Old Malayalam
Old Malayalam, or Early Malayalam, the inscriptional variety found in Kerala from c. mid-9th to c. 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam language. The language was employed in several administrative records and transactions. Old Malayalam was mostly written in Vatteluttu script.
History
The start of the development of Old Malayalam from a dialect of contemporary Tamil can be dated to c. 7th - 8th century CE. It remained a west coast dialect until c. 9th century CE or a little later.The formation of the language is mainly attributed to geographical separation of Kerala from the Tamil country and the influence of immigrant Tulu-Canarese Brahmins in Kerala.
The later evolution of Old Malayalam is visible in the inscriptions dated to c. 9th to c. 12th century CE.
Literature
There is no Old Malayalam literature preserved from this period. Some of the earliest extant Malayalam literary compositions appear after the early medieval period. Malayalam was historically noted for its diglossia, or existence of different varieties of the language.Differences from medieval Tamil
Although Old Malayalam closely resembles contemporary Tamil it also shows characteristic new features. Major differences between Old Malayalam and contemporary inscriptional/literary Tamil of the eastern country are:- Nasalization of adjoining sounds
- Substitution of palatal sounds for dental sounds
- Contraction of vowels
- Rejection of gender verbs
Old Malayalam inscriptions
Some of the discovered inscriptions in Old Malayalam are listed below in their expected chronological order, along with their locations and significance. Most of them are engraved in the Vatteluttu script, with additional Grantha characters.| Inscription | Location of Origin | Notes |
| Quilon Syrian copper plates | ||
| Irinjalakkuda inscription | ||
| Thiruvatruvay copper plate | ||
| Vazhappally copper plate |