Learn Tamil through Telugu

Tamil is one of the classical languages…not only of India but also of the world. It is a Dravidian Language primarily spoken by the people of Tamil Nadu.

Learning Tamil is relatively easy for South Indians especially for Telugu people because Telugu Language(like other Dravidian Languages) is influenced by Tamil.

For easier understanding and convenience, the learning is divided into the following Chapters. Please do remember that the structure given is based on my way of learning being a Telugu speaker, I hope that the structure would be useful for others too.

Chapters

• Interrogatives
• Pronouns
• Most common and useful words
• Common verbs and actions
• Tenses
• Adjectives
• Vocabulary
  • Numbers and Counting
  • Vegetables, Food Items and Groceries
  • Relations
  • Animals
  • Miscellaneous
• Sentence Formation
• Guidance on Pronunciation

Miscellaneous Observations

Usage of plural(for nouns) is not very strict in Tamil unlike Telugu, so most of the colloquial conversations takes place in singular only

Eg: How many fruits have you brought?
Telugu: Enni pandlu techavu?
Tamil: - Ethna Pazham konduvandite?
Observation: Notice Pazham is used instead of Plural Pazhamgal
-gal is used to make plural of nouns etc in Tamil, like -lu is used in Telugu

There is no letter ha(హ) in Tamil Alphabet which brings a huge difference in pronunciation, any common words (esp Sanskrit words) are pronounced very differently compared to Telugu and intonations requiring ha sound will be pronounced without

Eg:

1. Ha lettered words
   Telugu: Sneha
   Tamil: Snega
2. Ha intonation
   Telugu: Bharata/Bhavya
   Tamil: Barata/Bavya

There is no శ letter in Tamil Alphabet which alters the pronunciation of Sanksrit words starting with the same

Eg:
Telugu: Shakti - శక్తి
Tamil: Sakti - సక్తి

In Telugu ల, ళ are identical (ళ ల యో రబేధః) but in Tamil there are total 3 la sounds ల,ళ and ఱ(zha) and each letter’s usage is distinguished

Eg:
Telugu: కల్యాణం, కళ్యాణం - Both are identical Technically
Tamil:

1. వలి - Pain, వళి - Way
2. పులి - Tiger, పుళి - Tamarind etc

Tamils prefer saralas(ga, ja da, dha, ba) to parushas(ka, cha, ta, tha, pa) in pronunciation for some common words of Telugu and Tamil

Eg

Telugu: Padmanabham Tamil: Badmanabam

In some other places it’s the opposite…prefer parushas(ka, cha, ta, tha, pa) to saralas(ga, ja da, dha, ba)

Eg

1. Injury/wound
   Telugu: Gaayam
   Tamil: Kaayam(Which is a different word altogether in Telugu - Body)
2. Quick/Fast
   Telugu: Sheeghram
   Tamil: Seekram/Seegram