Vocabulary, Idioms and Proverbs
Vocabulary, Idioms and Proverbs
This section is recall plus one real skill: deciding whether a phrase means what its individual words say. Vocabulary items are drawn from the lesson word-lists, so revise the words attached to each prose and poem rather than a random list.
Word clusters to own
- Numerals: onji, radu, mūji, nāl, ain, āji, ēlu, enma, orumbā, patt.
- Kinship: appe, amme, anna, akka, mage, magal.
- Body: tale, kannu, kai, kālu, bāyi, mūgu, kebi.
- Colour: kempu, bili, kappu, hasiru. Grouping words like this makes retrieval faster under exam pressure than an alphabetical list.
Idioms against proverbs
A nudigattu (idiom) is a fixed phrase whose meaning is not the sum of its words and which fits inside a sentence. A gade (proverb) is a whole sentence carrying a general truth, usually built on an image from farming, buffaloes or household life.
Worked example
A proverb literally says: 'The one who plants the sapling does not eat the fruit.' Step 1 - literal image: the planter and the eater are different people. Step 2 - situation: effort and reward may fall to different generations. Step 3 - application: one sentence about doing a duty without expecting an immediate return. Marks come from step 2; step 1 alone earns nothing.
Traps that cost marks
- Translating an idiom word for word.
- Quoting an English proverb with the same sense when the paper asks for explanation.
- Using proverbs in formal report writing, where they break the register.
- Confusing near-synonyms drawn from the same lesson.
- Giving the literal scene and stopping there.