?

[joe]

veshakkunnu/vishakkunnu? ஆம் .இது தொடர்பான ஒரு வேடிக்கை சம்பவம் ...

தமிழர் ஒருவர் மலையாள நண்பர் வீட்டுக்கு விருந்துக்கு சென்றிருக்கிறார் . மலையாள நண்பருக்கு அவசர அழைப்பொன்று வர அவர் தான் முடிந்த வரை சீக்கிரமாக வருவாதாகவும் ,இல்லையென்றால் நண்பருக்கு சாப்பாடு கொடுக்க மனைவியிடம் சொல்லிவிட்டு சென்று விட்டார் .நெடு நேரமாகி சாப்பாடு நேரம் தாண்டி வந்தவர் நண்பர் சாப்பிட்டிருப்பார் என நினைத்து 'நல்லா சாப்பிட்டீங்களா?' என கேட்க ,அவர் சங்கோஜமாக 'இன்னும் இல்லை' என்றிருக்கிறார் .மலையாளி தன் மனைவியிடம் சென்று கடுமையாக கோபப்பட்டு ஏன் இது வரை சாப்பாடு கொடுக்கவில்லை என கேட்க ,அவரோ தான் 10 நிமிடத்துக்க்கொரு முறை "வெசக்குண்ணு?" என கேட்க அவரோ திரும்பத் திரும்ப "இல்லை ..காற்று வருது" -ன்னு சொல்லிட்டே இருக்கார் -ன்னாங்களாம்

[Anoushka]

.

How is it you Tamilians are using the words in Tamil...

...as KATHIRI-KOAL. கத்திரிக்கோல்... for Scissors..

...and KATHIRI-KAAY... கத்திரிக்காய்... for a Vegetable Brinjal. ?

What connection is there between these words... to justify the link by KATHIRI.?

Dear Friends,

What is your Answer please.?

.

Prakash asked me a similar question last week.

What does kuthu mean? So I said "box" (as in to box someone) then he went what is the kuthu in kuthu viLakku ....... could not answer him on that one! :D

[Anoushka]

.


One FUNNY EPISODE. -- Malayalam Vs Tamil


One Malayalee Girl was wedded to a Tamilian.

One day, her mother-in-law in the process of Cooking rice... gave the new Daughter -in-law one Vessel full of Rice and asked her...

..."இந்த அரிசியை களை (Indha Arisiyai Kalhai).. "

"மொத்தம் களையணமோ.? (Moththam Kalyaiyanhamoa.?) " asked the Malaiyalee Daughter in law.

"ஆமா மொத்தம் களையணும் (Aama moththam Kalhaiyanhum)-- "

Then the Girl went out and threw the whole vesselful of Rice in the Dustbin in the Street and returned to her Mother in law and said...

...களைஞ்சிட்டேன் (Kalhainjittaen)

சரி களைஞ்சதை கொடு. (Sari Kalhainjadhai Kodu.)

அது தான் களைஞ்சிட்டேனே.! இதோ காலி பாத்ரம் (Adhu thaan Kalhainjittaenae. Idho Kaali paaththiram) " showed the Empty vessel.

Mother-in-law could not follow. but blinked in confusion.

Because in Tamil-- களை (KALHAI) means... wash it in water

whereas the same word KALHAI in Malayalam means THROW IT OUT (Dispose off)

..

Actually both languages has quite same meanings for களை. It should come from "களை edukkurathu from vayal" which means vendatha sedigalai pudungi veliyu vesurathu / edukkurathu". So களை does not mean "wash it in water" directly. Remove களை (kal, man, etc) by using water or muRam. agree with sanjeevi on this, kaLai actually means removing stones... ( remember my mother making me do it when I was small )

[app_engine]

Anoushka,
kuththu also means "still", i.e, without movement, in literal Thamizh. So, kuththu viLakku is a lamp that stands still :-) (In Malayalam, it's translated as 'nila viLakku')

[PatchyBoy]

.

How is it you Tamilians are using the words in Tamil...

...as KATHIRI-KOAL. கத்திரிக்கோல்... for Scissors..

...and KATHIRI-KAAY... கத்திரிக்காய்... for a Vegetable Brinjal. ?

What connection is there between these words... to justify the link by KATHIRI.?

Dear Friends,

What is your Answer please.?

.

Prakash asked me a similar question last week.

What does kuthu mean? So I said "box" (as in to box someone) then he went what is the kuthu in kuthu viLakku ....... could not answer him on that one! :D

குத்து = is a group / collection.
குத்து in the context of "Box" is to punch someone with a fist- a collection of closed fingers.
குத்து in the context of குத்துவிளக்கு is a collection of multiple lights / lamps, as you can light multiple wicks in one single lamp.

Rajan

[Anoushka]

thanks app & patch :)

[podalangai]

Anoushka,
kuththu also means "still", i.e, without movement, in literal Thamizh. So, kuththu viLakku is a lamp that stands still :-) (In Malayalam, it's translated as 'nila viLakku')

I think it has a specific sense of standing upright, as seen in words like குத்துக்கால்.

[rajraj]

Anoushka,
kuththu also means "still", i.e, without movement, in literal Thamizh. So, kuththu viLakku is a lamp that stands still :-) (In Malayalam, it's translated as 'nila viLakku')

I think it has a specific sense of standing upright, as seen in words like குத்துக்கால்.

You are right! kuthu in kuthuviLakku means standing, straight or perpendicular as in sengkuthu.

[PatchyBoy]

Thanks guys. I stand corrected.

Rajan

[Sudhaama]

.


Every Language has some words which mean Different in some cases--

--by COLLOQUAL USAGE- varying from its Literal sense


One such example in Tamil--- is this Word களை (KALHAI)..






.


One FUNNY EPISODE. -- Malayalam Vs Tamil


One Malayalee Girl was wedded to a Tamilian.

One day, her mother-in-law in the process of Cooking rice... gave the new Daughter -in-law one Vessel full of Rice and asked her...

..."இந்த அரிசியை களை (Indha Arisiyai Kalhai).. "

"மொத்தம் களையணமோ.? (Moththam Kalyaiyanhamoa.?) " asked the Malaiyalee Daughter in law.

"ஆமா மொத்தம் களையணும் (Aama moththam Kalhaiyanhum)-- "

Then the Girl went out and threw the whole vesselful of Rice in the Dustbin in the Street and returned to her Mother in law and said...

...களைஞ்சிட்டேன் (Kalhainjittaen)

சரி களைஞ்சதை கொடு. (Sari Kalhainjadhai Kodu.)

அது தான் களைஞ்சிட்டேனே.! இதோ காலி பாத்ரம் (Adhu thaan Kalhainjittaenae. Idho Kaali paaththiram) " showed the Empty vessel.

Mother-in-law could not follow. but blinked in confusion.

Because in Tamil-- களை (KALHAI) means... wash it in water

whereas the same word KALHAI in Malayalam means THROW IT OUT (Dispose off)

..

Actually both languages has quite same meanings for களை. It should come from "களை edukkurathu from vayal" which means vendatha sedigalai pudungi veliyu vesurathu / edukkurathu". So களை does not mean "wash it in water" directly. Remove களை (kal, man, etc) by using water or muRam.

Yes. In Tamil too it means the same sense LITERALLY.

For Example in Sanga- Thamizh Thiruppavai--- கிள்ளி களைந்தானை (Kilhlhi KALHAINDHAANAI)---

--The word KALHAI means Root-Out / Clear-off / Totally Wipe out

In the same sense ...BUT INDIRECTLY... it is meant COLLOQUALLY as WASH-OFF only in this case...

..as has become the Practical usage in Tamil.

So to mean CLEAR OFF the Dirt in Rice.. as a Pre-cooking process.

In brief what I have highlighted here-- is that in SOME CASES---

..EVERY LANGUAGE--- means different in some cases of words--by COLLOQUAL USAGE- varying from its Literal sense

One such example is this Word களை(KALHAI)..

...which LITERAL SENSE is truly meant in Malayalam---

... both Literally and Colloqually.

Whereas the Word KALHAI by Nown IS Different in Tamil.. To mean the UNWANTED GROWTH.. in the Farm-Fields

But KALHAITHAL or KALHAI by Verb in Tamil---

--- means ROOT-OUT / DESTROY only.

Thanks to all my Friends for sharing their varied thoughts on the point
,.

[app_engine]

Malayalam also uses 'kaLa' for weeds.

So, it's a question of same word for verb and noun (weed / weed) :-)

[Anoushka]

thanks podalai & raj uncle, this makes sense now :)

[Sanjeevi]

'உன் ஆணவத்தை களை' என்றால் 'உன் ஆணவத்தை விட்டு விடு' என்று அர்த்தமே தவிர 'உன் ஆணவத்தை தண்ணியில் போட்டு கழுவு' என்றல்ல :lol:

Very nice explanation :)

[Sanjeevi]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்
யானை / ஆனை
கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை / அவ்வை

Bold pannirukarathu lam sari endru ninaikiraen. Mayyam theriyala :roll:

Thamizh la adikathathuku manichukavum. Eppdi adikirathunu kathukitu adutha muraiyil irunthu adikiraen :wink:

:lol:

I have only doubt about 1 and 2 :)

For others

கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை /அவ்வை

[Sanjeevi]

ஐயா , அய்யா இரண்டும் மரியாதை அழைப்புகள் என்றாலும் சின்ன வேறுபாடு உண்டோ என்று ஒரு ஐயம் :-)

ஐயா - எழுத்துதமிழில் சரியானது - 'அன்புள்ள ஐயா'ன்னு எத்தனை கடிதம் எழுதி இருக்கோம் ஸ்கூலில் :-)

அய்யா - நாட்டுப்புறங்களில் அப்பாவின் அப்பாவை "அய்யாப்பன்" என்றும் அதையே சுருக்கமாக "அய்யா" என்றும் அழைப்பதுண்டு. என் கருத்துப்படி, இது வேறு - அது வேறு :-)

app, this is news to me, but still I think ஐயா is correct and also think what அவ்வை to ஔவை is அய்யா to ஐயா

[Sudhaama]

.




'உன் ஆணவத்தை களை' என்றால் 'உன் ஆணவத்தை விட்டு விடு' என்று அர்த்தமே தவிர 'உன் ஆணவத்தை தண்ணியில் போட்டு கழுவு' என்றல்ல :lol:

Very nice explanation :)

I did not say that the word KALHAI in Tamil--- means LITERALLY as Wash-Off ...


Nor as that Twisted meaning is applicable for any other case too.


But only highlighted.. how in Practical Usage ..

...rather by CURRUPT sense-- in this case... one Tamil-word is meant by Hosehold Tamil...

..just to mean ONLY for CLEANING (washing) THE RICE... Free of dirt.

...FAR DIFFERING from its TRUE LITERAL MEANING.. in Tamil too

-- similar to Malayalam...

... as Weed-out / Root-out / Clear off totally... Only...

..and NOT AS WASH-OFF / CLEAN by eliminating Dirt...

...But only for COLLOQUAL Tamil... IN THIS CASE.
.

....

[Sanjeevi]

.




'உன் ஆணவத்தை களை' என்றால் 'உன் ஆணவத்தை விட்டு விடு' என்று அர்த்தமே தவிர 'உன் ஆணவத்தை தண்ணியில் போட்டு கழுவு' என்றல்ல :lol:

Very nice explanation :)

I did not say that the word KALHAI in Tamil--- means LITERALLY as Wash-Off ...


Nor as that Twisted meaning is applicable for any other case too.


But only highlighted.. how in Practical Usage ..

...rather by CURRUPT sense-- in this case... one Tamil-word is meant by Hosehold Tamil...

..just to mean ONLY for CLEANING (washing) THE RICE... Free of dirt.

.

OK Sudhaama no prob :)

I think many words in tamil (or in many language) has more than one meanings

[app_engine]

The "gendering" of the verb is used in languages like Thamizh / Hindi (while English / Malayalam don't do this).

e.g. In Thamizh அவன் சாப்பிட்டான், அவள் சாப்பிட்டாள், அது சாப்பிட்டது

In English - He / She / It "ate"
In Malayalam - അവന്* / അവള്* / അത് കഴിച്ചു (அவன் / அவள் / அது கழிச்சு)

In Hindi, though he / she / it are all same वह (vah), there are changes to the verb खाता था / खाती थी (khatha ta, khathi thi).

The fun parts are the differences between Thamizh & Hindi in applying gender to the verb where there is a subject & object.

First of all, in Thamizh, there is no gender for object, so the verb gets the gender of the subject consistently.

In Hindi, it "depends" :-)
1. If there's no object, it's the gender of the subject.
2. If there's object, then it's the gender of the object.
3. Also, all objects have gender :-( Here, the fun is similar to what we read about German.

[podalangai]

அ-ஆ-இ-ஈ படிக்கும் போதே ஒண்ணாம் வகுப்புப்புத்தகத்தில் "ஔ"க்கு "ஔவையார்" படம் தானுங்க போட்டிருப்பாங்க:-)
And generation after generation of Tamils learning to read their mother tongue have invariably read her name in that very picture as "oLavaiyar." :P That is another funny thing about Tamil - the use of o+L to write "au."


அய்யா - நாட்டுப்புறங்களில் அப்பாவின் அப்பாவை "அய்யாப்பன்" என்றும் அதையே சுருக்கமாக "அய்யா" என்றும் அழைப்பதுண்டு. என் கருத்துப்படி, இது வேறு - அது வேறு

Also, in some Tamil dialects, அய்யா is the normal word for father. I personally think ஐயா and அய்யா are the same word, and அய்யா is just a less literary spelling (and hence used for colloquial words). I remember reading a theory that proto-Dravidian did not have an "ஐ" or "ஔ", and that the letters were added under the influence of vadamozhi to represent the sounds also represented by "அய்" and "அவ்". Certainly, in Tamil the distinction between the "ஐ" and "அய்" or "ஔ" and "அவ்" isn't as sharp as in vadamozhi. When I have time, I'll look up transcriptions of kalvettus from the Sangam and early Pallava / Chola periods to see whether there's any pattern in their use of the letters.


The "gendering" of the verb is used in languages like Thamizh / Hindi (while English / Malayalam don't do this). e.g. In Thamizh அவன் சாப்பிட்டான், அவள் சாப்பிட்டாள், அது சாப்பிட்டது
In English - He / She / It "ate"
In Malayalam - അവന്* / അവള്* / അത് കഴിച്ചു (அவன் / அவள் / அது கழிச்சு)
Malayalam goes even further, doesn't it? It's not just gender. It's also "njan kazhichchu", "njangal kazhichchu", and so on. The verb doesn't change at all in the same tense.

[app_engine]

Just noticed the "கழிச்சு" thingy which has different meanings in Thamizh & MalayALam :-)

finish & minus are somewhat related but eat in Malayalam ? :-)

In Malayalam, it probably evolved out of the laziness to add the word 'food' every time.

Just for fun: word for excretion in Thamizh plus the word for eating in Malayalam will get a legitimate and non-offending sentence in Thamizh (e.g. - பசு சிறுநீர் கழித்தது)

:lol:

[podalangai]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்


கோயில் is the traditional spelling. In Sangatthamizh, கோயில் meant "royal palace" (கோ "king" + இல் "place, house" as in இல்லம்). In later Tamil, it came to be mean "temple". Many things associated with the king in Sangam poetry are associated with gods in later bhakti poetry (the reasons are complex), so this isn't unusual. The spelling "கோவில்" is much more recent, but it's used so much nowadays that it isn't really "wrong" anymore.

[app_engine]

"கோ = king" brought to my memory the colloquial rendering of கோவணம் in villages as கோமணம் (I'm still unsure which one is correct).

In any case, it was called as "King's marriage" by my periappA (who also once compared the "சுக்குமி-ளகுதி-ப்பிலி" to எங்'கோ மணம்' வீசுதே)

[Sudhaama]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்
யானை / ஆனை
கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை / அவ்வை

Bold pannirukarathu lam sari endru ninaikiraen. Mayyam theriyala :roll:

Thamizh la adikathathuku manichukavum. Eppdi adikirathunu kathukitu adutha muraiyil irunthu adikiraen :wink:

:lol:

I have only doubt about 1 and 2 :)

For others

கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை /அவ்வை



கயிறு / கயறு
பயறு / பயிறு
ஐயா / அய்யா
மையம் / மய்யம்
ஔவை /அவ்வை


யானை ... ஆனை ... Both are Correct.. LITERALLY also.

Example: யானையூர் --- திருவானைக்காவல்

கோயில் / கோவில்

One More Incredible usage.!... INTERESTING... Many people do not know and so spell the word wrongly

The Tamil word meaning DIAMOND --- வைரம் -- வயிரம் ... Which is Correct.?

--- வயிரம்

.
.

[rajraj]

கீழ்கண்டவற்றுள் எது சரி, எது தவறு?

கோவில் / கோயில்


கோயில் is the traditional spelling. In Sangatthamizh, கோயில் meant "royal palace" (கோ "king" + இல் "place, house" as in இல்லம்). In later Tamil, it came to be mean "temple". Many things associated with the king in Sangam poetry are associated with gods in later bhakti poetry (the reasons are complex), so this isn't unusual. The spelling "கோவில்" is much more recent, but it's used so much nowadays that it isn't really "wrong" anymore.

Madras University Tamil Lexicon says the samething. koyil for palace and temple, and kovil for temple ! Words change over time and get accepted as correct. If you read the history of English language you will see how words changed over time.

[app_engine]

There was a training session this evening and a Thamizh lady was presenting to an audience comprising of professionals from all ethnicities.

When a white lady asked a question, her answer brought a smile from the questioner (and a very controlled LONL from me). Why?

The reply included an unusual phrase "different-different":-)

The அடுக்குத்தொடர் or இரட்டைக்கிளவி is a funny thing in all languages and especially so with Indian ones.

I found one word funny in all 4 languages that I know, as it includes an இரட்டைக்கிளவி in each :

murmur = முறுமுறுப்பு = പിറുപിറുപ്പ്* =कुडकुडाए
(மர்மர்-முற்முற்=பிற்பிற்=குர்குர்) :-)

[app_engine]

[tscii:6983ae7ade]From a mail from an old co-worker titled "English can be a strange language" :

• We polish the Polish furniture.
• He would lead if he would get the lead out.
• A farm can produce produce.
• The dump was so full so it had to refuse refuse.
• The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
• The present is a good time to present the present.
• At the army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
• The Dove dove into the bushes.
• I did not object to the object.
• The insurance for the invalid was invalid.
• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
• They were too close to the door to close it.
• The buck does funny things when the does are present.
• They sent a sewer down to stich the tear in the sewer line.
• To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
• After a number of Novacaine injections, my jaw got number.
[/tscii:6983ae7ade]

[app_engine]

In the decimal numbering system, 0-10 should have different words. Also 100,1000 etc can have distinct words if expressing as multiples become wordy / too long.

However, many languages have chosen to give unique names for 11-19 and also for 20,30 etc. இருந்துட்டுப்போகட்டும். We need fun in lives, nA?

Thamizh has added the ஒன்பது (9, sounds like ten but one short of ten), தொண்ணூறு (90, explicitly has the word நூறு but represents a number that's ten short of hundred), தொள்ளாயிரம் (900, explicitly has the word ஆயிரம், but represents the number that's hundred short of thousand).

Ofcourse, this is additional fun in life (already discussed in another thread in detail by Sudhaamaji).

But none can beat Hindi in providing a lot of fun in naming the numbers. Let's see in another post :-)

[app_engine]

The terms for 20's in Hindi are total fun and keeps one guessing for each. (Actually it's the same story all the way till 100).

20 - bees
21 - ikkees (look there's neither Ek, the word for one nor bees, the word for twenty. Someone has added Ek+bees and arrived at ikkees...some addition)

22 - "bi"ees (by now we understand that there'll be no bees for any of the 20's but only "ees" as they've decided to swallow the "b" when combining. Well, good enough; but when you're expecting dhO (2) to be combined in some way, they get the "bi" prefix for two from nowhere, as used in "bi"lingual.

23 - thEyees (ok, they're great in swallowing, theen + bees becomes thEyees, no "n" sound or "b" sound)

24 - chou-bees (ஆஹா! Suddenly they want to have the b sound here! திடீர் ஞானோதயமோ? Ofcourse, chAr becomes chow-chow)

25 - pachchees (Well, back to eating of the n & b sounds)

26 - chabbees (back to bees now, here the combining is possibly the closest to their roots, chE + bees)

27 -saththAyees (makes you frustrate like" இப்பிடி சத்தாய்க்கறாங்களே" as they add another "Ayi" sound while eating away the b)

28 - attAyees (Ayi again)

29 - unthees ( Here they have some consistency at last, 19 was unnees, the number one less than 20 and since thirty will be called thees, the number one before that is un-thees)

I've seen people who learn Hindi as adults strugging to remember all of these and irritatingly switch to English equivalents :-( That is not fun, come on yAr, indhi mEin bOlO!

[Sudhaama]

.

No Confusion in Hindi Numbers..


There Exists a UNIFORM BASIS.. in Hindi... as Clue-Tips--


...To Easily adopt as the Yardstick.!... to remember...


--BETTER than Bengali and Marathi Numericals.!



Yes. It is more confusing in Bengali... where, as an Example--

... for 20 = KUDI... But for 21 it is Not IKKUDI... but IKKEES (Same as in Hindi)

It is easier in Hindi, if you remember the basis of advancement

Just remember the Stage Numericals by TENS...as below


10 = DHUS --

20 = BEES

30 = THEES ---

40 = CHAALEES ---

50 = PACHCHAAS ---

60 = SAAT----

70 = SATHAR---

80 = ASSI ----

90 = NABBAE ---

100 = SOW

================================================== =======


Then add the Supplementaries as below---


1=AEK becomes IK--- for further additions on 20,30,40 and so on

2=DHO becomes BYA / BA---

3=THEEN ---THRA / THRI----

4=CHAAR --- CHOW / CHA---

5=PAANCH -- VUN / PUN ---

6=CHAH---SAT--

7- SAATH--- ATHAR ---

8=AAT ---AASI---

9= NOW ----BAE

Thus for example...

1 Series - 11=IGARAH -- 21=IKEES --- 31=IKTHREES-- 41=IKTHAALEES---51=IKKAAVAN-- 61=IKSAT---71=IKATHAR---81=IKYAASI--- 91=IKKAANVAE

.

[PatchyBoy]

40 - chalees
41 - iktalees
42 - bya-alees
.....
50 - pachaas
51 - ikyavan
52 - bhaavan
53 - thripan
54 - chowpan
......

Sure, that is a simple enough pattern, except when learning, one would assume that 51 - ikachaas, 52 - byachaas.... :)

Rajan

[app_engine]

No Confusion in Hindi Numbers..

There Exists a UNIFORM BASIS.. in Hindi... as Clue-Tips

...To Easily adopt as the Yardstick.!... to remember...

90 = NABBAE ---

Then add the Supplementaries as below---

1=AEK becomes IK--- for further additions on 20,30,40 and so on



Ok, is 91 "ik-nabbE"? Or at least "ik-bE"?

It's "ik-yA-nu-vE" :lol:

One has to learn each of the terms for 1-99, in my opinion.

Like you said, sure there are some tricks to remember "some" groups but there are always exceptions.

[app_engine]

This 9 business has an exception too.

50 - pachchAs and 49 is un-chAs
60 - sAt and 59 is un-sAt
70 - saththar and 69 is un-haththar
80 - assi and 79 is un-assi

However, while 90 is nabbE 89 is NOT un-nabbE but it's navAsi :-) (named after the "assi" series that is 80's)

Keep counting the fun :-)

[Sudhaama]

.

And, One more FUNNY Feature... is...

...the Name of... 99.! in HINDI.!


Yes 99 is NOT..... "UN-SOW"..... similar to the cases of 19,29,39,49,59 and the like.


...But ... NINYAAN-BAE.!


.Indeed A FUNNY Exception.!... BASELESS too.!

. Yes It is a THUMB-RULE.!... to be BLINDLY FOLLOWED.!!!

.

[app_engine]

That's right, 89 & 99 have exception to the "9 rule" of un+ next number.

Even 39 is kind of different.

40 is "chAlees", so one would expect 39 to be called "un-chAlees" but it is NOT!. They've chosen to call it "un-thAlees".

For indhi, chA and thA - all the same, we'll call it whatever way we want - it seems.

They keep throwing in such variations at will, the whole of 40's are either the suffix -thAlees or suffix -Alees but never chAlees, the name for 40 :-)

Also, like PatchyBoy mentioned, they picked a name 'pachchAs' for 50 but ignored it for each of 51-59. They all have "yavan / van / pan" kind of suffices.
51 - ikyAvan
52 - baavan
53 - thirpan (hey, they got the english three here)
54 - chauvan
55 - pachpan (some prophesy, as this central gov retirement age also sounds similar to the hindi word for "childhood")
56 - chappan
57 - sathAvan
58 - attAvan
59 - unsat

[Sudhaama]

.


53 - thirpan (hey, they got the english three here)



53 - THRI-PAN.




55 - pachpan (some prophesy, as this central gov retirement age also sounds similar to the hindi word for "childhood")



55 = PACHPAN

Early CHILD-HOOD days of Life = BACHPAN

.. These Two different Words-- Differ by Spelling Letters... PA and BA.

.

[app_engine]

Nice link here on Hindi numbers, the quoted opinion exactly reflects what I've been thinking and making fun of :

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/hindi.html



The Hindi number system is basically decimal, but because of a lot of irregular pronunciation, you have to memorize 100 different words as if it were a centesimal system.

:lol:

[AudazJay]

[tscii:47ea731316]ONLY THE ENGLISH COULD HAVE INVENTED THIS

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England ..
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,
grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?
Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns
down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN
PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES AND THE GERMANS GERMS!!![/tscii:47ea731316]

[app_engine]

AudazJay
:rotfl:

Thanks for posting this poem!

[P_R]

My publicist urges me to post this link (http://dagalti.blogspot.com/2009/10/linguistic-suicide.html).

[app_engine]

P_R,
khud-kushi :-)

இப்டியெல்லாம் ஆரும் ஜீனியஸ் ஆயிடப்டாதுன்னு இந்திக்காரங்க தெளிவாருக்காங்க :-)

[app_engine]

One funny thing I've observed in Bengali speech (not sure whether it's a problem with the language or not) -

No 'V' or 'W' sound at all, they're all replaced with 'b':-)

My name has a வ but for Bengalis it's always 'ba' or 'bha' :-)

(Side note - the same character "வ" in Malayalam reads as 'kha')

[littlemaster1982]

App,

Sujatha had written about this in his novel JK. "Bengali-galai kandupidippadhu migavum sulabam. Volt endru solla sollungal, bolt enbaargal" :lol:

[app_engine]

LM,
:-) Isn't Sujatha a knowledge treasure house!

Similar things are there everywhere. Malayalees love to swallow "ch" in certain names. Ramachandran becomes "ராமேந்திரன்" and Balachandran becomes "பாலேந்திரன்" in speech (while written with ch-cha).

Interestingly, I've had colleagues who argued that their pronunciation of these names is the correct way :-)

[tvsankar]

LM,
:-) Isn't Sujatha a knowledge treasure house!

Similar things are there everywhere. Malayalees love to swallow "ch" in certain names. Ramachandran becomes "ராமேந்திரன்" and Balachandran becomes "பாலேந்திரன்" in speech (while written with ch-cha).

Interestingly, I've had colleagues who argued that their pronunciation of these names is the correct way :-)

some more points

aa - this sound is ended with iiiiiiii

usha - no -ushai

Radha - no - Radhai
ai turns into aa

[tvsankar]

big t sounded into small d

current - currendu

[app_engine]

Yes, Usha chEchi, they turn nedil into kuRil for all female names.

However, these are also written as such.

For example, we write your name as உஷா in Thamizh, but it's written only as ഉഷ (உஷ) in Malayalam. So, at least there's some justification - what is written is what is spoken:-) Anitha is അനിത (அனித) and Vanitha is വനിത (வனித).

With MGR (Ramachandran), it's different.

Interestingly, they don't dislike 'cha' all the time (as in the case of Bengalis and 'va'). For example, the name Chandran is always pronounced சந்திரன். (சந்திரேட்டன், lovingly). I don't know why they make him "Indhiran" when he comes after Rama / Bala etc :-) ஒரே தில்லுமுல்லு!

[tvsankar]

oh... appadiya...

apo wat about

Megalai

Anajalai

mellinam - l sounds like Vallinam - L

college - coLLege

colleague - coLLeague

[app_engine]

Talking about the characters used for alphabets in Malayalam, there's an extremely funny thing.

As in the case of Thamizh, MalayaLam has three "l" sounds. Let's compare the characters :

ல - la - ല
ள - La - ള
ழ - zha / ra - ഴ

Except for ழ, the other two have quite dissimlar constructions.

However, when they have the கூட்டெழுத்து, see what they are doing :

அல்ல - alla - അല്ല :o

எப்படியப்பா திடீர்னு தமிழ் 'ல' இங்க வந்துச்சு? (note- it's placed in the bottom of the combined "l-la")

[app_engine]

oh... appadiya...

apo wat about

mellinam - l sounds like Vallinam - L

college - coLLege

colleague - coLLeague

ல,ள ரெண்டுமே இடையினம் தானே :-)

There're always "localising" when people pronounce foreign languages, especially English - the "O", "La" etc are characteristics of Malayalees.

Thamizhs / Telugus have similar localizations to English too :-)

[app_engine]

One thing - if we pick on any group of people for mispronouncing foreign language names / words etc, English will get the worst-offender crown.

How they've named many of Indian places itself stands as a testimony to that.

In addition, their most revered name - Jesus - came from totally different sounding originals.
("yehOshuA" in Hebrew, English call it in most places as Joshua but picked a different one for Jesus. "Iesous" in Greek, here too, there's no J sound, so Indian languages pronounce his name much closer to originals).

Actually, every name in English that starts with "J" mostly does not have that sound in the original. (John is youhannA, for e.g.)

There's further confusion when the Spanish form of the same name is pronounced in English. It's written with a "J" but pronounced without a "J" :-)

yOsEph (Hebrew) - Joseph (English, pronounced with J) - Jose (Spanish, pronounced as "hosE", the famous silicon valley city San Jose is pronounced as "san hosE")

[P_R]

app_engine, for most of English quirks in spelling/pronunciation pluralization you can see it comes from the various etymological roots of those words.

For instance the few cases of pluralization with the suffix en (children, oxen etc.) (probably) trace their roots to German when -en is the usually suffix for pluralization (like our -கள்). (Sivan/podalai, pls correct me if I am wrong).

Try the book "Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson. Highly accessible book about the English language that examines the many oddities that make the language unique.

Regarding the Bengalis changing வ to ப, I understand the other way is also true when traveling south and Tamilizing Sanskrit words. podalai gave the example of சபை becoming அவை.


How they've named many of Indian places itself stands as a testimony to that. Ian Chappell saying the Chief Minister of புஞ்சாப், when the honorable gentleman smiles on pleasantly as his honorable state gets manhandled :lol2:


yOsEph (Hebrew) - Joseph (English, pronounced with J) - Jose (Spanish, pronounced as "hosE", the famous silicon valley city San Jose is pronounced as "san hosE") While visiting a South Indian restaurant in Edison, NJ we saw that the Tamil chef had managed to train many Hispanic cooks to prepare south Indian dishes. My cousin and I were discussing how the instruction may be given in the kitchen: ஹொசே...ஒரு தோசே ! :lol2:

[app_engine]

ஹொசே...ஒரு தோசே ! :lol2:
:lol:

ஆமா, தெலுங்கு தான் ரொம்ப ஃபன்னி'ன்னு 3 பேர் ஓட்டெல்லாம் போட்டிருக்காங்க, ஆனா ஏன்னு எழுதவே இல்லயே?

:roll:

[app_engine]

Regarding the Bengalis changing வ to ப, I understand the other way is also true when traveling south and Tamilizing Sanskrit words. podalai gave the example of சபை becoming அவை.


Agreed :-)

இருந்தாலும் அவுங்க வண்ணனை "பண்ணன்" ஆக்குற மாதிரி நாம செய்யலயே:-) "சபாபதி"யெல்லாம் நம்ம ஊர்ல "அவாவதி" ஆக்கல, இல்லீங்களா?

[app_engine]

One more word used in opposite (well, kind of) ways between Thamizh and Malayalam - அவதி.

In Thamizh it means either hurry or trouble.

In Malayalam it means லீவு (day off) :-)

[tvsankar]

wat about the kannada language...

nama tamil vaarthaigalil aramba ezhuthu -

kanada la - ha va maari irukumae..........

[app_engine]

wat about the kannada language...

nama tamil vaarthaigalil aramba ezhuthu -

kanada la - ha va maari irukumae..........

'pa' to 'ha' (as in paLLi to haLLi) was discussed in this thread in the first couple of pages :-)

[tvsankar]

oh......


paal (milk) - halu ??

[Sudhaama]

.


Kannada - Tamil... FUN-FEAST. !!!




oh......

paal (milk) - halu ??


Not only-- PAALU---but also---


பெண் / Penhnhu = ஹெண்ணு / HENHNHU = Woman

புண் / Punhnhu = ஹுண்ணு / HUNHNHU = Wound

பேன் / Paenu = ஹேனு / HAENU = Lice

பாம்பு / Paambu = ஹான்வு / HAANVU = Snake

பத்து / Paththu = ஹத்து / HATHTHU = Ten

பல்லி /Palli = ஹல்லி / HALLI = Lizard

பசி / Pasi = ஹசி / HASI = Hunger

பணம் / Panham = ஹண / HANHA = Money

பல் / Pallu = ஹல்லு / HALLU = Tooth

புளி / Pulhi = ஹுளி / Hulhi = Tamarind


...and So on... where PA in Tamil First Letter of a Word...

--becomes HA as the First letter of Kannada word...

... of SAME MEANING.!

.
.

[rajraj]

Most of the hubbers are too young to know how the British mutilated proper names. Here is a sample ( to the extent I remember the spelling! :) ) :

koLLidam--------------Coleroon

Thanjavur.................Tanjore

Nagappattinam.........Negapetam

Tharangampadi..........Tranqubar

Madurai......................Madura

Ramanathapuram.......Ramnad

Srirrangapatnam.........Seringipatam

Thuthukkudi................Tuticorin

Kanyakumari...............Cape Comorin

Thiruvananthapuram...Trivandrum

Thiruchirappalli.............Trichinopoly

ThiruallikkeNi................Triplicane

The list goes on............! :)

[app_engine]

Nice list, rajraj!

Some of the anglification of names of places in India are outright funny.

Kochi to Cochin:-) Where from that "n" came? What was the british guy thinking when he coined this name, some chin of some girl?

[Plum]

My favourite is Quilon for kollam. For some reason, I prefer Quilon - if i may say so, that sounds sexier :-)

[Sanjeevi]

British did change the names. OK.

But why Indians are still using these names even after freedom that too 60+ years gone. :banghead:. Not only this many systems here we are following were given by British East Indian company :lol2:

[app_engine]

why Indians are still using these names

அப்பத்தான நாம இப்படி த்ரெட் போட்டு சதாய்க்க முடியும்? :-)

[app_engine]

கொஞ்சம் பள்ளிக்கால நினைவுகள்...

தமிழய்யா என்றால் மரியாதை கலந்த பயம். மகா கோபக்காரர் - வகுப்பிலும், வீட்டிலும், வெளியிலும். என் தகப்பனார் கணக்கு ஆசான், எல்லோரும் அந்தச்சிற்றூரின் பள்ளி வளாகத்தில் குடியிருந்தமையால் ஒரு குடும்பம் போல - பல ஆண்டுகள் கழித்துக்காணும்போதும் (திருமணம், குழந்தையெல்லாம் ஆன பின்னரும்) ஐயாவிடம் மிக்க பணிவுடன் தான் பேசுவோம் :-)

அதாவது எச்சரிக்கையுடன் ஆங்கில, வடமொழிச்சொற்களைத்தவிர்த்து, ஐயா ஐயா என்று தான் பேசுவோம் - அப்படி ஒரு மரியாதை - 9, 10 வகுப்புகளில் இவரிடம் தான் நான் "கற்றது தமிழ்" :-)

ஆனால் "மேல்நிலை" அடைந்த போது "தமிழ் MA" வேண்டி இருந்ததால் வேறு ஆசிரியை - அந்த சமயம் விடலைப்பருவம் வேறு ("இங்லீஷ் வாத்தியாரும், தமிழ் டீச்சரும் ஒண்ணா சினிமாவுக்குப்போனாங்கடோய், தியேட்டரில் .....பாத்துட்டான்" ங்கற மாதிரி சூடான உரையாடல்கள்).

அப்படியாக கொஞ்சம் விமர்சக மனம் வளர்ந்ததால், ஒரு சின்ன மொழிச்சிக்கலில் மாட்டிக்கொண்டேன்... (தொடரும்)

[rajraj]

Time to rename the topic to:

"paLLik kaala kurumbugaL"

and to get ready for good laugh at app_engine ( assuming he tells it like it was) ! :lol:

[app_engine]

rajraj,

Actually it was not a 'kuRumbu' :-)

And, it may not be so entertaining - but relevant to the thread :-)

[tvsankar]

app,
seekiram sollunga........

unga post parthutu onum naan solla varalai..

ennoda oru malarum ninaivu...

about the kanada word - saaka bekaa

chinna vayasil solli kelvi pattu iruken.,.


, kalyana sapadu sapidum podhu,

saaka beka ku artham theiryamal

virundbu parimarubavar kaeta podhu, - saakula konjam,
bekula konjam ' enru solli sirthu kelvi pattu iruken...

Enga marriage ana pudhil, Bangalore il oru kalyanathuku
ponen....

kalyana sapadu sapidum podhu - kaetarae... saaka..... bekaa...

hhahahhahaha........... :lol:

joke - nijam agum pola irukae gara tention oda sankar kite kaetundu confirm panniden... saaka bekaa ku arthathai.....

[app_engine]

சாக்கு :-)

எனக்கு அதிக மொழிகளில் சொல்லத்தெரிந்த ஒரு சொல் - போதும், மதி, பஸ், சாலு, சாக்கு, இனஃப் :-)

"பேக்கு" சொல்லும்போது தான் கொஞ்சம் சிரிப்பு வரும் (தமிழில் உள்ள பேச்சுமொழி அர்த்தம் மனதில் வரும்)

[app_engine]

பள்ளிக்கதை தொடர்ச்சி...

10ஆவது வரை "இலக்கியமன்ற"க்கூட்டங்களில் பேசுவதெல்லாம் தமிழய்யா சொல்படி தான். மேனிலை வந்ததும் புதிய ஆசிரியை பொறுப்பு எடுத்துக்கொண்டார்கள், இப்படியாக ஒரு புதிய "விடுதலை" மனநிலையில் இருந்தபோது ஒரு மாதம் 10 மணித்துளி சொற்பொழிவு செய்ய நேர்ந்தது.


டாக்டர் (முனைவர்?) ரா.பி.சேதுப்பிள்ளையின் "இலக்கிய இன்பம்" புத்தகம் -ஏதோ ஒரு போட்டியில் பரிசாகக்கிடைத்தது- கையில் சிக்க, அதிலிருந்து குறிப்புகளைக்கடன் வாங்கி - ஆனால் மேற்கோள் போல இல்லாமல் -பேசித்தள்ளினேன்.


தமிழின் முக்கிய அம்சங்கள் "இலக்கியம் - இலக்கணம்" , ஆனால் இவை இரண்டுமே வடமொழிச்சொற்கள் என்று விளக்கியது தான் இங்கே வம்பாகிப்போனது :-)

லக்ஷ்யம் - இலட்சியம் அல்லது இலக்கியம் (இலட்சுமி / இலக்குமி, இலட்சுமணன் / இலக்குவணன் மாதிரி) - குறிக்கோள் தான் தனித்தமிழ்ச்சொல்.

லக்ஷணம் - இலட்சணம் அல்லது இலக்கணம் (அதே போல் தான் இதுவும்) - அழகு / ஒழுங்கு என்றெல்லாம் தமிழ்ப்படுத்தலாம்.

கைதட்டல்களில் திளைத்துவிட்டு இறங்கும்போது ஐயாவின் முகம் காண நேர்ந்தது. தனித்தமிழ் - வடமொழிக்கலப்பின்மையெல்லாம் நாள்தோறும் சொல்லிநடக்கும் அந்தக்கோபக்காரர் என்ன சொல்வாரோ என்ற உடனான பயத்தில் வேர்த்துப்போனேன்!

ஆசிரியர் அறைக்கு வர அழைப்பு வந்தது.

வசமாக மாட்டிக்கொண்டோமோ என்ற பயம், மதிப்புக்குரியவரைப்புண்படுத்தி விட்டோமோ என்ற குற்ற உணர்வு எல்லாம் சேரத்தயங்கித்தயங்கி - ஆனாலும் வேறு வழியில்லாமல் சென்றேன். அறிவுடன் ஒரு வேலை செய்தேன் - கையில் ரா.பி.சே'யின் நூலை எடுத்துக்கொண்டேன்:-)


ஒரு உறுமலுடன் 'என்ன, புதிய கண்டுபிடிப்பு இதெல்லாம்' என்றார். ஒரு மாதிரி மிடறு விழுங்கி "-ஐயா - இந்தப்புத்தகத்தில் படித்தது ஐயா" என்று நீட்டினேன். இமைப்பொழுதில் அவர் முகம் மாறியது கண்டு எனக்கு ஒரே வியப்பு! 'அவர் அப்படி எழுதி இருக்காரா, கொடு, படித்துப்பார்க்கிறேன்' என்று வாங்கிக்கொண்டார்.

நன்றி சொல்லிவிட்டு நிம்மதியாக வெளியேறினது மறக்க முடியாதது!

[app_engine]

அவன் - ஒருமை
அவர் - பன்மை

அப்படியானால், அவர்கள்?

இரட்டைப்பன்மையா?

அல்லது "அவர்" மரியாதைப்பன்மை, இந்தக்"கள்" மரியாதை இல்லாத பன்மையா? :-)

[joe]

[tscii:fa01c3df19]

அவர் - பன்மை

:shock: 'அவர்’ ஒருமை இல்லையா?[/tscii:fa01c3df19]

[P_R]

மரியாதையிலா பன்மை என்றால் : அவிஞ :lol2:

[app_engine]

சரி, ஜோ, இதைப்பாருங்க :

சிறுவன், சிறுவர், சிறுவர்கள் :-)

P_R :-)

[app_engine]

ஜோ,
அவர் / இவர் பன்மை :
http://www.tamilvu.org/testsite/html/justify.htm

நீங்க :shock: போட்டதும் எனக்கே ஒரு சின்ன ஐயம் :-)

[rajraj]

Be happy they did not give you the book by S.Vaiyapuri PiLLai as the prize ! :lol:





டாக்டர் (முனைவர்?) ரா.பி.சேதுப்பிள்ளையின் "இலக்கிய இன்பம்" புத்தகம் -ஏதோ ஒரு போட்டியில் பரிசாகக்கிடைத்தது- கையில் சிக்க, அதிலிருந்து குறிப்புகளைக்கடன் வாங்கி - ஆனால் மேற்கோள் போல இல்லாமல் -பேசித்தள்ளினேன்.

அறிவுடன் ஒரு வேலை செய்தேன் - கையில் ரா.பி.சே'யின் நூலை எடுத்துக்கொண்டேன்:-)

[Sanjeevi]

British did change the names. OK.

But why Indians are still using these names even after freedom that too 60+ years gone. :banghead:. Not only this many systems here we are following were given by British East Indian company :lol2:


இந்தியா சுதந்திரமடைந்து 60 ஆண்டுகளைக் கடந்தும் நாம் ஏன் இன்னும் காட்டுமிராண்டித்தனமான வெள்ளையர் காலத்துப் பழக்க வழக்கங்களை பிடித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறோம் என்று புரியவில்லை

[joe]

[tscii:c068e126cd]

டாக்டர் (முனைவர்?) ரா.பி.சேதுப்பிள்ளையின் "இலக்கிய இன்பம்" புத்தகம் -ஏதோ ஒரு போட்டியில் பரிசாகக்கிடைத்தது

அது ‘இலக்கிய இன்பம்’-ஆ? ‘தமிழின்பம்’ -ஆ?
http://www.viruba.com/final.aspx?id=VB0001885

'தமிழின்பம்’ என்றால் :shock: .அப்போதெல்லாம் பள்ளி போட்டிகளுக்கு பரிசு கொடுப்பதென்றால் இதே புத்தகத்தை தான் கொடுப்பார்களோ?

பள்ளியில் மாவட்ட அளவில் நடந்த கட்டுரை போடியில் முதல் பரிசு பெற்ற எனக்கு கொடுக்கப்பட்டதும் இதே புத்தகம் தான் :o :lol: [/tscii:c068e126cd]

[Punnaimaran]

ஜோ,
அப்போதெல்லாம் பள்ளிகளீல் பாரதியார் கவிதைகள், இரா. பி. சே யின் 'தமிழின்பம்' போன்ற புத்தகங்களைத் தான் கொடுத்தார்கள். திரும்பத் திரும்ப அதே புத்தகங்களை நான் பரிசாக வாங்கியதுண்டு. ஒன்பதாவது படிக்கும் போது மட்டும் எனக்கு வலம்புரி ஜானின் 'கண்ணீர் பூக்கள்' என்ற புதுக்கவிதைத் தொகுப்பை கொடுத்தார்கள். விவேகானந்தா கேந்திரம் நடத்தும் பேச்சுப் போட்டிகளில் மட்டும் விவேகானந்தர், பரமஹம்சர், சாரதாதேவி போன்றவர்களின் புத்தகங்களைக் கொடுப்பார்கள்.

[app_engine]

இலக்கிய இன்பம் தான் ஜோ, அதனால் தான் அவர் விலாவாரியாக தலைப்புக்கு விளக்கம் எழுதி இருந்தார் (லக்ஷ்யம்:-) )

இப்படியாக இவர் பல "இன்பங்களில்" துய்த்திருப்பது தெரிகிறது :-)

BTW, எனக்கு முதல்முதலாக (தொடக்கப்பள்ளிக்காலத்தில்) கிடைத்த பரிசு "மைதிலி" என்ற கதைப்புத்தகம். அதனாலோ என்னமோ எனக்கு "மய்" மீது மோகமில்லை :-)

[app_engine]

rajraj,

எனக்கு வையாபுரிப்பிள்ளை பற்றித்தெரியாது :-(

கொஞ்சம் விளக்கம் ப்ளீஸ் :-)

[rajraj]

rajraj,

எனக்கு வையாபுரிப்பிள்ளை பற்றித்தெரியாது :-(

கொஞ்சம் விளக்கம் ப்ளீஸ் :-)

He was a great Tamil scholar and was the editor of a Tamil Lexicon published in the 1930s.
He created controversies about the dating of Tamil literature and the relationship between Tamil and Sanskrit.

Saying anything more will 'open a can of worms' ! :lol:

You want this to be a fun thread! :)

[Sarna]

பாம்பு / Paambu = ஹான்வு / HAANVU = Snake........... ஹாவு / haavu dhaana :roll:



btw, wts funny here ?

[skanthan]

May I say something? I hope no one minds.

I have watched alot of Hindi TV and have noticed that alot of terms and I mean alot are used for, say, aunty.

In one serial, I would hear bua, in another one, bui, and in yet another one, maasee etc.

Aside from these I also heard maami, chaachi, kaaki, fua, fufee, baari maa etc

Hearing all these, I would wonder which is the correct Hindi for aunty and uncle.

[P_R]

skanthan,

Unlike English, in Hindi (as in Tamil too) each 'type' of aunt/uncle has a different name.

chaacha - chiththappa (Father's younger brother). His wife is chachi

kAkA - periapppA (Father's older brother). His wife is kAki. In some families tayaji/tayee is used

Father's sister is bua or fufee (her husband will be fufaji)
Mother's sister is mAusi
Mother's brother is mAmA and his wife mAmi

[Plum]

When I was around 5 years, went with my uncle to Delhi and found some Delhi based cousins(we only indhi-yA gumbal :evil:) calling him kAkA. avar vEra karuppA iruppArA, romba nAL adhukkAga dhAn apdi kooppidurAngannu nenaichukittirundhEn!

BTW, what is mother's sister's husband in hindi?

[P_R]

BTW, what is mother's sister's husband in hindi? Mausaji

If I am not wrong, the symmetry of chiththappA/periyappA in maternal/paternal side in Tamil is not there in Hindi. Our relationship names are dictated by the "marriageability" which I don't think is the case up North.

[skanthan]

BTW, what is mother's sister's husband in hindi? Mausaji

If I am not wrong, the symmetry of chiththappA/periyappA in maternal/paternal side in Tamil is not there in Hindi. Our relationship names are dictated by the "marriageability" which I don't think is the case up North.

Among Hindi speakers from Fiji, kaakaa and kaaki are used to refer to ones paternal aunt and uncle and fufaa and fuaa refer to ones maternal aunt and uncle.

Similarly, ajja(daadaa) and ajji(daadi) are used to refer to ones paternel grandparents and naanaa amd naani refer to ones maternal grandparents.

The only time I heard daadaa used by Fiji Indian people was in reference to Lord Hanuman. ie: Hanuman Daadaa

[P_R]

To make matters more confusing in some households Dada can be the word how a father or elder brother is called !

[Plum]

yEttan in Malayalam = spouse or elder brother? orE conpees pandrAngappA!

[P_R]

yEttan in Malayalam = spouse or elder brother? orE conpees pandrAngappA!

:exactly:

Unless proved otherwise I have taken this to be something like Tamil brahmin wives calling their husbands ஏண்ணா in the late 1800s and on screen till date.

btw Crazy Mohan makes the most out of this in meesai aanaaLum manaivi: என்ன சொல்றார்...தங்கையோட அண்ணா :rotfl:

[Bala (Karthik)]

Isn't it 'chEttan', which when added after a name, gets its 'ch' replaced by 'y' or 'e'?

Lal chettan becomes Lalettan, etc...

Though it refers to brother, its also used to address a woman's husband. Perhaps this is why Brahmin women (esp palakkad) address their husbands as 'idho parungONNA'(?)

P.S: Not sure about this though :oops:

[Plum]

yeah, that seems to be the general scheme. Bala is right it is chettan standalone and becomes yettan only in combination when used in sahodara context.

app_engine innikku night vandhu theLivu solvAr

[equanimus]

As I understand, 'EttA' is a suffix used to affectionately address any (elder?) male. Not necessarily an elder brother or one's husband. It's used even with, say, one's grandfather.

[skanthan]

I have heard ye(zh)ththan to mean brother and ye(zh)ththi to mean sister in Malayalam. Also I hear achchan used in Malayalam for father.

In one Fiji Indian family I know here in Edmonton, I hear the children call their father achchan, alsthough he is Tamil. This gave me the assumption that he is part Malayalam, thus his children refer to him as achchan.

Fiji people are very interesting in that though many of them, being of South Indian descent, do not know much of the South Indian languages, but still have maintained the terms for various family members.

ie:

Tamil: Amma and Appa(Achchan???), Maamaa and Maami. Annaa and Akkaa
Telugu: Avva and Thaathaa

Although Hindi is commonly spoken by Indians from Fiji, those Indian with origins in South India have retained many of the South Indian words.

[equanimus]

Unless proved otherwise I have taken this to be something like Tamil brahmin wives calling their husbands ஏண்ணா in the late 1800s and on screen till date.
I guess you already know this, but still it's "ஏன்னா" (not "ஏண்ணா"), which means the wife is asking the husband to listen to her. It's similar to "EnandharE" (Kannada), "sunO" (Hindi), or "இஞ்சாருங்கோ" (I might be a bit wrong with the spelling). The last one, I assume, comes from "இங்க பாருங்கோ."

[equanimus]

Though it refers to brother, its also used to address a woman's husband. Perhaps this is why Brahmin women (esp palakkad) address their husbands as 'idho parungONNA'(?)
I don't think there's any connection. And it's "பாருங்கோன்னா," which is a questioning expression to ask the husband to listen to her.

[app_engine]

Plum,
You probably recall that I tried to call SP as 'akkA' and failed (and had to replace with ammA :-) )

In TN villages, it's not unusual to see people calling much younger women (why sometimes even girls) as ammA / yammA - obviously that doesn't mean "mother" but an affectionate addition. In my dad's village, almost all young girls used to have the suffix 'pAppA' which will be carried even after that 'pAppA' had four of her own pAppAs.

Much the same way, chEchi - while the literal meaning is akkA, could be used to call any married lady, with respect.

Ettan, while the truncated form for chEttan -literal meaning elder brother - is freely used by women to call their husbands or for that matter anyone to call any male in the family / circles. (mugundhEttA, sumithra viLikkunnu & ennennum kaNNEttande - BTW, are cool movies).

skanthan, achchan is the official Malayalam word for father :-) Interestingly, the Keralite Christians often use a word called 'achchAyan' also, primarily for father. However, it often becomes a suffix to names and everyone (including their wives) call with that suffix:-) Joe-achchAyan, Varghese-achchAyan, Chacko-chchAyan are seen almost everywhere in Trichur / ErnakuLam / Kottayam)

[app_engine]

I'm also reminded of the 'aNNAchchi' usage in Nellai area, somewhat similar to 'Ettan'.

[P_R]

I guess you already know this, but still it's "ஏன்னா" (not "ஏண்ணா"), which means the wife is asking the husband to listen to her. It's similar to "EnandharE" (Kannada), "sunO" (Hindi), or "இஞ்சாருங்கோ" (I might be a bit wrong with the spelling). The last one, I assume, comes from "இங்க பாருங்கோ." Oh okay. Actually I didn't know :oops: Curiosly I have only heard the exaggerated on-screen accents with a clear ண !

btw...in some households in Karnataka wives, much to consternation of feminists, refer to husbands as ejamaanar !

[skanthan]

Plum,
You probably recall that I tried to call SP as 'akkA' and failed (and had to replace with ammA :-) )

In TN villages, it's not unusual to see people calling much younger women (why sometimes even girls) as ammA / yammA - obviously that doesn't mean "mother" but an affectionate addition. In my dad's village, almost all young girls used to have the suffix 'pAppA' which will be carried even after that 'pAppA' had four of her own pAppAs.

Much the same way, chEchi - while the literal meaning is akkA, could be used to call any married lady, with respect.

Ettan, while the truncated form for chEttan -literal meaning elder brother - is freely used by women to call their husbands or for that matter anyone to call any male in the family / circles. (mugundhEttA, sumithra viLikkunnu & ennennum kaNNEttande - BTW, are cool movies).

skanthan, achchan is the official Malayalam word for father :-) Interestingly, the Keralite Christians often use a word called 'achchAyan' also, primarily for father. However, it often becomes a suffix to names and everyone (including their wives) call with that suffix:-) Joe-achchAyan, Varghese-achchAyan, Chacko-chchAyan are seen almost everywhere in Trichur / ErnakuLam / Kottayam)

That is rather interesting. I wonder why achchaayan is used by Kerala Christians rather than the official achchan?

[skanthan]

Plum,
You probably recall that I tried to call SP as 'akkA' and failed (and had to replace with ammA :-) )

:lol2: :lol2:

[app_engine]

skanthan,

achchan is also used, achchAyan is a slang :-)

[app_engine]

I was listening to the 'katta vaNdi' song and got reminded of P_R's post on khud-kushi.

This song has a word "உக்கி" whose written language equivalent is "தோப்புக்கரணம்" :-) A word that denotes something that has absolutely nothing to do with either "தோப்பு" (grove) or "கரணம்" (rollover) :-)

I wonder whether "உக்கி" is also an original Thamizh word or an import like "சாவி" (a Portughese word I believe, means "திறவுகோல்" மலையாளத்தில் "தாக்கோல்" and hindi mein "chAbi").

BTW, what's the English word for this action?

[app_engine]

Like the way MalayALees (and some Thamizhs) pride about ல, ள, ழ and make fun of those who can't pronounce with the difference, the westerners seem to make fun of us often interchanging the sounds for v & w (BTW, my 4 year old cannot understand why "double V" should be called "double U").

Especially when they see us pronouncing Thamizh words with "w" but transliterate in English using the letter "v" (வண்ணம் as vannam and not wannam, for e.g.).

Having asked three times the same question by three different people on one occasion - so irritated - I asked the third person, why you write w-o-m-e-n but say vimun (விமன்)!

[Sanjeevi]

BTW, my 4 year old cannot understand why "double V" should be called "double U"

:lol:

[skanthan]

skanthan,

achchan is also used, achchAyan is a slang :-)

Very interesting! :)

[skanthan]

I was listening to the 'katta vaNdi' song and got reminded of P_R's post on khud-kushi.

This song has a word "உக்கி" whose written language equivalent is "தோப்புக்கரணம்" :-) A word that denotes something that has absolutely nothing to do with either "தோப்பு" (grove) or "கரணம்" (rollover) :-)

I wonder whether "உக்கி" is also an original Thamizh word or an import like "சாவி" (a Portughese word I believe, means "திறவுகோல்" மலையாளத்தில் "தாக்கோல்" and hindi mein "chAbi").

BTW, what's the English word for this action?

I too wonder where that word ukki comes forom.

[app_engine]

I too wonder where that word ukki comes forom.

முக்கி, முக்கிப்போடுறதனால 'உக்கி'ன்னு சொல்லுறாங்களோ?
:think:

[skanthan]

I too wonder where that word ukki comes forom.

முக்கி, முக்கிப்போடுறதனால 'உக்கி'ன்னு சொல்லுறாங்களோ?
:think:

:lol: :lol:

[app_engine]

மக்களே,
கூகிளில் தேடிக்கிடைத்தபடி, டபிள்யு-வுக்கு "பிறப்பு ரகசியம், வரலாறு, பெயர்க்காரணம்" எல்லாம் உள்ளன :-)

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutenglish/doubleu

[rajraj]

Here is more on W:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W

If you want to have some fun with English pick up a book on the history of the English language and see how they spelled 500 years back or earlier! :)

[skanthan]

Here is more on W:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W

If you want to have some fun with English pick up a book on the history of the English language and see how they spelled 500 years back or earlier! :)

Very Interesting. I liked it.

I remember 20 years ago seeing traliterated Arabic, Persian and other language words with q followed by a vowel other that u and being a little freaked out by it. For example: Qassim, faqir. qoph etc I do not understand why it freaked me out, but it did. I guess it was because I was always used to seeing q followed by u plus another vowel for exaple in words like, quiet, equilibrium, quack, esquire etc.

[app_engine]

Like Hindi forcing one to learn from 1-100, Thamizh has a peculiarity by way of its characters for the உ, ஊ sound, where one has to learn almost 36 new characters.

Malayalam too was like that in the "old script" but they introduced standardisation for this in the new script :-) Look at how complicated are the combo's in Thamizh for the 18 consonants (apart from the vadamozhi letters, from a new learner's PoV) :

வல்லினம்
க் - கு, கூ
ச் - சு, சூ
ட் - டு, டூ
த் - து, தூ
ப் - பு, பூ
ற் - று, றூ

மெல்லினம்
ங் - ஙு, ஙூ
ஞ் - ஞு, ஞூ
ந் - நு, நூ
ண் - ணு, ணூ
ம் - மு, மூ
ன் - னு , னூ

இடையினம்
ய் - யு, யூ
ர் - ரு, ரூ
ல் - லு, லூ
வ் - வு, வூ
ழ் - ழு, ழூ
ள் - ளு, ளூ

When they made the எழுத்து சீர்திருத்தம் they simply changed a few ணை, ளை, லை, னோ, னை and got satisfied with it (and got into discussions about ஔ, அவ், ஐ,அய் ) but nothing was done about the biggest culprit - உ, ஊ :-)

That's all the commitment for சீர்திருத்தம் !

[app_engine]

Just for the sake of comparison, see below the new Malayalam script for ku & koo, depicting the addition of two different hooks for the kuRil and nedil :

കു കൂ

[Sarna]

Like Hindi forcing one to learn from 1-100, Thamizh has a peculiarity by way of its characters for the உ, ஊ sound, where one has to learn almost 36 new characters.

Malayalam too was like that in the "old script" but they introduced standardisation for this in the new script :-) Look at how complicated are the combo's in Thamizh for the 18 consonants (apart from the vadamozhi letters, from a new learner's PoV) :

வல்லினம்
க் - கு, கூ
ச் - சு, சூ
ட் - டு, டூ
த் - து, தூ
ப் - பு, பூ
ற் - று, றூ

மெல்லினம்
ங் - ஙு, ஙூ
ஞ் - ஞு, ஞூ
ந் - நு, நூ
ண் - ணு, ணூ
ம் - மு, மூ
ன் - னு , னூ

இடையினம்
ய் - யு, யூ
ர் - ரு, ரூ
ல் - லு, லூ
வ் - வு, வூ
ழ் - ழு, ழூ
ள் - ளு, ளூ

When they made the எழுத்து சீர்திருத்தம் they simply changed a few ணை, ளை, லை, னோ, னை and got satisfied with it (and got into discussions about ஔ, அவ், ஐ,அய் ) but nothing was done about the biggest culprit - உ, ஊ :-)

That's all the commitment for சீர்திருத்தம் !

then below funny illayaa ?

க --- ka, ga

ச.... sa, cha

ட .... ta, da

ப ... pa, ba

த ... tha, dha

கணேஷ் - Ganesh
கண்ணன் - Kannan

wn I started learning tamil at the age of 12, i was like " என்னக் கொடும ஸரவணன் இது "
at that I used to be confused like whether my name to be written as ஸரவணா(saravana) or சரவணா(charavana)..... adhu oru kaalam

கனகா - kanaka or kanaga :lol:

[app_engine]

Yes, Sarna, that's one funny part about Thamizh and MalayaLam and we've discussed it in earlier pages :-)

[app_engine]

If only Thamizh gets rid of the extra 'na's , 'la's and 'Ra', thus making consonants to only 13 and remove ai / av to make vowels only 10 (total only 23 letters then) and standardize the u sounds with some hooks, it will give English a run for its money in simplicity :-)

Ofcourse, by my theory, English also can get rid of a number of "waste" alphabets (what is the need for F when you have Ph for example . And as Q cannot live without U, throw it away replacing with Ku. WXYZ - all are waste as other letters can be used to closely mimick the sounds or simply replace and change the word itself as there are only few using the exclusive sound- even now north indians will call it Joo and south indians call it Soo. So, Z is a waste) :-)

[Sarna]

கனகா - kanaka or kanaga or ganaka or ganaga :lol: :rotfl: :rotfl3:

[Sarna]

Yes, Sarna, that's one funny part about Thamizh and MalayaLam and we've discussed it in earlier pages :-)

for me தமிழ்(tamizh){see this ழ itself is funny.... evarya equivalant "zha" kandupidichchadhu :lol: } is most funniest language :)

ofcourse, idha "unique"nu solli samaalikkalaam :)

[app_engine]

கனகா - kanaka or kanaga or ganaka or ganaga :lol: :rotfl: :rotfl3:

considering that ஹ is not a "original" Thamizh alphabet, you can also read it as hanaha.

Interestingly, if we don't use the vadamozhi alphabets (ஹ, ஜ, ஷ, ஸ), writing and reading names in Thamizh will be total fun :-)

காரிசு செயராசு :lol:

[Sarna]

oru kaalaththula padichcha gnaabagam :roll: to write ராஜா(raajaa), one should prefix "இ" and write இராஜா(iraajaa) and to write லங்கை(langai), one should prefix "இ" and write இலங்கை(ilangai) :lol:

[Sarna]

காரிசு செயராசு :lol:

:lol:

and i dunno why they are adding "க்" :x

iskool padikkumbOdhu, vaaththiyaar illaadhabodhu kilaas room'la pesuna class leader board'la per ezhudhuradhu vazhakkam ..... guys used to write my name as சரவ ணக்குமா ர் :evil: ..... y that i"க்"annaa ?

wts wrong if it is சரவண குமார்..... then people will read like saravana gumaar :oops:

[Sarna]

one more name is கௌரி .... kelari...gelari...gowri

during my 7th class, i was standing outside the classroom for a full week, since I read it as kelari and i argued with tamil vaathiyaar as it should be pronounced as kelari and gowri should be written as கவ்ரி :banghead: :lol:

[app_engine]

oru kaalaththula padichcha gnaabagam :roll: to write ராஜா(raajaa), one should prefix "இ" and write இராஜா(iraajaa) and to write லங்கை(langai), one should prefix "இ" and write இலங்கை(ilangai) :lol:

சில உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துகள் சொல்லின் தொடக்கஎழுத்தாவதற்குத்தடை இருக்கிறது. தூய தமிழில் அவற்றில் தொடங்கும் சொற்கள் இருக்க மாட்டா. வேற்றுமொழிச்சொற்கள் வரும்போது இ, உ எல்லாம் முன்னால் போட வேண்டி வரும்.

இராமன், இலக்குவணன், இலக்குமி, இராவணன் எல்லாமே இறக்குமதி தான் :-)

[Sanjeevi]

oru kaalaththula padichcha gnaabagam :roll: to write ராஜா(raajaa), one should prefix "இ" and write இராஜா(iraajaa) and to write லங்கை(langai), one should prefix "இ" and write இலங்கை(ilangai) :lol:

சில உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துகள் சொல்லின் தொடக்கஎழுத்தாவதற்குத்தடை இருக்கிறது. தூய தமிழில் அவற்றில் தொடங்கும் சொற்கள் இருக்க மாட்டா. வேற்றுமொழிச்சொற்கள் வரும்போது இ, உ எல்லாம் முன்னால் போட வேண்டி வரும்.

இராமன், இலக்குவணன், இலக்குமி, இராவணன் எல்லாமே இறக்குமதி தான் :-)

We should have been followed this (tamil grammer) but instead, we mingled other languages in tamil. Please listen what tamil people who don't know other than tamil pronounce the words ரஜினி, மெட்ராஸ், விஜய காந்த். They will tell ரசினி, மெட்ராசு, விசய காந்து. If you refer, tamil grammer as per தொல்காப்பியம் or நன்னூல், you will realize what they translated are 100% correct. The interesting thing is they dont know even about the name நன்னூல் or tamil grammer. That is tamil :thumbsup:. Gene matter or tamil is very related to nature?

Even some village people will say

ராலி instead of லாரி
ரைட்டு instead of லைட்

that is more funny

And finally... even I struggle some time to pronounce some sounds which is very far remote to tamil diction :? :cry:

[skanthan]

If only Thamizh gets rid of the extra 'na's , 'la's and 'Ra', thus making consonants to only 13 and remove ai / av to make vowels only 10 (total only 23 letters then) and standardize the u sounds with some hooks, it will give English a run for its money in simplicity :-)

Ofcourse, by my theory, English also can get rid of a number of "waste" alphabets (what is the need for F when you have Ph for example . And as Q cannot live without U, throw it away replacing with Ku. WXYZ - all are waste as other letters can be used to closely mimick the sounds or simply replace and change the word itself as there are only few using the exclusive sound- even now north indians will call it Joo and south indians call it Soo. So, Z is a waste) :-)

app_engine,

I always wondered when they standardized the Tamil script, they did not adopt common u and uu varisais for all the consonants ie: the ones used with vadamozhi letters.

ie: when we represent the sounds, Naa, Raa and n_aa we write the following respectively.

ணா, றா,

or this for Nai, lai and Lai

ணை லை ளை

but when we erite ku, ngu, chu... and kuu, nguu, chuu... they come as folloews.

உ வரிசை:
---------------
கு ஙு சு ஞு டு ணு து நு பு மு
யு ரு லு வு ழு ளு று னு
ஜு ஷு ஸு ஹு க்ஷு

ஊ வரிசை:
----------------
கூ ஙூ சூ ஞூ டூ ணூ தூ நூ பூ மூ
யூ ரூ லூ வூ ழூ ளூ றூ னூ
ஜூ ஷூ ஸூ ஹூ க்ஷூ

Why could not we adopt the u and uu varisais attached to the vadamozhi letters for writing ku, ngu, chu etc and kuu, nguu and chuu etc respectively?

As for z in the English alphabet and ஐ, ஔ, ர, ல, ழ, ள, ற, ன in Tamil alphabets respectively, these are a parts of their respective alphabets and I feel that they are needed.

Although, I think originally the ள in ஔ was wriiten at half its size or the loop was higher or attached to the ஒ. But, for some reason it achieved its present shape in modern print.

Personally, I handwrite the ஔ as ஓள for the sake of simmetry esp. when writing down the Tamil alphabet and due to the fact it follows ஓ. :)

[skanthan]

The person who opened this poll should of put a not sure option as well as every language/alphabet has it own peculiarities and humorous aspects, due to which somethimes people are not quite sure about it.

[app_engine]

skanthan,

Your suggestion of using the hooks as used for the vadamozhi ezhuththukkaL seems to be a nice one :-)

BTW, did you read my post on the u-U in prior pages? I've also shown there how Malayalam has standardized already for u-U :-)

[app_engine]

The person who opened this poll

It was me who opened this thread / poll, but cannot edit the poll anymore (for whatever reason). Only the moderator can do something about it.

BTW, there are at least three who voted Telungu the funniest, but there was never any posting on that language at all - as to its funny aspects :-)

[rajraj]

கனகா - kanaka or kanaga or ganaka or ganaga :lol: :rotfl: :rotfl3:

considering that ஹ is not a "original" Thamizh alphabet, you can also read it as hanaha.


kanaka in Sanskrit means gold ! Tamil borrowed the word 'kanaka' ! :)

[skanthan]

skanthan,

Your suggestion of using the hooks as used for the vadamozhi ezhuththukkaL seems to be a nice one :-)

BTW, did you read my post on the u-U in prior pages? I've also shown there how Malayalam has standardized already for u-U :-)

Yes I have seen that post. That is why I suggested that the hooks be used.

[app_engine]

I suggested that the hooks be used.

Why don't you send this suggestion to the "chemmozhi mAnAttu committee" or TN CM? (I mean this seriously and not as a fun thing. In any case, if a foreigner says something, there's a lot of weightage too).

[skanthan]

I suggested that the hooks be used.

Why don't you send this suggestion to the "chemmozhi mAnAttu committee" or TN CM? (I mean this seriously and not as a fun thing. In any case, if a foreigner says something, there's a lot of weightage too).

What is his address?

[rajraj]

skanthan: A number of suggestions about the script used for Tamil have been made without any effect ! :)
If Prof Hart of UC,Berkeley says it might carry some weight! :)

[skanthan]

skanthan: A number of suggestions about the script used for Tamil have been made without any effect ! :)
If Prof Hart of UC,Berkeley says it might carry some weight! :)

That is true. I think that in the end, even if these changes were accepted for use in media. ie: newspapers, magazines etc. people like us will prefer to write in the traditional way with the present graphs for ku, kuu, etc and keep the hooks for use only with the vadamozhi letters. as well as the traditional graphs for sounds such as Naa, Nai, No, NO, lai etc.

And I feel that the tradidional way of writing in Tamil which is also used for handritten Tamil looks quite attractive to look at. I have some books that use the tradtional fonts for Tamil scripts with the Naa, Nai etc all in there and I enjoy reading these alot more than the more recent books that use the changed letters for Naa, Nai etc.

When I made that suggestion about the hooks, I made it because after looking at more recent publications in Tamil script with these changed letters, I found it rather unusual that they would change the letters for Naa, Nai, No, No, lai etc, but leave the letter for ku, ngu, chu etc and koo, ngoo, choo etc unchanged.

Then at the end of the day, I would think about these and think it was really a wasted effort changing one set of letters (Naa, Nai, No, NO, lai, Lai, Raa, Ro, RO, n_aa, n_ai, n_o, n_O) but leaving another group (ku, ngu, chu, gnu, tu, Nu, thu, nu, pu, mu, yu, ru, lu, vu, zhu, Lu, Ru, n_u and koo, ngoo, choo, gnoo, too, Noo, thoo, noo, poo, moo, yoo, roo, loo, voo, zhoo, Loo, Roo, n_oo) unchanged. Also, I find that they really should of either stuck with the traditional way that was in use in Tamil media up until these changes were made or if they were going to change the above mentioned letters which were changed, they should have also adopted the hooks for representing u, oo sounds.

[Sarna]

கனகா - kanaka or kanaga or ganaka or ganaga :lol: :rotfl: :rotfl3:

considering that ஹ is not a "original" Thamizh alphabet, you can also read it as hanaha.


kanaka in Sanskrit means gold ! Tamil borrowed the word 'kanaka' ! :)

thanks for the information :)

I know about "kanakambara(m) flower" ..... i thought the name kanaka( in tamil pronounced as kanaga) is from kanakambara(m) :?

[app_engine]

What is his address?

skanthan,

This is the official website of the conference, it has some addresses (including e-mails etc) :
http://www.ulakathamizhchemmozhi.org/

Also, it seems they accept articles for the conf till April 15th. I suggest you put together an article on this subject, with your suggestion / advantages etc for the conference.

Who knows, someone might take notice and contact you :-)

[app_engine]

ஆங்கிலத்தில் ஒரு அநியாயம்

Robot = ரோபோ
Robotics = ரொபாட்டிக்ஸ்

ஏன், பேசாம ரோபோயிக்ஸ்னு சொல்ல வேண்டியது தானே? இத்தனைக்கும் இது ஒன்னும் 16-ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு மண்ணாங்கட்டி அல்ல, வந்து சில பத்தாண்டுகளே ஆன ஒரு இனம் :-(

[rajraj]

:)

No! The word robot comes from the Czech word 'robata'. The first use was in 1921. It is pronounced with the t at the end(as far as I know). Only in India it seems to be robo ! :)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot

[app_engine]

Thank you rajraj!

I would love to call it ரொபாட்! The Indian pronunciation is no good!

This brings another interesting facet of same word pronounced two (or more) ways in different geographic regions.

Schedule - ஷெட்யூல் in India / ஸ்கெட்யூல் in USA
Director - டைரக்டர் in TN / டிரெக்டர் in USA

Confusion everywhere :-) Even a city name like Detroit is pronounced everywhere as
டெட்ராய்ட் including the GPS but those living in that city call it டீட்ராய்ட் :-)

[app_engine]

Got reminded of the Madras boy who joined our village school for +2 (in hostel). He got shocked to see that we pattikkAttAns were calling பல்லி as "palli". According to him that was funny as it should only be called "balli" :-)

We were initially confused but he made fun of us. Waiting for a chance, we got him when he mentioned a peculiar name for slate pencil (it was pencil, mAvu pencil, slate kuchchi etc in our village). He told a new term "balppam" and we laughed on that term for a long time. We even nicknamed him "balppam" for a while:-)

[rajraj]

This brings another interesting facet of same word pronounced two (or more) ways in different geographic regions.

Schedule - ஷெட்யூல் in India / ஸ்கெட்யூல் in USA
Director - டைரக்டர் in TN / டிரெக்டர் in USA



People in India follow British pronunciation or they think they do ! :)
For many words American pronunciation is different and in some cases just to be different. :lol:

Remember izzad and zee ! :)

[app_engine]

That Americans want to make it different from "queen's english" (or "queen's" in general) is pretty obvious in a number of things :-)

[app_engine]

And the "english" names of a number of vegetables is a big problem in USA too.

brinjal - கத்தரிக்காய் is egg plant (I'm not sure brinjal is which language, whether british english or hindi or sanskrit but that's the one used in India for engilees)

lady's finger - வெண்டைக்காய் - people will simply laugh at us here, if we use this name \. They would rather use 'okra' the arabic name or even 'bindi' the hindi name but never the so-called-englees name.

However, the funniest is reserved for முருங்கைக்காய். These are not available in any regular grocery chain stores and in general the locals are not familiar with this vegetable at all. Even most Indian stores don't sell the fresh ones but only the frozen ones.

So, most americans don't understand what we mean by "drumstick". Their drumstick is "chicken leg piece" for them :-) Yesterday I deliberately startled an audience by talking about the "drumstick tree" in my Indian home :-)

[app_engine]

This is the 'drumstick' sold in store chains like 'Kroger'. V-NV :-)


[html:64771b4496]
http://rawsforpaws.com/catalog/images/chicken_drumstick.jpg
[/html:64771b4496]

[app_engine]

For "yet another meaning of" drumstick, please visit here :

http://www.drumsticks.org/

Sure English is a funny language :-)

[skanthan]

What is his address?

skanthan,

This is the official website of the conference, it has some addresses (including e-mails etc) :
http://www.ulakathamizhchemmozhi.org/

Also, it seems they accept articles for the conf till April 15th. I suggest you put together an article on this subject, with your suggestion / advantages etc for the conference.

Who knows, someone might take notice and contact you :-)

I will see what I can do. Thank you.

[Sudhaama]

.
. Shifted.
.

[sathya_1979]

<<Digression>>
Hi All,
I have started learning Spanish. If anyone have some gud study materials, please share with me (PM Me, will send my mail id).

Thanks,
Sathya
<<End Digression>>

[Sudhaama]

[tscii:c29876d641]
-.

.
.One Funny Incident.! --- My Interesting Experience.!!!



How a Sentence of One Language Hindi--



---gives a FAR DIFFERENT and FUNNY Meaning--



--- in Another Language-- Tamil.!



This Incident happened when I was employed in a Hindi State in North India,

In that Town there was acute shortage for Water, during Summer. So we used to crave for water from whichever Source or Water-taps whenever we find even a few drops of water, even if dripping.

One of the lucky persons in this respect, was my Neighbour named Chunnilal—

---who used to get water from his Domestic Water-tap-- suddenly, at any time day and night.

Eventually there used to be a long Queue of Buckets and Vessels always--- ever-ready beneath the tap--- anxiously waiting for its grace.!

And whenever we hear the noise of water dripping, anyone of us nearby, used to rush towards that Graceful Tap---

---and get the waiting vessels filled up--- in a friendly spirit.

On one Tamilian Festival Occasion, I was one amongst a crowd of Tamilian Families there gathered in a Lawn, adjacent to that famous Water-house of the lucky Chunnilal.!...

---chatting in a Festive mood.

Suddenly one of the Ladies from our Crowd--- shouted towards my Neighbour in Hindi---


Hae Chunnilal, zara thumhaara Nal ka paani, meri Kundi mae bhi bhar dhoe.


In Tamil it is read thus---


ஹே சுண்ணிலால், ஜரா தும்ஹாரா நல் கா பானி மேரி குண்டி மே பி பர்-தோ

Immediately there was a loud burst of Laughter--- from all of us in the crowd.

And that poor Tamilian Lady, put down her face with shame--- and rushed out of the place.!

The sentence in Hindi means---

“Oh Mr Chunnilal, please fill up my Vessel also with your Tap water.!

But some of the words of the same sentence in Hindi---

--make the whole sentence mean HORRIBLY DIFFERENT-!---- RIDICULOUS.!


ஹே சுண்ணிலால், தயவு கூர்ந்து, உன்னுடைய குழாய் தண்ணீரை என்னுடைய சிறு-குடத்திலும் (குண்டி = ஹிந்தியில் சிறு குடம்) ) நிரப்பி-விடு


Under a spur of urgency--- she did not think of its SHAMEFUL meaning in Tamil ---

---FUNNY and FAR DIFFERENT from its Sense in Hindi

Such a strange phenomena is applicable vice versa too between Tamil and Hindi

---as also between other Languages.

. .[/tscii:c29876d641]