Old Malayalam

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Old Malayalam

← Previous revision Revision as of 17:25, 22 April 2026
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| fam9 = [[Tamiloid languages|Tamil]]–[[Malayalamoid languages|Malayalam]]
| fam9 = [[Tamiloid languages|Tamil]]–[[Malayalamoid languages|Malayalam]]
| fam10 = [[Malayalamoid languages|Malayalamoid]]
| fam10 = [[Malayalamoid languages|Malayalamoid]]
| ancestor = Contemporary [medieval] Tamil
| ancestor = Contemporary early [[Middle Tamil]]
| ancestor2 =
| ancestor2 =
| script = [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] (with [[Grantha script|Pallava/Southern Grantha]] characters)
| script = [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] (with [[Grantha script|Pallava/Southern Grantha]] characters)
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'''Old Malayalam''', or '''Early Malayalam,''' the inscriptional variety found in [[Kerala]] from ''c.'' mid-9th to ''c.'' 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of [[Malayalam|Malayalam language]].{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala |title=Perumals of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |isbn=9788188765072 |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=380–82 |orig-year=1972}}{{cite book |last=Ayyar |first=L. V. Ramaswami |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheEvolutionOfMalayalamMorphology/The-Evolution-of-Malayalam-Morphology |title=The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology |publisher=Rama Varma Research Institute |year=1936 |isbn= |edition= |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=3}} The language was employed in several administrative records and transactions (at the level of the [[Chera Perumals of Makotai|medieval Chera]] kings as well as the [[Caste|upper-caste]] village temples). Old Malayalam was mostly written in [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] (with additional [[Grantha script|Pallava/Southern Grantha]] characters).
'''Old Malayalam''', or '''Early Malayalam,''' the inscriptional variety found in [[Kerala]] from ''c.'' mid-9th to ''c.'' 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of [[Malayalam|Malayalam language]].{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala |title=Perumals of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |isbn=9788188765072 |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=380–82 |orig-year=1972}}{{cite book |last=Ayyar |first=L. V. Ramaswami |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheEvolutionOfMalayalamMorphology/The-Evolution-of-Malayalam-Morphology |title=The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology |publisher=Rama Varma Research Institute |year=1936 |isbn= |edition= |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=3}} The language was employed in several administrative records and transactions (at the level of the [[Chera Perumals of Makotai|medieval Chera]] kings as well as the [[Caste|upper-caste]] village temples). Old Malayalam was mostly written in [[Vatteluttu|Vatteluttu script]] (with additional [[Grantha script|Pallava/Southern Grantha]] characters).
== History ==
== History ==
The start of the development of Old Malayalam from a dialect of contemporary [medieval] [[Middle Tamil|Tamil]] can be dated to c. 7th - 8th century CE.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-concise-history-of-south-india-9780198099772 |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2 |editor-last=Karashima |editor-first=Noburu |location=New Delhi |pages=152–53 |chapter=Language and Literature}}Narayanan, M. G. S. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala Perumals of Kerala].'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013 [1972]. 438-42.{{Cite web |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |year=2024 |title=Malayalam Language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malayalam-language |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} It remained a west coast dialect until c. 9th century CE or a little later.{{Cite web |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |date=2024 |title=Dravidian Languages |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dravidian-languages/Literary-languages#ref279622 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}
The start of the development of Old Malayalam from a dialect of contemporary early [[Middle Tamil]] can be dated to c. 7th - 8th century CE.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-concise-history-of-south-india-9780198099772 |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2 |editor-last=Karashima |editor-first=Noburu |location=New Delhi |pages=152–53 |chapter=Language and Literature}}Narayanan, M. G. S. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala Perumals of Kerala].'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013 [1972]. 438-42.{{Cite web |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |year=2024 |title=Malayalam Language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malayalam-language |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} It remained a west coast dialect until c. 9th century CE or a little later.{{Cite web |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |date=2024 |title=Dravidian Languages |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dravidian-languages/Literary-languages#ref279622 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}


The formation of the language is mainly attributed to geographical separation of Kerala from the Tamil country and the influence of immigrant [[Tulu language|Tulu]]-[[Kannada|Canarese]] [[Brahmin]]s in Kerala (who also knew [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]]).
The formation of the language is mainly attributed to geographical separation of Kerala from the Tamil country and the influence of immigrant [[Tulu language|Tulu]]-[[Kannada|Canarese]] [[Brahmin]]s in Kerala (who also knew [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]]).
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