Learn to READ Malayalam - using vinyl ("LP" record) covers and such movie-based resources

സ്തോത്രം ആപ്പ്

Thanks again app. Doubt.

app_engine wrote:Lesson 2

ഇന്ത്യ - இந்த்ய / इन्द्य / inthya (India)

On the above one, the thamizh equivalent is இந்த்ய? I mean why is it not இந்தியா? I can read Hindi also so confirmed that its not a typo. Do mallus pronounce India as இந்த்ய?



And SS, I can read the second word, thanks to the first lesson. ஆப் (app). First word is ஸ்னோ something?

I think the first word is sthothram?

Thanks appji for the second lesson. malayalam letters for cha, va and pa are too close.

yw SS, Nerd & V_Sji!

BTW, I don't think the word സ്തോത്രം (sthOthram) is used outside religious places

The word used for thanking is close to the one in Thamizh - "നന്ദി" - nanni / நன்னி (Malayali's are too biased towards mellinam..."mellinangaL pEsu kaNNE, vallinangaL vAy valikkum" fellows )!

Nerd wrote: Do mallus pronounce India as இந்த்ய?

Yes

Not just this one, most names that end with nedil gets automatically a kuRil equivalent. If you noticed, they truncate the name of Ilayaraja too (இளய ராஜ).

Our friend Usha will not be called உஷா but உஷ Not just in spoken language / kochchai vazhakku, but in the written form as well! (ഉഷ).

This thing plus the reduced use of vallinams make that language 'kozha kozha' IMHO. Some consider that such peculiarities (or differences from Thamizh) add to the sweetness / musicalness of that language...

V_Sji wrote:

malayalam letters for cha, va and pa are too close.

Yes, and that makes reading handwritten form really difficult We'll get to them in detail in due time but just a quick primer :

ച - cha ( ச in Thamizh)

പ - pa (#1 of pa series) ( ப in thamizh)

വ - va (வ in Thamizh but look below for the fun thing)

ഖ - kha (#2 of ka series) - க / ஹ

app - exlend!

1. not only pa, va, cha, even ha and a few others are a variants of that basic pattern. very confusing!
2. SS - kaNNAlathukku munnAdi punjabi kutti, ippO EdhAvadhu mallu kuttiya pudichuttAplayA?
3. Just saw final portions of Ithirippoove Chuvannapoove yesterday - Bharathan(Thevar Magan, Rathinirvedam, Thagara(Aavarampoo) ). Starring Mammootty(Inspector) and Suresh(Naxal sort) as brothers with KRV and Madhu as parents. In the ideological battle culminating in a shootout, the family faces a tragedy. blah blah
4. App- next time you give exercise, try to make the clues tougher. Last time, even without knowing the little Malayalam script that I do, I could have guessed the answers in exactly their Mallu pronounciation

app,
i was skeptical myself for using the word 'sthothiram' but went for it to get the reasons from ur mouth...
and using mellinam instead of vallinam to make the words sound sweet is done in tamil too... dont u see how sweet when we call panri as panni??
more: kanru-kannu, onru-onnu, konru-konnu, thrinru-thinnu, etc., #thamizhukkuamudhenruppaer
and, are u sure my spellin for app is right? i was wondering if i have written it as appp...


plum,
before even app started, i was able to recognise a few letters in malayal... can write my name too... and read some movie names in the way u explained...
malayala figures.. not now... school time'la en malayali friend'oda akka'voda friend'a site adichaen... appo avanga avlo azhagu... adikkadi avangala vekkappada vekkiradhae namma velai...
btw, the punjabi kudi is married and settled in us now... #subam

2040 wrote: dont u see how sweet when we call panri as panni??

and, are u sure my spellin for app is right? i was wondering if i have written it as appp...

It is correct from the consonant PoV ("pp" = "പ്പ്" ).

OTOH, we really don't have an exact equivalent for that 'a' sound (something like "ae") in Thamizh / Malayalam. It's somewhere in-between ஆப் & ஏப் (In Malayalam, between ആപ്പ് / ഏപ്പ്)

Exercise reminder!

As in the case of അ & ആ, please key in the 8 words for ഇ & ഈ (simultaneously telling those aloud)

For convenience, let me give the link again (please save the link as a browser favourite / shortcut):

http://www.google.com/intl/ml/inputtools/cloud/try/

Like earlier, the challenge exercise would be to write them with pen & paper

I plan to post two quizzes, one later today for ഇ & ഈ and another tomorrow for all the four (അ, ആ, ഇ, ഈ).

That way, we'll be ready for lesson #3 sometime during the weekend or on Monday

Appji another doubt.

I noticed in the ഈ വഴി മാത്രം vinyl that the character which makes it a nedil was not written as a superscript. Are both forms acceptable? Google does not let me type that way.

Nerd wrote:I noticed in the ഈ വഴി മാത്രം vinyl that the character which makes it a nedil was not written as a superscript. Are both forms acceptable?

Nice observation!

I don't know for sure if both forms are acceptable from a "school teacher" viewpoint. (When my son went to school in Kerala, it was my wife who helped him with all home works and such stuff )

I guess that movie title was done with artist's freedom (which possibly also happens in hand writing / cursive writing etc).

In regular printed form (books / magazines / web pages etc), it is always superscript.

Advance info :

The same superscript character is used for the nedil of "oo" ; also for au and all the "au" series uyir mey!

oo = ஊ = ഊ

au = ஔ = ഔ (This way, it's the equivalent of the Thamizh "ள" symbol in "au" sounds and less confusing)

kau = கௌ = കൗ (Also note there's no oththa suzhikkombu necessary for Malayalam)

As suggested by plum, trying to make clues for quiz #2 not too obvious.

Let me know if the standard is acceptable:)

Quiz #2 :

1. ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് (Hospitality for the hubby of mallu bommukkutty)

2. ഈ നാട് (Alleged to be the first big political movie in Malayalam)

3. ഇരിഞ്ഞാലക്കുട (Site of the only temple in country for a king who kept sandals on throne)

4. ഇന്നസെന്റ് (Nice comedy actor who is from the answer for Q #3 above)

5. ഇരുപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ട് (Jacky alias Sagar)

6. ഇറ്റലി (Raul Vinci)

7. ഈശ്വരന്‍ (911 for some people)

8. ഇ.എം.എസ്.നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാട് (CPIM meets Ilayaraja)

9. ഈട്ടി (Convert murder tool into a sofa)

10. ഈജിപ്റ്റ് ("child from water" became rAjkumAr here - biblical / hollywood)

Bonus : ഇടുക്കി (District where two numbers bring tourists)

Wow! lot of assignments already. Will look into it in the evening. Thanks App ji for your passion in teaching us a new language.

app_engine wrote:As suggested by plum, trying to make clues for quiz #2 not too obvious.

Let me know if the standard is acceptable:)

Quiz #2 :

1. ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് (Hospitality for the hubby of mallu bommukkutty) - inglish

2. ഈ നാട് (Alleged to be the first big political movie in Malayalam) - Ee nAdu

3. ഇരിഞ്ഞാലക്കുട (Site of the only temple in country for a king who kept sandals on throne) - irinjAlakuda

4. ഇന്നസെന്റ് (Nice comedy actor who is from the answer for Q #3 above) - innasentu

5. ഇരുപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ട് (Jacky alias Sagar) - irupathAm nUrrAndu

6. ഇറ്റലി (Raul Vinci) - Easy without even knowing malayalam, home of your favourite gandhi, Ithali

7. ഈശ്വരന്‍ (911 for some people)

8. ഇ.എം.എസ്.നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാട് (CPIM meets Ilayaraja) EMS NambudhirippAd

9. ഈട്ടി (Convert murder tool into a sofa) - Eetti

10. ഈജിപ്റ്റ് ("child from water" became rAjkumAr here - biblical / hollywood)

Bonus : ഇടുക്കി (District where two numbers bring tourists)

idukki

Fantastic job plum, on solving 9 out of 11!

How about 7 & 10, any guesses?

I think 10 is eegyptu.
For 7 ഈശ്വരന്‍ -- ee, sa(I dont know what is that character after sa), ra, la (or na)? eeswaran?

app_engine wrote:As suggested by plum, trying to make clues for quiz #2 not too obvious.

Let me know if the standard is acceptable:)

Quiz #2 :

1. ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് (Hospitality for the hubby of mallu bommukkutty)

2. ഈ നാട് (Alleged to be the first big political movie in Malayalam)

3. ഇരിഞ്ഞാലക്കുട (Site of the only temple in country for a king who kept sandals on throne)

4. ഇന്നസെന്റ് (Nice comedy actor who is from the answer for Q #3 above)

5. ഇരുപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ട് (Jacky alias Sagar)

6. ഇറ്റലി (Raul Vinci)

7. ഈശ്വരന്‍ (911 for some people)

8. ഇ.എം.എസ്.നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാട് (CPIM meets Ilayaraja)

9. ഈട്ടി (Convert murder tool into a sofa)

10. ഈജിപ്റ്റ് ("child from water" became rAjkumAr here - biblical / hollywood)

Bonus : ഇടുക്കി (District where two numbers bring tourists)

1. english
2. ee naadu
5. irubadhaam nootrandu
6. ithali
7. eeswaran
8. E.M.S. Namboodhirippad
9. eetti
10. egyptu
idukki

PS: varsttu clues ever!

Good job V_Sji & 2040!

2040 wrote:

PS: varsttu clues ever!

Let me try to give the equivalent transliterations:

1. ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് (ഇ) = ingleesh / இங்க்லீஷ் / इंग्लीश (English! Clue explanation : Shalini's husband did "guest" role in vinglish)

2. ഈ നാട് (ഈ) = ee naadu / ஈ நாடு / ईनाडु (Famous 1982 Malayalam movie directed by I V Sasi, starring Mammootty / Balan K Nair)

3. ഇരിഞ്ഞാലക്കുട (ഇ) = irinjaalakkuda / இரிஞ்ஞாலக்குட/ इरिन्जालक्कुड (Town with a temple for Bharathan b/o Ram)

4. ഇന്നസെന്റ് (ഇ) = innasent / இன்னசென்ட்/ इन्नसेंट (Innocent, comedy actor regularly seen in Sathyan Anthikkad movies)

5. ഇരുപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ട് (ഇ) = irupathaam nooRRaaNdu / இருபதாம் நூற்றாண்டு / इरुपताम नूरराणडु (Famous Malayalam movie of 80's, Mohanlal played the smuggler Sagar alias Jacky, film's title means 20th century)

6. ഇറ്റലി (ഇ) = iRRali / இற்றலி (இட்டலி) / इर्रली (Italy. Clue: alleged name of Rahul Gandhi)

7. ഈശ്വരന്‍ (ഈ) = eeshwaran / ஈஷ்வரன் / ईश्वरन (Means God, who happens to get called when some people are in distress. In USA, 9-1-1 is the distress call number)

8. ഇ.എം.എസ്.നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാട് (ഇ) = E.M.S.namboothirippaat / இ. எம். எஸ். நம்பூதிரிப்பாடு / इ . एम् . एस . नाम्बूतिरिप्पाट (First Kerala CM, party CPIM, IR now doing music for a movie called "EMS-um oru peN kuttiyum")

9. ഈട്ടി (ഈ) = eetti / ஈட்டி / ईटटी (Means both spear & Rosewood. Rosewood is also called veetti in Malayalam)

10. ഈജിപ്റ്റ് (ഈ) = eejipt / ஈஜிப்ட் / ईजिप्ट (Egypt, where child Moses was fetched from water by princess per Bible, Hollywood movie "The Prince of Egypt")

Bonus : ഇടുക്കി (ഇ) = itukki / இடுக்கி / इटुक्की (Idukki. Note the second letter in Malayalam which uses 'T'. Though Malayalam has a different character for d, often "t" is used but pronounced D, much like Thamizh. It's funny to me. BTW, the clue is 3 & 6 i.e. moonARu)

I think familiarization with അ ആ ഇ ഈ is adequately done.

Let me try to post another quiz - only one question for each letter - later today!

Quiz # 3 (mini size)

അമ്പലം (last part of repeat word - greeting (?) - by "Appar" in thiruvarutchelvar)

ആലയം (NT's vessel is hot)

ഇന്ദ്രന്‍ (Malayalam fruit is Thamizh nut)

ഈസ്റ്റര്‍ (a festival in Kerala)

1. a-sa-lam (asalam)?
2. aa-la-yam (aalayam)?
3. i-nu-l ? (inul)?
4. ee-st-er (easter)?

V_S wrote:1. a-sa-lam (asalam)?
2. aa-la-yam (aalayam)?
3. i-nu-l ? (inul)?
4. ee-st-er (easter)?

Great job, V_Sji!
You got the important letters correct (അ ആ ഇ ഈ highlighted in RED) & some more
I'll do the answer / clue explanation post tomorrow
Also, the Lesson 3 will be posted tomorrow (u, oo, rhu ഉ ഊ ഋ)

Quiz 3 answers (V_Sji solved two of them):

അമ്പലം = ambalam / அம்பலம் / अम्बलम (NT repeatedly says 'thiruchchitrambalam'), means "temple" in Malayalam (and not "expose"). e.g. "vazhi ambalam" means roadside temple.

ആലയം = aalayam / ஆலயம் / आलयम (satti suttadhadA). Also means temple but typically used for church. ambalam / aalayam / paLLi (third one predominantly used for church & mosque)

ഇന്ദ്രന്‍ = indhran / இந்த்ரன் / इन्द्रन (mundhiri is grapes in Malayalam & kottai in Thamizh, which is connected to Indhiran by Vairamuthu in 'andhi mazhai pozhikiRadhu')

ഈസ്റ്റര്‍ = eesttar / ஈஸ்ட்டர்(ஈஸ்ற்றர்) / ईस्टटर (Easter, though not like in the west with eggs & bunnies, Kerala celebrates more than TN due to the sizeable population of churchgoers)

I guess these four characters are reasonably embedded in our minds and time to move on to the next set :

അ = a = அ = अ (as in urgent)

ആ = aa = ஆ = आ (as in awesome)

ഇ = e = இ = इ (as in english)

ഈ = ee = ஈ = ई (as in eager)

Lesson 3

ഉ, ഊ, ഋ - I'm adding a third one to this group whose sound is somewhat related.

The first two are not difficult for people who are familiar with Thamizh - they even look like the equivalent Thamizh characters. Similarly, the equivalents for the first two exist in Hindi as well.

The third one among the above is foreign to Thamizh, neither the letter nor the sound exists in that language. OTOH, it exists in Hindi (comes from Sanskrit I think). That way, for the third one, less effort needed for people who are familiar with vadamozhi.

The 5th letter, another vowel, in our effort to learn to READ Malayalam:

ഉ (v)u / உ / उ

Some words that start with ഉ:

ഉമ്മ - உம்ம -उम्म -umma - kiss (The Malayalam word is also used for "Mother" by Islamic community)

ഉളി - உளி - उलि - uLi - chisel

ഉച്ച - உச்ச - उच्च - uchcha - noon (uchcha bhakshaNam meaning lunch)

ഉപവാസം - உபவாஸம் (உபவாசம்) - उपवासं - upavAsam - Fasting

Two vinyl cover pics for ഉ :

ഉണരൂ  - உணரூ - उणरू - uNaroo (music by rAsA, directed by Maniratnam, plum has written about in the Malayalam films thread, the Malayalam word means "wake up" or "arise" )



Please note that the second word of the other movie on this disk too starts with this character

ഉത്പത്തി - உத்பத்தி - उत्पत्ति - uthpaththi (one meaning is 'genesis'...also used for "produce child" , so someone please confirm if this was an "A" padam )