Quote for the day!

ഉന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തു-
ന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്താളെയുന്തു്

(According to legend, the very first couplet in
മഞ്ജരി inspired by which കൃഷ്ണഗാഥ was written.)

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Two pronunciations of ങ്ങ

In Malayalam there are two possible pronounciations for ങ്ങ. 

In words like മാങ്ങ, പൊങ്ങി, the pronounciation of ങ്ങ is very 'pure' - it sounds exactly like two ങ's. Whereas, in words like തേങ്ങ and മുരിങ്ങ, the pronounciation is more like 'ങ്യ' (ങ് + യ ). 

Is it completely random, or is there a rule behind it?

It seems that when the preceding sound is gutteral (e.g. അ, ഓ or ഉ), the pronounciation is the pure one. When the preceding sound is palatal (e.g. ഇ, ഏ), the pronounciation is mixed with യ. 

For a set of contrasting examples, consider: ചങ്ങാതി (1), ചിങ്ങം (2), ചുങ്ങി (1), ചേങ്ങില (2), ചൊങ്ങ്‌ (1), where (1) denotes pure and (2) denotes impure pronunciation. 

Can you think of other examples that demonstrate this difference in pronounciation? 


Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Interesting false cognates

Here are a couple of false cognates in Sanskrit and Malayalam that I thought was funny.

ആന means elephant in Malayalam. യതി, a tathsamam from Sanskrit, means 'breaking'. If you combine the two, you get ആനയതി. This is meaningless in Malayalam but in Sanskrit this means 'he brings'.

Approximately switching the order, അതിയാൻ means 'that man' in Malaylam. A very similar-sounding അതിയാനം meaning 'passing by' in Sanskrit.

Isn't that interesting?