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Friday, May 25, 2018

SPOKEN TAMIL

Tamil is a diglossic language with a formal variety that is used mainly in writing and is learned in schools and informal that is used in for speaking. Over time spoken Tamil is becoming popular and is used by novel writers. The standard spoken Tamil is nowadays introduced in classrooms.

Before going to the standard rules let us familiarize ourselves with some commonly spoken words and corresponding written words.

1. First, let us start with numbers

Spoken Words Written Words English Words
(chuzhi) (chuzhiyam ) zero
ஒண்ணு (onnu) ஒன்று (onṟu) one
ரெண்டு (reNdu) இரண்டு (iraNdu) two
மூணு (mūnu) மூன்று (mūnṟu) three
நாலு (nālu) நான்கு (nāngu) four
அஞ்சு (anju) ஐந்து (ainthu) five
ஆறு (āṟu) ஆறு (āṟu) six
ஏலு (ēlu) ஏழு (ēzhu) seven
எட்டு (eṭṭu) எட்டு (eṭṭu) eight
ஒம்பது (ombathu) ஒன்பது (onbathu) nine
பத்து (paththu) பத்து (paththu) ten


Tamil Vowels
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1. Initial Position of middle and high vowels

The high short vowels இ (i) and உ(u) when followed by a single consonant அ (a) the vowel இ (i) is replaced by எ (e) and vowel உ(u) is replaced by ஒ (o)

Spoken Words Written Words English Words
எடம் (edam) இடம் (idam) place
எலை (elai) இலை (ilai) leaf
எடை (edai) இடை (idai) waist
நெனெ (nene) நினை (ninai) think
ஒடை (odai) உடை (udai) break
ஒடம்பு (odambu) உடம்பு (udambu) body
கொழந்தெ (kozhanthe) குழந்தை (kuzhanthai) baby
கொடம் (kodam) குடம் (kudam) pitcher
ஒன் (on) உன் (un) your (singular)
ஒங்க (onga) உங்கள் (ungaL) your ( plural)


Kindly note that vowel ஐ(ai) in the final position has changed to எ (e) There is no difference in spelling is words with double consonants like –

Spoken Words & Written Words English Words
இல்லை (illai) no
குட்டை (kuttai) short
குள்ளம் (kuLLam) short
கெட்ட (ketta) bad
குத்து (kuththu) punch

The vowel ' எ' in the initial position does not change and it remains unaltered in spoken Tamil. These words may be called no alteration words.

Spoken Words & Written Words  English Words
எடை (edai) weight
எமன் (eman) God of death
எவன் (evan) who (masculine)
எவள் (evaL) who (feminine)
எனக்கு (enakku) to me

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