My goal

This site is for myself before anybody else - Sri Lankan Muslim Tamil is my cultural identity. It's the first language I learned, and I find it a shame that I can't speak it anymore.

Yo puedo hablar espanol casi como un latino but I can't speak my own mother tongue?! !Que ridiculo!

So I'm going to try and change that while I'm here in Sri Lanka. You're welcome to go along for the ride, or give me tips/corrections if you are from this part of the world.

DISCLAIMER: this is not pure Tamil. I'm not trying to learn that. I'm trying to learn what my parents spoke as children. That's all.

Monday, July 25, 2022

Family

Vaappa -- dad
Umma -- mom
Ummamma -- mom's mom
Vaappamma -- dad's mom
Appa -- grandfather
More to come...

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

More Pronouns

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS (as in "This kid is talented" not as in "This is awesome")
indha - this
andha - that
ongada - your
enda - my
avarda - his
avada - her
engada - our
avangada - their

"FOR" PRONOUNS: these don't exist in English. It's like saying, "For me is hunger" instead of "I'm hungry."
ongalku - for you
enakku - for me
avarku - for him
avaku - for her
engalku - for us
avangalku - for them

These pronouns go with feelings like:
pasi - hunger
Thukam - sleepiness
Venam - wanting
Vaana - not wanting
Vekkam - shyness
Aasay - liking
Podhum - satiation ("enakku podhum" means "this is enough")
podhaa - insatiation ("enakku podhaa" means "this isn't enough")

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Other Verb Forms

You'll need to modify the "he" forms in the previous post to become "You" and "He" and "She" and "We" forms.

EXCEPTION: In our dialect, in the Past Tense, the "he" Form suffices for all other subjects. In other words, no matter who said it, "senna" works.

Here's how you do it:
"You": -Ingal
"He": -Aar
"She": -A
"We": -Om
"They": -Aangal

Attach this suffix to the "he" Form, replacing the "-a", and you have your new verb!

Examples:
WE DO "he does" seyyira --> drop the -a --> add the -om --> seyyirom

WE SAID "he said" senna = senna "we said" (it's the same for past tense in our dialect)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Verbs - "I" forms

The simple rule is: "-a" is past, "-ura" is present, "-vEn" is future.
Note: the forms listed below are actually third-person forms but in our dialect, we use them for first-person. Ex. Ponen is the correct way to say "I went", but we also say Pona for "I went".

VERB
Root
Past "I" form
Present "I" form
Future "I" form

GO
Po-
Pona (I went)
Pora (I go)
Poven (I will go)

DO
Seyye-
Senja (I did)
Seyyira (I do)
Seyyiven (I will do...and so on)

SAY
Selle-
Senna
Sellura
Selluven

SHOW
Kaatta-
Kaattina
Kaattura
Kaattuven

WATCH
Paaka-
Paaththa
Paakura
Paakuven

SEE
Kaanu-
Kanda
Kaanura
Kaanuven

ASK
Keeka-
Ketta
Kekkura
Kekkuven

COME
Vaa-
Vandha
Vaara
Vaaruven

CLIMB (or GET IN)
Era-
Erina
Erura
Eruven

GET DOWN (from a car, etc)
Eranga-
Erangina
Erangura
Eranguven

SIT or EXIST or STAY
Irukka-
Irundha
Irikkira
Irikkiven

WALK
Nadukka-
Nadundha
Nadukkura
Nadukkuven

SLEEP
Paduththa
Padukkura
Padukkuven

Pronouns

Naan - I
Ninga - you
Avar - he
Ava - she
Idha - this
Adha - that 
Naangal - we
Avangal - they
Ningalval - you all