Dialects Malayalam

variations in intonation patterns, vocabulary, , distribution of grammatical , phonological elements observable along parameters of region, religion, community, occupation, social stratum, style , register.

dialects of malayalam distinguishable @ regional , social levels, including occupational , communal differences. salient features of many varieties of tribal speech (e.g., speech of muthuvans, malayarayas, malai ulladas, kanikkars, kadars, paliyars, kurumas, , vedas) , of various dialects namboothiris, nairs, ezhavas, syrian christians (nasrani), latin christians, muslims, fishermen , many of occupational terms common different sections of malayalees have been identified.

according dravidian encyclopedia, regional dialects of malayalam can divided thirteen dialect areas. follows:

according ethnologue, dialects are: malabar, nagari-malayalam, south kerala, central kerala, north kerala, kayavar, namboodiri, nair, moplah (mapilla), pulaya, nasrani, , kasargod. community dialects are: namboodiri, nair, moplah (mapilla), pulaya, , nasrani. whereas both namboothiri , nair dialects have common nature, mapilla dialect among divergent of dialects, differing considerably literary malayalam.

as regards geographical dialects of malayalam, surveys conducted far department of linguistics, university of kerala restricted focus of attention during given study on 1 specific caste avoid mixing of more 1 variable such communal , geographical factors. examples, survey of ezhava dialect of malayalam, results of have been published department in 1974, has brought light existence of twelve major dialect areas malayalam, although isoglosses found crisscross in many instances. sub-dialect regions, marked off, found thirty. number reported tally approximately number of principalities existed during pre-british period in kerala. in few instances @ least, in case of venad, karappuram, nileswaram , kumbala, known boundaries of old principalities found coincide of dialects or sub-dialects retain individuality today. seems reveal significance of political divisions in kerala in bringing dialect difference.

divergence among dialects of malayalam embrace aspects of language such phonetics, phonology, grammar , vocabulary. differences between 2 given dialects can quantified in terms of presence or absence of specific units @ each level of language. cite single example of language variation along geographical parameter, may noted there many seventy 7 different expressions employed ezhavas , spread on various geographical points refer single item, namely, flower bunch of coconut. kola expression attested in of panchayats in palakkad, ernakulam , thiruvananthapuram districts of kerala, whereas kolachil occurs predominantly in kannur , kochi , klannil in alappuzha , kollam. kozhinnul , kulannilu forms common in trissur idukki , kottayam respectively. in addition these forms spread among areas specified above, there dozens of other forms such kotumpu (kollam , thiruvananthapuram), katirpu (kottayam), krali (pathanamthitta), pattachi, gnannil (kollam), pochata (palakkad) etc. referring same item.

it may noted @ point labels such brahmin dialect , syrian caste dialect refer overall patterns constituted sub-dialects spoken subcastes or sub-groups of each such caste. outstanding features of major communal dialects of malayalam summarized below:

lexical items phonological features reminiscent of sanskrit (e.g., viddhi, meaning fool ), bhosku ( lie ), musku ( impudence ), dustu ( impurity ), , eebhyan , sumbhan (both meaning good-for-nothing fellow ) abound in dialect.
the dialect of educated stratum among nairs resembles brahmin dialect in many respects. amount of sanskrit influence, however, found steadily decreasing 1 descends along parameter of education.
one of striking features differentiating nair dialect ezhava dialect phonetic quality of word-final: enunciative vowel unusually transcribed u . in nair dialect mid-central unrounded vowel whereas in ezhava dialect heard lower high unrounded vowel.
the syrian christian dialect of malayalam quite close nair dialect, in phonology. speech of educated section among syrian christians , of close church peculiar in having number of assimilated unassimilated loan words english , syriac. few loan words have found way christian dialect assimilated in many cases through process of de-aspiration.
the latin christian dialect of malayalam close fishermen dialect. influenced latin, portuguese , english.
the muslim dialect shows maximum divergence literary standard dialect of malayalam. influenced arabic , urdu rather sanskrit or english. retroflex continuant zha of literary dialect realised in muslim dialect palatal ya.

external influences , loanwoards

malayalam has incorporated many elements other languages on years, notable of these being sanskrit , later, english. malayalam can divided in terms of evolution. during relatively older times, malayalam used indistinguishable sanskrit , tamil, mix of both. father of modern malayalam, thunchaththu ezhuthachan 1 reformed language, making malayalam bit more, though not much, self reliant. performed great task laid before him adopting few words each of languages, sanskrit , tamil. according sooranad kunjan pillai compiled authoritative malayalam lexicon, other principal languages vocabulary incorporated on ages pali, prakrit, urdu, hindi, chinese, arabic, syriac, dutch , portuguese.

many medieval liturgical texts written in admixture of sanskrit , malayalam, called manipravalam. influence of sanskrit prominent in formal malayalam used in literature. malayalam has substantially high amount of sanskrit loan words seldom used. loan words , influences hebrew, syriac , ladino abound in jewish malayalam dialects, english, portuguese, syriac , greek in christian dialects, while arabic , persian elements predominate in muslim dialects. muslim dialect known mappila malayalam used in malabar region of kerala. muslim dialect called beary bashe used in extreme northern part of kerala , southern part of karnataka.

for comprehensive list of loan words, see loan words in malayalam.