Adjectives connected with our body parts

Here are a few adjectives connected with our body parts:

1.            Arm-Brachial

2.            Back-Dorsal

3.            Body-Corporeal/Corporal

4.            Brain-Cerebral

5.            Chest-Pectoral

6.            Ear-Aural

7.            Eye-Ocular

8.            Finger-Digital

9.            Foot-Pedal

10.       Hand-Manual

11.       Head-Cephalic

12.       Heart-Cardiac

13.       Leg-Crural

14.       Lung-Pulmonary

15.       Mind-Mental

16.       Mouth-Oral

17.       Nerve-Neural

18.       Nose-Nasal

19.       Skin-Dermal

20.       Skull-Cranial

21.       Stomach-Gastric

22.       Thigh-Femoral

23.       Tongue-Lingual

24.       Tooth-Dental

*From where did the words, ‘guy’ and ‘chap’ originate?

Nouns and related adjectives:

I have given the adjectives related to animals along with the pronunciation guide for those words whose pronunciation may be ambiguous.

Nouns and related adjectives: 

1.           Ape               Simian

2.           Ass                Asinine

3.           Bear              Ursine (அர்ஸின் / अर्सीन )

4.           Bird              Avian

5.           Cat                Feline

6.           Cow              Bovine

7.           Crow             Corvine

8.           Deer             Cervine (ஸர்வைன் /  सरवाईन )

9.           Dog              Canine

10.      Dove            Columbine

11.      Eagle            Aquiline

12.      Elephant      Elephantine

13.      Fish              Piscine (பைஸீன்/ पैसीन) 

14.        Fox               Vulpine (வல்பைன்/वल्पैन  )

15.      Frog              Amphibian

16.      Goat             Carpine

17.       Goose           Anserine (ஆன்ஸரைன்/ आन्सरैन )

18.        Horse           Equine (ஈக்வைன் / ईक्वैन )

19.        Lion              Leonine (லியனைன் / लियनैन )

20.        Pig                Porcine(போர்ஸைன் /पोर्सैन )

21.      Sheep            Ovine

22.      Snake            Serpentine

23.      Toad             Amphibian

24.      Wolf             Lupine (லூபன்/लूपन )

Ragas of the National Songs

I was curious to know in which ragas the popular national songs have been composed and this is what I found.

Raghupathi Raghava- Jay jaywanthi – Dwijavanthi

Vaishnava Janato-Misra Khamaj-Harikambhoji

Sare Jahan se achcha- Raga Bhimplasi

Jana gana mana- Bilawal-Dheera Sankarabharanam

Vande mataram – Desh- Desh

Correct pronunciation

Correct pronunciation for some other words pronounced wrongly:

   1.    Already       ஆல்ரெடி / (आल्रेडी)

2.    Bear        பேர் / /बेर /

3.    Beer              பியர் /बियर /

4.    Charismatic    க்æரிஸ்ம்æடிக் /kærizmætik/ (æ-       pronounced as the 'a' in 'cat')

5.    Clerk       கிளார்க் /क्लार्क

6.    Gestures          ஜெஸ்ச்சர்ஸ் /जेस्चर्स

7.    Ggigantic     ஜைக்æ ண்டிக் / जैगæन्टिक

8.    Gynecologist கைனகாலஜிஸ்ட்/ गैनकालजिस्ट

9.    Hair        ஹேய(ர்) / हेय(र) 

10.  Heir                எய(ர்) / एय(र)

11.  Jewellery      ஜுவெல்ரி / जुवेल्री

12.  Personnel     பர்ஸனேல் / पेर्सनेल

13.  Quay       கீ / की

14.  Receipt        சீட் / रिसीट

15.  Sew         ஸோ / सो

16.  Sour       ஸவ(ர்)  /सव (र)

17.  Subtle         ஸட்ல் / सटल

18.  Suite        स्वीट / ஸ்வீட்

19.  Target          டார்கிட் / टार्गिट

20.  Technology டெக்னாலஜி   / टेक्नालजि

21.  Tier        டிய(ர்) / टिय(र)

22.  Wear              வேர் / वेर

There is no great relationship between the spellings and pronunciation in English. English alphabet is not phonetic like the Indian alphabets. One letter stands for many sounds and many letters stand for one sound.

Moreover, English has borrowed words from innumerable languages and it has accepted them without much change and without much thought.

This causes a problem in the pronunciation. When one reads a lot and relentlessly tries to pronounce correctly, this problem ceases to exist. The online dictionaries are a blessing. Whenever you come across a new word, or have a doubt in the pronunciation of a known word, you can listen to the correct pronunciation and learn it.

* What is the singular form of ‘you’?

Errors in pronunciation

Errors in pronunciation

•        pronunciation

The very word ‘pronunciation’(ப்ரனன்ஷியேஷன்/प्रनंसियेशन) is usually pronounced as pronounciation’(ப்ரொனௌன்ஷியேஷன்/प्रनोउन्सियेशन )

The spelling for the verb ‘pronounce’ (ப்ரொனௌன்ஸ் /प्रोनोउन्स )

has ‘ou’ in the middle. But the noun ‘pronunciation’ has only ‘u’ and not ‘ou’. 

Similar words are:

denounce-denunciation

renounce-renunciation

•        résumé /resume

This word is pronounced in two different ways and it has two different meanings. The first résumé (ரெஸ்யூமே/ रेस्यूमे) is a noun and it refers to the summary of one’s academic and work history. It is also known as C.V. (Curriculum vitae) or Bio-data.

E.g. 

I have sent my résumé and am hoping to be called for an interview.

A well-prepared résumé is a must for forming a good impression.

The second resume (ரெஸ்யூம்/ रेस्यूम) is a verb. It means ‘to take up something again after an interruption’.

E.g. 

I resumed my studies after a break of two years.

She has resumed teaching.

•             Memento (மெமெண்டோ/ मेमेंटो )

This word is usually pronounced as momento (மொமெண்டோ / मोमेंटो ). But the correct pronunciation is (மெமெண்டோ/ मेमेंटो ). It refers to an object kept as a reminder or a souvenir of a person or an event. ( Remember the word, 'memory'. Then you can't make the mistake).

•             Creche (க்ரெஷ் / क्रेश)

•        It is a place where young children are cared for. This word is mispronounced in appalling ways- (க்ரீச்சே/ க்ரீச் / क्रीचे / क्रीच ) etc. . The correct pronunciation is (க்ரெஷ் / क्रेश)

* What is the obsessive interest in words called?

A transitive verb

A transitive verb  

Was that a difficult question? Why nobody has bitten the bait?

A transitive verb is a verb that denotes an action which passes over from the doer or the subject to an object. (Transit means ‘pass over’)

E.g.

The child ate the chocolate.

In this sentence,  though it is the child which is eating, it is the chocolate that undergoes the process of eating. The action has passed over from the child to the chocolate. Hence it is a transitive verb. Transitive verbs usually take an object. Intransitive verbs do not take an object.

E.g.

The girls laughed merrily.

In this sentence, the action of laughing does not pass onto anyone else. It does not undergo any transit. Hence it is an intransitive verb.

In schools, this explanation is usually not given. Students are taught that transitive verbs take an object and intransitive verbs do not. That is also correct. I was impressed by the appropriateness of the name and wanted to share it with you.

Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

E.g.

Birds fly high. ( intransitive)

We fly kites. ( transitive)

* If we see a picture in which a historical hero rides a bicycle, it is a chronological inconsistency. What is it known as?

objects

objects

It is very easy to decide whether the word following the verb is an object or not. We have to ask any one of the three questions, ‘what’/ ‘which’/ ‘whom’.

E.g.

He ate an apple. ( What did he eat?-an apple)

I prefer tea. ( Which do you prefer?-tea)

She met her friend (Whom did she meet?-her friend)

Some verbs take two objects.

E.g.

1. I gave her a card.

2. He offered him a seat.

In sentence 1, we have answers for ‘What did I give?- ( a card) and whom did I give? ( her)

In the same way, in sentence 2, we have two objects, ‘a seat’ and ‘him’.

That which answers the question ‘what’ is known as the direct object, and that which answers the question ‘whom’ is known as the indirect object. If there is only one object, it is just called ‘object’.

Though Indians use expressions such as ‘I gave a card to him’ because of the influence of our mother tongue, according to the sentence pattern in English, the indirect object precedes the direct object as in sentences 1 & 2.

In Tamil, the name for the object is ‘செயப்படுபொருள்‘ and in Hindi, it is ‘कर्म’. is ‘कर्म’. 

Notice the appropriateness of the names in Tamil and Hindi.

* Why is a transitive verb called so? 

Errors in the use of singular and plural

Errors in the use of singular and plural:

One can give a lot of advice. (not advices.)

You may read poetry. But you can’t read poetries. You can read only poems.

‘Staff’ is a collective known comprising all the members of the staff. It is singular.

The staff is very happy with Umesh’s performance. ( Not staffs.)

The scenery was breathtaking. ( not sceneries).But we can say,

The scenes were lovely.

We have bought new furniture- (not furnitures) . We have bought a few chairs and tables.

I bought a loaf of bread and ate three slices.

For your reference:

Nouns, always singular

advice                   help                 honesty           music              poverty

Information           beauty              bravery           truth                wisdom

knowledge           bread                 butter             coffee            gold    

milk                      sugar              luggage          water               powder

silk                       hair                  furniture          weather          scenery

homework            stationery       poetry             traffic               crew

Nouns, always plural

jeans                     shorts                          pants               tights               trousers

binoculars            glasses                       pliers               scissors          spectacles

contents                Alms                           savings           oats                 stairs

belongings           riches                          wages             arms               surroundings 

drugs                    outskirts                      teens               arrears            earnings

premises              thanks                         auspices        regards           funds  

clothes                  condolences              goods             congratulations

     

Nouns, singular in form but plural in sense:                   

cattle         people            police 

Nouns in the same form in singular and plural:             

deer   poultry     sheep      public     fish       issue

* What is onomatopoeia?

Ordinal Numbers

Another common error is using ‘st’ / ‘nd’/ ‘rd’/ ‘th’ after the Roman numerals- like Ist/ IInd/ IIIrd/ IVth.

They are ordinal numbers that indicate their position or order in relation to other numbers. According to Roman numerals, ‘I’ means first and ‘II’ means second. There is no need for the addition of ‘st’ / ‘nd’/‘rd’/ or /‘th’. If you write ‘page II’, it does not mean page two; it means page second. This error is found in very important official documents as well as in posters and hoardings. When something is visually seen again and again, it gets registered in the brain.

We commonly use words such as ‘brunch’, ‘motel’, ‘Tanglish’ etc. What is the name given to such words? Why?

• Saranya Ramesh, Visalakshi Vaidyanathan, Mahaveer Mehta H and 13 others like this.
• 

  Kripa Chettiar I believe they are portmanteau words but I have no idea as to what portmanteau is. Sounds French though.

  Yesterday at 11:01am via mobile · Unlike · 1
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  Sameer Thakur blends i guess....like brunch is a blend of two.....breakfast and lunch.....similarly moter+hotel blends to motel.....

  Yesterday at 11:27am · Unlike · 1
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  Dinesh Kumar Bhandia "frienemy"s also now added to the Dictionary .. meaning a friend and an enemy in one person , where two qualities are found in one person or place .. Kripa Chettiar, don't know about the Portmanteau you mention, perhaps the idea is so called 

  Yesterday at 11:27am · Unlike · 1
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  Rama Devi Kripa Chettiar! You are right! So glad to hear from you. Port manteau is a large trunk or suitcase opening into two equal parts. It was also called hold-all. People used to carry their dresses packed into these hold-alls which could be carried while folded and served as beds while spread.

  Yesterday at 12:17pm · Like · 5
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  Rama Devi You can come up with more examples: The cross between Lion and tiger is Liger.

  Yesterday at 12:19pm · Like
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  Manisha Mandot Quite knowledgeable.

  Yesterday at 12:21pm · Unlike · 1
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  Ritu Randhar Mam, these days we often use Chillax... blend of chill and relax... also Wikipedia. !

  23 hours ago · Unlike · 1
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  Swapna Prasad nice one...smog - smoke and fog...

  20 hours ago · Unlike · 1
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  Senthilraj Rajendiran It is called portmanteau merging words to give combined meaning

  16 hours ago · Unlike · 1
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  Sameer Thakurbang+smash=bash.....web+log=blog.....internal+communication=intercom......

  6 hours ago · Edited · Unlike · 1