Section:
Unit 5
Grantha Letters
A set of five letters, which are at the margin of the Tamil alphabet, are called grantha letters. When Sanskrit loan words were on the increase, many additional letters were needed to write sounds for which there was no letter in the Tamil alphabet. The traditional grammatical injunction was to change the sounds to those in Tamil and use the existing Tamil letters. This injunction was strictly followed for centuries until the seventeenth century in literature. But not in inscriptions and sectarian religious writings. When these writings used Sanskrit words liberally or when a mixed language of Tamil and Sanskrit was created, many letters from another Brahmi alphabet system were used. These letters were called grantha letters. Of these, five letters came to be accepted into the Tamil alphabet. They, however, are not accepted by Tamil purists. Of the five given below, the last two are less common.
The secondary symbols for vowels are added to these letters as for others introduced earlier. Example: ஜா, ஜி, ஜீ, ஜெ, ஜே, ஜை, ஜொ, ஜோ, ஜௌ. The secondary symbols for உ, ஊ are different and added differently on top of the letters. It is a line ending with a loop for the short vowel, the loop is curved out for the long vowel. Example: ஜு, ஜூ
ஜ /ja/
ஜபம் 'prayer'
ஜன்னல் 'window'
ஜாங்கிரி 'a sweet'
ஜிப்பா 'a loose, long shirt'
ஜீரணம் 'digestion'
ஜென்மம் 'birth'
ஜே 'long live'
ஜுரம் 'fever'
ஜூலை 'July'
ஜொலி 'glitter'
ஜோடி 'pair'
பஜ்ஜி 'a snack'
அஜீரணம் 'indigestion'
ஷ /sh/
ஷரத்து 'an article'
வருஷம் 'year'
விசேஷம் 'special'
வேஷ்டி 'long flowing'
கஷ்டம் 'difficulty'
கோஷ்டி 'group'
புஷ்பம் 'flower'
கஷாயம் 'decoction (medicinal)'
பாஷை 'language'
பேஷ் 'great (in appreciation)'
ஸ /s/
ஸ்தாபனம் 'institution'
ஸ்நானம் 'bath'
புஸ்தகம் 'book'
பஸ்பம் 'powder'
ஆகஸ்ட் 'August'
பஸ் 'bus'
நர்ஸ் 'nurse'
ஸ்பெஷல் ‘special’
ஹ /ha/
ஹிந்தி 'Hindi'
ஹாஸ்யம் 'humor'
ஹோமம் 'ritual fire'
மஹேஸ்வரன் 'a name of Shiva'
க்ஷ /ksh/
க்ஷயரோகம் 'tuberculosis'
க்ஷேத்திரம் 'place of religious significance'
லக்ஷ்மி 'consort of Vishnu'
ஜன்னல் வழியாக ஜிப்பா தெரிந்தது. 'Jibba was visible through the window'
பஜ்ஜியும் ஜாங்கிரியும் ஜீரணம் ஆகவில்லை. 'Bajji and jangiri did not digest'
விசேஷ நாட்களில் ஊரே ஜொலிக்கும். 'On special days the whole town glitters'
இவர்கள் திரைப்பட ஹாஸ்ய ஜோடிகள். 'They are a comedy pair in movies'
புண்ணிய க்ஷேத்திரங்களில் ஸ்நானம் செய்வது ஜென்மபலன். 'To take bath in religious places is redemption of your birth'
Word signs
ஸ்ரீ 'Sri (=Mr.)'
ஸ்ரீமதி 'Mrs.'
ஸ்ரீலங்கா 'Sri Lanka'
ஸ்ரீலதா 'a name (for women)'
ஜெயஸ்ரீ 'a name (for women)'
ஸ்ரீநிவாஸன் 'a name (for men)'
உ
Represents God Ganesha which is written by religiously minded people in the beginning of a text as a sign to invoke the God for a trouble-free finish.
Tamil Numeral Signs
Tamil has traditional numerals signs including fractions. They are given in the handout section below. These signs, however, have been replaced by Arabic (now international) numerals.
Reading pronunciation
Some of the words in this Unit have an alterante spelling, which avoids using the grantha letter. Their pronunication will be as per the letters in the alternate spelling.
ஜ is the voiced counterpart of ச. After nasal, ச gives this pronunciation and there is no need for ஜ in this position. ஜ is written as ச by some in the initial position and pronounced as such. ஜன்னல் – சன்னல், ஜூலை – சூலை
ஷ is the fricative (sibilant) counterpart of retroflex stop. In the middle of some words this is written with by ட. வருஷம் – வருடம், வேஷ்டி – வேட்டி. Practice the difference in pronunciation between வேஷம், பாடம், பழம் and வாரம்
ஸ is the fricative counterpart (sibilant) of ற, which is pronounced as ர. Remember has this pronunciation in the beginning of many words alternatively and between vowels in the middle of all words always. Examples: சாம்பார், பாசம். There is no need to write ஸ in the latter position, but some people do in loan words: தாசன் as தாஸன். ஸ் before a stop can assimilate with the stop: புஸ்தகம் –புத்தகம். If one wants to avoid ஸ் at the end of a word, உ is added: நர்ஸ் – நர்சு. But it does not work always. பசு is a different word from பஸ்.
This letter is used in this position when the loan word has the sound /z/: பிரேஸில் ‘Brazil’. The Sanskrit words spelled with ஷ is spelled with ஸ or with ச in Tamil. ஈஷ்வரன் - ஈஸ்வரன், ஷிவா – சிவா.
ஹ is the fricative counterpart of க. As such it is not needed in the middle of a word between vowels. But some people write ஹ in this position with loan words. This letter is dropped in the beginning of a word: ஹிந்தி – இந்தி, ஹோமம் - ஓமம். But it is needed in this position two write some names (ஹவாய், ஹரிஹரன்) and some onomatopoeic words (ஹாஹா (for laughter), ஹாய் (hi))
க்ஷ is a combined letter and pronunciation of க் + ஷ or ச. It is written with ச in the beginning of a word (க்ஷயரோகம் – சயரோகம்) and with ட்ச் in the middle of a word (லக்ஷ்மி – லட்சுமி).
Note
ஸ்ரீ is not a letter representing a sound, but a sign representing a word. It is an attribute before names; it could also be part of a Sanskritic name. The Tamil equivalent of it as an attribute is திரு for men and திருமதி for women.
Exercises
1. Fill in the right letter in the blanks in the words below.
------ங்கிரி ‘a sweet’
வரு-----ம் ‘year’
பு-----தகம் ‘book’
க-----டம் ‘difficulty’
ப-----பம் ‘powder’
வே-----டி ‘men’s wear’
ஆக-----ட் ‘August’
ப----- ‘bus’
ஜெய------ ‘a name’
------ப்பா ‘lose shirt’
விசே-------ம் ‘special’
---------ஸ்யம் ‘humor’
நர்------ ‘nurse’
ல--------மி ‘a name’
பஜ்------ ‘a snack’
2. The names of months in English are given in Tamil spelling below in a random order. Arrange them in the order in which they appear in the calendar.
ஜனவரி
மார்ச்
மே
ஜூலை
செப்டம்பர்
நவம்பர்
அக்டோபர்
ஆகஸ்ட்
ஜூன்
ஏப்ரல்
பிப்ரவரி
டிசம்பர்
3. Give the alternative spelling of the words below that use grantha letters.
ஜன்னல்
வருஷம்
ஜாதி
ஹோமம்
புஸ்தகம்
4. Write in Tamil script five names of towns and places you know following Tamil conventions. Give these names in Roman script also.
5. Write in Tamil script five names of friends and relatives following Tamil conventions. Give these names in Roman script also.
6. Memorize five words of your choice with their meaning from this Unit and tell them in the next class, first the Tamil words and their meaning and then the meanings with the equivalent words in English.
7. Arrange the words below that refer to food items in the order in which they will appear in a Tamil dictionary.
1. பப்படம் 'thicker and puffing kind of அப்பளம்'
2. தோசை ' fried crepe like snack made of ground and fermented rice flour and blackgram flour
3. பஜ்ஜி 'deep fried vegetable dipped in wet yellow split pea flour'
4. தயிர் 'yoghurt'
5. பிரியாணி 'rice cooked with spices and vegetables or meat'
6. சாம்பார் 'sauce made from boiled pigeon pea and vegetables'
7. பொங்கல் 'rice cooked with jaggery or green gram with some spices'
8. சட்னி 'chutney made from coconut or other vegetables'
9 . முறுக்கு 'pretzel like deep fried snack made from the cake of blackgram flour and rice flour'
10. குழம்பு 'thick sauce with vegetables and tamarind water'
11. வடை 'deep fried round cake made from soaked and ground flower of grams such yellow split pea, blackgram'
12. ஊறுகாய் 'pickle made of a vegetable soaked in oil and red pepper powder'
13. ஜாங்கிரி 'pretzel like sweet made of rice flour and blackgram flour mixed with sugar and deep fried'
14. அப்பளம் 'deep fried wafer-like side dish made from blackgram flour and rice flour flattened and dried'
15. இட்லி 'a steamed cake made of ground and fermented rice flour and blackgram flour'
8. Arrange the pronouns below in the order in which they will appear in a dictionary. Give their meaning.
1. நான்
2. நாம்
3. நாங்கள்
4. என்
5. நம்
6. எங்கள்
7. நீ
8. நீங்கள்
9. உன்
10. உங்கள்
11. அவன்
12. இவன்
13. எவன்
14. அவள்
15. இவள்
16. எவள்
17. அவர்
18. இவர்
19. எவர்
20. அவர்கள்
21. இவர்கள்
22. அது
23. இது
24. எது
25. அவை
26. இவை
27. எவை
28. அந்த
29. இந்த
30. எந்த
31. என்ன
32. யார்
33. அங்கு
34. அங்கே
35. இன்று
36. இன்றைக்கு
37. எப்போது
9. Mark the grantha letters in the text. If there is no grantha letter, say 'none'.
Handout
1. Names of months of the year.
சித்திரை 'Mid-April to Mid-May
வைகாசி
ஆனி
ஆடி
ஆவணி
புரட்டாசி
ஐப்பசி
கார்த்திகை
மார்கழி
தை
மாசி
பங்குனி
Tamil has native names for years that rotate in a sixty year cycle. They are now used in traditional cultural contexts like wedding invitations along with international dating. Some Tamil traditionalists reckon years from the birth year of Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil poet and philosopher, which they calculate as starting 30 years before the Christian era.
Read aloud the above list in the class.
2. Tamil numerals
௦ ௧ ௨ ௩ ௪ ௫ ௬ ௭ ௮ ௯
Originally, Tamils did not use zero, nor did they use positional digits (having separate symbols for the numbers 10, 100 and 1000). Symbols for the numbers are similar to other Tamil letters, with some minor changes.
For example, the number 3782 is not written as ௩௭௮௨ as in modern usage.
Instead it is written as௩௲௭௱௮௰௨.
This would be read as they are written as
Three Thousands, Seven Hundreds, Eight Tens, Two; or in Tamil as
மூ-ஆயிரத்து-எழு-நூற்று-எண்-பத்து-இரண்டு
௧= 1
௨= 2
௩= 3
௪= 4
௫= 5
௬= 6
௭= 7
௮=8
௯=9
௰= 10
௰௧= 11
௰௨= 12
௰௩= 13
௰௪= 14
- 2 -
௰௫= 15
௰௬= 16
௰௭= 17
௰௮= 18
௰௯= 19
௨௰= 20
௱= 100
௨௱= 200
௩௱= 300
௱௫௰௬= 156
௲=1000
௲௧= 1001
௲௪௰ = 1040
௮௲= 8000
௰௲=10,000
௭௰௲=70,000
௯௰௲=90,000
௱௲=100,000 (lakh)
௮௱௲=800,000
௰௱௲=1,000,000 (10 lakhs)
௯௰௱௲=9,000,000
௱௱௲=10,000,000 (crore)
௰௱௱௲= 100,000,000 (10 crore)
௱௱௱௲=1,000,000,000 (100 crore)
௲௱௱௲=10,000,000,000 (thousand crore)
௰௲௱௱௲=100,000,000,000 (10 thousand crore)
௱௲௱௱௲=1,000,000,000,000 (lakh crore)
௱௱௲௱௱௲=100,000,000,000,000 (crore crore)