Today's Tamil word - 29th May 2020 - அறம்

Morality (Dharma) - தர்மம் (from Sanskrit)

Original Tamil word - அறம்

The word Dharma is used to convey various meanings like righteousness, ethics, virtue and morality depending on its context of usage. தர்மம் comes from the Vedic culture and is a word that is used extensively in epics like Mahabharata/The Gita to impress upon what is right and what is wrong.

Tamil, however, has different words for each of these meanings: ethics (நெறி), virtue (நல்லொழுக்கம்); அறம் is closely related to morality, and அறநெறி (அறம் + நெறி - a combination of ethics and morality) is the word for righteousness.

Yet, அறம் is much more meaningful than just morality. It means a way of life. Thirukkural preaches on what is அறம் quite elaborately. Valluvar defines அறம் as:

"அழுக்காறு அவாவெகுளி இன்னாச்சொல்  நான்கும்
இழுக்கா இயன்றது அறம்" - (குறள் 35)

Jealousy, Desire, Anger and Bitter speech, without these four comes what is called அறம்.

So essentially அறம் is the Tamil world for a disciplined, simplistic way of life without bitterness.

It is clear, அறம் and தர்மம் have different definitions going by the texts that prescribes them. Essentially these are cultural words, and hence they have deeply ingrained asymmetrical meanings. So, we cannot use them interchangeably. This reiterates the need to use the word அறம் and more importantly follow its values, in the right sense as it was meant to be.

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil word - 28th May 2020 - உதிரம்

Blood - இரத்தம் (Sanskrit)

Original Tamil words - குருதி, உதிரம்

இரத்தம் comes from the Sanskrit root word for blood - Rakta. The words for blood in many languages now, like Hindi (Rakt), Malayalam (Raktam), Telugu and Kannada (Rakta) are also from this Sanskrit word.

Original Tamil word உதிரம் can be explained as below:

Ul (உள்) + Thiravam (திரவம்) → Ulthiravam (உள்திரவம்) → Uthiram(உதிரம்)

திரவம் is the Tamil word for 'FLUID'; so since blood is the inner fluid, it is called உதிரம் in Tamil.

The word குருதி has been used a lot in ancient Tamil literature to refer to blood. But I haven't been able to correctly decipher the root of this word.

In தொல்காப்பியம் (the oldest known Tamil literature), which documents the grammar of Tamil, Tholkaapiyar says, 'உருவும் கெழுவும் நிறனாகுமே', thereby meaning that the word உரு refers to a colour (by some references, the Red Colour). So, this uru (red) could have become kuru and given the word குருதி.

The common meaning of உரு today is shape (உருவம்); the usage of the word உரு as red colour should have gone out of practice very early.

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil word - 27th May 2020 - தீவினை

Sin - பாவம் (from Sanskrit)

Original Tamil word- தீவினை

The words பாவம் and புண்ணியம் come from Sanskrit's Vedic religious beliefs. It is the doctrine of Karma. Nevertheless, it is a belief that is part of the Tamil society, even before the influence of Sanskrit, albeit without the religious angle.

The famous Purananooru poem (number 192) of the great Kanian Poongundran says, "தீதும் நன்றும் பிறர்தர வாரா" (This is the very next line of "யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்")

The above line, written about two millennia back, is still self-explanatory even today - 'the good and the bad, unless given won't be gotten'.

So, the original Tamil word for புண்ணியம் is நல்வினை and பாவம் is தீவினை (வினை is the Tamil word for deed).

Now though, பாவம் and புண்ணியம் are only prevalent as the words for good and bad deeds, completely driving out the original Tamil words நல்வினை and தீவினை due to their repeated religious usage.

பாவம் also takes the meaning of 'pity', sometimes in today's context; the right Tamil word for pity, however, is தயவு.

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil word - 26th May 2020 - சிக்கல்

Problem - பிரச்சனை (Sanskrit)

Original Tamil word - சிக்கல்

The word பிரச்சனை comes from the Sanskrit word 'prasna' which means question or problem in Sanskrit.

Prasna took different forms in Malayalam (Prasnam-problem), Telugu (Prasna-question), Kannada (Prasne-question) and Tamil (பிரச்சனை) to replace the original word for question/problem in those languages.

சிக்கல், the original Tamil word, comes from the word சிக்கு which means tangled (e.g. அவன் குழியில் விழுந்து சிக்கி கொண்டான்) . So, சிக்கல் means to get caught in a tricky/difficult situation. Today, while people still use சிக்கல் for problem in Tamil, the majority have shifted to using பிரச்சனை.

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil word - 25th May 2020 - சார்பாளர்

Representative - பிரதிநிதி (Sanskrit/Hindi)

Original Tamil word - சார்பாளர்

The word commonly used now for representative - பிரதிநிதி comes from the Sanskrit word பிரஜை (citizen). Everywhere in the news, we listen to the word பிரதிநிதி being used during election results, assembly/parliamentary sessions etc.

The original Tamil word, however, is சார்பாளர். It comes from the word சார்பு which means stand-by/represent (on-behalf of). In another context, it also means dependent on (e.g. நான், என் தந்தையைச் சார்ந்து இருக்கிறேன்).

First and foremost, the official communication has to change to சார்பாளர் instead of பிரதிநிதி, to bring about a change in the common usage. Will the government administration or political parties, who all swear about fighting for Tamil, bring about such changes that would go a long way in actually reviving Tamil?

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil word - 23rd May 2020 - ஆற்றல்

Energy/Power - சக்தி (Sanskrit)

Original Tamil word - ஆற்றல்

The word சக்தி is used in the context of science to mean energy, vigour, power, intensity etc. Later (3rd-5th century CE approximately) it became a religious term, as well, referring to Goddess Parvathi (the wife of Shiva)

Though the word is deep rooted in today's Tamil vocabulary, it is not an original Tamil word. ஆற்றல் is the right Tamil word, which means power, efficiency, potency. In another context, ஆற்றல் means competence and strength also.

The word ஆற்றல் has been used in numerous places in the Thirukkural, but the word சக்தி doesn't find a place at all. The fact that even when two words mean the same, only one is used at a point in time, clearly conveys that the word சக்தி has replaced the word ஆற்றல் (by and large) after the time of the Thirukkural.

ஆற்றல் comes from the Tamil root word ஆற்று which means - to do (eg செயல் ஆற்றினார்);
in another context, ஆற்று means to soothe (தணி).

அண. நாகப்பன்

Today's Tamil Word - 22nd May 2020 - வணக்கம்

Greetings - Namaskaram/Namaskar (Sanskrit)

Tamil word - வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)

NamaH is the Sanskrit word for salute. Namaskaranam - is the process of saluting.

The Tamil word வணக்கம் comes from the root words வணங்கு + இணக்கம். The word வணங்கு means respect/greet. The word இணக்கம் means accommodate/consent (e.g. நான், அவர் சொல்லுக்கு இணங்கினேன் - I consented to his words). So the word Vanakkam means greet the other person with consent; accommodate the other person with respect.

வணங்கு doesn't mean salute in Tamil. So that is the difference between Namaskaram and Vanakkam. There is an accusation that Namaskaram has elements of casteism within its usage. In the old times, only the elites were using the word Namaskaram to greet other elites. Having said that, given the very meaning of the word, Vanakkam is a greeting with mutual respect.

அண. நாகப்பன்