Middle Malayalam

Middle Malayalam
മധ്യകാലമലയാളം
Pronunciation	Madhyakālamalayāḷam
Region	Kerala
Era	Developed into Modern Malayalam by the 15th century
Language family	Dravidian Southern Tamil–Kannada Tamil–Kodagu Tamil-Malayalam Middle Malayalam
Early form	Old Malayalam
Writing system	Vatteluttu, then Kolezhuthu, Malayanma, Grantha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Middle Malayalam is the period of the Malayalam language spanning from 13th century to 15th century AD. ^{[1] [2]}

The works including Unniyachi Charitham , Unnichiruthevi Charitham , and Unniyadi Charitham, are written in Middle Malayalam, those date back to 13th and 14th centuries of Common Era. ^{[3] [4]} The Sandesha Kavyas of 14th century CE written in Manipravalam language include Unnuneeli Sandesam . ^{[3] [4]} The word Manipravalam literally means Diamond-Coral or Ruby-Coral. The 14th-century Lilatilakam text states Manipravalam to be a Bhashya (language) where "Malayalam and Sanskrit should combine together like ruby and coral, without the least trace of any discord". ^{[5] [6]} Kannassa Ramayanam and Kannassa Bharatam by Rama Panikkar of the Niranam poets who lived between 1350 and 1450 are representative of this language. ^[7] The Champu Kavyas written by Punam Nambudiri, one among the Pathinettara Kavikal (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of the Zamorin of Calicut, also belong to Middle Malayalam. ^{[4] [3]}

The Old Malayalam language ( 1stcentury BCE – 13th century CE) was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of the Chera Perumal kings as well as the upper-caste (Nambudiri) villages). ^[8] It was an inscriptional language and there was not any literary work of its own, with possible exceptions of Ramacharitam and Thirunizhalmala . ^[9] However the Malayalam literature completely diverged from the contemporary Tamil literature by the period of Middle Malayalam. ^[7] The Middle Malayalam period marked the commencement of the unique traits of Malayalam literature. ^{[3] [4]} The literary works written in Middle Malayalam were heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit, while comparing them with the modern Malayalam literature. ^{[3] [4]}

Notes

1. Menon, T. K. Krishna (1939). A Primer of Malayalam Literature. Asian Educational Services. ISBN   9788120606036 – via Google Books.
2. Lal, Mohan (June 6, 1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN   9788126012213 – via Google Books.
3. Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker (2006). A Short History of Malayalam Literature. Thiruvananthapuram: Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala.
4. Sreedhara Menon, A. (2007). Kerala Charitram (2007 ed.). Kottayam: DC Books. ISBN   978-8126415885.
5. Sheldon Pollock; Arvind Raghunathan (19 May 2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. pp. 449, 455–472. ISBN   978-0-520-22821-4.
6. Ke Rāmacandr̲an Nāyar (1971). Early Manipravalam: a study. Anjali. Foreign Language Study. pp. 78
7. Kerala (India), Dept. of Public Relations (2003), District Handbooks of Kerala: Pathanamthitta (Volume 7 of District Handbooks of Kerala, Kerala (India). Dept. of Public Relations
8. Narayanan, M. G. S. (2013). Perumals of Kerala. Thrissur: CosmoBooks. pp. 380–82. ISBN   9788188765072.
9. Ayyar, L. V. Ramaswami (1936). The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology (1st ed.). Trichur: Rama Varma Research Institute. p. 3.

Further reading

• Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker (2006). A Short History of Malayalam Literature. Thiruvananthapuram: Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala.
• Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN   9788126415786.
• Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode. 2018.