A member of the Dravidian family of languages (South Dravidian group), spoken by c. 25 million people in south-west India, mainly in Kerala state. Malayalam is also one of the official state languages of India. The closest linguistic affiliation is with Tamil, from which it seems to have diverted perhaps during the 13th century.
The first written documents date from the 9th century and a literary tradition from the 13th century. The language was highly influenced by Sanskrit till the 19th century when the Sanskritized literary style gradually started to be replaced by the colloquial language. It is written in the Malayalam alphabet.
Modern Malayalam exists in two main varieties - written and spoken - in a relationship of diglossia.
Courses | |
An Intensive course in Malayalam | MALAYM CBEG 1(PACKS 1-2) |
Malayalam: Talk Now! | MALAYM CBEG 2(CD-ROM) |
Dictionaries | |
English-Malayalam dictionary | MALAYM DICO 1 |
Films | |
Man of the story (Kathapurushan) | MALAYM FILM 3(DVD) |
Mathilukal (Walls) | MALAYM FILM 1(VS) |
Rat trap | MALAYM FILM 2(DVD)* |