Languages and dialects reflect the ethnic identity of the speakers. Kerala, a land with different ethnicities, has Malayalam as the commonly spoken language. However, there are groups in the society speaking other languages and dialects as well.
Malayalam is the mother tongue of about 96% of the total population of Kerala. There are others who speak Tamil and English. A minor group speaks tribal languages too. The term Malayalam is derived from the two words –‘Mala’ meaning ‘mountain’ and ‘alam’ meaning ‘land.’
Malayalam has its roots back in the Dravidian family and shows great affinity towards Tamil. Tamil was the major language used by the early Dravidian settlers and by the 10th century, Malayalam started developing in its own style. Presently, Malayalam has 53 letters, including 16 vowels and 37 consonants. The script used in this language is derived from Rod-script or ‘Kolezhuthu.’ The Malayalam script has been influenced also by ‘Vattezhuthu’ or round writing, an outcome of the Brahmi script.
The Malayalam language features 3 major regional dialects and a number of communal dialects. The regional dialects are Southern, Northern and Central dialects. The regional dialects of Kerala are divided into thirteen dialect areas:
- Eastern Palakkad
- South Eastern Palakkad
- North Western Palakkad
- Wayanad
- North Malabar
- Kasargod
- Lakshadweep
- Central Malabar
- South Malabar
- West Vempanad
- South Travancore
- Central Travancore
- Kochi
Influences from Hebrew, Syriac and Ladino can be seen in the Jewish Malayalam dialects. In Christian dialects, there are borrowings from English, Syriac, Portuguese, and Greek. Mappila Malayalam shows Arabian and Persian influences. On the basis of region, community, social and cultural aspects, the dialects of Malayalam differ in vocabulary, grammatical distribution, and phonological factors.
A certain group of people in the Palakkad region and in the borders of Kerala speak the Tamil language. Influence of Marathi and Konkani is seen in the Malayalam spoken by the people of North Kerala. English language is the third most popular language in Kerala. Paliyan, Paniya, Malankuravan, Malapandaram, Malaryan, Malavedan, Vetan and Vettuvan dialects also figure among the languages and dialects of Kerala. |
