Tamil pronunciation (was Re: Indo-Aryan Invasion (focussed di

[SP]

Please read S. Srinivasan as S. Swaminathan. In addition to not being a
linguist and a Thamizh Pulavar, I also obviously do not spell well  :-((((

Sujatha
-----Original Message-----
From: SP <jp_stephens at CLASSIC.MSN.COM>
To: INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
Date: March 5, 1998 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: Tamil pronunciation (was Re: Indo-Aryan Invasion (focussed di

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Palaniappa <Palaniappa at AOL.COM>
>To: INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
>Date: March 4, 1998 8:37 PM
>Subject: Re: Tamil pronunciation (was Re: Indo-Aryan Invasion (focussed di
>
>
>
>>
>>I am surprised that a non-brahmin from Madurai pronounced "taka" as "taga"
>>instead of something like "taha".
>
>This "surprise" is what my tamil teacher also felt. When I was in school I
>had a great Tamil teacher (Mr. S.Srinivasan who prided himself as being
>named after U.V. Swaminatha Iyer) who was a brahmin. He was most certain
>that those of us non-brahmins would not properly pronounce certain words in
>Thamizh (e.g., Pazham) and gave us a few words to pronounce. Lo and behold
>we could not only pronounce, but that was the way we spoke and he was taken
>aback, but had the graciousness to accept that he was mistaken.
>
>On another note re: pronouncing letters like "ca" as "sa" and the different
>forms of "ka" - is this not based on some grammatical rule? I clearly
>remember learning something to that effect in school, but am unable to
>recall the exact rule. This could also be found in a book called Thamizh
>Ilakkiya Varalaru which was part of our curriculum at University. If
anybody
>remembers this rule in Thamizh grammar, please enlighten me.
>
>I know Thamizh in Kanyakumari dt. is influenced by Malayalam, but there are
>certain words that are used in that part of Thamizh Nadu which are
>pronounced with no colloquialism, i.e., Thalaiyanai for Pillow whereas in
>the rest of Thamizh Nadu it is pronounced by all (including brhamins) as
>Thalahani. Is this a Malayalm influence or is it something else.
>
>On another note does anyone know how to nominate a teacher for Rajaji
Award.
>Is it possible to do that if the person is retired. I would like to
nominate
>Mr. Srinivasan, but am at a loss as to how. Any pointers would be
>appreciated.
>
>I am not a Thamizh Pulavar or a linguist so pardon me if I sound too
>elementary :-)
>
>Sujatha
>