Malayalam
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Malayalam is unrelated to the Austronesian language Malay.
It is one of the 22 "scheduled" (official) languages of India.
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Odia (formerly Oriya)
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
Of these scheduled languages, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu are Dravidian
In a 7th-century poem written by the Tamil poet Sambandar the people of Kerala are referred to as malaiyāḷar (mountain people). The word Malayalam is also said to originate from the words mala, meaning 'mountain', and alam, meaning 'region' or '-ship' (as in "township"); Malayalam thus translates directly as 'the mountain region'. The term Malabar was used as an alternative term for Malayalam in foreign trade circles to denote the southwestern coast of the Indian peninsula, which also means The land of hills. The term originally referred to the western hilly land of the Chera dynasty (later Zamorins and the Kingdom of Cochin), Kingdom of Ezhimala (later Kolathunadu), and Ay kingdom (later Travancore), and only later became the name of its language.[34] The language Malayalam was alternatively called Alealum, Malayalani, Malayali, Malabari, Malean, Maliyad, Mallealle, and Kerala Bhasha until the early 19th century CE.
The earliest extant literary works in the regional language of present-day Kerala probably date back to as early as the 12th century. At that time, the language was differentiated by the name Kerala Bhasha. The earliest mention of Malayalam as a language is found outside of Kerala in the 15th century Telugu work Śrībhīmēśvarapurāṇamu by Śrīnātha. The distinctive "Malayalam" named identity of this language appears to have come into existence in Kerala only around the 16th century, when it was known as "Malayayma" or "Malayanma"; the words were also used to refer to the script and the region. According to Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese visitor who visited Kerala in the early 16th century CE, the people in the southwestern Malabar coast of India from Kumbla in north to Kanyakumari in south had a unique language, which was called "Maliama" by them.
Prior to this period, the people of Kerala usually referred to their language as "Tamil", and both terms overlapped into the colonial period.
Lesson learned: in listening to practically any foreign language, keep your ears keenly alert for a word from you own language that may have been borrowed into it. And, when you're talking to someone who doesn't know your own language kindly speak more slowly and clearly than you normally do when you're talking to someone who is a native speaker of your own language.
Selected readings
- "Don't Kettle" (11/4/10)
- "Antakshari recitation in India" (7/1/23) — see in the comments
- "English to English translation" (7/27/25)
KIRINPUTRA said,
August 6, 2025 @ 8:13 am
Malayalam is probably one of I’d say four Indian languages (Tamil, Hindi-Urdu) where the speakers … have a level of linguistic confidence that resonates with a skit like this.
Carrie Wiebe said,
August 6, 2025 @ 11:47 am
Victor, thank you for this article. When I went to India for my leave year the last time, we lived for a little while in Kumily, a town right on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. One of our childhood friends who lives inTamil Nadu and who speaks Tamil very well, was encouraging me about learning Malayalam and said, “Malayalam is very easy to speak! You just put five marbles in your mouth and speak Tamil with a Swedish accent.”
Luke said,
August 6, 2025 @ 3:22 pm
Ah Kumily! Visited there maybe 15 years ago, beautiful area.
Victor Mair said,
August 6, 2025 @ 6:20 pm
Listen carefully every time the Malayalam speaker holds forth. If you apply Carrie Wiebe's rules of thumb and extrapolate from them, you will probably be able to understand two important words that he is saying.
Allen W. Thrasher said,
August 6, 2025 @ 7:38 pm
And everyone should know the answer to the question, “What is the longest palindromic word in the English language?” “Malayalam.”
KIRINPUTRA said,
August 6, 2025 @ 9:12 pm
@ Victor Mair
Doesn’t work for me! :D
Victor Mair said,
August 6, 2025 @ 9:38 pm
Forget about Carrie's rules, that was just for fun, but listen for the two important words.
Victor Mair said,
August 6, 2025 @ 10:04 pm
@Allen W. Thrasher
No wonder the name sounds so mellifluous and euphonious. A quartet of the same four low, front, unrounded vowels, two lovely, lateral approximants, a kissy-sweet bilabial at the beginning and the end, and a yummy semi-vowel or glide right in the middle.
Jarek Weckwerth said,
August 9, 2025 @ 4:30 am
A quartet of the same four low, front, unrounded vowels — Not in English though.
Victor Mair said,
August 9, 2025 @ 10:50 am
Most people I know pronounce it a là Maylayalam.