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Select Unit > Unit 1: நான் தமிழ் > Lesson 3:   Spoken   Translation   Lessons:   1   2   3   4   5   6   Exercises: 1   2   3   4   5   6   Reading: 1   2   Glossary   Conversations  Test

    

Mary: நீங்கள் தமிழா?

Are you a Tamil?

Kannan: ஆமாம். நான் தமிழ்.

Yes, I am a Tamil.

Mary: அப்போ! நீங்கள் சென்னையா?

Then, are you from Chennai?

Kannan: இல்லை. நான் தஞ்சாவூர். நீங்கள் அமெரிக்காவா?

No. I am from Thanjavur. Are you from America?

Mary: இல்லை. நான் கனடா.

No. I am from Canada.

Kannan: ஓ! அப்போ! நீங்கள் பிரஞ்சா?

Oh! Then, are you French?

Mary: இல்லை. என் அம்மா பிரஞ்ச். என் மொழி ஆங்கிலம்தான்.

No. My mother is French. My language is actually English.

Kannan: என்ன வேடிக்கை. என் அம்மா மலையாளம். நான் தமிழ். நீங்கள் ஆங்கிலம். உங்கள் அம்மா பிரஞ்ச். இதெல்லாம் தமிழ் புத்தகமா?

That's interesting! My mother is Malayalam. I am Tamil. You are English. Your mother is French. Are all of these Tamil books?

Mary:இல்லை. இல்லை. எல்லாம் தமிழ் புத்தகம் இல்லை. கொஞ்சம் தமிழ் புத்தகம். நிறையெ ஆங்கில புத்தகம்.

No, no. They are not all Tamil books. Some are Tamil books. Many are English books.

    Grammar Notes:

    Making Interrogative Questions and Sandhi Rules

    The interrogative marker ஆ

    Interrogative questions, also called yes/no questions, are made in Tamil using the suffix ஆ. This suffix can be added to the end nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or verbs. For example, the noun பையன் when added with the suffix ஆ, as in பையனா?, it becomes a question. This can mean either #is he a boy?# or #are you asking about a boy?# etc., depending upon the context of the utterance. Thus, unlike in English where the interrogative questions are made by a change in word order between the auxiliary verb #be# and the subject, the interrogative question in Tamil is made simply by adding the suffix ஆ at the end of words. Following are some of the other examples of Tamil interrogative expressions with examples from various parts of speech.

    உங்கள் பெயர் கண்ணனா? (கண்ணன் + ஆ)
    உங்க பேரு கண்ணனா?
    Is your name kannan?

    கண்ணன் உங்கள் பெயரா? (பெயர் + ஆ)
    கண்ணன் உங்க பேரா?
    Is Kannan your name?

    நான் உயரமா? நீங்கள் உயரமா?
    நான் ஒயரமா? நீங்க ஒயரமா?
    Am I tall, or you are tall?

    The suffix ஆ is added next to any word ending in consonant without any change in the word as in கண்ணனா, பெயரா, உயரமா etc. However, when this suffix or any other suffix that begins with a vowel is added to a word that ends in a vowel a change in the word occurs - either by adding a glide, or removing final vowel. The change that takes place in words during the addition of suffixes is called sandhi change, and the rules that govern each of such changes are called sandhi rules (See lesson 4).
    Dialogue: unit_01/section_B/lesson01.html

    Cultural Notes:

    Use of the suffix ஆ with a negative connotation:

    When the suffix ஆ is used in obvious expressions like #is this a book?# (இது புத்தகமா?), #is this food#? (இது சாப்பாடா?) etc., a negative connotation of #who on earth would call this a book?, #what kind of food is this?# etc., can be implied. In English an extra stress is placed on the nouns such as #book# and #food# etc., to disambiguate such expressions. But in Tamil such distinction can only be made with a very subtle intonation. So, in failing to use such intonation, misunderstandings might occur. In some cases, the words such as என்ன, #what# எல்லாம் #all#, etc., are used with the subject, but again such sentences can also be used with a normal intention. Except for very obvious cases, an ambiguity of interpretation is always possible.

    இது என்ன? சாப்பாடா? a) What is this? food! b) Who on earth would call this a food?

    நீ எல்லாம் ஒரு மனுஷனா? Are you (all) a human being?

    நீங்கள் எல்லாம் போலிஸ் காரர்களா? a) Are you all police men? b) What kind of police men are you all?

    இக்கு எங்க போட்றது? இச்சு எங்க போட்றதுண்ணு தெரியலெ! நீயெல்லாம் ஒரு தமிழ் வாத்தியாரா?
    You don#t know where to add the stop consonants #க்# and #ச்#. How can you call yourself a Tamil teacher?

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