Malayalam lessons

Moderator:vijayjohn

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:
Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-12-19, 21:16

sshashwatt wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:Nah, വന്നാടെ sounds more like an emphatic (and very informal) command. വന്നു vannu means 'came', but വന്നോ vannO means not only 'did (I/you/he/...) come?' but also can be an emphatic (but not necessarily impolite) command ('come!!'). വന്നാടെ means something like 'come on, man!!'

:) And I kept on thinking about relative participle and what not!!

Heh, well, to be fair, it is a pretty odd construction. :lol:
Translation exercise is really effective, I am learning vocabulary and also getting feel of grammar rules. Now many of the rules do not seem difficult as it felt earlier! :ohwell:

I'm impressed! :)
Today's questions:

1) Confused with “Kazhiyuka” and “Kazhikkuka”. I want your confirmation on usage…

Kazhiyuka = Can, End, Conclude, Die, Competent, Live
Ex. Aarogyam Kazhinju Padikkaruthu- Don’t study at the cost of health
Here verbal participle form of “Kazhiyuka” is used in the sense of “End”

Kazhikkuka = Finish, Kill, Eat, Get on, Conduct, Manage, Perform
Ex. Bhakshanam Nannayi Chavachu Kazhikku
Here imperative form of “Kazhikkuka” is used in the sense of “Finish (meal)”

Is that right?

Hmm, I guess that makes sense. I usually think of kazhiyuka as meaning 'to end' and kazhikkuka as meaning 'to eat a meal', but now that I think about it, 'end' vs. 'finish' might be a good way to think about it, too. -ikk is often used as a causative suffix in Malayalam, so maybe kazhikkuka literally means 'to cause to end'.

Btw, kazhikkuka is also the verb that we use for marriage. KalyaaNam is the word for a wedding or marriage; kalyaaNam kazhikkuka means 'to get married'. Maybe that's because a wedding involves giving a lot of food to guests. :lol:
2) Switch on the Fan = Faninte SwichiDuka | Switch on the Light = Lightinte SwitchiDuka

Please explain “Inte” suffix in “Faninte” and “Lightinte”, is it Fan/ Light + Genetive suffix?

Yep! "Put (i.e. turn on) the switch of the fan/light."
Can we say Fan switchiDuka/ Fan switch cheyyu?

Yeah, probably. Malayalees often treat English loanwords in slightly weird ways like that. :lol:
3) What is the meaning of verb “Viittupovuka”? Is it “To fail” or “To depart”?

Ex. Don't fail to Inform Me = Enne Ariyikkan Vittupok-aruthu

Well, viTuka literally means 'to let go'. For example, in the first clip here, the female character Prabha says, "ente kaiyyiinn(u) viTuu. ente kaiyyiinn(u) viTaanaa parranjnjath(u)!" which means (basically): 'Let go of my hand. I said let go of my hand!' So viTTupOvuka literally means 'to let go and go (away)', i.e. 'to abandon', and enne arriyikkaan viTTupOkaruth(u) literally means 'don't abandon to inform me', but that doesn't make much sense in English. :lol: So we say "don't fail to inform me."
4) Usage of “Patti” and “Kurichu”. Are these suffixes interchangeable or have any specific meaning?

Ennepatti- about me, Ningalepatti- about you; Ningalepatti Njan Dharalam Kettitundu
Ningalekurichu- about you, athe kurichu- about it; Ningalekurichu Enikku Abhimanam-undu

I've never really been sure. -Kurrichch(u) seems to be the one that people use a lot more often, IME. But yeah, they're definitely very similar in meaning.

sshashwatt
Posts:15
Joined:2014-11-16, 18:22
Gender:male
Location:Chennai
Country:INIndia (भारत / India)

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby sshashwatt » 2014-12-29, 19:52

Hi! I am back after a long holiday!! :) How are things at your side?

Couple of questions today!
1) He understood- Avan manassilaayi. Somewhere I read "manassilaakki", is that the Transitive form (made to understand)?

2) He talks a lot- Avan dhaaraalam samsaarikkunnu. Please explain "സംസാരിക്കാറുണ്ട്". Is that "Samsaarikunnu+unTu" or something else?

User avatar
TeneReef
Posts:3074
Joined:2010-04-17, 23:22
Gender:male
Location:Kampor
Country:HRCroatia (Hrvatska)

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby TeneReef » 2014-12-29, 23:54

When do you use -kkuka and when -kjkjuka?
Is it like -ti and -ći in Croatian? :hmm:
विकृतिः एवम्‌ प्रकृति
learning in 2019: (no-nn)

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2014-12-30, 21:52

sshashwatt wrote:Hi! I am back after a long holiday!! :)

Welcome back! :)
How are things at your side?

I'm okay, thanks. How are you? How was your holiday?
Couple of questions today!
1) He understood- Avan manassilaayi. Somewhere I read "manassilaakki", is that the Transitive form (made to understand)?

I think I'd say causative, but yes. :) (It should be avan(u) manassilaayi, though ;)).
2) He talks a lot- Avan dhaaraalam samsaarikkunnu. Please explain "സംസാരിക്കാറുണ്ട്". Is that "Samsaarikunnu+unTu" or something else?

No, that's different. സംസാരിക്കുന്നു samsaarikkunnu means 'is talking' (usually, but I think it can also mean 'talks'). സംസാരിക്കാറുണ്ട്" samsaarikkaarruNT(u) means 'talks' - like, it can only mean that he talks habitually, not that he's doing it right now.
TeneReef wrote:When do you use -kkuka and when -kjkjuka?
Is it like -ti and -ći in Croatian? :hmm:

No, I don't think so. Basically, you use the palatalized one after /i/ and /aj/, where /aj/ is phonetically realized as [ɛ].

sshashwatt
Posts:15
Joined:2014-11-16, 18:22
Gender:male
Location:Chennai
Country:INIndia (भारत / India)

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby sshashwatt » 2015-01-14, 8:38

Hi Vijay,

You must be wondering if I have stopped learning Malayalam! I haven't!!
I came across a book "A Course in Colloquial Malayalam", (http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED030093.pdf) instantly liked it and started reading it on a daily basis. Its a book with grammar lessons along with translation exercise, vocabulary, pronunciation tips etc.

I have covered half of the book, so far so good. Once I finish the whole book (hopefully in 2 weeks or so) I will be back here!

Malayalam understanding is improving day by day and I am loving it :yep:

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-01-14, 8:39

sshashwatt wrote:Hi,

You must be wondering if I have stopped learning Malayalam! I haven't!!

Nah, I figured you'd be back. :D
I came across a book "A Course in Colloquial Malayalam", (http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED030093.pdf) instantly liked it and started reading it on a daily basis. Its a book with grammar lessons along with translation exercise, vocabulary, pronunciation tips etc.

I have covered half of the book, so far so good.

Malayalam understanding is improving day by day and I am loving it :yep:

That's great to hear! :)

User avatar
TeneReef
Posts:3074
Joined:2010-04-17, 23:22
Gender:male
Location:Kampor
Country:HRCroatia (Hrvatska)

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby TeneReef » 2015-01-14, 17:39

Namaskaram,
what does word minnaminni mean? :hmm:
विकृतिः एवम्‌ प्रकृति
learning in 2019: (no-nn)

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-01-15, 6:34

Glowworm (i.e. firefly larva)

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-01-28, 4:14

All right, so as promised, I am finally going to (try to :P) explain how to negate future tense verbs! What I really mean by "future tense verbs" is verbs that end in -ഉം -um. Also, I had said that I would say something about the verb മിണ്ടുക miNTuka, which we saw in that dialog from Chemmeen I had posted earlier on Meera's TAC a couple years back. :P

So, the way I personally negate verbs that end in -ഉം -um is by changing that suffix to -അത്തില്ല -aththilla. For example, കാണും kaaNum means 'will see' (or 'habitually see(s)'), but if I wanted to say 'will not see', I would say കാണത്തില്ല kaaNaththilla.

I think another way that you can negate verbs is simply by adding -യില്ല -yilla to the infinitive form. So for example, 'to see' is കാണുക kaaNuka, and 'will not see' (formed through this approach) would be കാണുകയില്ല kaaNukayilla. It's also possible to shorten the ayil part to just E, so you could also say കാണുകേല kaaNukEla.

Finally, I think yet another way to do it is to first take off the -uka suffix from the verb and then, if the stem ends with a consonant, replace the suffix with either -ഇല്ല illa or -ഊല്ല uulla. So you could also say കാണില്ല kaaNilla or കാണൂല്ല kaaNuulla.

Now, in that movie clip I posted, Pareekutty says, "മിണ്ടൂല്ലേ?" (miNTuullE? 'Won't you talk?'). That's just the question form of മിണ്ടൂല്ല miNTuulla 'won't talk'. I think I'd say മിണ്ടത്തില്ല miNTaththilla or മിണ്ടത്തില്ലേ? miNTaththillE? So, that comes from the verb മിണ്ടുക miNTuka, which means something like 'to talk'. Usually, we use it with a negative word like ഇല്ല illa to mean 'to not talk' (or 'to be quiet' or 'to remain silent'), just like Pareekutty does there.

I think next time I'll talk about another verb form that you might use to talk about the future, too. Or maybe I'll talk about verbs like പോകട്ടെ pOkaTTe and what they mean or how to use them. Or maybe neither. Or both. We'll see. :lol:

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-01-04, 6:41

Uh-oh. OK, this part is going to be hard for me, because I'm going to talk about another verb form used for talking about the future...but I myself never fully grasped the difference between this and the other ones! :lol:

We already talked about one way of talking about the future, in particular when implying that something is certain to happen in the future. For example, if I say ഞാൻ വരും njaan varum 'I will come', that means I will definitely come (to wherever I say I will). But what if I want to say something more like 'I will come, but don't hold your breath or anything! I mean, there's some chance that I won't, but I expect to make it'?

The way you do that is to replace the -ഉം -um at the end with -ആം -aam. So instead of saying ഞാൻ വരും njaan varum, you say ഞാൻ വരാം njaan varaam.

...Well, that was a short lesson. :lol: I need to cover something else! Maybe this time, I'll finally talk about words like വള്ളത്തിലെ vaLLaththile. Remember way back when I posted this dialog from the movie Chemmeen, where Pareekkutty opens by saying "കറുത്തമ്മ...വള്ളത്തിലെ മീനെല്ലാം എനിക്കല്ലേ? karruththamma...vaLLaththile miinellaam enikkallE?" 'Karuthamma, aren't all the fish in the boat for me?' We've covered everything in that sentence before in this thread except for one little detail: the -e at the end of vaLLaththile. What's with that? വള്ളത്തിൽ vaLLaththil already means 'in the boat'. So why do we need that -e, too?

Well, it tells us that വള്ളത്തിലെ vaLLaththile modifies the noun or the noun phrase that comes after it: in this case, മീന്‍ miin 'fish'. In other words, it tells us that it's referring to a certain thing in the boat. What's Pareekkutty asking about? He's asking about fish. Which fish? The fish in the boat - വള്ളത്തിലെ മീന്‍ vaLLaththile miin. If we didn't have that -e at the end, then I imagine വള്ളത്തിൽ മീനെല്ലാം എനിക്കല്ലേ? vaLLaththil miinellaam enikkallE? would probably mean something like 'aren't all the fish for me on the boat?'. As in, "if I was on the boat, wouldn't all the fish that were caught(?) be for me?" But of course, that's not what Pareekkutty means. He means the fish that are already in the boat.

So basically, you add that -e suffix to a noun in locative case to show that the next noun is something in it. വള്ളത്തിൽ vaLLaththil 'in the boat' is in locative case, but if I add -e to it and then put another noun after that as in വള്ളത്തിലെ മീന്‍ vaLLaththile miin, that means the fish (മീന്‍) that are in the boat (വള്ളത്തിലെ). :)

Next time, I think I'll start talking about verbs that can take dative subjects, since that also includes verbs with the suffix that I described in the first part of this post.

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2017-01-28, 4:52

In Malayalam, the subject of a sentence is usually in nominative case (which is also the citation form and the default form, i.e. the one that doesn't take any special endings). However, with certain verbs, especially verbs that have to do with emotions, the subject is instead in dative case.

For example, if you wanted to say 'I want (cooked) rice', you would say:

എനിക്ക് ചോറ് വേണം. enikku chOrr(u) vENam.

This can also mean (by implication) 'I want a meal'. Notice that instead of saying ഞാൻ njaan for 'I', you say എനിക്ക്, which is the dative case form. This is because you always use the dative case form for the subject when the verb is some form of 'to want'.

Other verbs that require the subject to be in dative case include:
തോന്നുക thOnnuka 'to feel, think' (but NOT വിചാരിക്കുക vichaarikkuka 'to think'!)
വിശക്കുക viSakkuka 'to be hungry'
ദാഹിക്കുക daahikkuka 'to be thirsty'
ക്ഷീണിക്കുക kshiiNikkuka 'to get tired'
ഒക്കുക/കഴിയുക/സാധിക്കുക okkuka/kazhiyuka/saadhikkuka 'to be able (to do something)'
വയ്യാതാവുക vayyaathaavuka meaning either 'to be unable (to do something)' or 'to be sick'

വിശക്കുക viSakkuka 'to be hungry' and ദാഹിക്കുക daahikkuka 'to be thirsty' can be used in the present progressive form:

നിനക്ക് വിശക്കുന്നോ? ninakk(u) viSakkunnO? 'Are you hungry?'
ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് ദാഹിക്കുന്നു. njangngaLkk(u) daahikkunnu. 'We're thirsty.'

തോന്നുക thOnnuka 'to feel, think' can also be used this way, but it's also very often used in the past tense form for expressing an opinion or sharing a thought where in English, we would say 'I think'. For example:

അതൊരു ആനയാണെന്ന് എനിക്ക് തോന്നി. athoru aanayaaNenn enikk(u) thOnni. 'I think that's an elephant.'

Here, തോന്നി thOnni is in the past tense. You could perhaps say the reason for this is that the person saying this had already formulated their thought earlier and it's just that they're putting it into words now.

The verbs ഒക്കുക okkuka, കഴിയുക kazhiyuka, and സാധിക്കുക saadhikkuka, all meaning 'to be able', are more often used in the habitual form:

എനിക്ക് അത് ചെയ്യാൻ ഒക്കും. enikk ath(u) cheyyaan okkum. 'I can do that'.

ക്ഷീണിക്കുക kshiiNikkuka 'to get tired' can be used in the present tense, but to talk about being tired, i.e. having already gotten tired, you'd use the past tense:

നിങ്ങൾക്ക് ക്ഷീണിച്ചില്ലേ? ningngaLkk(u) kshiiNichchillE? 'Aren't you tired?'

Okay, that was a lot right there! There's a lot more to say about verbs that have subjects in the dative case because some verbs can take subjects in the nominative case OR the dative case, but then the meaning is different. I think I'll save that for next time, though, or maybe even split it up into a few lessons. Then I better talk about using -കൊണ്ട് -koNT(u) for forming the instrumental case, because it's a lesson I just realized is long overdue! (Maybe I'll even combine both of those into one lesson). After that, I might talk about causatives in Malayalam, and then I think I'll talk about how to say things like 'may I go!' and some ways of saying 'goodbye', then about how to talk about accidentally doing something. Maybe after that, I could repost that clip from Manjil Virinja Pookkal I posted once in this thread and start going through that.

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2017-09-15, 4:11

I just realized I never clarified how to talk about being unable to do something or being sick, even though I mentioned a verb for that in the last lesson. Well, basically, വയ്യ vayya is the word you use for both of these things. For example, let's say you wanted to say 'I can't get up!' 'To get up' in Malayalam is എഴുന്നേൽക്കുക ezhunnElkkuka, usually pronounced ezhunnEkkuka. Then 'I can't get up' would be:

എനിക്ക് എഴുന്നേൽക്കാൻ വയ്യ! enikk ezhunnEkkaan vayya!

But if you just said, "എനിക്ക് വയ്യ" enikku vayya, that could mean either of two things: It could mean 'I'm sick'.
However, it can also be used as an interjection to mean something like 'omg, you are just too much!' (either in a positive way or a negative way, like the English equivalent I just typed out). നിനക്ക് വയ്യ ninakku vayya can only mean 'you're sick'.

Now, another time when you need to have the subject in dative case is when you're talking about something you want to do. So how do you talk about wanting to do something? Well, I kind of talked about this earlier in this thread but don't seem to have ever dedicated a lesson to it. What you basically do is take the (stem of the) verb expressing whatever it is you want (or whoever wants) to do and then add വേണം vENam to it. For example, 'want(s) to go' would be:

പോകേണം pOkENam

but this can also be pronounced pOkaNam or even just pONam. Usually, the suffix for 'want to (do something)' is pronounced -aNam even though the more formal pronunciation is -ENam.

However, പോകേണം can also mean 'have to go' (or 'has to go', 'need to go', or 'needs to go'). How do you tell which one it means? Well, if the subject is in dative case, then it means 'want(s) to go'. If it's in nominative case, then it means 'have/has/need(s) to go'!

So എനിക്ക് പോകേണം enikku pONam means 'I want to go',
but ഞാൻ പോകേണം njaan pONam means 'I need/have to go'.

Let's talk a bit more about these verbs to end this lesson, and then we'll talk more about verbs that take dative subjects and how they affect the objects in the next lesson! So that's how you'd talk about needing or wanting (to do) something in the present tense. What about in the past?

Well, 'wanted' or 'needed' in Malayalam is വേണമായിരുന്നു vENamaayirunnu (so basically, 'want/need' + 'was'), but is usually pronounced vENaayirunnu. I think you can also say വേണ്ടി വന്നു vENDi vannu or വേണ്ടിയിരുന്നു vENDiyirunnu, but വേണ്ടി വന്നു sounds like you're talking about a situation arising where suddenly, you needed or wanted something, and വേണ്ടിയിരുന്നു sounds like you're talking about having needed or wanted something for a long time.

So similarly, you can say പോകേണമായിരുന്നു pONaayirunnu for 'wanted/needed/had to go'. I think you could also say പോകേണ്ടി വന്നു pOkENDi vannu, or more often pONDi vannu. You could also probably say പോകേണ്ടിയിരുന്നു pOkENDiyirunnu/pONDiyirunnu.

If you're talking about how you will definitely need something in the future, you have to add -ഏണ്ടി വരും -ENDi varum. If you're saying you might need something in the future, you have to add -ഏണ്ടി വരുമായിരിക്കും -ENDi varumaayirikkum, or rather -ENDi varuvaayrikkum as it's usually pronounced IME.

So പോകേണ്ടി വരും pOkENDi/pONDi varum would mean 'will (definitely) have/want/need to go' and പോകേണ്ടി വരുമായിരിക്കും pOkENDi varumaayirikkum/pONDi varuvaayrikkum would mean 'might have/need/want to go'.

In the next lesson, we'll talk about how to talk about things existing, how to talk about having things, and how to talk about not wanting or needing things (all three of these are closely related topics in the context of Malayalam grammar!) and then move on to talking about how the direct objects of these verbs are not necessarily in accusative case.

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-07, 21:16

In Malayalam, to talk about something existing, you generally use the verb ഉണ്ട് uND(u). This verb is typically pronounced (more like) oND(u). For example, to say 'there is fish in the boat', you'd say:

വള്ളത്തിൽ മീനുണ്ട്. vaLLaththil miinuND(u). (But you'd probably pronounce it like vaLLaththil miinoND(u). For the purposes of this post, you may safely assume that all sequences of uND are often pronounced oND).

You can also use this with a pronoun as the subject, not just with nouns like 'fish'. For example, to say 'I'm here' (as in 'I'm here for you' or 'I'm present' or whatever), you'd say:

ഞാനുണ്ട്. njaanuND(u).

As I'd pointed out earlier in a reply to sshashwatt, you can also use ഉണ്ട് after the present progressive form of a verb, and that means pretty much the same thing as the present progressive form.

The past tense of ഉണ്ട് is ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു unDaayirunnu, and the future tense (definite) form is ഉണ്ടാകും uNDaakum. If you want to say 'there may be', you'd say ഉണ്ടാകുമായിരിക്കും uNDaakumaayirikkum, which is often pronounced uNDaakuvaayirikkum (i.e. the first m is often pronounced like a v).

Also, generally, in Malayalam, you can drop the subject if it's implied from the context. This is kind of like using pronouns with a clear antecedent in English; it's just that in Malayalam, we often tend to just drop the subject altogether instead of replacing it with a pronoun:

മീനുണ്ടോ? miinuNDO? 'Is there any fish?'
വള്ളത്തിൽ ഉണ്ട്. vaLLaththil uND(u). 'Yes, in the boat.' (Literally 'there is in the boat')

There's a different form of ഉണ്ട് used for saying 'there is/are only...', but we'll probably talk about that later.

Sometimes, you can just use the verb for 'to be' to mean 'there is/are', too. For example, you can do this if you're talking about something being full of something else or about something being in/at a particular location (these are the only examples that are coming to my mind right now, at least):

വള്ളത്തിൽ മുഴുവനും മീനാ. vaLLaththil muzhuvanum miinaa. 'The boat is full of fish.' (മുഴുവനും means something like 'whole' and is typically pronounced more like muzhzhenum).
വള്ളത്തിൽ മീനാ. vaLLaththil miinaa. 'It's fish that's in the boat.'
വള്ളത്തിലാ മീൻ. vaLLaththilaa miin. 'It's in the boat that the fish are.'

There are other expressions for saying that something exists that use ഉണ്ട് as well. Perhaps the most common one is ഇരിപ്പുണ്ട് irippuND(u), which literally means 'there is sitting'. Other common ones are നില്പുണ്ട് nilpuND(u) 'there is standing/waiting' and കിടപ്പുണ്ട് kiDappuND(u) (typically pronounced keDapoND(u)) 'there is lying'. I think it may be safe to say that കിടപ്പുണ്ട് has the connotation of something 'remaining' and that നില്പുണ്ട് has a connotation closer to 'waiting', while ഇരിപ്പുണ്ട് sounds like something or someone is in one place and isn't likely to move from there.

To say 'there isn't' in Malayalam, you usually say ഇല്ല illa. Sometimes, you can say അല്ല alla (just like how sometimes you can use -ആ -aa to mean 'there is/are'). The past tense form of ഇല്ല is ഇല്ലായിരുന്നു illaayirunnu, and the past tense of അല്ല is similarly അല്ലായിരുന്നു allaayirunnu. The future tense equivalent of ഇല്ല is ഇല്ലാതിരിക്കും illaathirikkum, literally 'will sit without being'. ഇല്ലായിരിക്കും illaayirikkum (with a y instead of a th) means 'there may not be'. അല്ലായിരിക്കും allaayirikkum can mean either 'may not be' or 'will not be'. You can also say something like 'cannot be' to mean 'will not be' (e.g. ആകാൻ വയ്യ aakaan vayya).

Malayalam doesn't have a verb for 'to have'; instead, it usually uses ഉണ്ട് or ഇല്ല with the subject/possessor in dative case. For example, the usual way to say 'I have' is literally 'there is to me':

എനിക്ക് ഉണ്ട്. enikk uND(u).

And the usual way to say 'I don't have' is literally 'there isn't to me':

എനിക്ക് ഇല്ല. enikk illa.

However, there are other expressions that translate to some form of 'have' in English, too. If you want to talk about something being in someone's possession, a common way of saying this, especially in colloquial Malayalam, literally translates as 'in [subject]'s there is':

എന്റെയിൽ ഒരു കാറുണ്ട്. endeyil oru kaarruND(u). 'I have a car.'
അമ്മയുടെയിൽ ഒരു പശുവുണ്ട്. ammayuDeyil oru paSuvuND(u). (pronounced more like ammEDEl oru paSuvoND(u).) 'Mom has a cow.'

The -eyil in these expressions is pronounced -El in my experience.

Another way of saying that something is in someone's possession is to use the expression കൈവശം ഉണ്ട് kaivaSam uND(u), literally 'there is the hand side' (the idea being 'there is in [person]'s hand' even if it's only in the person's possession, not literally in anyone's hand) with the possessor in genitive case like in the previous expression:

എന്റെ കൈവശം ഒരു പേനയുണ്ട്. ende kaivaSam oru pEnayuND(u). 'I have a pen.'

The first of these expressions can be negated, though I'm less sure about whether the second one can be:

എന്റെയിൽ ഒരു കാറില്ല. endeyil oru kaarrilla. 'I don't have a car.'

Also, I thought I'd talk about how to talk about not wanting or needing things, because we already know that വേണം vENam is the verb you use for talking about when someone does need or want something. The negative form is വേണ്ട vENDa:

എനിക്ക് അത് വേണ്ട. enikk ath(u) vENDa. 'I don't want that.'
അവന് ഒരു ഭാര്യയെ വേണ്ട. avan oru bhaaryaye vENDa. 'He doesn't want a wife.'

ഉണ്ട് and ഇല്ല can also be used with some other words to talk about certain kinds of feelings and emotions, and these expressions also require the subject to be in dative case. For example, to say that someone is afraid, in Malayalam, you say that "there is fear (പേടി pEDi) to them":

എനിക്ക് പേടിയുണ്ട്. enikk(u) pEDiyuND(u). 'I'm scared.'
എനിക്ക് പേടിയില്ല. enikk(u) pEDIyilla. 'I'm not scared.'

You can use this for various other feelings and emotions, too:

എനിക്ക് വിശപ്പുണ്ട്. enikk(u) viSappuND(u). 'I'm hungry.' ("To me there is hunger.")
എനിക്ക് ദാഹമുണ്ട്. enikk(u) daahamuND(u). 'I'm thirsty.' ("To me there is thirst.")
എനിക്ക് സങ്കടമുണ്ട്. enikk(u) sanggaDamuND(u). 'I'm sad.' ("To me there is sadness.")
എനിക്ക് തണുപ്പുണ്ട്. enikk(u) thaNuppuND(u). 'I'm cold.' ("To me there is coldness.")

I think all of these expressions are also cases where you can use 'to be' instead of ഉണ്ട്, e.g. എനിക്ക് വിശപ്പാ. enikk(u) viSappaa. 'I'm hungry.'

There are other ways to say 'I'm thirsty' and 'I'm cold', too:

എനിക്ക് ദാഹിക്കുന്നു. enikk(u) daahikkunnu. 'I'm thirsty.'
എനിക്ക് തണുക്കുന്നു. enikk(u) thaNukkunnu. 'I'm cold.'

I should write a lesson on the various words for 'only' in Malayalam and the differences between them sometime, but next time, I think I'll just talk about some other ways to say 'no' besides അല്ല alla and ഇല്ല illa and then about how the direct objects of verbs having to do with feelings, wanting things, etc. are not always in accusative case even if they're animate. (Of course, if there's something more crucial that I just have to talk about next time, then I'll try to talk about that instead and may not get around to explaining all these things). Maybe I can write about 'only' the time after next and also talk in Malayalam about how to talk about whether there's any point to doing something; we'll see!

księżycowy

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-07, 22:19

I was waiting for you to post here.

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-07, 22:31

Lol. :P

księżycowy

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-07, 23:22

Who says I'm joking, Vijay-chan?

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-07, 23:46

No one. It's just kind of funny to me that you'd be waiting so desperately for me to post here so I'd finally post in Chinese. :whistle:

księżycowy

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-08, 0:03

Maybe I was waiting for you to post here for Malayalam.....

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-08, 0:26

Aww. :<3:

księżycowy

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-08, 0:42

I wasn't, but we can pretend I was.

I wasn't even waiting for it for Chinese!


Return to “South Asian Languages”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests