Quote for the day!

ഉന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തു-
ന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്തുന്താളെയുന്തു്

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

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Turning words

The three basic rotations are roll, yaw and pitch (for details refer to this diagram)

What would the corresponding mallu words be? I think they will be:

തിരി = yaw (cf. ഇടംവലംതിരിയുക), turn
മറി = pitch (cf. കീഴ്മേല്മറിയുക ), overturn
ചെരി = roll (from the general meaning of the verb), tilt

തിരി also means
  • wick - and of course, a wick is created by "turning" (or rolling) a piece of cotton
  • a lamp, by extension. as in മെഴുകുതിരി
  • to divide - as in തരംതിരിക്കുക
  • to understand, to discriminate (as in a rational process) - from the previous meaning, as in വകതിരിവു്
ചെരി also means
  • to "elephant-die" i.e. to die, used only in the case of elephant. Figurative, of course.

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