Chilligavva

I was always fascinated by the way a brand name is so popular that it then becomes the verb itself.  The classic example would be XEROX.  Thats a brand name.  But in India nobody I mean  no-body uses the correct verb photocopy.  People say “Have you XEROXED it?” and mean photocopied.

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of a couple of interactions with a new bloglog acquaintance of mine , Zubli Zainordin from Malaysia who is compiling material for a Book Project.  He also wants to learn Telugu, my mother tongue.

In our emails that we exchanged, he used the sentence “You Telugu Me”, which has now definitely caught my fancy.  The phrase is to be read as ,  translate the sentence in Telugu and write back to me.

So Zubli, here are your first few Telugu phrases.

Bavundadam  - To be good  (Adjective.)

Pronounciation: baa+wun+da+dum

Meeru Bavunaara? [How are you?  Literally - Meeru ( You - Both Plural or respect marker) Bavunaara(Good+Question+plural - are you good?)]

Pronounciation: mee+roo   baa+wun+aa+ra

Mee Blogu Bavundandi. [Your Blog is Nice. Literally - Mee (Your) Blog (English term Blog) Bavundandi (Good +present tense+respect marker.)]

Pronounciation: mee blog+u baa+wun+than+dee

Cinema Bavundi. [The Cinema is good.  Literally - Cinema (movie) + is good(Bavundi). ]  here there is no respect marker, as movie is a common noun.

Pronounciation: cee+ni+maa baa+wun+thee

Popularity: 13% [?]