Moderator:vijayjohn
dEhiN wrote:2-3 lateral approximants - alveolar, retroflex and either palatal (if you speak Sri Lankan Tamil) or a post-alveolar central approximant (if you speak Indian Tamil).
I say 5 because there are 5, but some Tamilians consider there to be only 3 because they don't see the palatal and velar nasals as nasals, for some odd reason!
księżycowy wrote:Maybe I'll just learn it through context, like I did with Japanese.
dEhiN wrote:In romanized Tamil, th/dh refer to dental (unvoiced/voiced stop) while t/d refer to retroflex (unvoiced/voiced stop).
vijayjohn wrote:I think that's roughly what I did, too (though probably over a much longer period of time than you may be hoping for ).
dEhiN wrote:True, sometimes people write t/d for the dental stops.
vijayjohn wrote:dEhiN wrote:True, sometimes people write t/d for the dental stops.
More than sometimes. This is a South Asian language, after all! Romanization just isn't consistent.
dEhiN wrote:I just read through the cultural notes part, and I found it quite helpful actually! I was always confused on why sometimes the stop consonants were doubled in written Tamil, and now I know why.
I do have two questions though. FIrstly, why is the 2nd singular polite / plural PNG suffix used not ஈர்கள்?
Secondly, in point 3, they say that you double after the demonstrative adjectives, but not other adjectives. Yet, in example 3c, they write சின்னப் பையன்! Is சின்ன just an exception? If so, are there other exceptions? Is it just an oversight on their part to forget to mention that?
vijayjohn wrote:dEhiN wrote:I do have two questions though. FIrstly, why is the 2nd singular polite / plural PNG suffix used not ஈர்கள்?
Because -ஈர்கள் is just the suffix used for present progressive verbs ('you are ____ing'). The suffix for the imperative mood is -(உ)ங்கள் in Centhamil and -(உ)ங்க in Madurai dialect at least.
dEhiN wrote:Oh, so the PNG suffixes vary based upon the mood?
Also, doesn't something like நான் பாண் சாப்பிடுகிறேன் mean more "I eat bread"? From what I understand, it could also imply the progressive "I'm eating bread", but I think the more common construction for progressive is to use verb root plus இரு: நான் பாண் சாப்பிடு இருக்கிறேன்.
vijayjohn wrote:So are you going through the course now, księżycowy?
księżycowy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:So are you going through the course now, księżycowy?
Not yet. I did the unthinkable and bought the book. I'm curious if there are any differences between the book and site (wouldn't think so, but you never know ).
dEhiN wrote:மிக்க நன்றி என்டே நல்லால தம்பி.
vijayjohn wrote:dEhiN wrote:மிக்க நன்றி என்டே நல்லால தம்பி.
Or என் நல்ல தம்பி using the pronominal form they've taught us so far in this course.
Np
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