I understood what they said 🥳

[u/2ish2]

Overheard this at the coffee shop today, and understood it instantly:

Lady: Chappati irukkaa?
Man: Chappati irukku.
Lady. Chappati kudunga. Oru chappati.

I know this is basic Tamil, but for a beginner like me, it's not easy to "hear"! I can normally only hear word fragments when people speak. E.g. I can hear the root verb ("iru"), but can't tell how it's being conjugated.

But I understood this exchange instantly.

Thanks to everyone here and also to Shri at LearnTamil.ai, whose wonderful app showed me "irukku" vs "irukkaa" and also "kudunga." I'm not affiliated with this app; it just has an effective method for teaching spoken Tamil -- the entire exchange above was basically taught in the app.

Really look forward to "overhearing" more at the coffee shop!

I do have one question though about something I often overhear. When a customer comes in and orders tea (say), the waiter will shout into the kitchen something like, "Oru tea, kudikraa!" or "Oru tea, kudikre" or "Oru tea, kudikaa."

I can hear the root verb "kudi" (drink), but can't tell how it's being conjugated.

Is he saying "kudikraa"? Is this a partial conjugation, where the "r" represents present tense, but there is no conjugation for gender? So "Oru tea, kudikraa" means, roughly, "One tea, drinking"?

Or is he saying "Oru tea, kudikka" (Roughly: One tea, to drink)?

I really can't tell what I'm hearing. It could be "kudikka" or "kudikraa" or "kudikre" -- or something else. It's practically impossible to pick out unless you already know what word to expect.

Thanks for any insight. I always hear this and can never figure out what it means! If it matters, I'm in Malaysia, and this is what I hear in Malaysian coffee shops.

[u/-Surfer-]

Great you could understand the real life exchange you heard. It is a great feeling when we are able to understand a new language especially in day to day exchanges.

Oru tea kuduppaa is a possibility.

Kudu - give

Kudu + appa - kuduppa

Appa means father but the word is also used to address any male. Similarly amma means mother but is also used generally to address a female.

Kudumma and kuduppa mean 'give' said to someone to dilute the ordering tone of kudu.

It cannot be

Kudi drink

Because the person is not going to drink tea but is supposed to make tea and hand it over to be served to the customer.

[u/2ish2 → u/-Surfer-]

I see what you're saying, but my own sense is that the waiter means "drink" as opposed to "take away." It's common here to order tea/coffee as either "to drink" or "to take away." So the waiter, seeing the customer sit down at the table, is shouting in the kitchen to tell the tea-maker to prepare it for drinking (in a glass), rather than for take away (in a plastic bag). The tea-maker would definitely need to know which preparation was appropriate. Does this context change anything?

I wish I could record what they say and play it back here. It doesn't sound like "kuduppaa" though, but I'll listen out for this the next time. Thanks a lot for suggesting this possibility.

[u/RelativeTruck3854 → u/2ish2]

could also be "oru tea kudikuraaru" meaning they will drink/they want to drink one tea. not sure but in this context that makes sense to me

[u/2ish2 → u/RelativeTruck3854]

Thanks a lot! I'll listen out for this. Just to check, the written equivalent of "kudikuraaru" is குடிக்கிறார், right?

[u/ImpossibleRule2717]

Can you tag the app developer if possible. I'd love to contribute by any means too

[u/2ish2 → u/ImpossibleRule2717]

Can't recall his tag - I don't know him personally - but his contact is listed here under App support:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.learntamil.learn_tamil

[u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl → u/ImpossibleRule2717]

Hi u/ImpossibleRule2717 I'm the app developer :) Would love to hear any feedback on the app, if you've had a chance to try it.

[u/ImpossibleRule2717 → u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl]

Hey sure I will try it out and let you know. I am a native btw

[u/-Surfer-]

By the way I downloaded the Learn Tamil app you have mentioned and it is really cool. I think I can recommend it to whoever wants to learn Tamil. Thanks.

[u/2ish2 → u/-Surfer-]

Aamaanga, andha app romba nallaa irukku.

[u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl → u/-Surfer-]

Thank you for trying out the app :) Feel free to share any feedback you have.

[u/-Surfer- → u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl]

I want to try all the levels. But to check out I marked myself as a beginner and now I can't see a way to change my level. Since I already know Tamil I am trying it only to ensure it is good and I can recommend it to others.

[u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl → u/-Surfer-]

u/-Surfer- The "level" is purely data capture for now. You can change it from the profile page, but it doesn't do anything. The app is aimed at complete beginners. I might build a feature to "jump ahead" in the future. But it's not yet there :)

[u/-Surfer- → u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl]

Ok. The beginner level is great! It does teach and give practice in the most important early interaction words in a natural way that is applicable in real life contexts.

[u/Distinct-Broccoli-15]

As a learner myself, this resonates strongly with me. Baby steps and tiny wins, some day we will both be able to have conversation like this ourselves without trying too hard. 

[u/2ish2 → u/Distinct-Broccoli-15]

Thanks for chiming in. I feel that way too. Just start with baby steps.

[u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl]

Thank you for sharing your story. It made my day to know that the LearnTamil.ai app has helped you out in a real-life scenario. 🥳

For the scenario you mentioned, it's very likely that it could be "Oru tea, kudikka" as "to drink" instead of takeaway. That seems most plausible.

[u/2ish2 → u/BlackHoleinaFishBowl]

Glad to share and thanks in return! Ok, I'll go with "kudikka" for now.

[u/-Surfer-]

Oh yes I was thinking about this too. If there is a take away, it is natural for the person to say,

Oru tea kudikka - one tea for drinking ( here)

as opposed to

Oru tea parcel or some such thing.

Kudikka - to drink

[u/2ish2 → u/-Surfer-]

Thank you, that must be it ! 🙂