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Madras Tamil - its beauty

The aesthetic quality of Madras Tamil comes from the fact that a classical language like Tamil is given that contemporary touch by the constructive intrusions from many other languages.

So then, going on to the intricacies of Madras Tamil, used majorly by college guys, teekadai-nairs, and autokarans:

1. Tamil minimised
Padiththu (read), mudiththu (complete), sabiththu (curse) will be gracefully shortened as 'pachchi', 'muchchi', 'sabchi'.
As a corollary, 'padiththu kondirukkiren' = 'pachchi-nikkeeren', 'kuliththu kondirukkiren' = 'kulchi-nikkeeren'.

2. 'Nee' or 'Neenga'?
Madras Tamil does not usually use 'neenga' and 'nee' in different contexts.
In fact, 'nee' is used most of the times. This is not a deliberate attempt to degrade someone in public, but to offer a level playing field for everyone. So if the auto-karan asks 'engaponum unakku?' do not feel offended.

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3. 'Da' word
'Da' is used by all IIT guys and all policemen, for quite different reasons! The tone of 'ennada, licence enga, vootlaya?' and 'what da, where is the jantha da?' are self-explanatory. Incidentally, all words beginning with 'vee' can be unconditionally substituted with 'voo'. So 'veedu' = 'voodu' and 'vittuvidu' = 'vuttudu'.

Coming back to 'da', an euphemism for that would be 'ba'. So, a 'ennada' would be made to sound much less offensive with 'ennaba'. Other less effective words, principally used among friends, include 'naina', 'vaadhyaare', 'machi', 'brether' (brother), 'allo' (hello)... the list is endless. When it comes to expressing intimacy and friendship, Madras Tamil is the best in the world. 

4. Pronouncing 'zha'
The syllable 'zha' (as in Tamizh) becomes 'ya'. So, 'vaazhai pazham' is 'vaaya payam', 'vaazhkai' is 'vaaykai', 'vazhukki' is 'vaykki'. Off the record, 'zha' is a pain. More than 95 per cent of Tamil Nadu substitutes it with 'ya' or 'la'.

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5. The English effect
When it comes to borrowing words from other languages 'Madrassukku nigar Madrasse'. English words can be used in any context without one feeling alien. 'wrongu', 'rightu', 'yechuse me', 'adjist', 'abase', 'abscond', 'beetiful figuru' and so on. 

6. Special slang
Some special words exist - and they can be used any place. Like 'Lord Labakdas', 'pistha', 'peter'. The origin of these words is unknown. These kinds of words mostly arise from the language used in movies (remember Vivek and Lord Labakdas?)

Tamil spoken at Ethiraj, Stella Maris, MOP and all other girls college is entirely different and beyond the scope of this article.

Srinivasa Ramanujam
Published on Nov 3^rd, 2004

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