| Tanglish | |
| Also Known As: | Thanglish |
| Nativename: | தமிங்கிலம் |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /ˌt̪əˈmɪŋgɪləm/ |
| Region: | Tamil Nadu, SE Asia, North America |
| Ethnicity: | Tamil |
| Familycolor: | mixed |
| Fam1: | mixed Tamil–English |
| Script: | Latin |
| Iso3: | None |
Tanglish (ta|தமிங்கிலம், pronounced as /ta/) refers to the macaronic code-mixing or code-switching of the Tamil and English languages, in the context of colloquial spoken language. In the context of colloquial written language, Tanglish refers to the transliteration of Tamil text in English, with extensive usage of English vocabulary.
The name is a portmanteau of Tamil and English, and has taken various forms over time. The earliest form is Tamilish (dating from 1972), then Tinglish (1974), Tamglish (1991), Tamlish (1993), Thanglish (1997), and Tanglish (1999).[1]
The use of Tanglish is common in Chennai, possibly due in part to the use of English in education. The influx of speakers of other languages (such as Telugu, Gujarati, and Kannada) to the city has also increased the importance of English as the lingua franca.[2] In The Hindu in 2010, a student in Chennai told of the widespread use of Tanglish by teenagers in her city. She said Tanglish was "something almost every teenager in Chennai uses", but noted that her mother said Tanglish was "murdering the [Tamil] language".[3] That same year, a Tamil teacher in a matriculation school in Chennai reported that few of her students had a large enough Tamil vocabulary to be able to speak Tamil without including some words of English.[2]
Tanglish is increasingly used in advertising aimed at consumers in Tamil Nadu, particularly for promotion of international products. For example, Pepsi has mixed English with Tamil in its slogan "ullam kekkuthae more".[4] In 2004, The Hindu commented on a mobile phone advertising campaign in Chennai that used slogans that combined Tamil and English, such as "Konjam Samaiyal... Konjam Serial", "Konjam Advice... Konjam Udaans", and "Konjam Kadhal... Konjam Modhal." It also is common for advertising to use the Tamil language rendered in the English alphabet, a trend that leads to concern that people are losing the ability to read Tamil script.
The Tanglish lyrics of the film song "Why This Kolaveri Di", which went viral on Internet social networking sites in November 2011, have been identified as a factor in the song's popularity.
Use of Tanglish has been reported among Tamil-speaking immigrant populations in Malaysia and Canada, particularly by young people.[5] Singaporean rapper Yung Raja is known for his extensive use of Tanglish in his lyrics.[6]
A study of code switching in everyday speech in Tamil Nadu found that English words are commonly inserted into sentences that otherwise follow Tamil syntax.
A characteristic of Tanglish or Tamil-English code-switching is the addition of Tamil affixes to English words. The sound "u" is added at the end of an English noun to create a Tamil noun form, as in "soundu" and the words "girl-u heart-u black-u" in the lyrics of "Why This Kolaveri Di".[7] English nouns often are combined with Tamil case markers, as in "journeyai" (accusative case), "driverkku" (dative case, used to mean "for the driver"), and "teacheroṭa" (of the teacher, genitive case). Verbs and some nouns from the English language are converted to Tamil verb forms by adding Tamil verbalizers that indicate verb mood. For example, the Tamil verb "paṇṇu" (imperative mood "do") is added to the English verb "drive", resulting in "drive paṇṇu", used to mean "do the driving".[7] Another pattern that has been noted by speakers or observers of Tanglish is the addition of the syllable "fy" at the end of a Tamil word (e.g., maattify, Kalaachify).[3] [8]