#learn malayalam

[williamslider]

Daily Malayalam 02

Tree / Wood

മരം [ maraṁ ]

-

Tree

വൃക്ഷം [ vr̥kṣaṁ ]

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DO IT!!!! - malayalam imperatives

So we are now getting to the part in grammar studies where we start to distinguish between moods in a language. We are starting with the imperative mood. In English the imperative mood allows us to give commands or to make requests, kind of like when we type in capitals with lots of exclamation marks to tell people we are giving them a command, or how we elongate vowels when stressing the word PLEEEEEASE, to really emphasise this mood. In Malayalam there are multiple methods to form imperative moods, some more elegant and easy to comprehend than others!

One of the first methods we will encounter is asking for permission. The simplest way to change a verb to make it permissive in Malayalam, is to remove the -ഉന്നു from the present tense of the verb and add -ട്ടെ

ഞാൻ സംസാരിക്കട്ടെ - may I speak?

ഞാൻ കഴിക്കട്ടെ - may I eat?

അവൾ വരട്ടെ - may she come?

To command someone to do something there are different levels of formalities we must consider. This system of formality will be familiar to those of us who have studied Japanese at any point. The examples below will rank from least polite to most polite for each verb. Also please notice how the most polite uses the past participle form of the verb instead of the present tense.

നീ വാ - you come!

നിങ്ങൾ വരൂ - you may come.

താങ്കൾ വന്നലും - you are welcome to come.

നീ പോ - you go!

നിങ്ങൾ പോകൂ - you may go.

താങ്കൾ പോയാലും - you are welcome to go.

Adding -നാം to a verb is a soft commitive way of saying you will do something. Kind of like giving a light promise. In English cultures the whole, 'we should meet for coffee sometime' comes to mind. It's like you saying you want to do something but you're not fully committed to doing it. Since only you can express promises and desires, this -നാം ending is used with first person pronouns, so any that include you as the speaker.

ഞാൻ നിന്നെ നാളെ കാണാം - I'll see you tomorrow

നമുക്ക് കോഫി കഴിക്കാം - let's have coffee

ഞാൻ നാളെ പോകാം - I'll go tomorrow

So I covered how you'd talk about needing or wanting (to do) something in the present tense - (remove -ഉക and add ണം e.g. പോകുക = പോകണം the difference between need and want is changed by the case used nominative or dative if this sounds confusing refer to my earlier posts on the dative case) What about when we wanted something in the past? Well, 'wanted' or 'needed' in Malayalam is വേണമായിരുന്നു (so basically, 'want/need' വേണം + 'was' ആയിരുന്നു). So, you can say പോകണമായിരുന്നു for 'should go'. Also, I thought I'd talk about how to talk about not wanting or needing things, because we already know that വേണം is the verb you use for talking about when someone does need or want something. The negative form is വേണ്ട.

So എനിക്ക് പോകണമായിരുണു - 'I wanted to go',

but ഞാൻ പോകണമായിരുന്നു - 'I should go'.

So എനിക്ക് പോകണ്ട. 'I don't want to go.'

but ഞാൻ പോകണ്ട - 'I shouldn't go'.

If you're talking about how you will may want/need something in the future, you have to add -ഏണ്ടി വരും. In this case the case doesn't matter as much as the suffix is sufficient for context.

ഞാൻ പോകേണ്ടി വരും - 'I have to go'

ഞാൻ പോകേണ്ടി വരുമായിരുന്നു - 'I had to go'

To make commitive statement (that you will definitely do something) you add ഇരിക്കും to the past particle form of the verb. Same as the previous example this conjugation is not as dependent on the case as the earlier examples.

ണാൻ അവിടെ പോയിരിക്കും - 'I WILL go there'

ഞാൻ ഈ പുസ്തകം വായിച്ചിരിക്കും - 'I WILL read this book)

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stress free guide to stressing

So in Malayalam it is important to learn how to place stress on different words in order to spice up your sentence structures! Also if you’re like me, and you are watching lots of Malayalam media etc, you will hear malayalis use the ആണ് dotted about everywhere like it’s some amazing sentence seasoning 😂 I have included a couple of pictures from the book I am using to give some explanation to it. In English we usually just change the emphasis in the speech to stress words e.g. ‘this pen is MINE’ vs ‘this PEN is mine’ emphasising the ‘pen’ by changing the pitch, suffices in English as a marker for highlighting a word, in Malayalam adding ആണ് has a similar function. For example:

അവൻ മൈക്ക് ആണ് - he is Mike

അവൻ ആണ് മൈക്ക് - HE is Mike (it is HE, and no one else, that is Mike)

മൈക്ക് ആണ് ആവൻ - MIKE is he (MIKE is he, and not another)

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Lesson 2

EXERCISE ANSWERS

Here are the answers to the last lesson

This is a table - ഇത് ഒരു മേശയാണ്‌

That is book - അത് ഒരു പുസ്തകമാണ്

What is that? - അത് എന്താണ്

What is your name? - നിങ്ങളുടെ പെര് എന്താണ്‌

This pen is mine - ഈ പേന എന്റേതാണ് (ഇത് becomes ഈ if it directly precedes a named object)

This notebook is mine - ഈ ബുക്ക് എന്റേതാണ്

She is Sara - അവൾ സാറയാണ്

He is Paul - അവൻ പോൾ ആണ്

VOCABULARY

ഞാൻ - I

എന്റെ - my (possessive case)

നിങ്ങൾ - you (polite)

നിങ്ങളുടെ - your (possessive case)

നീ - you (casual)

അവൻ - he (casual)

അയാൾ - he (polite)

അദ്ദേഹം - he (honorific)

അവൾ -she (casual)

അവർ - she (honorific) AND they

ഞങ്ങൾ - we (excluding listener)

നമ്മൾ - we (including listener)

ആണോ - is/are? Question for if ആണ്

അതെ - yes

ഇല്ല - no

-ഇൽ - locative case marker (in/among/at)

-ലേക്ക് - towards

വീട് - house/home

ജോലി - job/work

ഒരു -a/one

-ഉം - also/too

ഈ - this

ററീച്ചൻ - teacher

ചെയ്യുക - (verb) to do - ചെയ്തു - did - ചെയ്യും - will do

-ഓ - question marker

ADVERBS

ഇവിടെ - here

അവിടെ - there

എവിടെ - where?

ഇങ്ങോട്ട് - in this direction/over here

അങ്ങോട്ട് - in that direction/over there

എങ്ങോട്ട് - in which direction?

ഇപ്പോൾ - now

അപ്പോൾ - then

എപ്പോൾ - when?

ഇന്ന് - today

അന്ന് - that day

എന്ന് - which day?

ഇങ്ങനെ - like this

അങ്ങനെ - like that

എങ്ങനെ - how?

CONVERSATION

Bill: നിങ്ങളുടെ വീട് എവിടെ ആണ്

James: എന്റെ വീട് London-ഇൽ ആണ്‌

Bill: എന്റെ ജോലി എന്താണ്‌?

James: ഞാൻ ഒരു ററീച്ചൻ ആണ്‌. നിങ്ങളോ?

Bill: ഞാനും ഒരു ററീച്ചൻ ആണ്‌.

James: എന്ന് നിങ്ങൾ ജോലി ചെയ്യും.

Bill: ഇന്ന് ഞാൻ ജോലി ചെയ്യും.

GRAMMAR

Locative case marker are joined to nouns as outlined here and here

Adding -ഉം to words follows similar conjugation rules to -ഇൽ in the table linked above however if the word ends in -ം have a -വ added eg അദ്ദേഹം becomes അദ്ദേവും

EXERCISE

Translate the following into Malayalam

He is here today

Is he here today?

How do you do this?

Where is she?

When did you do this?

I am in London

My house is in Kerala

She is in her house

Answers in the next lesson

Jump to previous lesson

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My current chosen handwritten ലിപി I still practice everyday there’s still a lot of letters I don’t like the look of mainly the last row, and all the ഒ are dodgy 😂

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verb deliciousness part 2

To prepare - തയ്യാറാക്കുക (തയ്യാറാക്കി)

To adjust - ക്രമീകരിക്കുക (ക്രമീകരിച്ചു)

To get ready - തയ്യാറെടുക്കുക (തയ്യാറെടുക്കി)

To take - എടുക്കുക (എടുക്കി)

To monitor - പരിശോധിക്കുക (പരിശോധിച്ചു)

To begin - ആരംഭിക്കുക (അരംഭിച്ചു)

To inform - അറിയിക്കുക (അറിയിച്ചു)

To open - തുറക്കുക (തുറന്നു)

To try - ശ്രമിക്കുക (ശ്രമിച്ചു)

To improve - മെച്ചപ്പെടുത്തുക (മെച്ചപ്പെടുത്തി)

To stare - ഉറ്റുനോക്കുക (ഉറ്റുനോക്കി)

To practice - പരിശീലിക്കുക (പരിശീലിച്ചു)

To wish - ആഗ്രഹിക്കുക (ആഗ്രഹിച്ചു)

To begin - ആരംഭിക്കുക (ആരംഭിച്ചു)

To start - തുടങ്ങുക (തുടങ്ങി)

To find - കണ്ടെത്തുക (കണ്ടെത്തി)

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dative case - in depth

I've mentioned the dative case a few times now because it is a very useful case in Malayalam. Dative case has many uses which I will try and talk about in more depth here. I plan do do a similar set you for useful cases. Not all of them need this much detail because not all of them are this diverse in usage.

1. As the subject of a sentence

Dative case can stand in for subject in a sentence lacking a nominative subject.

അവൾക്ക് റാമുവിനെ വിശ്വാസമില്ല - ‘she has no trust in Ramu’

2. As the indirect object

Dative case marks an indirect object in a sentence with a nominative subject. The dative subject takes on the role of experiencer and the nominative subject the agent for the experience.

ആയ്ശ അവർക്ക് ഒരു കഥ പറഞ്ഞുകൊടുത്തു - ‘Ayesha told them a story’

3. To express a state

Dative case + ആണ്/ഉണ്ട് conveys a state of being.

അവർക്ക് പേടി ആണ് - 'they are scared'

4. To express a desire

Dative case is used when you're talking about something you want to do. So how do you talk about wanting to do something? What you basically do is take the plain/dictionary (-uka ending) form of verb expressing whatever it is you want to do and then add the verb for want - വേണം  to it. For example, 'want to go' would be:

പോകണം (so you remove the -ഉക from പോകുക and add ണം from the വേണം verb)

However, പോകണം can also mean 'have to go' (or 'has to go', 'need to go', or 'needs to go'). How do you tell which one it means? Simple! If the subject is in dative case, then it means 'want(s) to go'. If it's in nominative case, then it means 'should’ go'!

So എനിക്ക് പോകണം - 'I want to go', but ഞാൻ പോകണം - 'I should go'.

More on this use in my next post I don't want to start focusing on desiderative mood, in a post about dative case, I just wanted to make you aware that there is a difference between the dative and nominative in these sentences.

5. Verbs of perception can take the dative

Verbs such as seeing, smelling, feeling, touching etc can take the dative case to show a subject of those senses

എനിക്ക് നല്ല മണം അനുഭവപ്പെടുന്നു - 'I smell, a nice smell (lit. a nice smell I experience)'

6. Verbs of ability can too

Verbs such as be able to, can, could take the dative subject to denote ability.

താരയ്ക്ക് ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് സംസാരിക്കാൻ പറ്റുന്നില്ല - 'Tara in not able to speak English'

7. To convey the meaning 'for'

How the case is described in English - 'for'

ഒരു നിസ്സാര കുറ്റത്തിന് അവൾ ശിക്ഷിക്കപ്പെട്ടു - 'she was punished for a petty offence'

8. With ഉണ്ട്

With ഉണ്ട് verb and it's negative form ഇല്ല to portray a possessive meaning

അവന് ഒരു നല്ല കാർ ഉണ്ട് - 'he has a nice car'

9. Spatial and temporal meanings

To indicate a time or place.

ഡോക്ടർ ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് വരും - 'the doctor will come in the afternoon'

10. Genitive function

This is specially the case with location prepositions such as behind, outside, above etc.

മുറിയ്ക്ക് പുറത്ത് - 'outside the room'

[paccha-puccha]

I've always been obsessed with comic books aesthetic, so I tried to make my own learning comic in Procreate, to study Malayalam emotive words!