Let’s Learn Tamil – Lesson 03

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உறவுகள் மற்றும் உச்சரிப்பு
(Relations and pronunciation)

Untitled @@@வணக்கம் நண்பர்களே, நலமா? 🙂
(vaNakkam nanbarkaLae, nalamaa? = greetings friends, how are you?)

First of all, To get relief from the boring grammar studying, Let me tell some new Tamil words used in day to day life. 🙂 I would like to continue it in coming lessons too.

Today we are going to learn how to call relations in Tamil:

1. அப்பா/அம்மா (appaa/ammaa) = Father/Mother
2. அண்ணா/அக்கா (aNNaa/akkaa) = Elder Brother/Elder sister
3. தம்பி/தங்கச்சி (thambi/thangachchi) = younger brother/younger sister
4. நண்பன்/ நண்பி (naNban/naNbi) = friend(Male)/friend(Female)
5. மாமா/ மாமி (maamaa/maami) = Mother’s brother and his wife or father’s sister and her husband
6. பெரியப்பா/ பெரியம்மா (periyappaa/ periyammaa) = father’s elder brother and his wife or mother’s elder sister and her husband, பெரிய – periya in tamil means big.
7. சித்தப்பா/ சித்தி (siththappaa/ siththi)= father’s younger brother and his wife or mother’s younger sister and her husband. சிறு – siRu in Tamil means little.
8. மச்சான்/ மச்சாள் (machchaan/machchaal) = brother-in-law/ sister-in-law
9. புருசன் / பொஞ்சாதி (purusan/ ponjaathi) = husband/ wife (informal)
10. காதலன்/ காதலி (kaadhalan/kaadhali) = boyfriend/girlfriend
11. அம்மப்பா/ அம்மம்மா (ammappaa/ammammaa) = mother’s dad and mother’s mom.

Now, one question for you, guess how do Tamils call their father’s dad and mom? 🙂

Untitled @@
A Family photo of Tamil celebrities Rajni and Dhanush (img src: www.tamilstar.com)

Well, We’ll know more interesting facts about the kinship among Tamil society in an up-coming lesson.

Ok, Let’s go through the உச்சரிப்பு (uchcharippu) – pronunciations – the virulent angel we should meet before entering every world of languages!

Nothing to worry… Just go through the table below! yeah, Pronunciation part finished! 😉

The most confusing ones are grouped below to learn them easily. As we already know, their pronunciations only slightly differ from each other.

1. “த” “ட” வேறுபாடு (tha da vaeRupaadu) = tha, da difference
2. “ர”, “ற” வேறுபாடு (ra Ra vaeRupaadu) = ra Ra difference
3. “ல”, “ழ”, “ள” வேறுபாடு (la zha La vaeRupaadu) = la zha La difference
4. “ண” “ந”, “ன” வேறுபாடு (Na n/a na vaeRupaadu) = Na n/a na difference.

1. “த” “ட” வேறுபாடு (tha da vaeRupaadu)

த = tha and dha
பாதம் (paatham) = foot
காதல் (kaadhal) = love

ட = ta and da
பாடம் (paadam) = lesson
கட்டில் (kattil) = bed

2. “ர”, “ற” வேறுபாடு (ra Ra vaeRupaadu)

கரி (kari) = ash (remember this r is same r as in deer.. soft r sound)
கறி (kaRi) = Curry (this Ri is same as ry in curry, rough r sound)

எரி (eri) = burn
எறி (eRi) = throw

3. “ல”, “ழ”, “ள” வேறுபாடு (la zha La vaeRupaadu)
ல = la as in palace soft “la” sound
ள = La as in play rough “la” sound
ழ = zha, we already studied this pronunciation.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAfg5qi5lc4)

நீலம் (niilam) = blue
நீளம் (niiLam) = length
ஆழம் (aazham) = depth

வளம் (vaLam) = resource
பலம் (palam) = strength
பழம் (pazham) = fruit

4. “ண” “ந”, “ன” வேறுபாடு (Na n/a na vaeRupaadu)

ண = n as in pond – rough N
ந = nu as in number – soft n
ன = nu as in number – soft n

for example:

பணி (paNi) = work
பனி (pani) = snow
நரி (nari) = fox

ந and ன don’t differ in pronunciation but in Tamil, ந only can precede a word as the first letter while ன do not.

நன்றி (nanRi) = thanks – correct
னன்றி –wrong (ன can’t come as initial)

நாய் (naay) = dog – correct
னாய் – wrong

These pronunciations should be remembered always and no matter, you will automatically become familiar with them in coming days. See you soon dudes! 😉