SUPER MA

The four main South Indian languages are Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamizh. The first three languages have their base as Sanskrit. The alphabets of Sanskrit are present in these languages, and many Sanskrit words are a part of these languages. The script alone is different.

Tamizh alone is singular. It does not have all the alphabets of Sanskrit, and there in a Tamizh word for every Sanskrit word. Tamizh, is a language that does not depend on Sanskrit fro survival.

 So while other languages have Ka, Kha, Ga and Gha, Tamizh has only Ka. And this Ka is pronounced both as Ka and Ga.  There is no Kha and Gha in Tamizh.

Similarly  in Tamizh  there are no Tha and Dha. The alphabet Ta is pronounced both as Ta and Da. We also do not have Chha and Jha. The alphabet  Cha takes the place of Sa Cha and ja. The pronunciation of alphabets and words are contextual in Tamizh.

For example the word nama Shivaya, can be pronounced as Sivaya, Shivaya, chivaya. However, there is no confusion among the locals. We understand what the other person is saying.

We have  a la and La [said with the tongue folded on the roof of the mouth ]

So Puli will mean tiger, but PuLi will mean tamarind.

We also have the unique Zha, which is pronounced like a hybrid between Ya and Za.

Recently there has been a slow modernization of Tamizh.  So now the younger generation  have standardized , la, La and  Zha  as la.  So we have to not only understand the alphabets, but also the words in the right context. 

Spoken English has found its way into all languages. Today no one can speak a sentence in Tamizh with at least one or two words of English substituting the local language.

All scientific inventions,   like fan, bulb, switch, bus car auto, iron, mixer, computer, train, key-board and many  more hundreds of English  words are a part of Tamizh.

Figure is an equivalent of a girl.

Tension is now a Tamizh word.

Torture is the equivalent of generating tension in Tamizh.

Matter, means many things depends on how it is used. It means matter as in English, or making out, or no problem, or what is your problem, and so on….

 The best way to describe any good thing is with the most popular and most used word in Tamizh- “SUPER,” thanks to  the Super Star Rajanikanth. It describes any thing good in animate, or inanimate.

There are people who resist such changes. I too feel sad. Earlier I used to get irritated when someone mispronounced a word and took efforts to correct them. But in TV as well as in movie songs people are now taking the wrong word for granted. Why no one corrects the singers, I do not understand. Maybe they themselves do not know, or maybe they do not care. Or maybe everything is beyond repair.  But there is nothing one can do. There are only two choices. Either resist or change. I opt for the latter, because anyway everything keeps changing.