Lingua Malabar Tamul or simply Malabar Tamil is a variant of the Tamil language promoted by European Missionaries in southern parts of Kerala state like Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts before they started promoting Malayalam language among newly converted Christians. Malabar Tamil differs significantly from standard Tamil in its selection of vocabulary. Initially Malabar Tamil was printed using Roman script. Later on, printing using Tamil script became widespread.
Etymology
The word Malabar is derived from the words "mala-bar". Malai in Tamil means "hill". Bar in Persian/Arabic means "country" or "nation".
Gallery
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Doctrina Christam/Thambiran vanakkam (printed in 1578)
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Flos Santorum/Kirisithiani Vanakkam (printed in 1579)
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Cartilha, Germano Galhadro printed in Lisbon on 11 Feb 1554
See also
References
- Xavier S. Thani Nayagam (1957). Tamil Culture. Academy of Tamil Culture. p. 246.
- S. Jeyaseela Stephen (1998). Portuguese in the Tamil coast: historical explorations in commerce and culture, 1507-1749. Navajothi Pub. House. pp. 328–329. ISBN 9788187382003.
- Stuart H. Blackburn (2006). Print, Folklore, and Nationalism in Colonial South India. Orient Blackswan. p. 33. ISBN 978-81-7824-149-4.
- Bellary Shamanna Kesavan (1984). History of Printing and Publishing in India: South Indian origins of printing. National Book Trust, India. p. 28.
- C. A. Innes and F. B. Evans, Malabar and Anjengo, volume 1, Madras District Gazetteers (Madras: Government Press, 1915), p. 2.
- M. T. Narayanan, Agrarian Relations in Late Medieval Malabar (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 2003), xvi-xvii.