A study of code switching in everyday speech in Tamil Nadu found that English words are commonly inserted into sentences that otherwise follow Tamil syntax.
STRUCTURE 1 (Tanglish-ized NOUNS)
A characteristic of Tanglish or Tamil-English code-switching is the addition of Tamil affixes to English words. The sound “u” is added at the end of an English noun to create a Tamil noun form, as in “soundu” and the words “girl-u heart-u black-u” in the lyrics of “Why This Kolaveri Di”.
STRUCTURE 2 (Tanglish-ized NOUNS)
English nouns often are combined with Tamil case markers, as in “journeyai“, “driverkku” (dative case, used to mean “for the driver”), and “teacheroDa“.
STRUCTURE 3 (Tanglish-ized VERBS and NOUNS)
Verbs and some nouns from the English language are converted to Tamil verb forms by adding Tamil verbalizers that indicate verb tense. For example, the Tamil “paNNu” is added to the English verb “drive”, resulting in “drive paNNu“, used to mean “do the driving”.
STRUCTURE 4 (Tanglish-ized VERBS)
Another pattern that has been noted by speakers or observers of Tanglish is the addition of the syllable “fy” at the end of a Tamil word (e.g., maatify, Kalaachify).
Source: Adapted from Wikipedia, in turn referenced from:
- Kanthimathi, K. (2009). “Tamil-English Mixed Language Used in Tamilnadu” (PDF). The International Journal of Language Society and Culture (27): 48–53.
- Narayanan, Hiranmayi (21 April 2010), “Enter, Tanglish”, The Hindu
- Rao, Mallika (28 November 2011), “‘Why This Kolaveri Di’: India’s Latest Viral Hit”, Huffington Post
1) noun phrase
rain nallaa adikkardhu
rain-adv very-falling
it is raining heavily
2) Declarative Sentence 2 (intransitive)
Pravs bed-la thoongindu irukkaan
Pravs is in bed, sleeping
3) Yes/no questions
Hey, ennoda indha poem-la mistakes edhaa irukkaa?
Hey, are there any mistakes in this poem of mine?
4) Content questions
Gym-la evoLo neram spend paNNe innikku?
How long did you spend at the gym today?
~