Tamil, as she is spoken

I owe this post to P, for her faith in getting me back to my writing habit, which once used to be a compulsive addiction.

Languages, dialects, words and expressions have never failed to intrigue me. My mother tongue is a dialect of Tamil called 'Palakkad Tamil', the one that Kameshwaran (Kamal) speaks in MMKR. Funny as it might sound to the rest of the Tamil speaking clan, there is a certain charm about it that I am incompetent of versifying. This is the dialect I was born with. My verbal learning curve started with the nasalized utterances of this language. This is the form of Tamil I am most comfortable with.

As I grew up, a different form of Tamil inspired me, the one that is popularly called Madras Tamil. I believe that having lived in Chennai (the then Madras) for most of my life, it is natural that it has appealed to me. (Who said familiarity breeds contempt?) Again, there is a certain charm about this form of Tamil, that I am incompetent of versifying. Linguists with a puritanical streak might disagree with me.

The closest comparison to Madras Tamil is the Black English. Both these forms being very colloquial and unacceptable professionally. What binds them closely is the ergonomics. Language is a tool to communicate effectively and easily. Going by this definition, these dialects are not a denigration of language, but a well evolved version of their more acceptable counterparts. Both these forms use lesser number syllables in their words and are clearly easier to speak.

Consider this:

Enna pannindu irruke?
ina pannu kire?

The latter certainly is easier and quicker than the former. The same can be said about black English, where words are spoken such that there is a stress on a single syllable. Easy, effective!

For the ones who have tried it, when you try speaking Madras Tamil with a BD (an Indian cigarette) betwixt your lips, it would never fall. Jeez to me that is ergonomics at its best. (Not that I smoke!)

Peace out
Anty