The Origin of Malayalam Language

Different Theories Regarding The Origin of Malayalam Language

Malayalam is one of the Dravidian languages which is spoken in Kerala, Union territories of Lakshadweep and Mahe. The origin of the Malayalam language is a debatable topic until now. There are so many theories behind the formation of this Dravidian language.

The evolution of this Dravidian language has been influenced by many other languages including Tamil and Sanskrit. but Malayalam language has its own identity that is self-evident in its vocabulary and pronunciation.

Origin of the Malayalam language has always been a curious topic among linguistics scholars. Four different argument theories were proposed based on the molding of this language.

They are,

1. Sanskrit derived argument
2. Tamil derived argument
3. Mixed language supposition
4. Original Dravidian linguistics

1. Sanskrit derived argument

In this theory, it is said that the Malayalam language is mainly originated from Sanskrit. Sanskrit itself is known as 'Devanagari' or the language of god. In this speculation, they are referring to the relation of Malayalam and Sanskrit like mother and daughter.

The Sanskrit derived argument was first mentioned in Lilatilakam, a 14th century Sanskrit language treatise. Although there was no specific discussion on the origin of the language in this book, there was an idea that a language like Malayalam has Sanskrit origin.

The author mentioned that in the 15th verse of the second chapter of Lilatilakam. and it is made clear that Malayalam is Sanskrit derived and also it indicates that Malayalam is different from Sanskrit.      

Vadakkumkur Raja Raja Varma was the first, who presented the Sanskrit derived theory of the origin of Malayalam language as a supposition. He has covered about that in length in the first chapter of 'Sāhiti Sarwasya'

In his thesis, he claims that all the Indian languages originated from Sanskrit, including Tamil and Malayalam. And Vadakumkur concluded that with the adoption of the Sanskrit alphabet and vocabulary under the influence of Sanskrit, the people who used 'Malayāntamizh' (a mixed language of Malayalam and Tamil) till then had changed to Malayalam.

2. Tamil derived arguments

Tamil derived argument is one of the most accepted arguments among all the theories regarding the origin of Malayalam language.

F.W.Ellis was the first who studied the origin of Malayalam language scientifically. His thesis is called 'A Dissertation on the Malayalam Language', which was released in 1816 and is being called one of the invaluable linguistic documents in history.

He supposition that the Malayalam language was derived from "Chenthamizh" (Pure Tamil). Ellis was first who discovered south Indian languages belonged to a particular tribal language.      

In 1856 another linguistic scholar called Robert Caldwell wrote a book named 'A Comparative Grammer of Dravidian or South Indian Languages'. In his book, Caldwell proposed that Malayalam is a dialect of Tamil language.        

In 1896 A.R.Raja Raja Varma wrote the book 'Kerala Pāninēyam', which further elaborated on Caldwell's dialecticism. He proposed that the Malayalam language were evolved from a folk language called 'Kodum Tamil' (Extreme Tamil)       

L.V.Ramaswami Ayyar, a linguistic scholar who supported the theories of AR and Cadwell. He classified the origin of Dravidian language in a slightly different way. That is indicated in the given flow chart

3. Mixed Linguistics

In this argument, it is said that the Malayalam language is derived from the combination of Tamil and Sanskrit. Professor Ilamkulam Kunjan Pillai was the person who proposed this linguistic theory. He presented his theory in his book called 'Kerala Bhashayude Vikaasa Parinamangal' (Development and Evolution of the Language of Kerala).

Formerly in Kerala, the Dravidians spoked 'Malanadu Tamil' until the arrival of Aryans (Brahmins) who spoke Sanskrit and Prakrit.

With time the Brahmins got dominance over the Dravidians and their interaction with the native people caused a language exchange between them, which led to the rise of Malayalam language. A great example of this theory is the arrival of Manipravalam literature in those eras.

4. Original Dravidian Linguistics

The main supposition in this theory is that the Malayalam language was originated as an independent language just like Tamil, Telugu, or Kannada languages were originated.

If we consider the Original Dravidian language as a tree, then Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam become its independent branches. That is these languages share the same root.