MALAYALAM IS EMINENTLY QUALIFIED FOR CLASSICAL LANGUAGE STATUS

MALAYALAM IS EMINENTLY QUALIFIED FOR CLASSICAL LANGUAGE STATUS 

Prof. O.N.V Kurup

Expert panel finds Malayalam has2,300 years old and rich in texts. It is eminently qualified and a rich  heritage for classical language states. the Malayalam language is qualified for the status on all four criteria stipulated by the  center.The report would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan singh in New Delhi on Saturday,15th January,2011.

 

  According to the four-volume panel report,  the earliest reference of Kerala was to be found in Ashoka's edicts where the ruler of the region in deep south is reference that desegregates the region in to an exclusive unit. The reference took the form Kerabatros in the writings of Pliny and Ptolemy. The region was referred to  as 'Cheram" in early Tamil literature and the person ruling the land as' Cheraman'What was in evidence here was a phonetic change common to all Dravidian languages from' Ka' to' Cha.'

The first Malayalam word discovered on a hero stone at Pulimankombu in the Kambham-Teni region, the word being"pedu"meaning to fall dead) The presence of a sound instead  of the 'ai' sound in the initial medial and final position of words and, that of the dative case marker 'nu' sound in certain words dating back to 200 AD, were all proof for the antiquity of the language.

  The Malayalam language must have a body of ancient literary texts. The Sanghom literature was the common property of those who inhabited the western and eastern parts of the old Tamizhagom. 

Prof. Putusherry Ramachandran

 Three important work of Tamizhagom. namely Ainkurunnru,Pathittapath and Silapadikaram were undisputedly products of the west coast. Paattu,Manipravalam and Chambu as being representative of the indigenous literary tradition of Malayalam, as required under the third criterion.Kautiyala's Arthashastra had its first translation in Malayalam towards the 10th century AD. The first translation of the Bhagavad Gita too was in to Malayalam in 1470 AD.

Prof.John Kurakar &Mr Sam Kurakar
editor

As for the fourth criterion that a classical language should be distinct from its later current form and its offshoots, the expert committee divided the histroy of the language in to four periods and explained the district manner in which the language had evolved over time. The  expert panel included poet Prof ONV Kurup, Prof Puthussery Ramachandran,Poet Sugathakumari ,Lnguists Naduvattom Gopalakrishnan and Mr Raman.

                                                                                                                             Prof.John Kurakar