Malayalam grammar
Malayalam is one of the Dravidian languages and has an agglutinative grammar. The word order is generally subject–object–verb, although other orders are often employed for reasons such as emphasis. Nouns are inflected for case and number, whilst verbs are conjugated for tense, mood, and causativity. Malayalam adjectives, adverbs, postpositions, and conjunctions do not undergo any inflection; they are invariant.
Nouns
The declensional paradigms for some common nouns and pronouns are given below. As Malayalam is an agglutinative language, it is difficult to delineate the cases strictly and determine how many there are, although seven or eight is the generally accepted number. Alveolar plosives and nasals are marked with a macron below, following the convention of the National Library at Kolkata romanization.Pronouns
There are three persons – first, second, and third. The first person has three forms – singular, inclusive plural, and exclusive plural. The second person has three forms – singular informal, singular formal and plural. Of these, the singular formal and, plural forms are similar. A fourth form is sometimes used in certain official documents and announcements.The third person has eight forms – proximal and distal forms of singular masculine, singular feminine, singular neutral and plural. The masculine and feminine genders are used for humans and anthropomorphised non-humans. Non-living objects, plants and most animals take the neutral gender. The plural form is used for multiple objects of any gender. The plural form can also be used for a single person to show respect or because the gender is unknown or irrelevant.
- These are the commonly used pronouns though in total they have rarer synonyms and dialectal/colloquial forms, for example 2SG "you" can have around over 10 forms like nī, niṅṅaḷ, tāṉ, tāṅkaḷ, aṅṅŭ, tvaṁ, sanskritic gendered bhavāṉ, bhavati, dialectal for nī: ī, iyyŭ, ijjŭ, ji etc. Some colloquial dialects use avaṉmār̠, avaḷmār̠ as 3Pl. masculine and feminine pronouns.
Cases
Vocative forms are given in parentheses after the nominative, as the only pronominal vocatives that are used are the third person ones, which only occur in compounds.The mnemonic 'നിപ്രസം ഉപ്രസം ആ' created by combining the first sounds of the case names is used.
Number
The suffix -കൾ, which changes to -ങ്ങൾ when the nouns ends in -അം, is the most common suffix for denoting plural nouns. It is used by all inanimate nouns, concrete or abstract, and most animate, non-gendered nouns. Two other suffixes, -മാർ and അർ, are used exclusively by a few animate nouns. All suffixes follow the sandhi rules where applicable, and are not used when preceded by numeral adjectives. The following are a few examples.| Word | Singular | Plural |
| book | പുസ്തകം | പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ |
| umbrella | കുട | കുടകൾ |
| fish | മീൻ | മീനുകൾ |
| female | പെണ്ണ് | പെണ്ണുങ്ങൾ |
| youngster | യുവാവ് | യുവാക്കൾ |
| cattle calf | കിടാവ് | കിടാങ്ങൾ/കിടാക്കൾ |
| dog | നായ | നായ്ക്കൾ/നായകൾ |
| mother | അമ്മ | അമ്മമാർ |
| king | രാജാവ് | രാജാക്കന്മാർ |
| human | മനുഷ്യൻ | മനുഷ്യർ |
| gujarati person | ഗുജറാത്തിക്കാരൻ/-രി | ഗുജറാത്തിക്കാർ |
- A person from a place is denoted with -kāraṉ/kāri whose plural is -kāṟ. other ways include malayāḷikaḷ, tamiḻaṉmāṟ, kannaḍigaṟ.
Other nouns
The following are examples of some of the most common declensional patterns.Adjectives
Malayalam is thought to have no semantic category for adjectives, and instead relies heavily on using participial relative clauses for modifying nouns. There are two classes of words that typically act as adjectives.- Native roots + -a: This includes words such as നൽ > നല്ല, വൽ > വലിയ, നനഞ്ഞു > നനഞ്ഞ, and ചെറു/ചിറു > ചെറിയ/ചിറ്റ. All such words can be directly used as adjectives, without further modification. The conventional view regarding this category of words is that they typically encode the possession of the property they signify in the participial marker attached to them, meaning a word such as നല്ല would actually mean "having goodness". For instance: ഇതൊരു നല്ല പുസ്തകമാണ്, translating to "this is a good book", could be thought to mean "this is a goodness-having book". Note that when used in typical relative clauses, the marker -a can be inflected for tense, but not when used here in an adjectival sense.
- Removing the noun formative -am: This includes words such as സങ്കടം, മരം, and ഉയരം. As in marattaṭi "timber", mara vīṭŭ "wooden house". Another way is in the form of -ഉള്ള, the suffix for the non-finite existential copula. For instance: അവൻ ഉയരമുള്ള കുട്ടിയാണ് could be thought to mean "he is a tallness-having child". Since the suffix is non-finite it does not vary with tense or person. The exception is with color words like nīla "blue" which can act as both a noun and an adjective.
- Words ending with -ṟu, -tu, -ṭu can have the plosive doubled to make an adjective as in kāṭŭ > kāṭṭŭ, kāṭṭu tī "forest fire"; cōṟŭ > cōṟṟŭ, cōṟṟupātram "tiffin box".
- Words ending with -vu can have the suffix removed to make an adjective, eg. nilāvŭ > nilā niḻal, rājāvŭ > rāja putraṉ.
- Another adjectivizing suffix is -m added to some words ending with vowels, pai > paim "green, gorgeous," paiṅkiḷi > "green bird, parrot"; pū > pūm "flowery", pūmpāṟṟa "flower lizard, butterfly".
- Another adjectivizing suffix is -aṉ, eg. kaṭu > kaṭṭaṉ "strong, thick", kaṭṭaṉ cāya "strong tea, black tea".
Verbs
Inflection of Malayalam verbs occurs for tense, aspect, and mode (TAM), and not for number or gender. The dictionary form of verbs typically have the ending -ഉക, although some verbs have the ending ഇക too.Tenses
Broadly, there are three tenses in Malayalam language: present, past and future. Verb forms in different tenses are created by either simply replacing the citation form ending, or by suffixing the verb stem with a special marker depending on the class of the verb.Present tense
The present tense is formed by replacing the citation form ending with -ഉന്നു. For example, the present tense form of പറയുക is പറയുന്നു.Future tense
The future tense is formed by replacing the citation form ending with -ഉം. For example, the future tense form of നടക്കുക is നടക്കും.Past tense
For most verbs the marker -ഇ is added to the verb stem to create the past tense form, but other verb classes have different rules. A non-exhaustive list of the rules for different classes, as well as some exceptions, is given below.- If the citation form of the verb ends in a short vowel followed by -ടുക – that is, if it ends in -അടുക, -ഇടുക, -ഉടുക, -എടുക, or -ഒടുക – then replace the -ടുക at the end with -ട്ടു. For example, the past form of ഇടുക, is ഇട്ടു.
- If the citation form ends in -യ്യുക, then replace that ending with -യ്തു. For example, the past form of ചെയ്യുക is ചെയ്തു.
- If the citation form ends in -അക്കുക, then replace that ending with -അന്നു. For example, the past form of നടക്കുക is നടന്നു. An exception to this rule is നക്കുക, whose past tense is നക്കി.
- The past tense of ഇരിക്കുക is ഇരുന്നു. But apart from this exception if the citation form ends in -ഇക്കുക, then replace that ending with -ഇച്ചു. For example, the past form of അടിക്കുക is അടിച്ചു.
- If the citation form ends in -ഉക്കുക or -ര്ക്കുക, then replace that ending with -ഉത്തു or -ര്ത്തു respectively. For example, the past form of തണുക്കുക is തണുത്തു, and the past form of ഓര്ക്കുക is ഓര്ത്തു. The past tense form of ഒക്കുക is ഒത്തു.
- The past tense of നില്ക്കുക is നിന്നു. But apart from this exception if the citation form ends in -ല്ക്കുക, then replace that ending with -റ്റു. For example, the past form of തോല്ക്കുക is തോറ്റു.
- If the citation form ends in -ള്ക്കുക, then replace that ending with -ട്ടു. For example, the past form of കേള്ക്കുക is കേട്ടു.
- If the citation form ends in -യുക, then replace that ending with -ഞ്ഞു. For example, the past form of പറയുക is പറഞ്ഞു.
- If the citation form ends in -രുക, then replace that ending with -ര്ന്നു. For example, the past form of തീരുക is തീര്ന്നു. However, the past tense of പോരുക is പോന്നു.
- If the citation form ends in -ലുക or -ല്ലുക, then replace that ending with -ന്നു. For example, the past form of അകലുക is അകന്നു. However, the past tense of ചൊല്ലുക may be either ചൊന്നു or ചൊല്ലി ; for തല്ലുക it is തല്ലി and in the northern dialects തച്ചു.
- If the citation form ends in -ളുക or -ള്ളുക, then replace that ending with -ണ്ടു. For example, the past form of ഉരുളുക is ഉരുണ്ടു. However, the past tense of പൊള്ളുക is പൊള്ളി.
- If the citation form ends in -രിക, then replace that ending with -ന്നു. For example, the past form of വരിക is വന്നു.
- If the citation form ends in -ണുക, then replace that ending with -ണ്ടു. For example, the past form of കാണുക is കണ്ടു, for ഉണ്ണുക it's ഉണ്ടു.
- The past form of തിന്നുക is തിന്നു.
- The past form of വേകുക/വേവുക is വെന്തു, for നോകുക/നോവുക it's നൊന്തു, for ചാകുക/ചാവുക it's ചത്തു.
Mood
Imperative
Bare root can act as an imperative, eg. cey! "do!", another way is by suffixing -ṇam, ceyyaṇam "must do!".Potential
-ām is used for potential mood, ceyyām "will do", ceytēkkām "may do".Copula
Malayalam employs two defective verbs as its copulas. The first, -ആക്, is the plain equative copula. The second, -ഉണ്ട്, is the locative copula and also used to indicate possession. These verbs change forms in different tenses and are usually suffixed to the noun phrases that are specified by the copula. The table below lists some examples.Causatives
Malayalam has 3 levels of causatives, usually verb happening, 1st person causing it to happen and making someone do it. Usually the last consonant is doubled to make the 2nd level but some verbs can use -kku- for it; 3rd level suffixes -ppikku-. Example ōṭuka "to run", ōṭikkuka/ōṭṭuka "to make someone run/ to drive", ōṭippikkuka/ōṭṭikkuka "to make someone make someone run/to make someone drive". Another suffix for 2nd level is -ttu, eg. cāruka/cāṟttuka/cāṟttikkuka, akaluka/akaṟṟuka/akaṟṟikkuka, kāṇuka/kāṭṭuka/kāṭṭikkuka, last 2 with sandhi for -ttu. 2nd level can be made 1st by adding peṭuka after it, eg. kāṇappeṭuka "get seen". Not all verbs have causatives like pōkuka.Negation
Standard negation is expressed through the use of the negative particle/suffix -ഇല്ല, regardless of tense. The equative copula -ആക്, however, is negated by the negative suffix -അല്ല in the present tense; in all other tenses -ഇല്ല is used. When these particles are suffixed to their corresponding noun phrases, sandhi rules must be obeyed.| Example | Notes |
| Equative copula negated by -അല്ല in the present tense | |
| Equative copula negated by -ഇല്ല in any tense other than the present tense | |
| All other negations use -ഇല്ല | |
| All other negations use -ഇല്ല | |
| All other negations use -ഇല്ല |
- Old Malayalam -ā is rare, used mostly in the standard language, eg. paṟakkā kiḷi "flightless bird", commonly paṟakkātta kiḷi / paṟakkillātta kiḷi.
| Dismissive/Insistent/Low "don't" | ചെയ്യല്ലേ |
| Non-polite "don't" | ചെയ്യാൻ പാടില്ല |
| Polite "please don't" | ചെയ്യാതെ |
| Recommending "shouldn't" | ചെയ്യരുത് |
| Forbidding "mustn't" | ചെയ്യണ്ട |
Others
Comparatives
- -kāḷ and -kāṭṭi are used interchangeably as comparatives after adding the accusative case, eg. pattiṉekkāṭṭi/pattiṉekkāḷ valutŭ nūṟāṇŭ. -um can be added for intensification pattiṉekkāṭṭum valutŭ nūṟāṇŭ.
Sandhi (സന്ധി)
Malayalam is an agglutinative language, and words can be joined in many ways. These ways are called sandhi. There are basically two genres of Sandhi used in Malayalam – one group unique to Malayalam, and the other one common with Sanskrit. Thus, we have the "Malayāḷa Sandhi" and "Saṁskr̥ta Sandhi".Sandhi unique to Malayalam, based on Old Tamil
There are basically four Sandhi types unique to Malayalam – the "lōpa sandhi", "dvitva sandhi", "āgama sandhi" and "ādēśa sandhi".Lōpa sandhi or "[Elision]"(ലോപ സന്ധി)
The Lopa sandhi occurs when the varna at the end of a word is lost when it merges with another word. In most cases, the varna is the "samvr̥tōkāram"..Dvitva Sandhi or "Rule of doubling"
In Malayalam, gemination is more in tense consonants and less in lax consonants. When two words combine in which the first is the qualifier and the qualified, the tense consonant initial to the second word geminates.Āgama sandhi or "Rule of arrival" (ആഗമ സന്ധി)
When two vowels undergo Sandhi, a consonant is added to avoid the pronunciation difficulty.Ādēśa Sandhi or "Rule of substitution"
In this Sandhi, one letter is substituted by another during concatenation.This sandhi also includes Sanskrit Sandhi forms like vi + samam = viṣamam, but the latter rule isn't absolute, its patisandhya, nissāram, vismayam not patiṣandhya, niṣṣāram, viṣmayam.
Sandhi common with Sanskrit
These Sandhi rules are basically inherited from Sanskrit, and are used in conjunction with Sanskrit vocabulary which forms approximately 60% of Modern Standard Malayalam. The rules like savarṇadīrgha sandhi, yaṇ sandhi, guṇa sandhi, vr̥ddhi sandhi and visarga sandhis are used without changes.Samāsam (സമാസം)
All the Sanskrit samāsa rules are adapted to Malayalam compounds. In Malayalam, the tatpuruṣa compounds are classified according to the vibhakti they are based on, during compounding. The "alaṅkāraṁ" is also used to classify tatpuruṣa compounds. There are 4 types of samasam: 1) āvyayi bhavaṉ, 2) tatpuruṣa, 3) dvandaṉ, and 4) bahuvr̥hi.Vr̥ttaṁ (വൃത്തം)
The vr̥ttaṁ consists of metres of Malayalam prosody. Like Sandhi, there are specific vr̥ttaṁs unique to Malayalam apart from the metres common with Sanskrit. As in case of Sandhi, the Malayalam vrittams are also named in Sanskrit.Alaṅkāram (അലങ്കാരം)
Alaṅkāraṁ or "ornamentation" is also based on Sanskritic grammarian classification. It consists of the different figures of speech used in Malayalam poetry. Being successor to Sanskrit and Maṇipravāḷam, most of Sanskrit alankaras are used in Malayalam. Thus, the common figures of speech in poems are rūpakaṁ, utprēkṣā, upamā etc.Words adopted from Sanskrit
When words are adopted from Sanskrit, their endings are usually changed to conform to Malayalam norms:Nouns
- Masculine Sanskrit nouns with a word stem ending in a short "a" take the ending "an" in the nominative singular. For example, Kr̥ṣṇa -> Kr̥ṣṇaṉ. The final "n" is dropped before masculine surnames, honorifics, or titles ending in "an" and beginning with a consonant other than "n" – e.g. Krishna Menon, Kr̥ṣṇa Kaṇiyāṉ etc., but Kr̥ṣṇan Eḻuttaccaṉ. Surnames ending with "aṟ" or "aḷ" are treated similarly – Kr̥ṣṇa Potuvāḷ, Kr̥ṣṇa Cākyāṟ, but Kr̥ṣṇaṉ Nāyaṟ, Kr̥ṣṇaṉ Nambyāṟ, as are Sanskrit surnames such "Vaṟma", "Śaṟma", or "Gupta" – e.g. Kr̥ṣṇa Vaṟma, Kr̥ṣṇa Śaṟmaṉ. If a name is a compound, only the last element undergoes this transformation – e.g. Kr̥ṣṇa + dēva = Kr̥ṣṇadēvaṉ, not Kr̥ṣṇandēvaṉ. This is also done to personify something like śukraṉ, śvāṉaṉ etc.
- Feminine words ending in a long "ā" or "ī" are changed so that they now end in a short "a" or "i", for example Sītā -> Sīta and Lakṣmī -> Lakṣmi. However, the long vowel still appears in compound words, such as Sītādēvi or Lakṣmīdēvi. The long ī is generally reserved for the vocative forms of these names, although in Sanskrit the vocative actually takes a short "i". There are also a small number of nominative "ī" endings that have not been shortened – a prominent example being the word "strī" "woman".
- Nouns that have a stem in -an and which end with a long "ā" in the masculine nominative singular have a "vŭ" added to them, for example Brahmā -> Brahmāvŭ. When the same nouns are declined in the neuter and take a short "a" ending in Sanskrit, Malayalam adds an additional "m", e.g. Brahma becomes Brahmam. This is again omitted when forming compounds.
- Words whose roots end in -an but whose nominative singular ending is -a – for example, the Sanskrit root of "Karma" is actually "Karman" –are also changed. The original root is ignored and "Karma" is taken as the basic form of the noun when declining. However, this does not apply to all consonant stems, as "unchangeable" stems such as "manasa" and "suhr̥ta " are identical to the Malayalam nominative singular forms.
- Sanskrit words describing things or animals rather than people with a stem in short "a" end with an "m" Malayalam. For example, Rāmāyaṇa -> Rāmāyaṇam. In most cases, this is actually the as the Sanskrit ending, which is also "m" in the neuter nominative. However, "things and animals" and "people" are not always differentiated based on whether or not they are sentient beings – for example Narasimha becomes Narasiṃham and not Narasiṃhan, whereas Ananta becomes Anantan even though both are sentient.
- Nouns with short vowel stems other than "a", such as "Viṣṇu", "Prajāpati" etc. are declined with the Sanskrit stem acting as the Malayalam nominative singular
- The original Sanskrit vocative is often used in formal or poetic Malayalam, e.g. "Harē" or "Prabhō". This is restricted to certain contexts – mainly when addressing deities or other exalted individuals, so a normal man named Hari would usually be addressed using a Malayalam vocative such as "Harī". The Sanskrit genitive is also occasionally found in Malayalam poetry, especially the personal pronouns "mama" and "tava". Other cases are less common and generally restricted to the realm of Maṇipravāḷam.
- Along with these tatsama borrowings, there are also many tadbhava words in common use. These were borrowed into Malayalam before it became distinct from Tamil. As the language did not then accommodate Sanskrit phonology as it now does, words were changed to conform to the native phonological system. For example: Kr̥ṣṇa -> Kaṇṇan, suṣira > tuḻiraṁ.