Madras bashai

Madras bashai (Tamil: ???????? ????), is a type of mixed language spoken in the city of Chennai, India. It is a loose polyglot blend of Tamil and English, with loanwords from Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi-Urdu. The word bashai derives from the Sanskrit bhasha (language). The term therefore is Tamil for "Madras language".

Related Topics:
Tamil - Mixed language - Chennai - India - Polyglot - English - Loanword - Telugu - Kannada - Malayalam - Hindi - Urdu - Sanskrit

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Madras bashai has its strong influences from Urdu and Telugu, with weaker influences from Hindi and Kannada. After this dialect became somewhat common in Madras, it became a source of satire for early Kollywood movies from the 1950s, in the form of puns and double entendres. Subsequent generations in Chennai identified with it and absorbed English constructs into the dialect, making it what it is today.

Related Topics:
Urdu - Telugu - Hindi - Kannada - Satire - Kollywood - 1950s - Pun - Double entendre - Chennai

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Madras bashai is learned from one's peers rather than from one's parents. It forms a strong foundation for the lingo used by college students in Chennai. It is still considered infra dig by many people in the city. For instance, most formal communication is in real Tamil or in English, with government proceedings using the pure form of Tamil (centamil).

Related Topics:
Lingo - College - Student - Chennai - Centamil

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