Lesson 2 vocabulary — Where are you from? — Getting acquainted (CEFR A1)
elliyavaru
from which place / native of where
elli (where) + -yavaru (person-of); common spoken form to ask origin
kelasa
work / job
takes -alli for 'at work': kelasadalli
ēnu
what
cognate with Tamil enna, Telugu ēmi
yāke
why
cognate with Tamil ēn, Telugu enduku
kaliyuttiddēne
I am learning
stem kali- + -(y)utta + iddēne (I am); drop -ēne → -īni in casual speech
māḍuttīrā
do you do (formal)
māḍu (do) + -ttīri (you-formal) + -ā (question marker)
mātāḍuttīrā
do you speak (formal)
mātāḍu (speak) conjugates like māḍu
svalpa
a little / some
reduplicate (svalpa svalpa) for 'just a little bit'
chennāgi
well / nicely
adjective chennāgide = 'it is nice'; stem channa + -āgi adverbial suffix
bēku
want / need
used with dative subject: nanage X bēku (lit. 'to me X is needed'); like Hindi 'mujhe X chahiye'
artha āgalilla
I didn't understand
lit. 'meaning did not become'; artha = meaning, āgalilla = didn't happen
nidhānavāgi
slowly
nidhāna (slow) + -vāgi adverbial suffix; same pattern as chennāgi
banni
come (formal / plural imperative)
from bā (come); -ri/-nni ending marks formal/plural imperative
hēgiddīrā
how are you (formal)
hēge (how) + iddīri (you-formal are) + -ā (question); casual: hēgiddīyā
hosa
new
precedes the noun: hosa kelasa = new job