Lingoflyகொத்து
- கொத்துkottukottu
“கொத்து” (kottu) — kottu in Tamil. Noun, level A1, topic — food and drink. The word itself means 'to chop, to mince' — it describes not the food but the action. In a live sentence: “கொத்து ரொட்டி ஒன்று” (kottu roṭṭi oṉṟu) — One kottu roti. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters க, ொ, த, ், த, ு. One of 202 words in the set “food and drink” in the Tamil course.
In short
| Written in Tamil | கொத்து (kottu) |
| Read in Latin letters | kottu |
| Translation | kottu |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
What it is
Roti chopped up on a hot plate with two blunt blades, with vegetables, egg and meat. The clang of the blades on the iron is heard a quarter away. A shared food of Tamils and Sinhalese, and the argument over whose it is, is eternal.
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
The word itself means 'to chop, to mince' — it describes not the food but the action
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.
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 “kottu” in Tamil?
The word itself means 'to chop, to mince' — it describes not the food but the action
- 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 “kottu” in Tamil?
«கொத்து» (kottu), read “kottu”. In a live sentence: “கொத்து ரொட்டி ஒன்று” (kottu roṭṭi oṉṟu) — One kottu roti. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “food and drink”; written with the characters க, ொ, த, ், த, ு.
How is “கொத்து” (kottu) written in Latin letters?
kottu. 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?
The word itself means 'to chop, to mince' — it describes not the food but the action. 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 this 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.