Miscellaneous Tamil Queries

[crazyone]

We should have a thread on this too.

To start off, what is the meaning of Ghajini?  I'm pulling this out of a different language, but it doesn't mean 'town', does it?

And is it spelled:  கஜினி ?

Gotta love typing in scripts that you can't read    James, this Baraha thing is amazing.

[Daniel]

  I love that I am suddently able to type in 15 different fonts and pretent like I understand them....maybe I could actually learn that way.

[crazyone]

I love that I am suddently able to type in 15 different fonts and pretent like I understand them....maybe I could actually learn that way.

Yeah    I assume you have the Baraha thing too?  I must warn you, the Malayalam unicode is wrong--it doesn't do conjuncts properly.  However if you have the Baraha program (not just the Baraha Direct which I use for typing most of the time in Hindi) it comes with the program and various fonts which can express Malayalam correctly. 

Tamil is a funny language--it would drive some of our Hindi language learners mad (since they don't like Hindi romanization for its sloppiness).  The same letter stands in for several sounds.  For example, Ka and Ga are written the same way, but you have to know which one it is to pronounce it correctly. 

[piyaara]

 Hmmm...I ain't got no Tamil fonts, but I would like to know what the title 'Ilaiya Thalapathy,' which usually appears before actor Vijay's name, actually means, please.

[James]

We should have a thread on this too.

To start off, what is the meaning of Ghajini?  I'm pulling this out of a different language, but it doesn't mean 'town', does it?

And is it spelled:  கஜினி ?

Gotta love typing in scripts that you can't read    James, this Baraha thing is amazing.

It is a cool programme.    I can actually read the 'ja' in that and see that it's a short 'ee' following it...Tamil is different from Hindi in that both the short and long 'i' follow the the letter, and the short 'i' in indicated by bringing the stroke all the way to the bottom of the margin, whereas the long 'i' only goes about half way.  I only know this because I was curious about Tamil back in high school and had one of my friends show me how to write "Jimmy" in Tamil (I've been a Jimmy since boyhood and only really in the last few years a James!  ).

Here's Jimmy as my friend showed me to spell it:

ஜிம�மி

[crazyone]

It is a cool programme. I can actually read the 'ja' in that and see that it's a short 'ee' following it...Tamil is different from Hindi in that both the short and long 'i' follow the the letter, and the short 'i' in indicated by bringing the stroke all the way to the bottom of the margin, whereas the long 'i' only goes about half way. I only know this because I was curious about Tamil back in high school and had one of my friends show me how to write "Jimmy" in Tamil (I've been a Jimmy since boyhood and only really in the last few years a James! ).

Here's Jimmy as my friend showed me to spell it:

ஜிம�மி

The 'ja' is recognizable to me as well, because it's very similar to 'ja' in Malayalam.  However, what seems to be 'ma' in Tamil is basically the same symbol as 'tha' in Malayalam, so this doesn't always work.  And the general form (and placement) of the short 'i' and long 'i' is similar to Malayalam. 

Now we just need someone who actually knows Tamil!

[palacerani]

I went Googling. I speak Tamil but didn't know what Ghajini meant. This site says it means Victory (The producer of Ghajini (which means victory) Salem Chandrasekhar seems confident of striking it rich with the racy action drama).

The link: http://www.apunkachoice.com/movies/mov622/ghajini-preview.html  (last paragraph).

[panjabigator]

are there any good publications that explain tamil from hindi?

[crazyone]

I doubt there are many, but I did a quick google search and found this:

http://www.pustakmahal.com/book/book/bid,,1115B

No idea whether it's good or not or whether it would be better than an English to Tamil book. 

[bitterlemons]

Crazyone,

Yes, Ghajini is spelled the way you wrote it.

Ilayathalapathi means "leader of youth" - ilaya is young (ilayaraja is a prince, a young king).

Regards,

Bitterlemons.

[meenkaran]

I think Ilaya thalapathy is also supposed to mean that Vijay is the junior superstar, since thalapathy is Rajnikanth.

I have also heard Ghajini means destruction.. ?

[Daniel]

James, the two i's in jimmi seem to be the same though.  how does one differentiate the short jim from the mee?

I doubt there are many, but I did a quick google search and found this:

http://www.pustakmahal.com/book/book/bid,,1115B

No idea whether it's good or not or whether it would be better than an English to Tamil book. 

rapidex...vomit!

[crazyone]

Bitterlemons, thank you for the explanations. 

Meenkaran, I was wondering what it says in your signature--could you transliterate it, if possible, into Malayalam script?  Thanks.

[meenkaran]

Meenkaran, I was wondering what it says in your signature--could you transliterate it, if possible, into Malayalam script?  Thanks.

I was just testing out the Baraha thing that you guys mentioned here. Its good but in malayalam its not that easy to write things out and right now I can't even right much. The thing in my sig is just a tamil song from the movie 'Minnale'. I don't even know if its written correctly. It goes like 'Ennai etho seithu vitaal, Nenjai poo pol koithu vitaal' ("She who did something to me, She who plucked my heart like flower")
I managed to write 'Namaskaaram' in malayalam, that too is not completely correct. = > നമസ�കാരം

 

[crazyone]

Meenkaran, I was wondering what it says in your signature--could you transliterate it, if possible, into Malayalam script? Thanks.

I was just testing out the Baraha thing that you guys mentioned here. Its good but in malayalam its not that easy to write things out and right now I can't even right much. The thing in my sig is just a tamil song from the movie 'Minnale'. I don't even know if its written correctly. It goes like 'Ennai etho seithu vitaal, Nenjai poo pol koithu vitaal' ("She who did something to me, She who plucked my heart like flower")
I managed to write 'Namaskaaram' in malayalam, that too is not completely correct. = > നമസ�കാരം

 

Oh yeah, I forgot.  It's much better for Tamil (I think) and Hindi if you  use the Baraha Direct (the thing which lets you type so it's readable in UNICODE here).  I don't think Unicode has proper conjucts so words like 'priya' don't come out right.  In Malayalam they have not really come out with a good UNICODE.  In Hindi 'pri' comes out properly but in the Malayalam Unicode does not.  However, if you go to the actual Baraha program (you'll see a poem by Vallathol Narayana Menon there) it will come out properly because it uses a font that Baraha made.  But it isn't UNICODE, so not everyone will be able to read it. 

[Stephen]

Could anyone translate this caption from Uyire/Dil Se for me please?

[Fantam]

To start off, what is the meaning of Ghajini?  I'm pulling this out of a different language, but it doesn't mean 'town', does it?

And is it spelled:  கஜினி ?

Ghajini is short for 'Ghajini Mohammed' (Tamil version of Mohamed of Ghazni) who legend has it raided India and Delhi multiple times (17?) before he succeeded in ransacking Delhi in the early part of the 11th century. I believe the director was using that name to suggest that Surya was like Gajini in coming back again and again before vanquishing the villains!  And yes, the Tamil spelling is right above.

Meenkaran, That lyrics in Tamil you have for that song in you sig is horribly spelled!!!

[Fantam]

I think Ilaya thalapathy is also supposed to mean that Vijay is the junior superstar, since thalapathy is Rajnikanth.

Yes Rajini is called Thalapathi, since he acted in a movie by that name. Thalapathi means 'a commander of a force' equivalent of a 'General'. Ilaya (young) Thalapathi (General) would mean the 'the young general' as opposed to Rajni the 'old general'!

[Fantam]

Could anyone translate this caption from Uyire/Dil Se for me please?

Vadakilzhakku Maanilam = Northeastern State

Vada (short for vadakku) = North
kilzhakku = East;  'lzha' is that unique sound found in Tamil and Malayalam
Maa = big; nilam = land; Maanilam = literally 'big land' but commonly used for a 'state'. So you have Kerala maanilam, andhira maanilam and so forth.

[meenkaran]

Meenkaran, That lyrics in Tamil you have for that song in you sig is horribly spelled!!!

LOL. I knew it would be since when I tried typing out some malayalam songs as I normally would in English, they came out horribly.
Now I've typed a telugu song, which also is probably written wrong. Let's see if 'wannabe' says something.

[Prem Rogue]

Tamil is a funny language--it would drive some of our Hindi language learners mad (since they don't like Hindi romanization for its sloppiness).  The same letter stands in for several sounds.  For example, Ka and Ga are written the same way, but you have to know which one it is to pronounce it correctly. 

There are a few confusing things in Tamil script:

-There are two characters each for the the La and Na sounds.  I believe that one "L" and one "N" go at the start of the word, and others come in the middle. 

-The letters for Ja and Ai (as in Aishwarya) are very similar looking.

-The characters to turn Ra sound into Ro or Ray (for example) swap duties for different sounds.

-The "ow" sound (as in Gowri).  "Gowri" is written as "Kelari" if read phoenetically, but is actually the "ow" sound.

Isn't the "ha" character a relatively recent addition to the Tamil alphabet?

[Stephen]

Vadakilzhakku Maanilam = Northeastern State

Vada (short for vadakku) = North
kilzhakku = East;  'lzha' is that unique sound found in Tamil and Malayalam
Maa = big; nilam = land; Maanilam = literally 'big land' but commonly used for a 'state'. So you have Kerala maanilam, andhira maanilam and so forth.

Many thanks.

[James]

James, the two i's in jimmi seem to be the same though.  how does one differentiate the short jim from the mee?

True, and I suppose the final 'i' should only come halfway down which would indicate it's a long 'ii'.  But that's how my friend showed me to write my name at the time.  Perhaps it's like in Hindi, where sometimes you have a short 'i' at the end, but it sounds essentially the same as long 'ii'/ई?  I have no clue. 

[crazyone]

James, the two i's in jimmi seem to be the same though. how does one differentiate the short jim from the mee?

True, and I suppose the final 'i' should only come halfway down which would indicate it's a long 'ii'. But that's how my friend showed me to write my name at the time. Perhaps it's like in Hindi, where sometimes you have a short 'i' at the end, but it sounds essentially the same as long 'ii'/ई? I have no clue.

I think it's what you said.  The same happens with my name the way it is written in Malayalam. 

[piyaara]

 Oooo...a rather belated thanks for the Vijay title. 

 I was hoping someone could translate this screenshot that appeared at the end of Dass.  Considering the importance of the message that appeared at the end of Kaadhal, I was wondering if I was missing something vital.  Probably just a dedication, but if anyone can translate, I'd be grateful.



If this is too small try this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/piyaara/Tamil%20Films/Dass/Dass.jpg

Thanks.