கடல் உணவு
“கடல் உணவு” (kaḍal uṇavu) — seafood in Tamil. Noun, level A2, topic — food and drink. Literally 'sea food' — a menu word, not a market word: at the market fish is called by its name. Uṇavu is the bookish cousin of the spoken sāppāḍu, and it is uṇavu that sits on signboards. In a live sentence: “இந்தக் கடையில கடல் உணவு நல்லா இருக்கும்” — This place has good seafood. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Tamil | கடல் உணவு |
| Read in Latin letters | kaḍal uṇavu |
| Translation | seafood |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- கடல் உணவுkaḍal uṇavuseafood
Why it looks that way
Literally 'sea food' — a menu word, not a market word: at the market fish is called by its name. Uṇavu is the bookish cousin of the spoken sāppāḍu, and it is uṇavu that sits on signboards
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- இந்தக் கடையில கடல் உணவு நல்லா இருக்கும்indak kaḍaiyila kaḍal uṇavu nallā irukkumThis place has good seafood
Nearby words: food and drink
A menu, a market, a shop sign, the question “what is this?”. Food is the most frequent subject of the first weeks and the safest excuse to start talking.
- தண்ணிtaṇṇiwaterThe spoken form. In a book or on a bottle you will see taṇṇīr
- டீṭīteaThe English tea, borrowed whole. The bookish word is tēnīr, but in a shop everyone says ṭī
- காபிkāpicoffeeThe English coffee. In the north of the island it is brewed strong, with milk and sugar already in — 'black, no sugar' has to be spelled out
- பால்pālmilkThe same word also means 'share' and the grammatical 'gender'. Tea with milk is pāl ṭī; without milk, plain ṭī
- சாதம்sādamriceCooked rice, the base of every meal. Raw rice is a different word altogether, arisi
- மீன்mīṉfishThe live fish and the fish on the plate alike. The same word hides inside viṉmīn, 'star' — literally 'the fish of the sky'
- ரொட்டிroṭṭibreadOn the island this is not a loaf but a flatbread: paroṭṭā, pol roṭṭi. The European loaf is called pāṇ, from Portuguese pão
- முட்டைmuṭṭaieggHold the doubled ṭṭ long. The same word names any oval thing; an omelette is muṭṭai poriyal
- காய்கறிkāykaṟivegetablesKāy, 'unripe fruit' + kaṟi, 'curry': a vegetable is defined by what is cooked from it. The word stands in the singular
- தேங்காய்tēṅkāycoconutTeṅkāy is short for 'coconut-palm fruit'. A young coconut full of water is a different word and a different drink: iḷanīr
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “food and drink”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “seafood” in Tamil?
Literally 'sea food' — a menu word, not a market word: at the market fish is called by its name. Uṇavu is the bookish cousin of the spoken sāppāḍu, and it is uṇavu that sits on signboards
- How do you say “bread” in Tamil?
On the island this is not a loaf but a flatbread: paroṭṭā, pol roṭṭi. The European loaf is called pāṇ, from Portuguese pão
- How do you say “coffee” in Tamil?
The English coffee. In the north of the island it is brewed strong, with milk and sugar already in — 'black, no sugar' has to be spelled out
- How do you say “coconut” in Tamil?
Teṅkāy is short for 'coconut-palm fruit'. A young coconut full of water is a different word and a different drink: iḷanīr
- How do you say “fish” in Tamil?
The live fish and the fish on the plate alike. The same word hides inside viṉmīn, 'star' — literally 'the fish of the sky'
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “seafood” in Tamil?
«கடல் உணவு», read “kaḍal uṇavu”. In a live sentence: “இந்தக் கடையில கடல் உணவு நல்லா இருக்கும்” — This place has good seafood. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “food and drink”; written with the characters க, ட, ல, ், உ, ண, வ, ு.
How is “கடல் உணவு” written in Latin letters?
kaḍal uṇavu. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'sea food' — a menu word, not a market word: at the market fish is called by its name. Uṇavu is the bookish cousin of the spoken sāppāḍu, and it is uṇavu that sits on signboards. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.