The Tamil Nadu state government has decided to change the English names of 1018 places in the state, so as to make them sound more like they do in Tamil.
It is to be noted that the announcement regarding this was made back in 2018 by minister for Tamil culture and Tamil development, Mafoi K Pandiyarajan.
The district collectors across the state will now be tasked with proper implementation of plans.
The GO has published all the 1018 names in a list, where it has stated how they are pronounced in Tamil, spelled in English currently and the suggested change.
You can read the same, here.
Some examples of the changes are:
Tondiyarpet – Thandaiyaarpettai
Purasawalkam – Purasaivaakkam
Vepery – Vepperi
Perambur – Peramboor
VOC Nagar – Va.OO.Si. Nagar
Kodungaiyur – Kodungaiyoor
Peravallur – Peravalloor
Now, while some people on Twitter decided to take the decision in their stride, others were not very happy with the timing of it.
Finally, My fifth standard teacher should give a mark to me.
— Pradeep Krishnan (@pradeeplyricist) June 11, 2020
I wrote Mathurai instead of madurai. So I am correct now.
😂😂#NAMECHANGE #Tamilnadu
Covid cases rapidly increasing. Safety, control, Tests,Ppe kits should be more. Beds not available in most hospitals.
— sriram ramamurthy (@praveen10leo) June 11, 2020
Someone mallaaka paduthu thinking 🤔. Mylapore le oru “p” oru “o” than irukku.
Podra gazette ah, from now on.“pp” “oo” ah.
priorities sorted out. #NAMECHANGE
I’m glad names are changed based on our original city’s Tamil Names.
— Ridhan 💙 (@ItsTheriBoy_Rid) June 11, 2020
But why still Chennai has its new name.
We can Change it back to Madras or Madharasapatinam!? #NAMECHANGE
They must have asked for people’s opinion before the name change. It’s not a fair decision#wewantcbeback#NAMECHANGE #Coimbatore @mafoikprajan @CMOTamilNadu @SPVelumanicbe @drmahendran_r @CbeCorp pic.twitter.com/Bzj7a08GNl
— Naveen prabhuvj (@naveen_prabhuvj) June 11, 2020
Is this important now during this pandemic situation…#NAMECHANGE 🙄🙄🙄 pic.twitter.com/9z4xIWAmud
— Gowthaman💞💞 (@GowthamanCSK) June 11, 2020
What people expect: Double testing capacity for Covid19. Double Hospital beds.
— Mithun K Raman (@mithunraman) June 11, 2020
What Govt does: Double ‘OO’ in Mylapore.. Double ‘AA’ in Arni. Double ‘PP’ Saidapet. 🙊#NAMECHANGE
The new names were suggested by a group of language experts, people from Tamil organisations, professors and government administrators.
