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Origins Of Madras: Tracing Portuguese Link Imprinted In India Long Before British Arrived
Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India was the first recorded trip from Europe to India, this article records the various links it has with Tamil Nadu.
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A Twitter user by the name of Josephine Ramya has gone viral on the internet recently after she posted a series of tweets expounding on the various connections between the Tamil and Portuguese languages, dating all the way back to the 15th century.
The tweets explain that these words have ‘travelled several thousand miles’ all the way from the Tagus river in Portugal to the Indian ocean to enter the Tamil lexicon. Josephine substantiates her claims by illustrating numerous words such as jannal (janela) chavi (shavi) and veranda which have all been borrowed from Portuguese. The etymology does not end there as Alamari, pena, beeppai, koppai, mejai, mestiri, chupo, kusini, annasi, goba fruit