Romanized Malayalam

Diacritic Description
Script Script
a sun
á father
i sing
í deal
u put
ú moon

R No equivalent. Roughly like r

e bet
é Roughly like a in name, French é
ai kite
o No English equivalent. Pure form of o in no.
ó more
au owl
am hum (not a vowel; included to show diacritic)
a followed by h (not a vowel; included to show
ah
diacritic)
ë about. Represents a short puff of air
æ Exists only in speech. Shorter form of a in cat

Consonants
Romanized Script Malayalam Script Description
k cat
kk pronounced with the tongue pressed
q
against the palate
kh k+h
g gate
gh g+h
ŋ sing
c child
ch c+h
j jam
jh j+h
French gn. Spanish ñ. Roughly like ny
ñ
in English canyon
τ cat
t Retroflex * counterpart of English t
th t+h
d Retroflex counterpart of English d
dh d+h
ņ Retroflex counterpart of English n
thought. When between vowels this
θ
assumes a ð sound
θh θ+h
ð then
ðh ð+h
No equivalent. Roughly like n
ň pronounced with tip of the tongue
pressed against the upper set of teeth.
n nest
p pat
ph p+h
fan. Occurs usually in borrowed words.
f
e.g.:- fææn (fan)
b bat
bh b+h
m man
y yell
r Spanish r in para, Hindi raat
rr Spanish rr in carrera, r in Hindi kranti
l lap
ļ Retroflex counterpart of English l
v van
No equivalent. Roughly like s
pronounced with the tongue touching
ś
the lower part of palate and lips
stretched
sh shop
s sell
h hat
No equivalent. Roughly like r
ŗ pronounced with the back of the tongue
touching the roof of the palate **
Nouns

Nouns get declined by number and case. Most nouns end in a vowel (most common is ë).
Other common endings are -an, -am, -il.

Plural formation is decided by how a noun ends. If an inanimate noun ends in a vowel,
plural is formed by adding -kal. Those ending in -am end in -anŋal in plural.

ending plural
ë ëkaļ
a akal
i ikal
am anŋal

noun plural
bukkë(book) bukkëkaļ
ila (leaf) ilakaļ
patti(dog) pattikal
paŗam
(plantain; paŗaŋŋaļ
fruit)

If the noun is human, plural is formed by adding -márr

amma (mother) ammamárr

puθrran (son) puθrranmárr

Cases

Malayalam, like other Dravidian languages and Sanskrit, does not have prepositions,
instead uses a set of cases to bring in senses such as location or transfer of an action.

Before delving into declensions, let me give an overview of what it will be like.
There are five main cases in Malayalam. All other cases can be derived from these five.

1. Possessive
It is Anna’s cat.

2. Objective case (direct object of a transitive verb)

This case is used when the noun is the object of some action.
She likes me.

There are two accusative cases in Malayalam, which I will call accusative and parlative
(pardon me, I coined this word – etymology parlare , Latin, to speak)

3. Accusative
Indirect object of a transitive verb
I gave her a pen

4. Parlative
This is used when the transitive verb is to speak, to tell, to ask, to shout etc.
I am speaking to her.

5. Dative
This case is used when the noun is given something.
I gave him a nice book.

Objective, Parlative, Dative, Locative and Possessive

Basic rules

Ending in a, i.

Objective + ye
Parlative + yódë
Dative + kkë
Locative + yil
Possessive + yude

Example

kada (shop)
Objective kadaye
Parlative kadayódë
Dative kadakkë
Locative kadayil
Possessive kadayude

kili (bird)
Objective kiliye
Parlative kiliyódë
Dative kilikkë
Locative kiliyil
Possessive kiliyude

Kai (hand)
Objective kaiyye
Parlative kaiyyinóde (those ending in ai takes this form)
Dative kaikkë
Locative kaiyyil
Possessive kaiyyude (+yinte instead of +yude in some cases)

Ending in u, ë

Objective + ine
Parlative + inódë
Dative + inë
Locative + il
Possessive + inte

Example

vídë (house)

Objective vídine
Parlative vídinódë
Dative vídinë
Locative víttil
Possessive vítinte

puzhu (worm)
Objective puzhuvine
Parlative puzhuvinódë
Dative puzhuvinë
Locative puzhuvil
Possessive puzhuvinte
Accusative

Accusative case is same as nominative (the noun without declension) if the noun is
inanimate. Otherwise it is same as objective case.

ñán avanë oru pattikuttiye koduθu. (pattikutti puppy ; noun ending in 'i'. Accusative is
same as objective as puppy is a living creature)
I gave him a puppy.

avan enikkë oru bukkë θaňňu. (bukkë book; noun ending in 'ë'. Accusative is same as
nominative as book is inanimate)
He gave me a book.

You might wonder why 'ë' disappeared in the first case and a 'v' appeared in the second.
This is a result of liason.

Ablative

Ablative case is used to indicate moving away from something. In English this sense is
brought by the preposition 'from'.

eg:- I came from Trivandrum.

In Malayalam this case can be formed by adding 'ňiňňë' to the locative case.

ñán víttil ňiňňë varuvá.

I am coming from the house.

Adjectives

Most adjectives are not modified by number or gender.

puθiya cļokkë (new clock) puθiya cļokkëkaļ (new clocks)

pacca ila (green leaf) pacca ilakaļ (green leaves)

Possessive adjectives

pronoun adjective
ñán (I) ente
ñaŋŋaļ (we) ñaŋŋaļude
ňammaļ (we) ňammaļude
ňí (you) nínte
θán (you) θante
ňiŋŋaļ (you) ňiŋŋaļude
avan (he) avante
avaļ (she) avaļude
aθë (it) aθinte
avanmárr (they) avanmárude
avarr (they) avarude

ňí evide á ?

where are you?

nínte vídë evide á ?

where is your house ?

Possessive adjectives can also be used as possessive pronouns.

iθë ente péna á.

This is my pen.

í péna ente á.

This pen is mine

Pronouns
Personal Pronouns

First Person Singular (I)

ñán

First Person Plural (we)

This has two forms

ñaŋŋaļ

This is used when the listener(s) is/are not in the group the speaker is referring to.

ňammaļ

This is used when the listener(s) is/are in the group the speaker is referring to.

Second Person Singular (you, thou)

ňí

This is used only when the listener is quite familiar to the speaker ( Caution: This is
equivalent to Hindi tu ,German du or French tu)

θán

This is used when the listener is familiar to the speaker.

Using name as a pronoun

The most common form is using the name of the listener as a pronoun. It is safe to use
this form in most contexts. I advise learners to use this form.

Jóņ evide pókuvaa ?

Where are you going? (The listener is John)

Second Person Plural (you)

ňiŋŋaļ

Third Person Singular (he, she , it)

avan he
avaļ she

aθë it/that

aθë oru ňalla aidia aa

That is a good idea

The first two are considered impolite forms. The alternative form is the name of the
person referred to.

Third Person Plural (they)

avanmárr they (males)

avaļëmárr they(females). This is considered a solecism and is seldom used.

avarr they ( males or females or males and females).

When avarr is followed by a word beginning with a vowel it gets modified to avar

aθellám they (plural form of it)

The first two are considered impolite forms. The alternative form is avarr or the names
of the persons referred to.

Singular Plural
First ñán ñaŋŋaļ , ňammaļ
Second ňí , name ňiŋŋaļ
avarr , avanmárr , avaļëmárr ,
Third avan , avaļ , aθë
aθellám
Personal Pronouns : Cases

Objective Parlative Dative Locative Possessive

ñán enne ennódë eniqqë ennil ente

ñaŋŋaļ ñaŋŋaļe ñaŋŋaļódë ñaŋŋaļkë ñaŋŋaļil ñaŋŋaļude

ňí ňinne ňinnódë ňinakë ňinnil ňinte

ňiŋŋaļ ňiŋŋaļe ňiŋŋaļódë ňiŋŋaļkë ňiŋŋaļil ňiŋŋaļude

avan avane avanódë avanë avanil avante

avaļ avaļe avaļódë avaļkë avaļil avaļude

aθë aθë aθinódë aθinë aθil aθinte

avarr avare avaródë avarrkë avaril avarude

Indefinite Pronouns

véronnë another / another one

áreŋgilum (lit: who but) anyone/someone

éθeŋgilum (lit: which but) anything

enθeŋgilum (lit: what but) anything

ellám all

ellarum everyone

árum nobody

oňňum nothing

kurracë some
enθeŋgilum kittiyo ?

Did you get anything ? (Note that the pronoun 'you' can be omitted)

áreŋgilum vaňňo ?

Did anybody come?

áródeŋgilum codico ?

Did you ask anybody? (Note the use of parlative case. áreŋgilum can be split as árë +
eŋgilum. árë - who undergoes case declension)

Verbs

Unlike in most languages , verbs are not declined by the form of pronoun or gender.

The root of a regular verb can be derived by removing -uka of the infinitive.

Verb Root
kaļiquka
kaļiq
(to play)
páduka
pád
(to sing)
óduka (to
ód
run)

Unlike in most languages ,verbs are not declined by the form of pronoun or gender.

Regular verbs fall in two categories - class 1 and class 2. Verb root can be derived by
removing -uka or -iquka of the infinitive.

Verb Root
class 1
páduka (to pád
sing)
class 2
kaļiquka (to kaļ
play)
Auxiliary verb forms used with other verbs.

iriquka – to sit

Simple Present iriqum

Present Continuous iriquka á
Past Continuous iriquka áyirunnu
Past Historical iriqum

ákuka – to be

Simple Present á, áņë

Simple Past áyirunnu
Future Continuous áyiriqum
Future subjuctive (expressing possibility áyiriqum
-may, might in English)

Undákuka – to be there

Past Participle uņdë

The Emphatic á: Using á for emphasis

á (or áņë), the simple present tense of the auxiliary very 'ákuka' is used with the word aθë
(or e) to place emphasis on a word or part of a sentence.

Consider the following neutral sentence.

avan eňňum ňálu maņiqë enθeŋkilum kazhiqan véņdi aduθθuļļa hóttalil pókum. (eňňum -
everyday, ňálu maņiqë - at four o' clock, enθeŋkilum - something, kazhiqan véņdi - to
eat, aduθθuļļa - nearby)

At four o' clock everyday, he goes to the nearby restaurant to eat something.

The sentence above, could be modified in several ways. For example, you might want to
say 'He goes at 4 o clock and not at 5 o clock' or 'He goes to the nearby restaurant and not
somewhere else'.

Placing á after a word places emphasis on the word or part of sentence preceding it. In
such constructions, the verb has to be modified by adding aθë to it. In speech, there is
often a stress on or a rise in tone at the emphasized part. Listen to the following
sentences.
avan á eňňum ňálu maņiqë enθeŋkilum kazhiqan véņdi aduθθuļļa hóttalil pókuňňaθë.
(He goes - no one else goes , no one else is interested in going)

avan eňňum ňálu maņiqë á enθeŋkilum kazhiqan véņdi aduθθuļļa hóttalil pókuňňaθë.
(He goes at four o' clock and not at five o' clock)

avan eňňum ňálu maņiqë enθeŋkilum kazhiqan véņdi á aduθθuļļa hóttalil pókuňňaθë.
(He goes to the restaurant to eat and not to talk to his friends who visit the restaurant at
the same time)

avan eňňum ňálu maņiqë enθeŋkilum kazhiqan véņdi aduθθuļļa hóttalil á pókuňňaθë.
(He goes to the nearby restaurant and not somewhere else).

The simple present (or present continuous) form always assumes the present continuous
form root + uňňu.

pókuňňu when followed by aθë liaisons to form pókuňňaθë. ( pókuňňu + aθë

---> pókuňňaθë )

If e is used instead of aθë, it liaisons with pókuňňu to form pókuňňe. ( pókuňňu + e

---> pókuňňe )

Reported Speech

Reported speech or indirect speech is used to express something

ennu is the equivalent of the word ‘that’ in

He said that he would go. The part of the sentence ‘He said’ is called the main clause and
the part following the word ‘that’ - ‘he would go’ is called the subordinate clause

Though English now avoids use of ‘that’ in sentences like this, it is used in many
languages (French , Spanish – que, Hindi – ki, German dass).

The regular syntax in Malayalam is

Main clause + subordinate clause + ennu

Or

Main clause(without the verb) + subordinate clause + ennu + verb in main clause
avan jonine kandu ennu paranju.

avan paranju jonine kandu ennu.

He said he had seen John.

Unlike in English, the verb tense does not change in reported speech.

In most other languages like Hindi, English, French and Spanish the syntax is main
clause+ ‘that’ + subordinate clause.

Simple Present

This is used to speak about habitual actions or universal truths

root + um

avan ňaňňái pádum

He sings well.

eňňum rávile avaļ ambalaθθil pókum ( pókuka - to go, root - póg)

She goes to the temple every morning.

Present Continuous

This is used to talk about something happening at the moment or to indicate that the
situation is temporary.

infinitive + a

ñán páduka á.

root + u + á (This form evolved as a contraction of the previous one)

ñán pádu á.

I am singing.

Both forms are used in spoken Malayalam. You can pick up whichever you are
comfortable with. To form the past continuous of these forms, all you need to do is to
convert á to its past continuous form - áyiruňňu.
Another way to form continuous tense is to use the auxiliary verb iriquka. This places
more emphasis on the action.

Simple past + kondë iriquka á

ñán ippom avide eθθum - ñán vaňňu kondë iriquka á.

I will be there in a moment – I am on my way (lit. I – now – there-will reach-I am

coming)

To form past continuous, convert á to áyiruňňu.

root + uňňu

de trein varuňňu.

Here comes the train. (lit. look! the train is coming)

mazha peyyuňňu.

It is raining (lit. rain raining)

This form is usually used when the noun is inanimate. This is the only form that can be
used with an emphatic á.

Present Participle

It represents an action just competed. In Malayalam, the auxiliary verb ‘to finish’ is used
to form present participle. If you are familiar with Spanish, the use of ‘acabar de’ is
similar to this. The general form is

simple past + kazhinju (simple past of kazhiyuka – to finish)

Nján kazhichu kazhinju

I have eaten.

Some verbs like to go, to come, to enter use the auxiliary verb undákuka to form present
participle

simple past+ittu+undë

Avan vaňňu ittu undë

He has come.
Simple Past

Simple past tense is irregular in Malayalam. It is difficult to make conjugation rules for
past tense.

Simple past forms of verbs with roots ending in iq, eq, éq can be formed by removing the
ending and adding iccu, eccu or éccu.

If the root ends in a hard consonant like θθ , mm , m , ll or ļļ , simple past is usually

formed by adding i to the root.

Here is a table of simple past tense of some common verbs.

kazhiquka
kazhiccu
(to eat)
kánuka (to
kaņdu
see)
pókuka (to
póyi
go)
kéļkkuka
kéttu
(to hear)
varuka (to
vaňňu
come)

Past Continuous

infinitive + áyiruňňu

avan cessë kaļiquka áyiruňňu .

He was playing chess.

Past Historical

This tense is used in narration to talk about things that happened in the past.

Past Historical form is same as Simple Present form.

For example
We sat in a circle and the old lady told us about her childhood. She heaved a sigh and
started, “At this time of the day, all of us came here and looked at the stars in the sky. We
played till we heard our parents call us home from across the paddy fields”.

The verbs in the clause in quotes are in Past Historical in Malayalam.

Past Participle

This is used to talk about actions completed in the past.

Simple past + ittundë.

Simple past + ittundë aayirunnu

ñán cerruθë áyirunna appam, avide póyi kaļiccu ittuņdë

When I was young, I used to go there and play.

ñán í frrúttë kazhiccu ittuņdë. Entë oru kúttëkáran káttil ňiňňë koņduvaňňa athë á.

I have eaten this fruit. One of my friends brought it from the jungle.

Simple Future

root + um

avaļ ňáļe varum.

She will come tomorrow.

ñán ňáļe madrásinë pókum.

To express something that is going to happen in immediate future the form

root + án pokukaya (using auxiliary verb 'to be going to' ; pokukaya - going) is used

ñán kazhiqán pokukaya.

I am going to eat.

ñán aa bukkë váyiqán pókukaya.

I am going to read that book.

Future Continuous

Infinitive + áyiriqum

ñán páduka áyiriqum.

I will be singing.

Imperative Form

The Imperative form is used when commanding or ordering to do something. Most

regular verbs follow the pattern

Root + ë

ceyyë

Do

Common irregular verbs that don’t follow this pattern are to go, to come

ivide vá

Come here.

aŋŋgóttë pó

Go there

Note that the above forms are somewhat impolite.

A more socially acceptable way is using the form

root+ámo

oňňë + root + ámo

aŋŋgóttë oňňë pókámo?

Could you please go there?

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This is quite like asking a favor, which I have described in another section. In a strict
sense this is not an imperative form.
Asking a favor

root+ámo

This is the interrogative equivalent of construction described in the previous section

ňí avide pókámo?

Can you go there?

Offering to do something

I told everyone, "someone has to go there and tell him we will not be meeting today".
One of them said, ”I will go”.

In the sentence above, the verb for ‘will go’ is not really in future tense in Malayalam.

This form is

root + ám

ñán pókám.

I will go.

Expressing need or obligation: have to, should, need to

root+ aņam

The pronoun or the noun assumes the accusative form in such constructions.

eniqë pókaņam.

I have to go.
eniqë kuraccu veļļam véņam.

I need(want) some water.

Interrogative Words: Forming Questions

enθina why

enθë what

éθë which

árë who

enθina ňí avide póyaθë ? (lit: why you went there? )

Why did you go there?

éθë áyiruňňu paθθonpaθám ňúτandile éτavum valiya sámrrájyam ? (lit: which - was
- nineteenth - in century - biggest - empire )

Which was the largest empire in the nineteenth century ?

árude kúde á avan póyaθë ? (lit: who with is he went. Note the use of possessive case
of árë. The preposition kúde - with causes the noun or pronoun to takee tthe possessive
case )

Whom did he go with?

áródë codicu ? (Note the use of parlative case of árë and the omission of the pronoun
'you' )

Whom did you ask ?

árkke koduθu ? (árkke is the accusative case of árë)

Whom did you give ?

Negation
Negations are formed by addiing illa , alla or their modified forms.

alla is used when the verb is aakuka ( to be)

Common Verbs

aakuka to be
pookuka to go
varuka to come
celluka to go (usually in imperative)
nadakkuka to walk
paaduka to sing
irikkuka to sit
nikkuka to stand
ooduka to run
ceyyuka to do
kalikkuka to play
karikkuka, thinnuka to eat
valaruka to grow
vaayikkuka to read
edukkuka to take
keeruka to climb
oorrkkuka to remember
aaloocikkuka to think
pidikkuka to hold
thoduka to touch