Malayalam lessons

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vijayjohn
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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-08, 1:11

So why were you really waiting for me to post here then? :P

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby rmanoj » 2018-01-08, 3:39

Hi,
There is no expression എന്റെയിൽ. You may be thinking of എന്റെ കൈയ്യിൽ, which I guess can sound like എന്റെയിൽ in colloquial pronunciation.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-01-08, 3:47

Oh, yes, I had forgotten to mention എന്റെ കൈയ്യിൽ. I have seen a few people online write എന്റെയിൽ, but indeed, I haven't seen it in written Malayalam otherwise.

Thanks! :)

księżycowy

Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-08, 10:52

vijayjohn wrote:So why were you really waiting for me to post here then? :P

Just to clog it up a bit with OT. :lol:

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-07-02, 16:00

Today, as I said before, I'll talk about other ways to say 'no' and about the direct objects of verbs having to do with emotions.

I've said before that the way you usually say 'yes' in Malayalam is to repeat the main verb in a sentence. Similarly, to say 'no', we just use the negative form of that verb. Since most verbs in Malayalam are negated using ഇല്ല illa anyway, we can usually use ഇല്ല by itself instead of the entire negative form of the verb. However, when we're responding to a question about whether we want something and saying 'no', then we instead use the negative form of that verb, i.e. വേണ്ട vENDa.

A verb like വേണ്ട can take a direct object in accusative case even though the subject has to be in dative case. However, for some verbs that require the subject to be in dative case, the direct object (or at least, the direct object in the English equivalent) isn't necessarily in accusative case. For example, if you wanted to say 'I like him' in Malayalam, what you would literally say is 'I have a liking to/for him'. One way you could say this is എനിക്ക് അവന് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട് enikk avan oru ishTam uND(u). This could perhaps be ambiguous since both 'I' and 'him' are in dative case, so it could also mean 'he likes me' rather than 'I like him', although 'I like him' would probably be the more likely interpretation given the word order. oru ishTam may also be pronounced more like orishTam colloquially/when you're speaking casually or normally.

Another way you could say it that's not ambiguous is എനിക്ക് അവനോട് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട് enikk avanOT [oru ishTam]/[orishTam] uND(u). Here, അവനോട് avanOT(u) is in sociative case, and this sentence can only mean 'I like him', not 'he likes me'. These are not the only ways you can say 'I like him'; you could also say 'I felt a liking to him', i.e. എനിക്ക് അവന്/അവനോട് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം തോന്നി. enikk avan/avanOT oru ishTam thOnni. You could even just say എനിക്ക് അവന്/അവനോട് ഇഷ്ടമാ(ണ്). enikk avan/avanOT ishTamaa(N(u)).

And so, when Pareekkutty asks Karuthamma whether she likes him, he says:

കറുത്തമ്മ, എന്നോട് ഇഷ്ടമാണോ? karruththamma, ennOT ishTamaaNO?

Next time, maybe I'll post a lesson about how to say 'only' and how to talk about whether there's any point to doing something. :)

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby rmanoj » 2018-07-03, 7:22

The "എനിക്ക് അവന് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട്" construction doesn't exist. You can use the accusative and say "എനിക്ക് അവനെ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്." But the construction with അവനോട് is better, particularly for romance.

And I prefer the spelling വേണ്ടാ―that's where it comes from, ആ being an old-fashioned negating suffix.

You can see it in poetry. There is a line in Kumaran Asan's വീണ പൂവ്: "ഗുണികളൂഴിയിൽ നീണ്ടുവാഴാ"
I.e. The virtuous/ those who have good qualities (ഗുണികൾ) in the world (ഊഴിയിൽ) will not live long (നീണ്ടുവാഴാ).
In Tamil they would add a personal ending to make it வாழார்.

You can also see it in in constructions like കാണാപ്പൊന്ന് 'unseen gold'.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-07-03, 12:24

rmanoj wrote:The "എനിക്ക് അവന് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട്" construction doesn't exist. You can use the accusative and say "എനിക്ക് അവനെ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്."

Weird, my dad seems to think it does, or at least that it's grammatical. Oh well. Thanks! :)

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby rmanoj » 2018-07-03, 12:50

vijayjohn wrote:
rmanoj wrote:The "എനിക്ക് അവന് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട്" construction doesn't exist. You can use the accusative and say "എനിക്ക് അവനെ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്."

Weird, my dad seems to think it does, or at least that it's grammatical. Oh well. Thanks! :)

Hmmm.. Maybe it's just a rare construction I haven't come across.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-07-04, 0:22

rmanoj wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:
rmanoj wrote:The "എനിക്ക് അവന് ഒരു ഇഷ്ടം ഉണ്ട്" construction doesn't exist. You can use the accusative and say "എനിക്ക് അവനെ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്."

Weird, my dad seems to think it does, or at least that it's grammatical. Oh well. Thanks! :)

Hmmm.. Maybe it's just a rare construction I haven't come across.

I've started learning from this sort of thing just how much native speakers disagree on whether things are grammatical or not, and I suspect that might be what's happening here. അപ്പ also strongly disagrees with a lot of K. P. Mohanan's grammaticality judgments.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-23, 21:30

First, a few updates:
vijayjohn wrote:
sshashwatt wrote:2) How to make negative permissive/command sentences? Can we use “arute” suffix?

She may go- Avalkku pookaam/ aval pookatte/ aval pooyikute
She may not go- Aval pokarute? :para:

Well, -aruthe means 'don't'. So pOkaruthe! means 'don't go!'

avaLkk(u) pOkaam means, as you said, 'she may go' (or 'she can go').

avaL pOkaTTe means something a little different; it's more like 'may she go!' I think you can also use it to mean 'allow her to go!' (By the way, this particular expression can also be used idiomatically to mean 'forget (about) her!').

avaL pOyikkuuTe is something I've never heard before, to be honest. :hmm: Maybe it does exist, though. It might be worth asking my dad about, lol.

അവൾക്ക് പോയിക്കൂടെ? avaLkk(u) pOyikkuuTe? if I understand correctly means 'can't she go?'.
Please help me understand word "ariyaam".
Njaan/ enikk(u) ariyaam- I know.
Is this "ariyuka+aam > ariy+aam= ariyaam (promissive mood)?

Pretty much, yes. We usually say enikk(u) arriyaam to mean 'I know'.
I know (for sure) > njaan ariyum. Is that right?

I'm not sure, to be honest. :lol: I've never been sure what the difference was between njaan arriyum and enikk(u) arriyaam, but I think of njaan arriyum as meaning 'I will know for sure'. In any case, at least in my experience (and probably in real life), people seem to use enikk(u) arriyaam more often than njaan arriyum anyway.

Hope this helps! :)

Also, from what I understand, *njaan arriyaam is wrong and it should be enikk(u) arriyaam.

Now, on to a new lesson!

I mentioned before that you can use the emphatic suffix -ഏ -E in sentences that would have the word 'only' in English but never really delved into this. Let's do that this time!

So basically, the way you usually express the meaning 'only' in Malayalam is by not only using this suffix but also adding -ഊ -uu to the verb stem (citation form - -ഉക -uka).

Here's a sample from the short story തേങ്ങ thEngnga 'Coconut' by the late Malayalee comedian VKN:
കോൺവെന്റിൽ പഠിക്കുന്ന കുട്ടിയാണെന്നേ തോന്നൂ. ഇംഗ്ലീഷേ പറയൂ. സിഗരറ്റേ വലിക്കൂ. സ്‌കോച്ചേ കഴിക്കൂ. kONventil paThikkunna kuTTiyaaNennE thOnnuu. ingliishE parrayuu. sigarattE valikkuu. skOchchE kazhikkuu. 'You'd think she was none other than a kid studying at a convent. She only spoke English. She only smoked cigarettes [whereas most people smoke beedis]. She only consumed Scotch.'

At least colloquially and in the variety of Malayalam my parents speak, it seems common to alternatively add -അത്തുള്ളൂ -aththuLLuu instead of -ഊ -uu, e.g. തോന്നത്തുള്ളൂ thOnnaththuLLuu. AFAICT, verbs with either of these forms carry no information regarding verb tense, and so തോന്നൂ or തോന്നത്തുള്ളൂ could mean 'only feel', 'only feels', 'only felt', or 'only will feel'.

We've already seen the word മാത്രം maathram 'only'. മാത്രം can also be combined with -ഏ -E with this structure with a similar meaning. For example, as an alternative to ഇംഗ്ലീഷേ പറയൂ ingliishE parrayuu 'she only spoke English', I believe you could just as well say ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് മാത്രമേ പറയൂ ingliish maathramE parrayuu or ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് മാത്രമേ പറയത്തുള്ളൂ ingliish maathramE parrayaththuLLuu with the same meaning. However, I also think you would be unlikely to use ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് മാത്രമേ പറയത്തുള്ളൂ in writing or see it being used there, whereas you might well see ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് മാത്രമേ പറയൂ.

If you want to say something like 'all she speaks is English', you could use the word ആകപ്പാടെ aakappaaTe, possibly in conjunction with മാത്രം maathram. ആകപ്പാടെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷേ പറയത്തുള്ളൂ aakappaaTe imgliishE parrayaththuLLuu or ആകപ്പാടെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് മാത്രമേ പറയത്തുള്ളൂ aakappaaTe ingliish maathramE parrayaththuLLuu would mean 'all she speaks is English'. I'm pretty sure this word is also used in literature, but I'm not sure whether I've seen it used with forms like പറയൂ parrayuu.

I had also said before that I would talk about how to talk about whether there is any point to doing something. One way you can ask whether there is any point to doing something is by using the phrase കാര്യമുണ്ടോ kaaryamuNDO 'is there any point?', possibly with വല്ല valla, e.g. പറഞ്ഞിട്ട് കാര്യമുണ്ടോ? parranjnjiTT(u) kaaryamuNDO? 'Is there a point in saying it?' or പറഞ്ഞിട്ട് വല്ല കാര്യമുണ്ടോ? parranjnjiTT(u) valla kaaryamuNDO? 'Is there any point in saying it?' കാര്യമുണ്ട് kaaryamuND(u) as a response would mean 'yes, there is a point'; കാര്യമില്ല kaaryamilla would mean 'no, there isn't'. Instead of കാര്യം kaaryam, it is also possible to use ഗുണം guNam 'benefit' with a similar meaning.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-23, 21:37

I'm going to make up for my long absence in this thread by posting some more lessons this time (it's not really because of the long absence but rather because I posted a bunch of lessons on another forum that I have now essentially left, and I want to make sure my lessons here contain the data included in my lessons there).

I've come to realize that I never really explained a very simple pattern in Malayalam that might be useful to interested learners, although I did touch on it: In Malayalam, words that have something to do with something close to the speaker may begin with i or a similar sound, words that have something to do with something further away may begin with a or a similar sound, and interrogative words may begin with e or a similar sound. For example, 'book' in Malayalam is പുസ്തകം pusthakam. 'This book' is ഈ പുസ്തകം ii pusthakam, and 'that book' is ആ പുസ്തകം aa pusthakam. In these contexts, ഈ ii means 'this', and ആ aa means 'that'.

These are different from the pronouns ഇത് ith(u) 'this' and അത് ath(u) 'that' even though the translations are the same in English. For example, you could say ഇത് ഒരു പുസ്തകമാണ് ith(u) oru pusthakamaaN(u) 'this is a book' or അത് ഒരു പുസ്തകമാണ് ath(u) oru pusthakamaaN(u) 'that is a book' but couldn't use ഈ ii or ആ aa in either of these sentences. However, note that ഇത് ith(u) still begins with the letter ഇ i, like ഈ ii except shorter. Similarly, അത് ath(u) begins with the letter അ a, like ആ aa except shorter. Lots of other words follow a similar pattern.

This is the same pattern we saw earlier with the pronouns ഇവൻ ivan and അവൻ avan, both translated into English as 'he'. Similarly, ഇപ്പോൾ ippOL means 'now', and അപ്പോൾ appOL means 'then'. ഇവിടെ iviTe means 'here', and അവിടെ aviTe means 'there'. ഇങ്ങനെ ingngane means 'like this', and അങ്ങനെ angngane means 'like that'.

Question words generally begin with എ e, e.g. എന്ത് enth(u) 'what', എപ്പോൾ eppOL 'when', എവിടെ eviTe 'where', and എങ്ങിനെ engngine 'how' (note the difference in the second syllable compared to ഇങ്ങനെ and അങ്ങനെ). 'Why' is എന്തിന് enthin(u), literally 'for what'. 'Which' is ഏത് Eth(u) and can be either an independent pronoun or a demonstrative adjective. ഏത് Eth(u) can often just be translated as 'what' or 'who'. For example, ഏതാണ്? EthaaN(u)? could mean 'which one is it?', 'what is that?', or 'who is he?', among other things. ഏത് പുസ്തകം? Eth(u) pusthakam? means 'which book?'. I believe I have already covered all of these question words in this thread. I also mentioned ഇത്ര ithra 'this much/many', അത്ര athra 'that much/many', and എത്ര ethra 'how much/many?'.

These words can also be combined with the dative case suffix:

ഇത്രയ്ക്ക് ithraykk(u) 'to this extent'
അത്രയ്ക്ക് athraykk(u) 'to that extent'
എത്രയ്ക്ക് iethraykk(u) 'to what extent?'

Other similar triplets are:

ഇത്തറി/ഇങ്ങനത്തെ iththarri/ingnganaththe 'this kind of'
അത്തറി/അങ്ങനത്തെ aththarri/angnganaththe 'this kind of'
എത്തറി/എങ്ങനത്തെ eththarri/engnganaththe 'what kind of?'

ഇങ്ങനത്തെ, അങ്ങനത്തെ, and എങ്ങനത്തെ are the forms that I believe my parents use. Other speakers may instead use ഇത്തറി, അത്തറി, and എത്തറി, respectively. Similarly, some speakers colloquially use these forms instead of ഇപ്പോൾ ippOL, അപ്പോൾ appOL, and എപ്പോൾ eppOL:

ഇപ്പം ippam 'now'
അപ്പം appam 'then'
എപ്പം eppam 'when?'

When speaking of future events, e.g. 'what are we going to do now?', ഇനി ini is used instead of ഇപ്പം ippam or ഇപ്പോൾ ippOL. Also, the forms of the words in these time-related triplets change before a suffix, e.g.:

ഇപ്പോഴും ippOzhum 'even now' (pronounced more like ippazhum IME)
അപ്പോഴും appOzhum 'even then' (appazhum)
എപ്പോഴും eppOzhum 'always' (eppuzhum)

I've mentioned the middle one of these three before since it can also mean 'you'. My understanding is that all three of these words are used to refer to where something or someone is located, not to where someone is going. The first two of these can also be used like 'just', 'so', or 'such a(n)' in American English, especially to emphasize something ('he's so...!' It's also possible to trail off at the end of the sentence like this using one of these two words):

ഇങ്ങ് ingng(u) 'here'
അങ്ങ് angng(u) 'there'
എങ്ങ് engng(u) 'where?'

അങ്ങ് അവിടെ angng(u) aviTe means 'over there'.

There are also words in Malayalam use to refer to different sides of a body of water, especially a river:

ഇക്കര ikkara 'this side of the water/pond, the side where I am'
അക്കര akkara 'that/the other side of the water/pond'

ഇക്കരെ ikkare 'on this side of the water/pond'
അക്കരെ akkare 'on the other side of the water/pond, across the pond'
അക്കരെ ഇക്കരെ akkare ikkare 'on opposite sides of a body of water'

Sometimes either the long vowel or the short vowel can be used, though the short vowel is perhaps more common:

ഈ കൊല്ലം ii kollam, ഇക്കൊല്ലം ikkollam 'this year'
ആ കൊല്ലം aa kollam, അക്കൊല്ലം akkollam 'that year'

ഈ കാലം ii kaalam, ഇക്കാല്ലം ikkaalam 'this year'
ആ കാലം aa kaalam, അക്കാല്ലം akkaalam 'that year'

ഈ പ്രാവശ്യം ii praavaSyam, ഇപ്രാവശ്യം ipraavaSyam 'this time'
ആ പ്രാവശ്യം aa praavaSyam, അപ്രാവശ്യം apraavaSyam 'that time'

പ്രാവശ്യം praavaSyam IME is typically pronounced more like praaSam across the board, including in these examples.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-23, 21:38

This is basically just a post I wrote on another forum copied here, with IPA transcriptions replaced by Malayalam script and Romanization:

I'm writing a post about this at a point when I haven't even said much about Malayalam just because I use these terms a lot even in English, to the point where using the kinds of terms that English-speakers normally use feels awkward.

The truth is that every family has its own set of kinship terms AFAIK, so even for native speakers, understanding another native speaker using the terms they personally would use can be difficult and there's a lot of "oh you say this for this kind of relative? But for us that means this other kind of relative haha! And what do you say for this kind?" etc. So I'm just going to explain the terms that I'm familiar with for my own family.

I call my mom അമ്മ amma. I've been told that this is very common all over India, and of course it's common in many other parts of the world, too. My dad is അപ്പ appa. However, anyone else's dad is their അപ്പൻ appan; for me to refer to them as their *അപ്പ appa is grammatically incorrect. The word for 'son' (that I'm aware of, at any rate) is മകൻ makan, but lots of speakers, including my parents, contract this to just മോൻ mOn in a lot of contexts (such as when they're referring to me!). Specifically, I'm their ഇളയ മകൻ iLaya makan or, as they say, ഇളയ മോൻ iLaya mOn. Incidentally, ഇളയ iLaya also means 'tender'. 'Daughter' is മകൾ makaL or മോൾ mOL for short.

My brother is my അച്ചാച്ച achchaachcha because he's older; anyone else's older brother is their അച്ചാച്ചൻ achchaachchan. He is my parents' older/oldest son or, in Malayalam, their മൂത്ത മകൻ muuththa makan or മൂത്ത മോൻ muuththa mOn. മൂത്ത muuththa also means 'ripe'. The word for 'older sister' for me is ചേച്ചി chEchi. Nearly every one of my cousins is either an അച്ചാച്ചൻ achchaachchan or a ചേച്ചി chEchi, and so I add these titles to their first names. The formal term for 'younger brother' AFAIK is അനുജൻ anujan, but this is more casually pronounced അനിയൻ aniyan, which kind of sounds like the English word onion. :P Similarly, the formal term for 'younger sister' is അനുജത്തി anujaththi, but this is more casually pronounced അനിയത്തി aniyaththi.

Traditionally in our family, അമ്മച്ചി ammachchi is just another word for 'mother', അപ്പച്ചൻ appachchan is another for 'father', and 'grandmother' and 'grandfather' in Malayalam are വലിയമ്മച്ചി valiyammachchi and വലിയപ്പച്ചൻ valiyappachchan respectively. വലിയ valiya means 'big', so this is similar to the English terms 'grandmother' and 'grandfather'. Similarly, e.g. വലിയവലിയപ്പച്ചൻ valiyavaliyappachchan is 'great-grandfather'. However, my mom has oddly chosen to shift the meanings of these words by one generation, so that അമ്മച്ചി ammachchi now means 'grandmother', അപ്പച്ചൻ appachchan now means 'grandfather', വലിയമ്മച്ചി valiyammachchi now means 'great-grandmother', etc. As a result, I call my late (paternal) grandparents അമ്മച്ചി ammachchi and അപ്പച്ചൻ appachchan.

My mom has so many siblings that some of them are closer in age to my grandmother than to my mom and I sometimes add അമ്മച്ചി ammachchi to their names! However, for one of my mom's sisters-in-law, I instead use അമ്മായി ammaayi combined with her first name; I also use this term all by itself (without attaching a name to it) for my dad's sister-in-law (dad's brother's wife). I add the term അമ്മാച്ചൻ ammaachchan to all my mom's brothers' names. My dad, however, only has two older sisters and one younger brother. I call his younger brother ഉപ്പാപ്പൻ uppaappan; this is also what my niece calls me and is the correct term in our family for 'father's younger brother' in general. However, I call both his sisters by the same nicknames he uses: The oldest one is അമ്മാമ്മ ammaamma, and her younger sister is കൊച്ച kochcha. I call everybody else just "____ Uncle" or "____ Auntie." The equivalent of 'auntie' in Malayalam is കൊച്ചമ്മ kochchamma.

The word for 'wife' is ഭാര്യ bhaarya, and 'husband' is ഭർത്താവ് bharththaav(u) (both of these are ultimately loanwords from Sanskrit). 'Groom' is മണവാളൻ maNavaaLan. Sometimes, people also say മണവാളച്ചെറുക്കൻ maNavaaLachcherrukkan; ചെറുക്കൻ cherrukkan basically means 'boy' or 'young man' (ചെറു cherru- means 'small'. The word for 'small' is ചെറിയ cherriya). 'Bride' is മണവാട്ടി maNavaaTTi. 'Nephew' is അനന്തരവൻ anantharavan, and 'niece' is അനന്തരവൾ anantharavaL. 'Daughter-in-law' is മരുമകൾ marumakaL or മരുമോൾ marumOL. My dad also calls both his sisters' husbands അളിയൻ aLiyan. I call my sister-in-law by the Hindi word for 'older brother's wife' and am not quite sure what I'd call her in Malayalam.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-24, 15:02

I kind of touched on this on another post in this thread replying to sshashwatt, but I might as well write a more thorough post about it:

In Malayalam, if we wanted to say 'the man went to the store', we wouldn't have to use any grammar beyond what's already been covered here. We'd say മനുഷ്യൻ കടയിൽ പോയി manushyan kaTayil pOyi. But what if we wanted to say 'the man who went to the store'?

In that case, we would change പോയി pOyi to പോയ pOya and put മനുഷ്യൻ manushyan after it: കടയിൽ പോയ മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOya manushyan 'the man who went to the store'.

If we wanted to say 'the man (who is) going to the store', we'd do something similar, again just replacing the last vowel with a and putting the noun at the end: കടയിൽ പോകുന്ന മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkunna manushyan.

What if we wanted to say 'the man who will go to the store' or 'the man who goes (regularly) to the store'? The honest answer is, I'm not sure! :P Perhaps we could try using കടയിൽ പോകുന്ന മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkunna manushyan with this meaning as well, or we could try കടയിൽ പോകാൻ പോകുന്ന മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkaan pOkunna manushyan. In poetry, at least, you can also find കടയിൽ പോകും മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkum manushyan. I guess this could at least technically also mean 'the man will go to the store' but with inverted word order.

What if we wanted to say 'the man who won't go to the store' or 'the man who doesn't go to the store'? Then we'd say കടയിൽ പോകാത്ത മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkaaththa manushyan. Here, we add -aaththa to the end of the verb stem.

'The man who isn't going to the store' would be കടയിൽ പോകുന്നില്ലാത്ത മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkunnillaaththa manushyan. 'The man who didn't go to the store' could be either കടയിൽ പോയില്ലാത്ത മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOyillaaththa manushyan or, perhaps more likely, കടയിൽ പോകാതിരുന്ന മനുഷ്യൻ kaTayil pOkaathirunna manushyan, literally something like 'the man who remained without going to the store'.

To say something like 'that the man went', all you have to do is add -ത് -th(u) to the corresponding verb form, e.g. മനുഷ്യൻ കടയിൽ പോയത് manushyan kaTayil pOyath(u) 'that the man went to the store'.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-24, 15:03

The equivalent to 'that' in phrases like "I said that..." or "I think that..." in Malayalam is എന്ന് enn(u), which is reduced to just ന്ന് nn(u) after a vowel. For example, ഞാൻ നിന്റെ ഭർത്താവാണെന്ന് പറയ്! njaan ninte bharththaavaaNenn(u) parray(u)! means 'say that I'm your husband!'.

There are at least four ways I can think of that I've seen people explaining what something means in Malayalam, three of which use എന്ന് enn(u). I think one of the most common ways I've seen them do it is using the expression എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ enn(u) vachchaal. A lot of times, people drop the last l. വച്ചാൽ vachchaal literally means 'if [unspecified subject] put(s)' or 'if you (generic) put'. എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ enn(u) vachchaal is thus literally something like 'if you put it like'. For example, 'handkerchief means തൂവാല' in Malayalam would be handkerchief എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ തൂവാല enn(u) vachchaal thuuvaala. എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ enn(u) vachchaal can also mean 'meaning', e.g. if you said something like "we asked for a handkerchief, meaning a തൂവാല."

A very similar term that I honestly only remember encountering in books is എന്നാൽ ennaal, literally something like 'in that case', e.g. handkerchief എന്നാൽ തൂവാല ennaal thuuvaala.

Both എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ enn(u) vachchaal and എന്നാൽ ennaal can be used in conjunction with the phrase എന്നാണർത്ഥം ennaaNarththham, literally something like 'thus is the meaning'. I guess this is just another way of clarifying what something means, e.g. handkerchief എന്ന് വച്ചാൽ തൂവാല എന്നാണർത്ഥം enn(u) vachchaal thuuvaala ennaaNarththham or handkerchief എന്നാൽ തൂവാല എന്നാണർത്ഥം ennaal thuuvaala ennaaNarththham 'handkerchief is what തൂവാല thuuvaala means'.

Another way to explain what something means in Malayalam is to use the expression അതായത് athaayath(u), which I think you could say means essentially 'that is to say'. You might say something like ഞാൻ ഒരു തൂവാല മേടിച്ചു, അതായതൊരു njaan oru thuuvaala mETichchu, athaayathoru handkerchief 'I bought a തൂവാല thuuvaala; that is to say, a handkerchief'. Of course, you could also use it in contexts where you're not necessarily talking about the meaning of a specific word, e.g. ഞാൻ ഒരു തൂവാല അവിടെ പൊടിയിൽ മൂടിക്കിടന്നത് കണ്ടു, അതായത് മണലിൽ കുറേ നേരമായിട്ട് കിടക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. njaan oru thuuvaala aviTe poTiyil muuTikkiTannəth(u) kaNTu, athaayath(u) maNalil kurrE nEramaayiTT(u) kiTakkukayaayirunnu 'I saw a handkerchief covered in dust there; that is to say, it had been lying in the sand for a fairly long time'. I believe I have also seen അതായത് athaayath(u) used to mean 'for example'.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-26, 19:19

In this post, I'll talk about four verbs that all sound similar but have very different meanings, plus a few other verbs with related meanings. One of these four verbs can be combined with a certain suffix to mean 'after', so I'll talk about that suffix first.

In Malayalam, if you want to talk about one thing happening after another, one way to do it is by adding the suffix -ഇട്ട് -iTT(u) (literally 'having put', I guess) to the verb expressing the thing that happened first. For example, പോയിട്ട് വന്നു pOyiTT(u) vannu means 'returned', literally 'went and came'. The past tense form can also be used in a manner similar to a past participle. If you also add -ഉണ്ട് -uNT(u), then it means 'to have (ever) done something', e.g. ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട് cheythiTTuNT(u) 'have/has done'.

-ഇട്ട് -iTT(u) can be combined with കഴിഞ്ഞു kazhinjnju, the past tense form of the verb കഴിയുക kazhiyuka, to mean 'after': കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ട് kazhinjnjiTT(u). 'After I went' would be ഞാൻ പോയി കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ട് njaan pOyi kazhinjnjiTT(u). കഴിയുക kazhiyuka here means 'to be done, finish (doing something)'. It is thus most often used in the past tense as കഴിഞ്ഞു kazhinjnju 'am/are/is done, finished' (but also 'was able to').

Another verb with a similar meaning is തീർക്കുക thiirkkuka 'to completely finish, end (something)', the transitive form of തീരുക thiiruka 'to be finished/completed, be over/gone/depleted'. The past tense of തീർക്കുക thiirkkuka is തീർത്തു thiirththu 'finished, ended (something)', and the past tense of [ˈt̪iːɾuga] is [ˈt̪iːrn̪n̪u] 'is finished, completed, over, gone, depleted'. കഴിയുക kazhiyuka can also be used after another verb, e.g. അവർ കഴിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞു avar kazhichch(u) kazhinjnju would mean 'they're done eating (their meal)'.

Another meaning of കഴിയുക kazhiyuka is 'to be able'. There is also a Sanskrit loanword സാധിക്കുക saadhikkuka that can be used in the same way.

കഴിക്കുക kazhikkuka, by contrast, means 'to eat a meal', i.e. to eat rice. തിന്നുക thinnuga means simply 'to eat'; this could refer to eating anything, including, but by no means limited to, rice. 'They ate meat (beef, by default)' in Malayalam would be അവർ ഇറച്ചി തിന്നു avar irrachchi thinnu; however, കഴിക്കുക kazhikkuka would not be used in this context (except perhaps disparagingly to refer to someone eating so much meat they were eating it like rice). അവർ കഴിച്ചു avar kazhichchu would mean 'they ate a meal', i.e. they ate rice, possibly (though not necessarily) with something else on the side. ചോറ് chOrr(u) means 'cooked rice', so അവർ ചോറ് തിന്നു avar chOrr(u) thinnu means pretty much the same thing as അവർ കഴിച്ചു avar kazhichchu.

കഴുകുക kazhukuka means 'to wash'. Another verb also meaning 'to wash' is മോറുക mOrruka, but I hear this much less often than കഴുകുക kazhukuka, and it may well have become an archaism by now. നമുക്ക് കൈ കഴുകാം! namukk(u) kai kazhukaam! means 'let's wash our hands (including you)!'. പാത്രം paathram can refer to basically any container, so ചേച്ചി പാത്രം കഴുകി കഴിഞ്ഞു chEchchi paathram kazhuki kazhiinjnju (usually) means 'older sister is done washing the dishes'.

Finally, കഴയ്ക്കുക kazhaykkuka means 'to tire', i.e. it means the same thing as 'to get tired' but isn't a common way of saying this. The more common way to say 'to get tired' is the Sanskrit loanword ക്ഷീണിക്കുക kshiiNikkuka. 'I'm tired' would typically be എനിക്ക് ക്ഷീണിച്ചു enikk(u) kshiiNichchu, literally 'I got tired'. The context that immediately comes to mind for me for the verb കഴയ്ക്കുക kazhaykkuka is this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z12hkMnXSTk
I'm pretty sure my dad watched this movie when he was younger and confused it decades later with a completely different movie from around the same time period.

The man sings: നേരം പോയി, നട, നട! nEram pOyi, naTa, naTa! 'We're burning daylight! Keep going, keep going!' (literally 'time went; walk, walk!'). നേരം nEram means 'time'; apparently, from what I've been told at least, it usually implies a period of time longer than a day. പോയി pOyi means 'went', and നേരം പോയി nEram pOyi AFAICT is an expression meaning that time's running out. നട naTa means 'walk!' and is the most informal imperative form; the citation form of this verb is നടക്കുക naTakkuka.

Then the woman complains: എൻ കാല് കഴയ്ക്കണ് കട കട en kaal(u) kazhaykkaN(u) kaTa kaTa. I presume കട കട kaTa kaTa is some kind of sound effect representing her tired/tiring legs (and an attempt of some sort to rhyme with "നട, നട! naTa, naTa!") since 'shop shop' doesn't make sense in context. :P

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-26, 19:29

In Malayalam (and, to varying degrees, in other South Asian languages), verbs are often combined, almost into chains. This often happens, for example, with two verbs that both mean 'to give'. The difference between these two verbs is who the giving is being done to. There's one verb തരിക tharika for 'to give me/us/you/y'all' and another കൊടുക്കുക koTukkuka for 'give him/her/it/them'. These can also be combined with another verb. In that case, it just indicates who something is being done to. For example, പറഞ്ഞു കൊട്! parranjnj(u) koT(u)! means 'tell him/her/it/them!', literally 'say' + 'give (to someone or something else)'.

Another important verb is തിരിയുക thiriyuka 'to turn around'. It can also mean 'to figure out, understand, make out, tell', e.g. നീ പറയുന്നത് എനിക്ക് തിരിയുന്നില്ല nii parrayunnath(u) enikk(u) thiriyunnilla 'I can't tell what you're saying'. തിരിക്കുക thirikkuka can be either transitive or intransitive and also means 'to turn around'. It's used a lot in serial verb constructions, e.g. in the word തിരിച്ചറിയുക thirichcharriyuka 'to recognize, distinguish' (to know clearly?). തിരിച്ച് thirichch(u) can apparently mean 'clearly', and it can also mean 'back' or 'backwards'. There's a joke from an old cartoon where a brother and sister use this ambiguity to their advantage when their dad tells them to read out their grades from their report card while he's looking for his glasses. They hesitate, so what he tells them to do is തിരിച്ചങ്ങോട്ട് വായിക്കാൻ thirichchangngOTT(u) vaayikkaan, with the intended meaning 'to read clearly', but they intentionally reinterpret this as 'to read backwards' and read e.g. 19 as 91.

Some of the basic verbs we've seen before are also commonly used in grammatical constructions. For example, ഇരിക്കുക irikkuka 'to sit' and നിൽക്കുക nilkkuka 'to stand, wait' are both often used in imperfective aspect verb forms (a little more on this later in this post), e.g. പറഞ്ഞു നിന്നു parranjnj(u) ninnu, പറയുകയായിരുന്നു parrayukayaayirunnu, പറയായിരുന്നു parrayaayirunnu, and പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു parranjnjirunnu are all valid equivalents of 'was saying' (പറയായിരുന്നു parrayaayirunnu is the one I would personally be most likely to use, but പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു parranjnjirunnu is also very common, perhaps even more common than പറയായിരുന്നു parrayaayirunnu for most speakers. പറഞ്ഞു നിന്നു parranjnj(u) ninnu seems to be a bit less common. പറയുകയായിരുന്നു parrayukayaayirunnu is just how പറയായിരുന്നു parrayaayirunnu would be pronounced in careful speech). ഇരിക്കുക irikkuka can also be used to form the perfect, so പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു parranjnjirunnu can also mean 'had said'. Another way of saying 'had said' would be പറഞ്ഞായിരുന്നു parranjnjaayirunnu, which I think is more commonly used in my family, though probably some other speakers would use പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു parranjnjirunnu more often.

പോവുക pOvuka 'to go' and വരിക varika 'to come' are also used often in SVCs; in fact, they can even be used together! For example, 'to return' in Malayalam is പോയിട്ട് വരിക pOyiTT(u) varika, literally 'to come having gone'. I've also seen the phrase വരും പോകും varum pOkum 'come(s) and go(es), will come and go' before.

പോവുക pOvuka is also used after a verb to indicate regret or to indicate that something happened by accident (Indo-Aryan languages seem to do pretty much the same thing with their own equivalents of 'to go'), e.g. മറന്ന് പോവുക marrann(u) pOvuka 'to forget (unintentionally)', അയ്യോ, ഞാൻ കതക് അടയ്ക്കാൻ മറന്ന് പോയി! ayyO, njaan kathak(u) aTaykkaan marrann(u) pOyi! 'oops, I forgot to close the door!'. വരിക varika can be used in a similar way, to indicate that something ended up happening, e.g. അങ്ങനായി വരുന്നു angnganaayi varunnu 'am/are/is turning out (to be) that way'. It might even be possible to use പോവുക pOvuka in exactly the same way, but I'm not sure.

Another important verb is കൊള്ളുക koLLuka, literally meaning 'to fit' but also perhaps 'to take'. This can be used literally but is much more commonly used in a more figurative sense and probably even more commonly in SVCs. കൊള്ളാം koLLaam in Malayalam is commonly used as a (I guess somewhat informal) interjection meaning something like 'good!', 'nice!', or 'cool!'. I already mentioned the past participle in earlier lessons as part of the instrumental case suffix: കൊണ്ട് koNT(u). കൊണ്ട് koNT(u) can mean 'having fit' but also something more like 'having taken', and so it's frequently used in the constructions കൊണ്ട് വരിക koNT(u) varika 'to bring' and കൊണ്ട് പോവുക koNT(u) pOvuka 'to take away'. You can even say എടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് വരിക eTuththONT(u) varika (i.e. എടുത്ത് കൊണ്ട് വരിക eTuthth(u) koNT(u) varika) for 'to bring' and എടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് പോവുക eTuththONT(u) pOvuka for 'to take away', where എടുക്കുക eTukkuka means 'to take, carry' (these are both very common expressions).

The last verb I'll cover here is വയ്ക്കുക vaykkuka 'to put, place', which can be used in the phrases കൊണ്ട് വയ്ക്കുക koNT(u) vaykkuka or എടുത്ത് വയ്ക്കുക eTuthth(u) vaykkuka, or possibly എടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് വയ്ക്കുക eTuththONT(u) vaykkuka, all meaning 'to put away'. The past participle വച്ച് vachch(u) is also used in a way similar to the instrumental use of കൊണ്ട് koNT(u) but seems to be used more commonly in this sense than കൊണ്ട് koNT(u) is, e.g. അതുംവച്ച് എന്ത് വേണെങ്കിൽ ചെയ്യാം athumvachch(u) enth(u) vENengkil cheyyaam 'you can do anything with it/that!'.

There can also be other words in between the verbs. Here's an example sentence from my grandfather's war memoirs where he's describing the Japanese air-bombing Rangoon (Yangon) before taking over it: പൈലറ്റുകൾ ആകട്ടെ ശത്രുവാകട്ടെ മിത്രമാകട്ടെ ആ ഉയരത്തിൽ നിന്നും തിരിച്ചറിയാതെ തങ്ങളുടെ പക്കലുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ബോംബുകളെല്ലാം തൂത്തു പെറുക്കി താഴെ കളഞ്ഞു ദൂരെ പറന്ന് പോയി pailattukaL aakaTTe SatruvaakaTTe mithramaakaTTe aa uyaraththil ninnum thirichcharriyaathe thangngaLuTe pakkaththuNTaayirunna bOmbukaLellaam thuuthth(u) perrukki thaazhe kaLanjnj(u) duure parrann(u) pOyi 'The pilots, for their part, who couldn't tell friend from foe at that height, gathered up every one of the bombs they had in stock, dropped them, and flew off into the distance'.

Apart from ആകട്ടെ aakaTTe and ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന uNTaayirunna, there are a bunch of other verb forms in this sentence that are either combined with each other or already made up of two verbs: തിരിച്ചറിയാതെ thirichcharriyaathe 'unable to distinguish', തൂത്തു thuuthth(u) 'having swept', പെറുക്കി perrukki 'having gathered', കളഞ്ഞ് kaLanjnj(u) 'having discarded', പറന്ന് parrann(u) 'having flown', and പോയി pOyi 'went'.

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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-30, 4:17

There are two forms for verbs in the conditional mood, i.e. there are two ways to form verbs to express 'if'. One is by taking a past tense verb, deleting the final vowel, and adding -ആൽ -aal. Such forms do not necessarily imply that something happened in the past. The other is by taking a past or present progressive verb form, deleting the final vowel, and adding -എങ്കിൽ -engkil. I personally prefer to use -ആൽ -aal when possible since I find it more commonly used. However, -ആൽ -aal cannot be used with the equivalent of modal verbs in Malayalam, i.e. with 'can', 'want', etc. The only exception I can think of this is the serial verb construction വേണ്ടി വന്നാൽ vENTi vanaal meaning something like 'if [subject] end(s) up wanting'.

The equivalent of the relative pronoun 'when' in Malayalam is the suffix -പ്പോൾ -ppOL (compare ഇപ്പോൾ ippOL 'now', അപ്പോൾ appOL 'now', എപ്പോൾ eppOL 'when?'), always attached to the verb at the end of the clause. It cannot be used after past or present tense forms until the final vowel in these forms is deleted and replaced with അ a. After definite future forms, it surfaces as -മ്പോൾ -mpOL. Colloquially, people often use -പ്പം -ppam instead of -പ്പോൾ -ppOL or simply delete the last consonant: -പ്പോ -ppO or -മ്പോ -mpO.

I also never really talked about imperatives. You use different forms depending on politeness level. The shortest form is also the most informal, typically used with animals and when being harsh or at least emphatic with children. There's a slightly longer form for some verbs that is also slightly less informal. If you delete the -വുക -vuka or -ഉക -uka from the citation form (if the verb does not end in -വുക -vuka, then delete the -ഉക -uka at the end), then for most verbs, you will get the shortest form; for at least the most common verbs whose citation forms are more than three syllables long (usually four syllables long), you will get the slightly longer form. If the verb ends in -അരിക -aɾika, you will get the shortest form by replacing that with ആ aa. The shortest imperative form of common four-syllable (or longer?) verbs is just the first two syllables of the verb, e.g. പറയുക parrayuka 'to say, tell', പറയ് parray(u) 'say it!', പറ parra 'say it, goddammit!!'.

To obtain a gentler though still somewhat informal imperative mood form, replace the -ഉ് -(u) at the end of the more informal imperative mood form with ഊ uu, i.e. elongate the final vowel, e.g. പറയൂ parrayuu 'say it!'. If the citation form of the verb ends in -ഇക -ika, replace this suffix with ഊ uu instead, e.g. വരൂ varuu 'come!'.

Sometimes, people make imperative verbs to address multiple people by adding -ഇൻ -in, but I see it rarely enough that it strikes me as something of an archaism, not really something people normally use, and I'm not entirely sure how it works.

For a relatively neutral imperative mood form, take the past tense form of the verb, and replace the last vowel with ഓ O, e.g. പറഞ്ഞോ parranjnjO 'okay, say it!'. This is also the way you would make a yes/no question (i.e. past tense form + interrogative suffix), so this same word can also mean 'did [subject] say...?'.

For a gentler variation of this last form, add -ളൂ -Luu to the end, e.g. പറഞ്ഞോളൂ parranjnjOLuu 'go ahead and say it!' This is actually short for the past tense form (past participle?) of the verb (in this case പറഞ്ഞു parranjnj(u) 'having said') + കൊള്ളൂ koLuu 'fit!'.

To form a polite imperative, you combine the past tense/participial form with ആകട്ടെ aakaTTe, e.g. പറഞ്ഞാകട്ടെ parranjnjaakaTTe 'please say it!'.

There is a similar construction used as a relatively gentle way to ask permission; it involves combining the same verb form but with -ഓട്ടേ -OTTE (rather than ആകട്ടെ aakaTTe), e.g. ഞാൻ പറഞ്ഞോട്ടേ njaan parranjnjOTTe 'can/may I please (go ahead and) say it?'.

Here's a movie scene using some of these constructions plus some of the ones covered in previous lessons, but first, I'll include some relevant vocabulary:

ഒറ്റ otta 'single'
ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് ottaykk(u) 'alone, by oneself'
ഒക്കെ okke 'and so on, and such, both, all'
നോക്കുക nOkkuka 'to look, see; to look after'
പേടി pETi 'fear'
എനിക്ക് പേടിയാ(ണ്) enikk(u) pETiyaaN(u) 'I (a)m scared'
നാളെ naaLe 'tomorrow'
പിന്നെ pinne 'then, so, well'
ഹൈ! hai! 'hey!' (not completely sure about this one, including spelling; not something people are normally supposed to say in this context)
ശുശു! SuSu! 'pssst!'
പോലീസ് pOliis 'police, member of police force'
ഒന്ന് onn(u) often means something like 'just' in addition to the numeral 'one'
തുറക്കുക thurrakkuka 'to open' (തുറന്ന് തരിക thurrann(u) tharika 'to open for me/you/us')
പറയുക parrayuka 'to say' (see above)
നല്ല nalla 'good, nice' (in some contexts, also 'very')
ഓടുക OTuka 'to run'
ചെറുപ്പം cherruppam 'young age'
അനുസരണ anusaraNa 'obedience'
അച്ചടക്കം achchaTakkam 'discipline'
വീട് viiT(u) 'house, home'
വീട്ടിൽ viiTTil 'at (someone's) home/house'
മനസ്സിലാവുക manassilaavuka 'to understand' (literally 'to get (ആവുക aavuka) in(to) the mind (മനസ്സിൽ manassil)')
കുറച്ച് kurrachch(u) 'a little'
നേരം nEram 'time, while, days'
കളിക്കുക kaLikkuka 'to play'
പുറത്ത് purrathth(u) 'outside, on the back (from പുറം purram 'back')'
തത്കാലം thalkaalam 'for now'
കുട്ടി kuTTi 'kid, child'
കാലം kaalam 'time, time period, age'
കുട്ടിക്കാലം kuTTikkaalam 'childhood'
കുട്ടിക്കാലത്ത് kuTTikkaalathth(u) 'in childhood'
ഗുണം guNam 'benefit, advantage'

Also, in Geethu's family (not completely sure about spelling here), വലിയച്ച valiyachcha is what she calls her uncle (father's older brother). വലിയേച്ഛൻ valiyEchchhan is what someone else would call him when talking to her. അപ്പച്ചി appachchi is both what she calls her aunt (father's older sister) and what someone else would call her when talking to Geethu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjnpFxQ4DU
Geethu: എന്നെ എന്തേ കൊണ്ടുപോകാത്തത്, Daddy?
enne enthE koNT(u)pOkaaththath(u)...?
Daddy, why don't you take me (away) with you?

Jayarajan: അയ്യോ, conference-ഇന് പോകുമ്പോ കുട്ടികളെ കൊണ്ടുപോകാൻ പാടില്ല, മോളേ!
ayyO, conference-in(u) pOkumpO kuTTikaLe koNT(u)pOkaan paaTilla, mOLE!
Oh my, dear! We can't take kids when we go to the conference, right?

G: അപ്പോ ഗീതുമോള് ഒറ്റയ്ക്കാവില്ലേ?
appO giithumOL(u) ottaykkaavillE?
Then won't I be by myself?

J: വലിയേച്ഛനും അപ്പച്ചിയുമൊക്കെ ഇല്ലേ മോളെ നോക്കാൻ?
valiyEchchhanum appachchiyumokke illE mOLe nOkkaan?
Aren't your uncle and aunt here to look after you, dear?

G: വേണ്ട. Daddy ഇല്ലെങ്കീ എനിക്ക് പേടിയാ.
vENTa. Daddy illengkii enikk(u) pETiyaa.
No. I'm scared if you aren't here.

J: Daddy നാളെ ഇങ്ങ് വരില്ലേ, മോളേ? വരുമ്പം മോൾക്കെന്താ കൊണ്ട് വരേണ്ടത്? Teddy Bear, Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, eh?
Daddy naaLe ingng(u) varillE, mOLE? varumpam mOLkkenthaa koNT(u) varENTath(u)?
Won't Daddy be back ('come') here tomorrow? What do you want me to bring you when I come back? A teddy bear, Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, huh?

G: Little Pony, Pluto, puppy, പിന്നെ...ങ്ഹാ! Kiss me!
...pinne...nghaa!
(My) Little Pony, Pluto, a puppy, and also...oh, yeah, kiss me!

(...)

ഹൈ! ശുശു! ഹേ പോലീസേ!
hai! SuSu! hE, pOliisE!
Hey! Pssst! Oh, Mister Policemaaan!

Cop: എന്താ, മോളേ?
enthaa, mOLE?
What is it, dear?

G: ഈ gate ഒന്ന് തുറന്നുതരുമോ?
ii gate onn(u) turrann(u) tharumO?
Can you just open this gate for me?

C: എന്തിനാ തുറക്കുന്നുത്?
enthinaa thurrakkunnath(u)?
Why should I open it? (Literally 'that am opening is for what?')

G: തുറക്കാൻ പറഞ്ഞു.
thurrakkaan parranjnju.
She told me to.

C: ആര് പറഞ്ഞു?
aar(u) parranjnju?
Who did?

G: ഗീതു. Please? നല്ല പോലീസല്ലേ?
giithu. Please? nalla pOliisallE?
Geethu. Please? Aren't you a nice policeman?

C: ങ്ഹ!...ആരാ മോളേ ഗീതു?
ngha!...aaraa mOLE giithu?
Okay!...Who's Geethu, dear?

G: ഞാൻതന്നെയാ, അഹ്ഹഹ!
njaanthanneyaa, ahhaha!
It's me, haha!

C: ങേ?!
ngE?!
Huh?!

Bhaskara Pillai (spots her hiding from him behind a bush, but pretends not to see her and to have the sudden urge to go to the bathroom behind that bush): എങ്ങോട്ടാ നീ ഓടുന്നത്? ഇത്ര ചെറുപ്പത്തില് P. T. ഉഷ ആവാനുള്ള ഭാവം? Come on, go!...അനുസരണ, അച്ചടക്കം ഇല്ലാതെ നടക്കാൻ നീ ഇപ്പം നിന്റെ അമ്മേടെ വീട്ടിലല്ല! മനസ്സിലായോ?
engngOTTaa nii OTunnath(u)? ithra cherruppaththil(u) P. T. Usha aavaanuLLa bhaavam?...anusaraNa, achchaTakkam illaathe naTakkaan nii ippam ninte ammETe viiTTilalla! manassilaayO?
Where're you running off to? Trying to become P. T. Usha at such a young age? Come on, go!...You aren't at your mom's house now to walk around like a disobedient, undisciplined girl! Understand?

G: കുറച്ച് നേരം അവിടെ പോയി കളിച്ചോട്ടെ?
kurrachch(u) nEram aviTe pOyi kaLichchOTTe?
Can I go play over there for a little bit?

B: പുറത്ത് പോയുള്ള കളി തത്കാലം വേണ്ട. എന്റെ കുട്ടിക്കാലത്ത് ഞാൻ ഇതുപോലെ പോയി കളിച്ചിട്ടില്ല! അതിന്റെ ഗുണമായി എനിക്ക്. Discipline! If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, something is lost. If character is lost, everything is lost! Understand? Hm?
purrathth(u) pOyuLLa kaLi thalkkaalam vENTa. ente kuTTikkaalathth(u) njaan ithupOle purrathth(u) pOyi kaLichchiTTilla! athinte guNamaayi enikk(u).
Don't go outside and play for now! I hadn't gone outside and played like this when I was a kid. It was good I didn't (literally 'I got the benefit of that'). [...] If you run around like a slut, you'll lose everything! Understand? Hm?
G: Hmh!
B: Ah! Good!

vijayjohn
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Re: Malayalam lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2022-01-30, 4:21

In Malayalam, there are various suffixes used to change the valence of a verb as well as different verb forms. The suffixes are somewhat productive, unlike in Tamil, which apparently now uses periphrastic causatives rather than any causative verbal suffixes.

One of these suffixes is -ഇക്ക് -ikk(u). It can be used both to change intransitive verbs to transitive verbs and to form causatives. For example, അറിയുക arriyuka means 'to know', but അറിയിക്കുക arriyikkuka means 'to inform' (i.e. to cause someone to know). ചെയ്യുക cheyyuka means 'to do', but ചെയ്യിക്കുക cheyyikkuka means 'to make (someone) do'. -ഇക്ക് -ikk(u) can also be used to form verbs from nouns. For example, നിശ്ചയം niSchayam is the usual Sanskrit loanword for 'decision, certain(ty)', so 'to decide, ensure' is നിശ്ചയിക്കുക niSchayikkuka.

Another very similar suffix is -പ്പിക്ക് -ppikk(u). In fact, it is so similar I'm not sure what exactly the difference between this and just --ഇക്ക് -ikk(u) is, but some verbs take one suffix, others take the other, and it seems that there are still others that take neither. There may even be verbs that can take either suffix, IIRC, but with different speakers using different suffixes in different contexts. എഴുന്നേൽക്കുക ezhunnElkkuka means 'to get up', but എഴുന്നേൽപ്പിക്കുക ezhunnElppikkuka means 'to get (someone else) up'.

Another suffix with a somewhat different meaning is -ഏക്ക് -Ekk(u). This suffix is added to the past tense form of verbs to talk about doing something for someone. പറയുക parrayuka means 'to say', and പറഞ്ഞു parranjnju means 'said', but പറഞ്ഞേക്കുക parranjnjEkkuka means 'to say something (as a favor) for someone/for someone's sake'.

There are also some verbs with a causative meaning formed through processes that are not as productive. For example, ആവുക aavuka means 'to become', but ആക്കുക aakkuka means 'to make (something something else), to cause to become'.


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