Chapter Eight

Malabari and Malayalam

Now, let me take another illustrative example. This is a very minor word-code difference between Malabari language (of north Malabar) and Malayalam.

In Malayalam, the word YOU has a lot of usable words: Saar, Angunnu, Ningal, Thaan, eyaal, Nee &c.

In Malabari, the YOU usage has only two main forms. Ningal/Ingal and Inhi. (It may be mentioned in passing that there is a slight difference between Ningal and Ingal. However, that item is not taken up for discussion here, now).

Ningal/Ingal is on the towering heights. And Inhi is in the deep/dirty levels.

In a similar manner, the Malayalam words for HE are Saar, Adheham, Angunnu, Angeru, Ayaal, Pulli, Pullikkaaran, Avan etc. (There might be other words also)

In Malabari, the word HE has the following forms. Oru/Olu, Mupparu, Ayaal and Oan.

The word SHE in Malayalam has the following forms: Saar, Maadam/Medam, Avaru, Ayaal, Pulli, Pullikkaari and Aval. (There might be other word also.)

In Malabari, the word SHE gets converted into two main word forms. Avaru and Oru/Olu. These two forms denote two extremely opposite levels of social existence.

For the purpose of discussion here, let us take the word SHE only.

In Malayalam, about the woman who comes for work, and to that person, in many cases, the words Ayaal, Pulli, Pullikkaari, Ningal etc. are used in Travancore. In many occasions, the lowest word form Aval would not be used.

At the same time, in Malabar, the woman who is 'respected' will be addressed as Ningal/Ingal and referred to as Oru/Olu. However, to women who cannot be given such 'respect', in north-Malabar, the word for addressing is the demeaning Injhi. The same kind of degrading Olu is used for referring to.

This has brought in a terrible kind of disarraying of the social atmosphere in Malabar. In many interior villages, women for even slightly higher social status would not go to the local shops to buy things.

Many women, due to the assault of the lower grade 'Olu' and Inhi words, when walking in front of the individuals who have some kind of dominance over them, would move with a pose of extreme and pretended humility and obsequious. However, if by some method they can get a job of a teacher or something similar, they will escape from that tragic levels of the word-codes. When this happens, most of their social inhibitions would vanish. Their behaviour, and individuality can literally flip 180 degrees vertically.

I am stopping this subject here. However, I can give a point for the reader to ponder on.

In Malabari, the man (male) can improve from the level of 'Oan' to that of 'Ayaal'. However to improve to the level of 'Oru' is not possible for most men. Or it is quite difficult.

However, for his wife, the moment she gets some social stature, would go straight to the highest levels of 'Oru'.

In Malayalam, the codes work quite in a different manner.

The reader can think about these things on his or her own. What I have given here is only a very minor illustration of the working of the word codes.

In a similar manner, there are thousands of word-codes in each and every language. However, in pristine-English, such highly complicated word-codes are not there. I have seen feudal language speaker mention this as a failure of the English language.