Loan words in Malayalam
Loan words in Malayalam, excluding the huge number of words from Sanskrit and Tamil, originated mostly due to the centuries long interactions between the native population of Kerala and the trading (predominantly, spice trading) powers of the world. This included trading contacts withArabia, Persia, Israel and China spanning millenniums, and with European Colonial powers for several centuries.
European contributions
Portuguese
Most Portuguese loan words are for items which the native population lacked when the encounter with Portuguese happened from around the final years of the 15th Century.
Word |
Meaning |
Original form |
|---|---|---|
alamaari |
cupboard |
armário |
capitaan |
captain |
capitão |
chaavi |
key |
chave |
janal |
window |
janela |
kasera |
chair |
cadeira |
kasuvandi |
cashew |
caju |
kōppa |
dish |
copo |
kushini |
kitchen |
cozinha |
mesha |
table |
mesa |
paathiri |
priest,pastor |
padre |
savaala |
onion |
cebola |
tuvaala |
towel |
toalha |
veeppa |
wooden cask, barrel |
pipa |
Dutch
Word |
Meaning |
Original form |
|---|---|---|
kakkūs |
Toilet |
kakhuis |
Thapal |
Post |
Tapal |
English
Modern Malayalam dialects use countless number of English words; following are some of the unique ones.
Word |
Meaning |
Original form |
|---|---|---|
aapis |
office |
office |
kaashu |
cash |
cash |
kappi |
coffee |
coffee |
Middle East contributions
Arabic
The Arabic language contributes a large number of words into a dialect form of Malayalam that is spoken by the Muslim (Mappila)community of North Kerala (Malabar region).
Persian
Eastern Syriac or Chaldean
Word |
Meaning |
Original Form |
|---|---|---|
maalaakha |
angel |
|
koodaasa |
sacrament |
|
maamodiisa |
Baptism |
|
Eesho |
Jesus |
|
Qurbana |
Sacrifice (for Holy Mass) |
|
Mar |
Holy Man, Saint |
|
Many other words like mishiha, dukhrana, kathanar, metran and methrapoleetha, which Malayali Christians use , are all derived from Syriac. Suriyani-Malayalam (or Karshoni), which used the Syriac script to write Malayalam, was a popular medium of written communication among Christians in kerala until the 19th century