Tamil basics...

Nick-H · Feb 16th, 2008, 15:25

4 and Les; I've printed out your listings and will ask Mrs N to give it the once over. May be next week: busy weekend.

(for those coming new to the site, my wife is a native Tamil speaker)

liverpool les · Feb 16th, 2008, 17:20

ok thanks, l thought it was tumbi that refered to young brother or young boy in sort of an affectionate way, as referring the boy as like a family member, i think that there is also differant dialects in different areas.

There again it was 30 years ago when i lived out there, i drove a tata truck for a company delivering vegtables all over the south from kodia kanal for 6 months, so some of the words i learnt might be local slang

Nick-H · Feb 16th, 2008, 19:08

Mrs N uses it as a polite way to talk to people working here, or to call out to an auto driver for directions when we're out.

thambi, I think. Isn't thombi snake? Another one of those pairs one has to be careful about!

Quote:

i drove a tata truck for a company delivering vegtables all over the south from kodia kanal for 6 months,

Impressive!
It may also be that you learned village pronounciation --- but I'm certainly not the one to judge; as I said, you are way ahead of me

liverpool les · Feb 17th, 2008, 00:02

saying i havent spoke it in 30 years is almost right, however my son just come in and he reminded me that when he was little (about 5 years old) i used to speak it to him, as i thought it would be good for him and we had a laugh comunicating when we went the local indian take a way for a meal.

liverpool les · Feb 17th, 2008, 00:03

ps My son is 22 years old now

i went to Kodai Kanal in tamil nudu up in the hills, i ran out of money whilst i was there and ended up driving a tata truck for a tamil company delivering vegatables to trichi, madurai, cochin, madras and all over south india, i did that for 6 months, learnt alot doing that (the language) (culture) and a lot of other things, got me a lot of respect with the local people,dont know if anyone has done it since but at the time i was the only none indian doing that, i was working driving for 2 or sometime 3 days at a time, no sleep apart from half hour to an hours nap when you arrived at your destination, whilst the lorry was getting unloaded before returning to kodia kanal.

i was getting paid 5 ruppies a day for that, I think that was 1977, the local people at the tea shops and road side cafes used to really look after me, because they could see i was no differant from them and was prepared to work very hard for very little money. After doing that, I had a lot of sympathy for the truck driver and realised why so many accidents happened due to the lack of sleep.
.

Nick-H · Feb 17th, 2008, 10:54

Les, you must have so many stories from that time! I doubt that many IMers (or many Brits) have had that sort of immersion in the culture. This Brit spends more time on IndiaMike than he does talking to the neighbours

This was before visas were necessary for UK citizens, I guess?

If you ever have the time and inclination to write a long post about it, in its own thread, I'm sure it would make a good read. Might even get 'promoted' to the articles section.

liverpool les · Feb 17th, 2008, 17:46

Hi NICK-H yeah would love to write a post about my time driving out there, i started helping at a very small machanics shop a one man outfit repairing moterbikes, and back-pack crop sprayers, from that i was offered a job driving tata trucks, i worked for 2 differant compan's diving, Primmer roadways was one, and off hand cant remember other company, but sure it will com back to me. so over the next week i will write down some of the stuff i can remember and post it in,

ps i was issued with what i can only call like a wild west sherifs badge (star shaped), at the local police station, that was the driving permit, which i thought was funny, and yes it was before visa's were needed. best wishes les

Nick-H · Feb 18th, 2008, 00:44

Good. Looking forward to reading that

vinayverma · Feb 18th, 2008, 01:14

Disclaimer: I haven't read all the posts
WHY? do want to learn all those?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4gotoIndia

Hi all,
I've been cobbling together a list of basic tamil words (from other posts here, mainly), in the hope I can learn these before heading out. Thought others might be interested in them... and perhaps we can add some more!
All contributions welcome...
4gotoindia

Hello Vanakkam
Goodbye Poitu vare
Morning Kaalay
Evening Maalay
how are you eppadi irukkeenga
your are doing fine? nallaa irukkeengala?
i'm doing fine nallaa irukkayn.
see you paappom (om sounds like the famous OM)
see you later apparam paapom (apparam = later)
whats up? ennadaa (male buddy), ennadee (female buddy), ennanga (elders and strangers)
not much onnum illa.

Yes ama
No illay
I don't want / need venda
I don't know/understand tiriadhu
Thank you Nandri
Ok / alright "chery" or "shery"
how much does this cost? idhu yenna vilai?

Tree maram
Mango tree maamaran

Come (when you have a visitor) vaanga
Come in Ulla vaanga
Here ingay
There angay
Come here ingay vaanga

Where is xxx **** enga irukku? (just add what you need in front)
Up Maylay
Down keelay

What is the price of xxx **** aywallavu? (just add what you need in front)
This idhu
That adhu
What is the price of this / that idhu aywallavu or adhu aywallavu.

Half padi
Half a torn note of ruppee Padi rupa
half a rupee i.e. 50 paise Ardha rupa
3/4th Mukkaal
two Irandu
also two Rendu

Food sab
water thanni
Fruit pallam (pallangal) = fruit(s) (
Vegetable Kaai (kaaigal) = vegetable(s)
Meal / food saappadu
Arisu: Rice (raw) Arisu
Saadam : Rice (cooked) Saadam
Onions Vengayam
Sugar chakkiri
Eggplant Kathrikai
Banana Vazhapalam
Tomato Takkali
Lentils Parrupu
Pumpkin Pushnikkai
greens / spinach / lettuce Keerai
Ginger Inji
Chilli pepper Malaga
Garlic poondu
Bitter gourd Paavakkai
Okra Vendakkai

Flower poo
Rose Roja poo

Cat Punai
Dog Nai
Snake pambu
Good dog Nallai Nai

Love Kadal
Much Romba
Very beautiful Romba Alaga Irikku
Good Nalla
Bad
Thief Kalla

Go! Poda
Go, you dog! Poda Nai
Game Villayatu
Game Aattam

Goat Aadu
Tiger Puli: L is pronounced lean
tamarind Puli: L is pronounced rich

kalyani68 · Feb 20th, 2008, 02:52

Tamil is a tough language with various regional dialects. There are some sounds that I, as a native speaker of English can not produce. My husband is a native speaker of Tamil and I hear him use it nearly every day when talking to family or friends. I hate to say it but I have learned very little even after so much exposure. (He is too lazy to teach me.) Even so, I understand slightly more than I can actually speak, but only those phrases I've heard many, many times.

Naalaki paakkalam (see you later!)

Nick-H · Feb 20th, 2008, 11:07

I'm glad I'm not the only one!

My wife is quite willing to teach me, only my ineptitude and laziness gets in the way.

Whilst I tend to think it is amazing how she knows people's origins, caste, etc by the way they speak or the words they use, I suppose it is no different to us Brits recognising regional accents.

ananth_tm · Feb 21st, 2008, 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by liverpool les

Hi NICK-H yeah would love to write a post about my time driving out there, i started helping at a very small machanics shop a one man outfit repairing moterbikes, and back-pack crop sprayers, from that i was offered a job driving tata trucks, i worked for 2 differant compan's diving, Primmer roadways was one, and off hand cant remember other company, but sure it will com back to me. so over the next week i will write down some of the stuff i can remember and post it in,

ps i was issued with what i can only call like a wild west sherifs badge (star shaped), at the local police station, that was the driving permit, which i thought was funny, and yes it was before visa's were needed. best wishes les

wow, really awaiting your write up

Munivar · Feb 24th, 2008, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalyani68

Tamil is a tough language with various regional dialects. There are some sounds that I, as a native speaker of English can not produce. My husband is a native speaker of Tamil and I hear him use it nearly every day when talking to family or friends. I hate to say it but I have learned very little even after so much exposure. (He is too lazy to teach me.) Even so, I understand slightly more than I can actually speak, but only those phrases I've heard many, many times.

Naalaki paakkalam (see you later!)

hahaha..

I guess it is because it is an agglutinative language, Thamizh is harder to pick up from books, recognizing from words etc. There is no choice but to learn from immersion.

First the 12 vowels and 18 consonants combine to give 216 compound characters and then we keep on combining entire words to form one single word.

maram - tree
maamaram - mango tree
maamarathil - in a mango tree
maamarathileri - climbed a mango tree
maamarathileriyirunthaan - he climbed and was on a mango tree.

Munivar · Feb 24th, 2008, 11:16

Some minor corrections

Quote:

Originally Posted by liverpool les

Avan yaray = who is he

Yaray - should be Yaaru

Quote:

Avan rumba na-lar-rica = he very is good

nalla irukkaan.

the aan means male, aal - means girl and aar means plural or elder. 'aanga' also used for the same.

ex - nalla irukkaanga. A wife can say that for a husband (respect), a cousin can say that for his parents (plural)

Quote:

nee yenga poringa = where are you going

This is a mismatch.

It should either be respectful the whole sentence or be addressed to a peer the whole sentence.

ex

nee enga porae? (peer or lesser)

neenga enga poreenga? (elder or plural)

Quote:

nee veday yenna = where is your house

Unnoda veedu engae?

Quote:

nan veday anjay poray = my house is over there

en veedu angae irukku

Quote:

set-a-poach = dead

I am sorry, but I just had to laugh at that.

Sethu Pochu. (emphasis on th and ch - almost like Seththu Pochchu)

Quote:

pumbeli = young girl

Not for young girl. It is a morph from a proper word used in olden days - Penpillai. Dicey word and implied meanings change with the tone used.

I would rather use 'ponnu' for young girl. 'amma' for older ones. 'paatti' for even older.

Nick-H · Feb 24th, 2008, 11:29

Does agglutinative mean that it makes a sticky mess on the tongue?

It certainly makes a sticky mess in my ears

.

(I did look up the real meaning

)

Feb 16th, 2008, 15:25	#16
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 24,220	4 and Les; I've printed out your listings and will ask Mrs N to give it the once over. May be next week: busy weekend. (for those coming new to the site, my wife is a native Tamil speaker) __________________ . IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

Feb 20th, 2008, 02:52	#25
kalyani68 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midwest USA Posts: 182	Tamil is a tough language with various regional dialects. There are some sounds that I, as a native speaker of English can not produce. My husband is a native speaker of Tamil and I hear him use it nearly every day when talking to family or friends. I hate to say it but I have learned very little even after so much exposure. (He is too lazy to teach me.) Even so, I understand slightly more than I can actually speak, but only those phrases I've heard many, many times. Naalaki paakkalam (see you later!) __________________ My Travel Blog- South India Dec. 2007 www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/wildcat007

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Feb 16th, 2008, 17:20	#17
liverpool les Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: liverpool england Posts: 53	ok thanks, l thought it was tumbi that refered to young brother or young boy in sort of an affectionate way, as referring the boy as like a family member, i think that there is also differant dialects in different areas. There again it was 30 years ago when i lived out there, i drove a tata truck for a company delivering vegtables all over the south from kodia kanal for 6 months, so some of the words i learnt might be local slang

Feb 17th, 2008, 00:02	#19
liverpool les Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: liverpool england Posts: 53	saying i havent spoke it in 30 years is almost right, however my son just come in and he reminded me that when he was little (about 5 years old) i used to speak it to him, as i thought it would be good for him and we had a laugh comunicating when we went the local indian take a way for a meal.

Feb 17th, 2008, 00:03	#20
liverpool les Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: liverpool england Posts: 53	ps My son is 22 years old now i went to Kodai Kanal in tamil nudu up in the hills, i ran out of money whilst i was there and ended up driving a tata truck for a tamil company delivering vegatables to trichi, madurai, cochin, madras and all over south india, i did that for 6 months, learnt alot doing that (the language) (culture) and a lot of other things, got me a lot of respect with the local people,dont know if anyone has done it since but at the time i was the only none indian doing that, i was working driving for 2 or sometime 3 days at a time, no sleep apart from half hour to an hours nap when you arrived at your destination, whilst the lorry was getting unloaded before returning to kodia kanal. i was getting paid 5 ruppies a day for that, I think that was 1977, the local people at the tea shops and road side cafes used to really look after me, because they could see i was no differant from them and was prepared to work very hard for very little money. After doing that, I had a lot of sympathy for the truck driver and realised why so many accidents happened due to the lack of sleep. .

Feb 17th, 2008, 10:54	#21
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 24,220	Les, you must have so many stories from that time! I doubt that many IMers (or many Brits) have had that sort of immersion in the culture. This Brit spends more time on IndiaMike than he does talking to the neighbours This was before visas were necessary for UK citizens, I guess? If you ever have the time and inclination to write a long post about it, in its own thread, I'm sure it would make a good read. Might even get 'promoted' to the articles section.

Feb 17th, 2008, 17:46	#22
liverpool les Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: liverpool england Posts: 53	Hi NICK-H yeah would love to write a post about my time driving out there, i started helping at a very small machanics shop a one man outfit repairing moterbikes, and back-pack crop sprayers, from that i was offered a job driving tata trucks, i worked for 2 differant compan's diving, Primmer roadways was one, and off hand cant remember other company, but sure it will com back to me. so over the next week i will write down some of the stuff i can remember and post it in, ps i was issued with what i can only call like a wild west sherifs badge (star shaped), at the local police station, that was the driving permit, which i thought was funny, and yes it was before visa's were needed. best wishes les

Feb 18th, 2008, 00:44	#23
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 24,220	Good. Looking forward to reading that

Feb 20th, 2008, 11:07	#26
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 24,220	I'm glad I'm not the only one! My wife is quite willing to teach me, only my ineptitude and laziness gets in the way. Whilst I tend to think it is amazing how she knows people's origins, caste, etc by the way they speak or the words they use, I suppose it is no different to us Brits recognising regional accents.

Feb 24th, 2008, 11:29	#30
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 24,220	Does agglutinative mean that it makes a sticky mess on the tongue? It certainly makes a sticky mess in my ears . (I did look up the real meaning )

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