Namma City Namma Life II
Moving on, lets learn some grammer of madras bashai
Madras bashai can be thought of as either of the following:
A mixed language, using extreme amounts of code-switching between Tamil and English.
Madrasi Tamil heavily infused with English influences and loanwords from other Indian languages.
Some consider "Tanglish" to be distinct from "Madras bashai", in that "Tanglish" is considered to be English with Tamil influences and loanwords, while "Madras bashai" is considered the opposite. Madras bashai is however not a type of Engrish, since it is not the result of trying to speak English correctly and then failing.
Grammar
Madras bashai favours the Tamil syntax with heavy use of English words to represent concepts.
The following examples illustrates the difference between the syntax of Madras bashai, English and Tamil:
English / Tamil / Madras bashai
Go fast! (Verb Adverb) - Vegamaa po! (Adverb Verb) -Speeda po! (Adverb Verb)(also "Feeda po!")
Go straight! (Verb Adverb) - Nera po! (Adverb Verb) - Straightaa po! (Adverb Verb)(also "Steittaa po!")
Verb conjugation
Tamil verbs are conjugated differently from Madurai Tamil (considered the standard dialect). An underlying motive is to shorten the conjugated form of the verb by one or more syllables by deleting intermediate vowels, and to replace "slow" consonants by consonants that can be pronounced more quickly. Since Tamil is an agglutinative language, a word can still be discerned and understood even after a surprising number of vowels have been removed. The specific context of the word also helps to disambiguate it in practice. The examples shown here are therefore not as drastic as they might appear.
A mixed language, using extreme amounts of code-switching between Tamil and English.
Madrasi Tamil heavily infused with English influences and loanwords from other Indian languages.
Some consider "Tanglish" to be distinct from "Madras bashai", in that "Tanglish" is considered to be English with Tamil influences and loanwords, while "Madras bashai" is considered the opposite. Madras bashai is however not a type of Engrish, since it is not the result of trying to speak English correctly and then failing.
Grammar
Madras bashai favours the Tamil syntax with heavy use of English words to represent concepts.
The following examples illustrates the difference between the syntax of Madras bashai, English and Tamil:
English / Tamil / Madras bashai
Go fast! (Verb Adverb) - Vegamaa po! (Adverb Verb) -Speeda po! (Adverb Verb)(also "Feeda po!")
Go straight! (Verb Adverb) - Nera po! (Adverb Verb) - Straightaa po! (Adverb Verb)(also "Steittaa po!")
Verb conjugation
Tamil verbs are conjugated differently from Madurai Tamil (considered the standard dialect). An underlying motive is to shorten the conjugated form of the verb by one or more syllables by deleting intermediate vowels, and to replace "slow" consonants by consonants that can be pronounced more quickly. Since Tamil is an agglutinative language, a word can still be discerned and understood even after a surprising number of vowels have been removed. The specific context of the word also helps to disambiguate it in practice. The examples shown here are therefore not as drastic as they might appear.
Standard Tamil / Madras bashai / Meaning
Irukkiraay-Kiray-"You are".
IrukkiRathuu-Keedhu-"it is there".
Izhuthukkondu-Isthukinu-"Dragged with" (participle of Izhukkaradhu (to drag)
appuram-appAlla-"Then"
Kizhiththuviduven-Keesiduven-"I will tear".
Ingae Utkarungal-Inga Kunthu Naina-"Please Sit Here".
Kindal panrae-Kalaikkirae-"You are kidding me".
Alternative pronunciation
Some Tamil words are pronounced differently from Madurai Tamil (considered the standard dialect). This practice is very similar to other dialects of Tamil. The pronunciation differences are usually accounted for by morphed and/or deleted vowels.
Standard Tamil / Madras bashai / Meaning
Enna Rajasekaran? - Inaa Rajasekaraa? - "What Rajasekaran?"
Gudisai - Gudse, Gudchae - "Hut"
Veedu - Voodu, Oodu - "House"
Pazham-Payam-"Fruit"
Sappidu-Thunnu-"Eat"
Ematrukiraya-Dabaikeeriya-"Cheating", "Dodging", "Evading"
Nagarigamaga-deegenta-"Decent", "Decency"
Questions with binary answers
Questions with yes/no answers are framed by saying the statement whose truth is to be verified (using the participle if necessary) and then saying "aa" at the end with a rising inflexion like a question. The meaning of the "aa" is roughly analogous to "Is it?". If the statement already ends in an "aa" or other interfering vowel sound, then the questioning "aa" can be made "vaa" in the interest of euphonics. Some speakers tend to carry the "-aa" even into full English conversations from force of habit. e.g.: "U finished it aa?" and also sometimes shortened to "Finished-aa?"
English
Madras bashai
Are you ready?
Ready-aa?
Am I late?
Late-aa?
Is it OK?
OK-vaa?
Verbifying and Nounification
Many Tamil verbs are informally 'translated' to English by taking the verb root and suffixing "ify" or "ification". Verbifying and nounification are used in a jocular sense, only with people one knows well, and only if they speak Tamil. Using these forms in formal situations or with strangers is considered very juvenile, analogous to using emoticons in a high school essay. Some observers classify this practice as Tanglish rather than Madras bashai.
Vocabulary
Madras bashai combines words, suffixes and grammar rules of several languages to make new words. The most common sources are English, Telugu, Urdu,and Kannada.When it comes to borrowing words from other languages 'Madrassukku nigar Madrasse'. English words can be used in any context without feeling alien. 'wrongu', 'rightu', 'yechuse me', 'adjist','abase', 'abscond', 'beetiful', 'super', 'fruitu', 'pil im', 'figureu' and so on. Hindi has its contributions like 'bejaar', 'naastha', etc. Telugu: 'naina', 'baava', 'eppudu', 'cheppu' etc.
Credits
Comments