திருக்குறள்
“திருக்குறள்” (tirukkuṟaḷ) — Tirukkural in Tamil. Noun, level A2. 'Kural' is a couplet of seven words: Tamil poetry has nothing shorter. In a live sentence: “திருக்குறள் படிக்கிறேன்” — I am reading the Tirukkural. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters த, ி, ர, ு, க, ், க, ு, ற, ள, ். A word from the everyday Tamil course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Tamil | திருக்குறள் |
| Read in Latin letters | tirukkuṟaḷ |
| Translation | Tirukkural |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- திருக்குறள்tirukkuṟaḷTirukkural
What it is
A book of 1330 couplets on virtue, wealth and love, written about two thousand years ago. It holds not one name of a god or a king, and therefore everyone quotes it. The lines are known by heart and slipped into arguments.
This word does not reduce to a translation: the thing it names is not part of everyday life here, so a “translation” would end up a description in brackets. The easiest way to learn it is together with its surroundings — where you meet it and what it is for.
Why it looks that way
'Kural' is a couplet of seven words: Tamil poetry has nothing shorter
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.
- திருக்குறள் படிக்கிறேன்tirukkuṟaḷ paḍikkiṟēṉI am reading the Tirukkural
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 “Tirukkural” in Tamil?
«திருக்குறள்», read “tirukkuṟaḷ”. In a live sentence: “திருக்குறள் படிக்கிறேன்” — I am reading the Tirukkural. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2; written with the characters த, ி, ர, ு, க, ், க, ு, ற, ள, ்.
How is “திருக்குறள்” written in Latin letters?
tirukkuṟaḷ. 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?
'Kural' is a couplet of seven words: Tamil poetry has nothing shorter. 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.