Kasaragod Malayalam
Referenced locally as "Kasrod Malyalam" or "Malaame". The language spoken by the Malayali community in the Kasaragod district of Kerala by Hindus and Muslims. Intriguingly, the Kodava maaple (Muslims) community of Coorg. Karnataka also (influence with Coorg language) . For example: In Kasaragod Malayalam, 'House' is referred to as (Veed: in typical Malayalam) is "beed" while in Beary Bashe it is "pore".The Muslims of Kasaragod district speak a mixture of Kasaragod Malayalam and Beary Bashe.Kasaragod Malayalam varies from the standard Malayalam to a great extent. Unlike typical Malayalam, this has remained relatively uninfluenced by Sanskrit. Studies in this idiom have been useful in knowing the nature of evolution of the South Indian languages.
Salient features
- Extensive usage of 'ny' (ñ [ɲ]) compared to neighbouring Tulu and Kannada.
- Lack of or loss of Approximant consonants like neighbouring Tulu and Kannada.
- Presence of sound 'b' instead of 'v'(in standard Malayalam) like neighbouring Tulu and Kannada.
- Words end with aa whereas in other colloquial Malayalam they end with o.
- People generally use pronouns during direct conversation like neighbouring Tulu, Kannada people unlike in standard Malayalam.
- Occurrence of 'y' in the place of 'zh'. For example, 'payam' instead of 'pazham'.[1]
- Some of the words start with 'i' in which place standard Malayalam employs 'u'. For example indu (undu), ipperi (upperi).
Unique words=
|
|
|}
|
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| okku(ഒക്കു) | yes (Used by muslims) |
| on(ഓന്) | he (Used by Hindus / Muslims) |
| ol(ഓള്) | she (Used by Hindus / Muslims) |
| Paanjini | ran |
| Paanjina?( പാഞ്ഞ്നാ? ) | Has he/she run? |
| Poyini (പോയിനി) | went |
| Poyina?(പോയിനാ?) | Has he/she gone? |
| pottpa(പോട്ട്പ്പാ) | don't mind,not consider |
| Peedia | shop |
| Pore | home ( used by Muslims) |
| Porirp | Restlessness ( used by Muslims) |
| pondam/Elnar | Tender coconut |
| Paatlon,Faant | Pant |
| Poram | back |
| paakinne/paekkunnad | Blanket |
| payyu/pai | Cow |
| paykkunn(പയ്ക്ക്ന്ന്) | hungry |
| Saele | Saree |
| Seintiri | back biting |
| saamarthyam | Smartness |
| thene | foyer area |
| tandachi | toilet |
| thaape | window |
| Tondan | Old man |
| yethir(എത്റ്) | front |
| yenthura(എന്ത്റാ) | what man? |
| yenthune(എന്ത്ണേ) | what girl? |
Present state
Kasaragod Malayalam is deeply influenced and contains words from Tulu, Kannada, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Beary bashe etc.[2][3] It is a very rapidly evolving language, adding new words into the language very frequently. The vocabulary of the language is so advanced that it provides single word substitutes for expressions even unavailable in the original Malayalam. Adaptation of vocabulary from various language helps the native speakers to learn and adapt to a new language with relatively low effort.Languages
As far as language is concerned Kasaragod occupies a unique position in the map of Kerala. There are as many as seven languages used actively by a considerable number of people in Kasaragod. Though the administrative language is Malayalam, Tulu, Beary bashe, Kannada, Marathi and Konkani are also spoken. Furthermore there are ever so many dialects and tribal languages that augment the cultural resplendence of Kasaragod. The version of Malayalam spoken here varies a lot from the standard Malayalam and is generally considered difficult for the people from southern Kerala. It is often referred to as Kasrod Malayalam. Unlike the other Dravidian languages it shows little influence of the Sanskrit language. Studies in this idiom have been useful in knowing the nature of evolution of the South Indian languages.
Extensive usage of 'ny' sound, lack of or loss of Approximant consonants, presence of sound 'b' instead of 'v' are some of the salient features of Kasaragod Malayalam. In Kasaragod Malayalam words often end with aa whereas in standard Malayalam it ends with o. Generally pronouns are used during direct conversation.
Compared to the standard Malayalam the Kasaragod Malayalam is very spontaneous and natural-sounding. The time taken to complete a sentence in Kasaragod Malayalam is nearly half that taken to complete the same sentence in the South Kerala dialect of Malayalam. Kasaragod Malayalam is deeply influenced and contains words from Tulu, Kannada, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, etc. It has an advanced vocabulary that provides single word substitutes for expressions that are unavailable in standard Malayalam. The language is rapidly evolving and adds new words to it frequently.
See also
- Beary bashe
- Kodava maaple
- Coorg
References
- ↑ Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world By Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie
- ↑ A Sreedhara Menon (1 January 2007). A Survey Of Kerala History. DC Books. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-81-264-1578-6.
- ↑ "Introduction to Kasaragod district".