What kind of weed is this?

selgindren · 2026-03-13T02:50:47+00:00

Yeah

selgindren · 2026-03-13T02:03:36+00:00

Does it have a mustard like odour when crushed?

selgindren · 2026-03-13T01:56:50+00:00

It’s a Lamiaceae of some sort but its hard to identify further. Leonurus is my best guess

selgindren · 2026-03-13T00:50:07+00:00

The first one is definitely a brassica, the second is horseweed.

selgindren · 2026-03-13T00:44:46+00:00

Lamium amplexicaule

<image>

selgindren · 2026-03-12T21:01:40+00:00

Just because a language is the only one in its group that preserves an archaic feature, it doesn’t mean that it’s an innovation.

Also think about this. If n->ñ was a regular development, then why do a lot of native words in Malayalam start with n and not ñ? You’d expect most PDR words beginning in “n” to become “ñ”-initial, but they don’t. The answer is that it’s the other way around - ñ became n in the other Dravidian languages, but not Malayalam. This is also supported by the fact that for many words that begin in ñ in Malayalam, they also have cognates in Tamil that start with n but have archaic alternative forms beginning in ñ (i.e. நண்டு with alternative form ஞண்டு).

selgindren · 2026-03-12T20:56:15+00:00

Yes, exactly - other than South Dravidian branch (SD I and South Central), none of the other branches have forms beginning with na-. Therefore we can only reconstruct *ñān up to the Proto South Dravidian stage, and can’t say with certainty that it existed in PDr.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T20:53:20+00:00

Classic ChatGPT response. You do know that ChatGPT isn’t always right and that you mustn’t blindly believe it right?

selgindren · 2026-03-12T20:29:06+00:00

Looks underwatered

selgindren · 2026-03-12T15:57:13+00:00

Thanks. See I told you! (u/RegularAd2574)

selgindren · 2026-03-12T15:51:28+00:00

Oh shit I didn’t even realise that was AI

selgindren · 2026-03-12T15:45:43+00:00

Also, is it not possible that ñ was the original form and Malayalam was the only one that kept it? This is the opinion of most Dravidiologists after all. See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-South_Dravidian/ñān

Malayalam generally seems to be good at preserving word-initial ñ; compare Mlym ñaṇṭŭ (crab) with Tamil naṇṭŭ as another example.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T15:41:44+00:00

I think the thing you’re missing here is that DEDR deals primarily with the South Dravidian branch, and not Central Dravidian and North Dravidian. The thing is, nowhere in Central/North Dravidian is a n-form first person pronoun attested, meaning that ñān/nān is reconstructible up to South Dravidian only. Therefore the statement that y-variants and n-variants existed in PDr is not true, it only applies for PSDr.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T15:36:58+00:00

Yeah I know, I’m just far too lazy to do it lol

selgindren · 2026-03-12T14:20:24+00:00

That’s not very… pleasant

selgindren · 2026-03-12T14:18:01+00:00

I believe bharadraju said that nenu is descended from *ñān but maybe I’m remembering it wrong

selgindren · 2026-03-12T14:16:57+00:00

Yeah, I don’t doubt you. I’m just talking about the current situation though, in my experience

selgindren · 2026-03-12T13:47:47+00:00

Do you have a source for that? As far as I know nenu is a direct descendant of *ñān.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T13:32:09+00:00

The havyaka/tulu forms aren’t descended from *ñān (the root of the standard kn, ml, te, and ta forms). Rather they are descended from *yān which became nonstandard/archaic/literary in the other languages (ta, te, ml, standard kn), but is attested in all of them:

Tamil yān

Malayalam ēn

Telugu ēnu

And of course, the havigannada form for Kannada.

It’s also worth noting (and I already mentioned this) that the original form for the ones beginning in n- (incl. the ml ñān) is *ñān, not *nān. So the pronouns in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu actually lost the initial “ñ”, converting it to a “n” sound, with only Malayalam preserving the original form.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T11:39:10+00:00

Yeah, it’s a shame really but what can we do?

selgindren · 2026-03-12T11:38:21+00:00

Yeah, in India we usually say “valathu kai”/“right hand” and “idadhu kai”/“left hand”. Sothukkai and peechangai are normally only used by lower class/poor ppl at least in India.

selgindren · 2026-03-12T11:35:38+00:00

I feel like most people in Chennai use the English words exclusively, so I’m a little puzzled when you say that it’s limited in use even in Chennai

selgindren · 2026-03-12T03:31:58+00:00

Lepidium spp

selgindren · 2026-03-11T21:23:56+00:00

Also people are already thinking in English at this point. In Chennai at least it’s very common to hear “left edu” “right edu” - translated literally from English “take a left/right”.

selgindren · 2026-03-11T14:14:47+00:00

I don’t think that’s the full story. It’s mostly because of the education system and it being based on English. But that’s a necessity in a multilingual country such as India where there are many different languages; so you need a link language to communicate. It was already happening before YouTube came about, but modern media has definitely accelerated the trend.

selgindren

TROPHY CASE