Friday, August 7, 2009

Tanglish

Raising kids in the U.S, I have always wondered if my kids will learn Tamil. I always talk in tamil to my son even though he constantly replied back in English. Initially he seemed to be confused with the mix of languages at school and at home. But now-a-days he has a clear understanding of the mix. He speaks tamil words in English sentences and he uses them in the right context in the right grammatical sense. Here’s some of the funny mixes:
I பாழாக் my pant. -> I spoiled my pant.
My tummy is வலிக். -> My stomach is aching.
வாய் is ஒட்-ing.-> Mouth is sticky.
பூச்சி is flying. விரட்டு இட். -> Mosquito is flying. Chase it away.
I want அம்மா பேசு. -> I want mom to talk to me.
Egg is வேகு. -> Egg is boiling.
Dress is not காய். -> Clothes are not dried.
No மறைக்-ing the TV. -> Don’t block my view of TV.
I துறத்து the குருவி. -> I chased the sparrow.
Baby சின்னி பிள்ளை, I பெருசு பிள்ளை. -> Baby is small boy, I am big boy.
Give me some வலி. -> Give me some way.
Don’t put me கீழை. There is முள். -> Don’t put me down. There are stones.
I put செடி for தண்ணி. -> I put water for plants.
I தொலைச்சு one shoe. -> I lost one shoe.
Sun is கூசிங். -> Sun is bright in my eyes.
This was the best of all: he mixed Spanish, English and Tamil all in one sentence:
Abuella is not in வீடு. -> Grandma is not in home.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like english grammar is easier than tamil grammar. But for words its otherwise. it was nice to read the malalaigal's. would be very good to hear...

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  2. Vijay: plural for malalaigal is malalaigals and not malalaigal's. Seems like Tanglish grammar is the most complex... :)

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