Kanglish: As you may have guessed, Kannada+English=Kanglish. Kannada being our mother-tongue, it is rather hard to express some things in any other language, so it creeps in. Following are some stories about that.
When expressing disappointment at something that my little one had done, or rather, not done, I said in an angry mom's voice "ippattu sala hELde already, why can't you just do it?! blah blah blah . . . . " The poor thing just watched me quietly with a guilty face knowing quite well that I was frustrated. Later, when I had calmed down, and was completely engrossed in a game with her, she asked me casually "Amma, what does 'ippattu' mean?" I said it meant 'twenty', but wondered why she asked and it suddenly occurred to me that she had heard me use the word when I was scolding her earlier! That was one of the first times I realized the nuance in communicating with our kids growing up here and felt strange wondering how much of what we say they miss.
Some words that seem to have the right impact only in the mother tongue.
At the dinner table:
- Can you please pass me 'tuppa'? (clarified butter)
- May I have some 'mosaru'? (yogurt/homemade curds)
- I don't want more 'anna' (rice). Thanks. I'll have more 'saru' (curry)
- I love 'happaLa'!
- Are we having 'talipiTTU' with 'uupinkaayi'?
When my mother and father were visiting us here in Boston, the little one was about 3 years old. She said one time "If you make noise, thatha (grandpa) will "bythar" (scold) you.
Are you 'kaTT' ing? (pronounced as 'cut' has the exact opposite meaning in English). kaTTu=tie.
The next one is not Kanglish, but another interesting word out of a preschooler's mouth.
We were driving with S, a toddler and M a preschooler. As always, well prepared with snacks and juice boxes etc. M asked "can I have juice now"? We were not on the road for long yet and it was not time according to my planned schedule. So I said that I would give it to her when we were off the highway. Being the good girl that she was, she patiently waited for a while and asked "Amma, are we on the low-way yet?". Synonyms and antonyms were being taught in her preschool class at that time!
When expressing disappointment at something that my little one had done, or rather, not done, I said in an angry mom's voice "ippattu sala hELde already, why can't you just do it?! blah blah blah . . . . " The poor thing just watched me quietly with a guilty face knowing quite well that I was frustrated. Later, when I had calmed down, and was completely engrossed in a game with her, she asked me casually "Amma, what does 'ippattu' mean?" I said it meant 'twenty', but wondered why she asked and it suddenly occurred to me that she had heard me use the word when I was scolding her earlier! That was one of the first times I realized the nuance in communicating with our kids growing up here and felt strange wondering how much of what we say they miss.
Some words that seem to have the right impact only in the mother tongue.
At the dinner table:
- Can you please pass me 'tuppa'? (clarified butter)
- May I have some 'mosaru'? (yogurt/homemade curds)
- I don't want more 'anna' (rice). Thanks. I'll have more 'saru' (curry)
- I love 'happaLa'!
- Are we having 'talipiTTU' with 'uupinkaayi'?
When my mother and father were visiting us here in Boston, the little one was about 3 years old. She said one time "If you make noise, thatha (grandpa) will "bythar" (scold) you.
Are you 'kaTT' ing? (pronounced as 'cut' has the exact opposite meaning in English). kaTTu=tie.
The next one is not Kanglish, but another interesting word out of a preschooler's mouth.
We were driving with S, a toddler and M a preschooler. As always, well prepared with snacks and juice boxes etc. M asked "can I have juice now"? We were not on the road for long yet and it was not time according to my planned schedule. So I said that I would give it to her when we were off the highway. Being the good girl that she was, she patiently waited for a while and asked "Amma, are we on the low-way yet?". Synonyms and antonyms were being taught in her preschool class at that time!
