Spoken Kannada through Hindi

Inspired by discussions in: TheI want to learn Kannada community in Orkut

Edition I

Talking to your Housemaid

Disclaimer This is work in progress. The dialect of Hindi or Kannada I use here could be different from the ones you know. If you find serious differences used here, first, please accept my apologies, and second, please mail me the corrections (ellelliyu a-t gmail d-o-t com).

Contents
zero. Instructions 1. A little courtesy oLagay banni
a. Ward off intruders please, hOgi

2. 3.

guDisu/varisu, paatre/baTTe sambaLa..

0. Instructions
Each of these lessons explain a situation or two when dealing with your house-maid, and gives you common Kannada phrases to tackle them.the end of a lesson, you have a Kannada keywords Just before section with possible keys to remember them. Every lesson contains an exercise and answers to questions in the exercise. While working on an exercise, be honest try not to look back or ahead at the slides or seek help! Each lesson should not take you more than a few minutes to complete. Youre advised to complete the lesson and the exercise together for maximum retention. It may not be possible to remember everything in a language the first time you hear it, though Telugu and Tamil speakers have a distinct edge over native Hindi-only speakers. Demand help from your local friend or colleague! Please keep this presentation as a handy reference for future use.

1. A little courtesy - oLagay Youve just moved banni new residence, and into your
have, through a common friend or agent, requested the services of a maid. She turns up one day. Use oLagay banni (= andar aao). (she hesitates a little).
Kannada, like all South Indian languages, is agglutinative - meaning, when the first word ends with a vowel, the vowel doesnt show when used with a second word. oLagay thus becomes oLag, and thus you have oLag-banni, used as one word.

parvaa-illa, banni (illa = nahin). (she now comes in). kooDi (= baitho). (she takes a seat). You want to make sure that the lady has a reference. Did your friend or agent send her?
nim-na illi yaaru kaLs-idru? (= tum-ko yahan kaun bhEja?) Her reply could be: <your friend/agents name>

________

kooth-koLi = baith-leejiye is also used.

Keywords so far, and keys to remember them - 1

oLagay banni andar aao (oLagay banni is frequently used by BMTC conductors). illa nahin hai. kooDi sit remember kooDala sangama, a historic place in Bijapur, where the rivers
Krishna and Ghataprabha sit and merge.

neevu tum nim-gay tum-ko (used as in tum-ko kya, kaisay..) nim-ma tumh-aara in Kannada, all references to the second person begin with
ni- or nee-.

nim-na tum-ko (used as in tum-ko kaun, kisnay..)

illi yahan, alli wahan, yelli kahan?

Exercise - 1
How do you say andar nahin hai in Kannada? hOgi in Kannada translates to jaao. How do you now say, andar jaao, aur baitho in Kannada? Just like references to the II person begin with ni- & nee-, references to the first person, the self, or selves thereof, begin with na- & naa-. Whatre the Kannada equivalents for:
hum-aara friend yahan nahin hai. hum-aara ghar aao. [Hint: maney ghar]. [Hint: mattey aur ].

[Out-of-syllabus] How do you say tum-ko Kannada pata hai-kya? in Kannada, of course!
(Answers: press space).

Next: Press a key

Answers to Exercise - 1
Remember that nahin hai is illa, and andar is oLagay. So andar nahin hai translates to oLagay illa.
Kannada, like all South Indian languages, is agglutinative - meaning, when the first word ends with a vowel and the second starts with a vowel, the starting vowel of the second replaces the ending vowel of the first. oLage illa, by this property, becomes oLag-illa (the hyphen here denotes the absence of e of oLage).

andar jaao aur baitho is oLage hOgi, mattey kooDi.

Often, the mattey in this sentence is not used at all so it effectively becomes oLage hOgi, kooDi.

hum-aara friend yahan nahin hai becomes nam-ma friend illi illa. Illi illa turns out to be ill-illa when spoken, due to its agglutinative property. hum-aara ghar aao becomes nam-ma maney-gay banni
tum-ko Kannada pata hai-kyaa? Becomes nim-gay Kannada gott-idyaa? Recall from the keywords that nim-na is also Next: Press a key
the reason maney gets a gay appended is because you are being invited to a home. Observe that the South Indian dialect of Hindi and Dakhni Urdu use ham-aara ghar-ko aao.

mentioned as a synonym for tum-ko in some cases. It cannot be nim-na in this example because tum-ko and kya are used in a sentence (refer the keywords in the previous slide).

1a. Warding off intruders please, hOgi agent, or friends name If the lady doesnt mention your
correctly, she could be an intruder, or must have mistaken your address for somebody elses. Use
nim-gay yaaru bay-ku? (tum-ko kaun chaahiye?) If she mentions your name correctly, its time to call your friend or agent and confirm If shes the right person. Whats her name? nim-ma hesru yEnu? (tum-haara naam kya?) To speak as close as possible to a

Your friend or agent mentions that shes not the person hed sent to meet you. Time to send this person away.
neevu yaaru nan-gay gott-illa. (= tum kaun (ho) mere-ko pata-nahin) She should get the message at this point. Should she still stay on, Use daya-iTTu illi-inda hOgi. (= daye-rakh-kar yahan-say jaao.) Wait to see if she leaves. If she doesnt: horT-hOgi (= chali-jaao.) hOg-alla andre police kari-teeni (=jaaogay nahin toh police bulaoongi/oonga.) Note: Hindis -oongi and oonga translate only to teeni in Kannada.

native KannaDiga, omit the ending vowels of all words except the last. nim hesar yEnu?

Keywords so far, and keys to remember them 1a

bay-ku chaahiye.

yEnu? kya?
got-tu = pataa hai (got you). gott-illa = pataa nahin.

hesru = naam
iDu rakho iTTu rakh-kar

andre toh, matlab (andre toh agassi). yaaru kaun (yaar, u kaun?) inda say (Hindi). illi-inda translates to yahan-say Next: Press a key

Exercise 1a
To your question nim-na yaaru kaLsidru?, the lady says nan-na avaru kaLsidru. What is she saying? [Hint: avaru unhonay] What is the Kannada equivalent for tum-ko yahan kya chahiye? What is the Kannada equivalent for tum yahan rakh-kar chale-jao kitna translates to eshtu, S-2, and bachche, to makkaLu. Now, how do you say, aapka bachche kitna? tak, as in wahan tak translates to wargu, or tanka in Kannada. Now, how do you say in Kannada: kitchen-say bedroom-tak? What does hOg-teeni mean?

[Out-of-syllabus] Assuming that the lady is genuine your friend,

or an agent has indeed, sent her to you. But you would want her to come starting tomorrow. How do you say this in Kannada aaj nahin, kal-say aao
(Answers: press space). Next: Press a key

Answers to Exercise 1a
Shes saying mere ko unhonay bheja.
Why is it nan-na avaru kaLsidru and not nan-gay..? The gay postfix is used when I want something out of my choice, as in nan-gay icecream bEku, while the na is used when someone else is doing something to me or with me. Also, avaru is unhonay in Hindi.

tum-ko yahan kya chahiye? is nim-gay illi yEnu bEku? tum yahan rakh-kar chale-jao is neevu illi iTTu horT-hOgi. aapka bachche kitna? is nim-gay makkaLu S2? kitchen-say bedroom-tak is kitchen-inda bedroom-wargu. Remember that -teeni is a postfix to -oonga, and hOg translates to jaa. So hOg-teeni is jaa-oonga. aaj nahin, kal-say aao translates to iwatt alla, naaLe-inda banni.
nahin hai translates to illa. while just nahin without the hai in Hindi translates to alla in Kannada. Applying this rule, aaj nahin, transforms to iwatt-alla. We know that the Hindi say translates to Kannada inda, naaLe is kal, so naaLe+inda is kal say.

Next: Press a key

 Security test passed! The ladys genuine. She just mentioned your name, mentioned the name of the person who sent her to you, and also her own name, which you just confirmed with your friend or agent. Time to talk business! You would want the lady to help you with common household chores. Can she do that?

2. guDisu/varisu, paatre/baTTe.. 1/3

mane-na guDis-bayku,.. (= ghar-ko jhaaDu (karna) chaahiye) ..vacuum clean maaD-bayku,.. (karna-chaahiye). ..paatre toLi-bayku,.. (barthan dhona-chaahiye) ..batte vagi-bayku. (kapDa dhona-chaahiye) ..aduge maaD/tayaaris-bayku. (rasoi banana-chaahiye)

Alternately, you could use just one sentence: - aduge, batte, paatre, guDis-bayku, vacuum clean maaD-bayku

 If your potential house maid is ok with the chores youve mentioned so far, shell perhaps say sari (ok) to everything you just mentioned. But should she have questions, they are mostly with:
The frequency of the tasks Her skills in a particular task Her willingness to do a particular task. She could, therefore, ask you the equivalents of:
Do all these tasks need to be done daily? I cannot do x task daily.

2. guDisu/varisu, paatre/baTTe.. 2/3

I dont know how to do task y.

I dont want to do task z.

Lets tackle each of these situations in some detail.

2. guDisu/varisu, paatre/baTTe.. 3/3 ella kelsa dinaa/divsaa maaD-baykaa? =

[sab kaam roz karna-chaahiye (kya)?] While bayku is chaahiye,note that Vacuum clean dinaa/divsaa maaD-akke aag-alla. = [vacuum clean roz karne-liye hOga nahin.] karne-liye is not correct Hindi,
the aa at the end of baykaa is equivalent to chaahiye kya. You can also notice the aa usage at BMTC bus-stops: majestic-aa? market-aa?? Jayanagar-aa?

nan-gay paatre toLe-akke buhr-alla. = [mere-ko barthan dhone-liye aata nahin.] Remember that the -alla postfix
negates the meaning of a verb. This is as against atte which is affirmative. More examples: hOgatte = will go, hOg-alla = will not go; aag-atte = hojaayega, aag-alla = nahin hojaayega. To convert the attes to questions, change them to attas. nim-gay aag-atta? Bus hOg-atta? In Hindi, aata nahin = nahin aata, but in Kannada, buhr-alla != alla-buhr.

perhaps, as purists see it. The liye is used here just to match with akke. From the previous examples, dhone-liye becomes toLi-akke, jhaaDu-karne-liye guDis-akke. Remember, the postfix akke translates to liye.

nan-gay aDuge maaD-akke ishta illa. = [mere-ko rasoi karne-liye ichcha nahin hai.] This Hindi sentence may
not be accurate again, but its a little Sanskritized to give you an idea. Sanskritized Hindi is a great tool to understand Kannada. As an example, look how similar ishta and ichcha are!

Keywords so far, and keys to remember them 2

bay-ku chaahiye. maaD-bay-ku karna chaahiye. guDis-bay-ku jhaaDu-karna chaahiye. toLi-bay-ku dhOna chaahiye. vagi-bay-ku (kapDa) dhOna chaahiye. ellaa sab. ellaa-ru sabi log. -akke -liye. toLi-akke dhone-liye vagi-akke dhone-liye
wash).

(vagi- is used when referring to anything related to clothes and a

guDis-akke jhaaDu karne-liye

ishTa ichcha. buhr-alla aata nahin aag-alla hOga nahin

Exercise 2
What are the Kannada equivalents for:
dekhna-chaahiye chhoona-chaahiye sunna-chaahiye bolna-chaahiye khaana-chaahiye dekhnay-liye chhoonay-liye sunnay-liye bolnay-liye khaanay-liye

When someone says avar-gay ishTa illa, what does it mean?

Kannada brown, Hindi - blue
(Some Hindi words may not seem mainstream. Image from kannadaviahindi.blogspot.com)

Answers to Exercise 2
dekhna-chaahiye is nOD-bay-ku.
The opposite of bay-ku in Kannada is bay-Da, so nODbay-Da is dekhna-math, in the singular. For plural, or to use it with respect, use noD-bay-Di (dekhiyE-math). Used in temples all over Karnataka, when youre requested to touch an offering made to a presiding diety or idol. muTT-bay-Di is its opposite. You can hear kELi used a trillion times on FM radio it was even the punchline of a mainstream Bengaluru FM channel meaning, to hear or ask, based on the context.

chhoona-chaahiye is muTT-bay-ku.

sunna-chaahiye is kEL-bay-ku.
bolna-chaahiye is hEL-bay-ku. khaana-chaahiye is tin-bay-ku. dekhnay-liye is nOD-akke.
ide? Is dekhnay-liye kya-kya hai?

ooTa aaita? is a question you get to hear very often. If someone asks you this, and you havent eaten yet, use this as an answer. Use this to enquire about places in Karnataka. noD-akke yEn-yEnu

chhoonay-liye is muTT-akke. sunnay-liye is kEL-akke. bolnay-liye is hEL-akke. khaanay-liye is tin-akke.

Recall that avaru is unhonay, and ko translates to gay (mere-ko is nan-gay). Unlike Hindi, which cuts unhonay to unko, in Kannada we append the gay to avaru. So avar-gay is unko. ishTa, you

may recall, is ichcha, and illa is nahin. So avar-gay ishTa illa is unko ichcha nahin.
(Some Hindi words may not seem mainstream.

3. sambaLa.. 1/6
Ok, we know now what our new maid can do, and what she cannot. We need to let her know of the following:
What time does she need to report for duty? Is she ok with split hours (if so needed?) Is she ok with alternate timings on weekends and holidays? What is she expecting? Do we find it too high? Will she negotiate? Do we have a probation time in mind?

Lets tackle each of the equivalent phrases in some detail.

3. sambaLa.. 2/6
neevu kelsa-kke dinaa/divsaa beLgay 8:30 buhr-bEku. = [tum kaam-ko roz subah 8:30 aana-chaahiye] akke and gay are
equivalent words, with this difference: -akke is used for neutral gender: kaam is neutral; and gay for humans: us-ko = avan-gay, avaL-gay, un-ko = avar-gay. 8:30 (eight-thirty) is not Kannada, but well do with English times for now and cover the Kannada shortcuts in a while.

If you are not very particular about what time shell need to come, you can tell her that the timings are flexible, but she needs to be at office without fail. (Theres no work from her home )

neevu yavaag aadru banni, aadre dinaa/divsaa buhr-laybEku. = [tum kabhi bhi aao, lEkin roz aana-hi-chaahiye.] Notice that
interrogatory words in Kannada begin with the y- sound, in contrast to Hindis k- sound. yaaru = kaun, yEnu = kya, yaake = kyon, yavaaga = kab, yeshTu = kitna, yelli = kahan. The only exception is hay-gay, which is kaisa, though the ye-gay variation does exist.

3. sambaLa.. 3/6
If you would prefer that she works split-hours, say, sometime in the morning and sometime in the afternoon, or evening, use -

neevu beLgay swalpa hotthu banni, matte madhyaana swalpa hotthu. = [tum subah thODi dhEr aao, aur dOpahar thODi dhEr.] If you
prefer that she come split hours in the evening, use sanjay inplace of madhyaana.

If shes not ok with this offer, she might say, aag-alla ma/madam/aunty. If shes the silent types, she might just frown. If you want to confirm, Use

aag-alvaa? = [hOga nahin?] OR aag-atta? = [hOga (kyaa)?]

If youre the impatient types, or have been waiting too long for an answer, Use

bEga hELi. aag-attO, aag-alvO? = [jaldi bataa. hOga (ya) nahin?]

The -O in aag-attO and aag-alvO instead of the -aa, used in a normal interrogation, is used only when the hOgya-ya-nahin cases are involved, i.e you arent sure. buhr-teerO, buhralvO? hOg-teerO, hOg-alvO?

3. sambaLa.. 4/6
Youd want her to come in a little late on Saturdays, or Sundays. neevu shaniwaara-bhaanuwaara 9:30(nine-thirty) gay banni. = [tum shaniwaar-raviwaar 9:30 ko aao] Again, If shes not ok with this offer, she might say, aag-alla ma/madam/aunty. This time, she should give you a reason: she could have her weekends pre-occupied, and so will not be able to defer her timing by an hour. aag-alla (aunty), bEre yellO hOg-bEku= [hOga nahin, aur kahin jaana-hai. ]
Remember from the previous slide that -O suffix indicates that you arent sure. The yell-O (yelli = kahan) here is used here because your maid isnt sure where shes going, or isnt sure if she should be sharing that with you.

Once the timings are agreed on, we move on to the next important, or the most important part of the deal what is she expecting? Your agent or friend might have given you an idea, There are three scenarios here:
You propose a sum as salary. She agrees, OR She wants to bargain.

Lets look at these scenarios in the coming slides time for a some keywords, and an exercise!

Keywords 3.1
kelsa-kay is kaam-ko, maney-gay is ghar-ko. While Hindi uses a unfirom ko suffix, Kannadas varies between kay and gay. When do we use gay, and when do we use kay? To get at the answer, we apply Karthys rule.
Consider this: Akaasha kay, ada kay, Ida kay, Habba kay,Santhosha kay -- (1)

and this
Bhoomi-gay,Hakki-gay, pencili-gay, booki-gay, CD-gay -- (2) There is one similarity.. If a word ends with 'a', it feels awkward to use a -gay.. so, we prefer -kay If a word ends with 'i' / 'e', we prefer using -gay. For words in english like pencil, pen, we add an 'i' and end it with -gay.. However, if Akaash above was the name of a person, we use -gay. When we are talking about people and animals, we use -gay (Akaash here, is a person, while akaasha in (1) is the sky).

Exercise 3.1
How do you say in Kannada: tum ghar-ko rOz shaam 6-o-clock chali-jaao Yavaag-aadru is kabhi-bhi. What are the Kannada equivalents for kuch-bhi, kOyi-bhi, kaheen-bhi If your maid begins to tell you: naaLe buhr-akke aag-alla.., what does she mean?

She continues: ..aadre bEre yaarna-aadru kaLs-teeni, what is she saying?

[Out of Syllabus] Youve planned a family picnic to Cubbon Park tomorrow. You would want to:
Invite your maid to the outing Let her know what she need not attend work tomorrow.

OR

How do you convey these in Kannada?

Answers 3.1
nee-vu mane-gay divsaa saayan-kaala 6-o-clock horT-hOgi You can also use
san-jay in place of saayan-kaala.horT-hOgi Using horT-hOgi instead of hOgi implies that this is an advice, failing which the consequences could be bad, just like in Hindi.

kuch-bhi is yEn-aadru.

Notice that the kuch in kuch hai kya? and kuch-bhi do both translate to yEn-aadru. kuch is also sometimes used to mean tODa, as in tODa hai to do, in which case you need to use swalpa. kOyi-bhi is yaar-aadru. kaheen-bhi is yell-aadru.

naaLe (nan-gay) buhr-akke aag-alla.. is kal (mere-ko) aane-liye hOganahin..

I know the Hindi purist is fuming, since the common way of telling this is kal aana hOga-nahin. aaneliye easily maps to buhr-akke hence the use of this version. Sorry

..aadre bEre yaarn-aadru kaLs-teeni, she means: ..lEkin kisi aur bhEjdoongi. bEre yaarn-aadru is usually used together, to mean kisi aur. The equivalent of kOyi aur
as in kOyi aur hai kya? is bEre yaar-aadru id-aara?(no n). The yaarn-aadru variant is used only for kisi aur, and yaar-aadru only for kOyi aur.

Remember that tomorrow is naaLe, and buhr-teera? is aa-oge? and park-gay is park-ko. So,
naaLe buhr-teera park-gay? naaLe buhr-bEDa. naaDiddu banni.

OR

3. sambaLa.. 5/6
How much is she expecting? There are two scenarios:
You know how much, from your friend or agent You dont know, and would want to talk about it.

S2 (sambaLa) koD-Odu? =
[kitna (salary) dena hai?] koD-Odu is from koD-, give. The Odu prefix means the same
as the bEku, which is chaahiye. However, the -Odu suffix to a verb, as in here, indicates that is a question that is thought aloud by the asker, for which perhaps no one knows the answer. If all this is confusing, think of the Odu and -bEku suffixes as synonyms, instead.

She could reply:

ondu saavira ondu-vare saavira erDu saavira ondu is easy, it means one. The -vare suffix after the ondu- means one-and-a-half. erDu is two.

Now, there are three choices you have:

You are okay with the amount shes expecting You are not okay, and want to negotiate You are not okay, and dont want to negotiate

3. sambaLa.. 6/6
You are okay with the amount shes expecting.
When can she report for duty?, She decides When can she report for duty?. You suggest

yavaga (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[kab (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?] Recall that the kke suffix is used to denote liye. kaamke-liye is not accurate, but that is the direct translation of kelsa-kke and may be, easier to understand.

naaLe-inda (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[kal-say (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?] Remember, -inda translates directly to say.

sOmwaara-inda (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[sOmwaar-say (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?] All days of the week in Kannada are
exactly the same as they are used in Hindi. The little difference is Kannada uses an extra vowel, a at the end, hence it is som-waar-a. And though ravi-vaar-a is valid and used in formal occasions, the more common use is that of bhaanu-vaar-a.

iwatt-inda-nay (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[aaj-say-hi (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?]

3. sambaLa.. 6/6

naaDid-inda (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =
[parson-say (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?] Remember, -inda translates directly to say.

mundina-waara-inda (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[aglay-hafte-say (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?] hafte translates to waar-a. mundina is from
munde, which in Hindi, is aagay. For peechay, Kannada uses hinday.

mundina-tingaL-inda(-nay) (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[aglay-mahinay-say(-hi) (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?]

hadi-naidu-taareekh-inda(-nay) (kelsa-kke) buhr-teera? =

[pandra-taareekh-say(-hi) (kaam-ke-liye) aa-oge?]

At this stage, weve almost found someone we can employ. Well discover phrases that we can use to negotiate with someone who could be a little expensive. But first some keywords so far, and an exercise!

Keywords 3.2
aadre = lEkin hEg-aadru = kaisay-bhi, yaar-aadru = kOyi-bhi, yavaag-aadru = kabhi-bhi yell-aadru = kahin-bhi, yEn-aadru = kuch-bhi buhr-bEku = aana-chaahiye, buhr-lay-bEku = aana-hi-chaahiye hOg-bEku = jaana-chaahiye, hOg-lay-bEku = jaana-hi-chaahiye nOD-bEku = dEkhna-chaahiye, nOD-lay-bEku = dEkhna-hi-chaahiye maaD-Odu ~ maaD-bEku. saavira = thousand nooru = hundred

hattu = ten
hadi-naidu = fifteen ippat-aidu = twenty-five

Exercise 3.2
How do you say in Kannada: kal-say mat aana. Parson say aana, How do you say in Kannada: kahin aur kaam kar rahe ho kya?

If your maid begins to tell you: hadi-naidu taareekh inda ondu-taareekh vargu (kelsa-kke) buhr-akke aag-alla.., what does she mean?
She continues: ..aadre adu aadmEle buhr-teeni, what is she saying? She continues: ..namma akka-gay accident aagi-hOitu, what is she saying? [Out of Syllabus] How do you tell your maid to:
clean below the bed Use a different cloth to mop the floor

in Kannada?

Answers 3.2
Remember that kal-say is naaLe-inda, and mat aana. is buhr-bEDa. And Parson-say aana, is naaDid-inda banni. Remember that kahin aur is ellaadru, kaam is kelsa, and kar rahe ho kya? is maaDta iddeera? hadi-naidu taareekh inda ondu-taareekh vargu (kelsa-kke) buhr-akke aagalla.. translates to pandra tareekh-say ek-taareekh tak (kaam-ko) aane-liye hOga-nahin

..aadre adu aadmEle buhr-teeni translates to ..lEkin us-kay baad aaoonga ..namma akka-gay accident aagi-hOitu is ..hamaara didi-ko accident hOgaya
[Out of Syllabus] neechay in Kannada is keLage. So, table-kay neechay saaf karo kuch aur is bEre, baTTe is kapDa, upayOg kar-ke is upayOgisi, floor is nela and mop is varisi. So, bEre baTTe upayOgisi nela varisi.