Stephanie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, l is for female, n is for male--friendly but
> not requiring higher respect.
>
> r is reserved for those things/people which demand
> respect, irregardless of gender. Like in the case
> of a dynasty, a line of old rulers would demand
> respect therefore pallavar gets the r.


"r" ending is for demanded or undemanded respect in general. even caste names end with "r" (I belong to "Nadar" community, also, "r" sometimes mean plural.. so, nadar means a group here, nadan would mean a single person...)

it is a customery in tamil culture to address anyone with respect particularly if they are elder to you.. elder means , not really old, but even a month older than you is elder and has to be addressed with respect (my cousin sister is six months older than me, i have never addressed her by her name. I have always addressed her as "akka" meaning, "elder sister", also, I have never referred her with a non-respectful-language, i mean with "l" ending... there is no demand here. if i don't use respectful language, it demeans me, not the other person. )..


>
> I think I knew that puram meant town. Maybe it's
> because puram is at the end of so many place names
> in India, not sure. lol


true. but, only in tamil nadu many places end with puram. or whereever tamil culture got mixed up, the places have names ending with puram..




>
> This is really great information, btw. Thank you,
> Prema for sharing it. This will be really
> helpful.

I don't know where it is going to be useful for you, but, you really do amaze me.. your interests, your memory... not many people remember our names..



>
> Here's a question: is your last name tamil? I see
> the ba as a uyirmei and the n on the end would
> denote maleness. Some Western surnames are the
> name of a forefather for the family line, ie.
> Johnson would be "John's son" or McLochlan would
> be Son of Lochlan. Is "Balan" a forefather
> surname?
>


well, you have ended yourself into another big trouble.. lol.

Balan is not a surname. it is my husband's first name. his name is balasubramanian. his short name is balan. when i moved to england, i needed a surname. I was married by then. people in my tamil nadu have started using husband's names as their surnames. so I used his name as my surname.. but, poor balan, he has lost his first name.. he is forced to have "balan" as his surname and he uses his father's firstname as his first name in documents. he tries to explain to everyone and tries to keep "balan" as his name (to call him) as far as possible..


we don't have surnames.. I am just "Premalatha".


(balasubramanian is btw name of Lord murhan . balasubramanian is sanskrit and tamil mixed form. it means, "the young and very dear to the brahmins.." as Lord Muruhan is seen as a small boy (most of the time), he is referred like that)

(balan means "young boy")

> Stephanie
>
>
>
> In every man there is something wherein I may
> learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph
> Waldo Emerson






Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2005 01:58PM by prema1.