Malayalam belongs to the family of Dravidian languages. Tamil, Telugu and Kannada are the other cultivated languages belonging to this family. Of the four, Tamil is considered to be the oldest, the most cultivated and well developed.
For
a long time, the term “Malayalam” originally denoted only the country and
not the language. It was quite recently the language acquired the name
“Malayalam”. “Malayayma”, “Malayam moli” and “Malayam bhasa”
were the other names by which the language of Kerala were known before.
Scholars
differ in their opinion as to the origin of Malayalam as a separate language
from Tamil. Some say that she is the daughter of Tamil, others say that she is
her sister and a few others maintain that Malayalam is as old as Tamil.
These
differences of opinion are due to the lack of proper understanding of the term
“Tamil”, and its significance. When you say that Tamil is the elder sister
or mother of Malayalam, it does not imply that modern Malayalam is the daughter
or younger sister of modern Tamil.
Tamil
has been used as a general term to donate the languages of the south in common.
The ancient Tamil has undergone many changes, and the modern Tamil and the
modern Malayalam are the outcome of the evolutions of the ancient Tamil.
Malayalam
is believed to be an off shoot of medieval Tamil of the 8th century
AD, and this fact is proven by many inscriptions and other materials, now
unearthed, belonging to the centuries successively following the period of
medieval Tamil. However, it may be clearly stated that of all the four
cultivated South Indian languages, modern Tamil is the closest to Malayalam.
Malayalam
as a language got separated from its parental tongue – the medieval Tamil –
due to many reasons; sociological, political, geographical and to some extent
geological too. Among them, the most important is sociological.
It
is often said that the Namputiri Brahmins and caste Hindus of Kerala got
themselves allied; physically, spiritually and economically. In Kerala, they
formed themselves into a separate community or nationality, who were socially
and culturally cut off from the rest.
Sanskrit
which was the spiritual and cultural language of the Brahmins made its way into
the local language and a new hybrid language called “Manipravalam” (the
coral-pearl combination of the local language and Sanskrit) was formed. Till the
formation of Manipravalam, the then spoken and literary language of Kerala had
been using loan words from Sanskrit in a Tamillised form; as an evident from the
words written during those periods both in Kerala and in Tamilnad.
When
Manipravalam began to make its influence felt on local language, the system of
adoption of Sanskrit loan words underwent a change. Sanskrit words were used as
they are, and there was a tendency on the part of a few writers to Sankritise
even the local words. Such artificial forms are abundant in Manipravala works
written during that period.
By
the 14th century, the entire nature of Kerala language was changed
and a language worthy of being termed as “Malayalam”, with all its modern
characteristics, had been formed by the time. The literary works belonging to
the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries bear ample
testimony to this fact.
There
were many literary works written during this formative period. They may be
classified under two major groups according to the nature of languages and mode
of literary styles used in them. They are known as “Manipravala” works and
“Pattu” works. “Pattu” means “song”, and the compositions which
strictly followed the rules of the then Tamil poems were termed as “Pattu”
works.
One
speciality with Malayalam literature is that the Manipravala works written
during the earliest literary periods – 12th, 13th, 14th
& 15th centuries – are of purely non-religious nature. Poems of
courtesants, their life and their activities were composed by many poets. Today
they are considered as the best sources for researchers to study the then
existing social conditions of Kerala. Almost all Manipravalam works are replete
with this sort of sensuous themes.
Meanwhile,
Pattu works are mostly on religious, mythological and ritual themes. Ramayana
and Bharata were composed in Pattu styles during this period.
Tuncattu
Eluttaccan, ascribed to 16th century if often called the father of
modern Malayalam. It is in his Ramayana and Bharata we find the
language of Kerala establishing itself in its modern form.
There
were many works written in imitation of Sanskrit literature. They come under the
titles “Sandesa Kavya” (Messenger Poem) and “Champus”. An indigenous
literary branch known as “Attakkatha” written for the Kerala classical
dance-drama Kathakali form the bulk of medieval
literature of Malayalam.
Devotional
poems and philosophical works were also written by many during this period.
There
were good prose works in Malayalam from the Kautalia’s “Arthasastra”.
Called “Bhasa Kautaliyam”, it is perhaps the earliest of Malayalam works now
available.
Thereafter
appeared many prose works mainly describing the mode of acting classical
Sanskrit plays in temples; known as Kutiyattam.
Malayalam
prose got a fresh energy when the foreign missionaries began learning Malayalam
and writing prose works on theological themes including the translation of Bible.
By
the 18th century, the language and literature grew to such a
dimension that by the time, many poets and writers could contribute their mite
to the enrichment of Malayalam in all its aspects.
During
the 19th century and by the dawn of the 20th century,
further growth and development were effected in all the branches of literature
when – thanks to the advent of English studies – novels, short stories,
plays, essays, lyrics and similar modern forms of literature sprang up.
Today,
Malayalam can be proud of claiming as one of the most advanced language in
India. Writers in Malayalam are well known not only in India, but also outside.
Journalism in Malayalam has taken really long strides on its path of progress.
excerpt
from
Learn Malayalam in 30 Days, 1999