என்று: the quotative marker (Lit. ‘having said’)

என்று (AVP of என்) is used as a quotative marker like 'that' in English. It is used in reported speech constructions, but also has a number of other meanings depending upon the context. Even though this word is made with a combination of the verb என் ‘to say’, past tense suffix and the participle marker உ, like any other AVP, this form has lost much of its original lexical meaning.

Quotative When used with verbs of speech, such as சொல் ‘say’ or கேள் ‘ask’, என்று (sp. -ண்ணு) acts as a quotative marker. Unlike in English, in Tamil the reported sentence (subordinate clause) occurs first and the reporting sentence (matrix clause; i.e. main verb) occurs at the end.

கமலா நாளைக்கு வீட்டுக்கு வருவாள் என்று ராதை சொன்னாள். (written)
கமலா நாளைக்கி வீட்டுக்கு வருவாண்ணு ராதை சொன்னா. (spoken)
Radhai said that Kamala would come home tomorrow.

யார் புத்தகம் கொண்டுவரவில்லை என்று ஆசிரியர் மாணவர்களிடம் கேட்டார்.
The teacher asked all the students who didn't bring the book.

Intention and reported thought
When the matrix clause verb (i.e. the main verb) is a verb of thought, such as நினை ‘think’, or describes mental states, என்று acts to report or describe mental states: intentions, beliefs, thoughts, etc.

நான் சொல்கிறேன் என்று தாப்பாக நினைக்காதீர்கள். நீங்கள் செய்வது கொஞ்சம் கூட எனக்குப் பிடிக்கவில்லை.
Don’t take it wrong. I don’t like a bit what you do.

அம்மா திட்டிவிட்டாளே என்று மூர்த்திக்கு ஒரே கோபம்.
Murthy is angry that his mother yelled at him.

Note on reported speech/thought in Tamil

There are a number of key differences with English reported speech/thought constructions that should be noted. First, in both reported speech and thought note that because word order is relatively free in Tamil that only the main verb needs to occur at the end of the sentence. However, the subject of the main verb can occur at the beginning of the sentence, even before the subordinate clause. For example, in the sentence below the matrix clause is italicized and the subordinate clause is not:

நேற்று ஜான் அவர்கள் அவர்களுடைய புத்தகம் கணாமல் அடித்தார்கள் என்று சொன்னார்/நினைத்தார்.
Yesterday John said/thought that she lost her book.

John said “I will see him.”
John said that he would see him.

ஜான் நான் அவரை பார்ப்பேன் என்று சொன்னார்.
ஜான் அவன் அவரை பார்ப்பார் என்று சொன்னார்.

How to begin and end a conversation

Beginning a conversation is usually done with expressions like என்ன சேதி? எப்படி இருக்கீங்க?, வீட்டுலெ எல்லாரும் சௌக்கியமா?, என்ன? ரொம்ப நாளா பாக்கவே முடியலெ? ஊருலெ இல்லெயா? 'What's the news? How are you? Is everyone at home doing fine? What happened? Long time no see!' and so on. A more laid-back way of beginning a conversation with someone whom you haven't seen for a while is asking about, or commenting on, each other's physical appearance. Usually, asking why the other person looks so thin is a customary way of beginning a conversation: என்ன? ரொம்ப எளச்சிட்டீங்க போலிருக்கே? 'What happened? You look so thin!' (NOTE: this is not a compliment; rather, a compliment might indicate that one has gained weight, for example). Of course, one shouldn't ask whether that was because of any illness, but should ask whether that was because other person is not taking food regularly: நல்லாவே சாப்பிட்றதில்லையா? 'Are you not taking food regularly?'.

What would be a normal method of ending a communication? And are there any polite ways of cutting short any dragging conversation? Some words and phrases that can be used to bring a conversation to an end are: Saying சரிங்க, வேற என்ன சேதி? ('any other news?'), அப்பறம் ('then'), பாக்கலாமா 'shall we see each other later' etc. When used during a conversation, such phrases would trigger a mood of completion of the dialogue. Especially, when someone is not very conscientious about maintaining time and seems to keep dragging out a greeting, use of these words will help to move on.

Taking a leave of

As it is customery to say வாங்க to someone who visits someone, it is also required that person says போயிட்டு வறேன் 'I will go and come back' when leaving. No one is expected to say நான் போறேன் 'I am going' when leaving, as it is considered impolite because everyone is expected to eventually return and not simply leave. The other phrases like சரி! நான் கெளம்புறேன் 'okay! Let me take a leave of', அப்பறம் பாக்கலாம் 'we will see each other later', நான் பொறப்பட்றேன் 'let me make the move' etc., are also acceptable phrases. The generic expression that refers to inviting someone during the visit is வாங்கண்ணு சொல்லுங்க 'say welcome' and for leaving is சொல்லிக்கொள் (spoken: சொல்லிக்கோ 'say bye' (lit. say yourself to the host). The formal term for 'invitation' is வரவேற்பு as in மணமக்கள் வரவேற்பு 'invitation of the bride groom'; invitation letter is அழைப்பிதழ் as in திருமண அழைப்பிதழ் 'marriage invitation'.

It is absolutely wrong to ask someone எங்கெ போறே 'where are you heading' when about to leave for some place. In such circumstances the other person might respond with உனக்கு அறிவு இருக்கா? வெளியே போறப்போ எங்க போறேண்ணு கேக்கிறியே 'do you have any sense? Why do you ask me where I was leaving for, when I am about to leave?' Instead, எங்க கெளம்பிட்டே 'where are you making a move for' would be appropriate.