lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

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

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

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 got 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

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 Edition). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode. 2018.

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