Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

1
CommentGo Back

Tamil Culture(1). Unit No. 1, Lesson: 1, GreetingsGreetings are a very important part of the Indian culture. Likewise, Tamilspeakers take greetings very seriously. People take time to greet others even ifthey are strangers. The most prominent way of greeting is by sharing a smile.Saying

வணக்கம்

is more popular in urban and semi-urban areas--usually among thosewith higher education--than in rural areas. However, when friends andacquaintances meet, they generally stop and exchange an extended greeting.The general greeting that can be used by anyone is

வணக்கம்

(greetings),

எப்பட

இரக்கங்க

க்கயம

? (How are you?). When one says

வணக்கம்

with head bowed orfolded hands the respondent is expected to perform a similar gesture. When askedthe question

எப்பட இரக்கங்க

?, the respondant is expected to reply either

நல்ல

இரக்கன்

க்கயம்

(I am fine). In extraordinary cases, some might respondwith

ஏ இரக்கன்

meaning 'sort of okay'. Like in English, usually therespondant is not expected to say for example 'I am not well' or 'doing some whatokay' etc., as their initial response to

எப்பட இரக்கங்க

?. The proper way is tosay

நல்ல இரக்கன்

'I am fine' and after a few exchanges bring up any unpleasantnews. People who keep in touch regularly normally keep track of any good orunpleasant events in each others families, and during greetings they respondappropriately. For example, if there was an unpleasant event in someone's family,no one is expected to ask him or her questions like

எப்பட இரக்கங்க

க்கயம

?or even

வணக்கம்

. Rather, such encounters would usually begin with a head nod orsmile.The length of a greeting exchange depends on the level of familiarity between theparties concerned. Thus it may even take between a minute and longer. Even whenpeople are in a hurry, they will take time to exchange greetings in a properfashion. Most men would shake hands when greeting one another. Shaking handsbetween men and women of any age is not appropriate.When greeting each other, people of the same sex may SHAKE HANDS. Men more thanwomen will initiate a greeting with a handshake. Women rarely greet each otherwith a hand shake. Rather they may use body language such as a nodding of the heador smile. Influences from other cultures have not yet become fully popular in muchof Tamil culture, especially in the case of women; a hug, a kiss on both cheeks,and holding each other's hands while conversing etc., is not common. Suchresponses from other cultures will most likely embarass the Tamil speakers.

(2). Unit No. 1, Lesson: 2,

மழ் ஆரயர்

Note on Politeness and Formal/Informal TamilWhen introducing someone to others, attention must be paid to use the appropriatepolite forms. Elders should be addressed with the form

உங்க

'your-polite' as opposed to

உன்

'your-intimate', which is normally used amongequals and children. The plural pronominal forms in Tamil are used to denotepolite singular, besides marking plural number. Also, only spoken informal varietyis used in speech as opposed to formal literary variety, which is used only inplatform speech and written communication. For example,

உங்கள்

is a formalliterary variety whose spoken informal form is

உங்க

. These two varieties aredistinguised based on a sequence of sound changes to the formalvariety, as in this case the loss of

ள்

உங்கள்

makes it an informal spokenvariety. This type of sound changes are an automatic phenomenon, and the learneris required to pay extra attention to learn the distinction between spokeninformal variety and formal written/literary variety. Sound changes also tend tooccur in intra-word level in sentences. Example, the phrase

என் பர

'my name' isused in speech as

எம் பர

with

ன்

becoming

ம்

in the word

என்

due to thefollowing labial plosive sound

ப்

.Stop sounds in Tamil have a tendency to assimilate the preceding nasal sounds totheir place of articulation. This type of sound changes is very common in fastspeech.Following table lists a predominantly used formal and informal variety ofpronominal forms.Formal variety Informal variety Meaning

நங்கள் நங்க

You

உங்கள் உங்க

Your

அவர்கள் அவங்க

they/their/his (polite)

அவன் அவர்

அவள் அவ

அவங்க

She

ன் ங்க

yourself (dialectal)(3). Unit No. 1, Lesson: 3,

நன் மழ்

Use of the suffix

ஆ

with a negative connotation:When the suffix

ஆ

is used in obvious expressions like 'is this a book?' (

இ

ப்கம

?), 'is this food'? (

இ ப்பட

?) etc., a negative connotation of 'who onearth would call this a book?, 'what kind of food is this?' etc., can be implied.In English an extra stress is placed on the nouns such as 'book' and 'food' etc.,to disambiguate such expressions. But in Tamil such distinction can only be madewith a very subtle intonation. So, in failing to use such intonation,misunderstandings might occur. In some cases, the words such as

என்ன

, 'what'

எல்லம்

'all', etc., are used with the subject, but again such sentences can alsobe used with a normal intention. Except for very obvious cases, an ambiguity ofinterpretation is always possible.

இ என்ன

ப்பட

? a) What is this? food! b) Who on earth would call this a food?

ந எல்லம் ஒர மனஷன

? Are you (all) a human being?

நங்கள் எல்லம் பலஸ் கரர்கள

? a) Are you all police men? b) What kind of policemen are you all?

இக்க எங்க பட்ற

இ் எங்க பட்றண்ண ரயல

நயல்லம் ஒர மழ்

வ்யர

?You don't know where to add the stop consonants '