History of Malayalam
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Malayalam is thought to have diverged from Middle Tamil in approximately the sixth century in the region coinciding with modern Kerala. The development of Malayalam as a separate language was characterized by a moderate influence from Sanskrit, both in lexicon and grammar, which culminated in the Aadhyaathma Ramayanam, a version of the Ramayana by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan which marked the beginning of modern Malayalam. Ezhuthachan's works also cemented the use of the Malayalam script, an alphabet blending the Tamil Vatteluttu alphabet with elements of the Grantha script resulting in a large number of letters capable of representing both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian sounds.Today, it is considered one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was declared a classical language by the Government of India in 2013.
Malayalam (മലയാളം, Malayāḷam , Malayalam pronunciation: , also known as Kairali (കൈരളി, Kairaḷi is a language spoken in India, predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was designated a Classical Language in India in 2013.[Malayalam has the official language status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages, and is spoken by approximately 33 million people according to the 2011 census. Malayalam is also spoken in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; with more popularity in the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu, and the Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts of Karnataka.
Originating from a branch of the proto-Dravidian language, Malayalam emerged as an independent language by the 9th century. An alternative theory proposes a split in even more ancient times.Through the ages, Malayalam incorporated many loanwords from Sanskrit, which altered the number of letters in the Malayalam script.Malayalam with minimal Sanskrit loanwords is Thani Malayalam.
Before Malayalam came into being, Old Tamil was used in literature and courts of Tamilakam, which included present day Kerala state. Silappatikaram of the Sangam period, one of the major Tamil epics, was written by Chera prince Ilango Adigal from Cochin. Modern Malayalam still preserves many words from the ancient Tamil vocabulary, which have been lost or replaced in modern Tamil. The earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu script, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it.The oldest literary works in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, are the Paattus, folk songs, dated from between the 9th and 11th centuries.Later, Sanskrit influence became apparent with Ramacharitam, the Malayalam version of Ramayana. Grantha script letters were adopted to write Sanskrit loanwords, which resulted in the modern Malayalam script.Many medieval texts were written in a very liberal mixture of Sanskrit with early Malayalam, known as Manipravalam.The first travelogue in any Indian language is in Malayalam, titled as Varthamanappusthakam written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785.
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