Middle Malayalam

Middle Malayalam
മധ്യകാലമലയാളം
PronunciationMadhyakālamalayāḷam
RegionKerala
EraDeveloped into Modern Malayalam by the 15th century
Early form
Vatteluttu, then Kolezhuthu, Malayanma, Grantha
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone

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 (9th century CE – 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]

  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. ^ a b c d e Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker (2006). A Short History of Malayalam Literature. Thiruvananthapuram: Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala.
  4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b 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.