When the phrase ‘Amateur Announcer’ with its Tamil meaning ‘Vizhainar Arivippalar’ from the list of 550 pre-selected words comes up for discussion, an argument breaks out. Voices are raised, passionate points of view are expressed, explanations are put forth before an agreement on the acceptable Classical Tamil word translation for it is arrived at.
As the argument continues, a member of the team translating the words, quickly Googles the English synonym and explains it, following which they settle for the Classical Tamil word translation to ‘Vizhaivu Arivippalar’.
This is part of the ‘Sorkuvai’ (Word Corpus) project to collect all Tamil words, put them in an ordered (‘Niral Paduthuthal’) manner, that seeks to protect and develop the language. The State government has sanctioned ₹1 crore for the project and the experts and staff have so far come up with translations for 3.79 lakh words that have been uploaded on www.sorkuvai.com .
Around 20 members of a team, including Tamil scholars and staff of the Directorate of Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project, come up with Tamil translations for various English terms across nearly all subjects -- Physics, Chemistry, Technology, Ornithology, Medicine and Biology, among others. The meeting is generally open, where new members also join in for discussions.
“A large number of new words in English, especially in technology have come up in the last few years. Take for example, words like wi-fi or selfie. The Tamil word for selfie is ‘Thaami’ as in ‘thaane payanpaduthuvadu’ (using on your own). This Tamil word was given to us by students who are being trained here by us in collaboration with colleges,” said Thanga Kamaraj, director of the centre.
The meeting, which is held twice every month, sometimes sees furious but healthy arguments between the experts, says Mr. Kamaraj. The members also avoid word translations that are mixed up with Tamil. When someone picks the word ‘Anaerobic respiration’ from the list, one of them says ‘swasam’ which is immediately shot down as it not a Tamil word. After juggling multiple combinations, they settle for ‘Uyirthal’.
The directorate has also created a toll free line -- 14469 -- through which anyone from anywhere in the world can contact the centre and clarify their doubts and explanations regarding Tamil words, he said. The Directorate also sends a large glass box ‘Sol Undiyal’ (Word Box) to colleges, where students can drop their suggestions for words in English to be translated to Tamil.
R. Anusuya, a student of Chellamal Women’s College said she and her classmates had attended the training session for 20 days at the Directorate and she is now using Tamil words as part of her everyday life.
Mr. Kamaraj said the Directorate meets students in colleges and many of them have now taken a oath to propagate Tamil, and as a first step, have started signing their names in Tamil.
Published - December 24, 2019 01:12 pm IST
