Judeo-Malayalam
Encyclopedia
Judeo-Malayalam is the traditional language of the Cochin Jews
(also called Malabar Jews), from Kerala
, in southern India
, spoken today by a few dozens of people in Israel
and by probably fewer than 25 in India.
Judeo-Malayalam is the only known Dravidian
Jewish language
. (The only other Dravidian language spoken regularly by a Jewish community is Telugu
, spoken by the small, and only very newly observant Jewish community of east-central Andhra Pradesh
. See related article: Telugu Jews.)
Since it does not differ substantially in grammar
or syntax
from other colloquial Malayalam
dialects, it is not considered by many linguists to be a language
in its own right, but a dialect
, or simply a language variation. Judeo-Malayalam shares with other Jewish languages like Ladino, Judeo-Arabic and Yiddish, common traits and features. For example, verbatim translations from Hebrew to Malayalam, archaic features of Old Malayalam, Hebrew components agglutinated to Dravidian verb and noun formations and special idiomatic usages based on its Hebrew loanwords. Due to the lack of long-term scholarship on this language variation, there is no separate designation for the language (if it can be so considered), for it to have its own language code (see also SIL
and ISO 639
).
Unlike many Jewish languages, Judeo-Malayalam is not written using the Hebrew alphabet
. It does, however, like most Jewish languages, contain a large number of Hebrew
loanword
s, which are regularly transliterated, as much as possible, using the Malayalam script
. Like many other Jewish languages, Judeo-Malayalam also contains a number of lexical
, phonological
and syntactic
archaisms, in this case, from the days before Malayalam became fully distinguished from Tamil
.
In spite of claims by community members to have Ladino influence on Judeo-Malayalam, so far no such influence, not even on the superficial lexical level, is found. There is, however, affiliation with Mappila Malayalam, especially of North Malabar, in words such as khabar or khabura (grave) and formations such as mayyatt-aayi (Muslims) and shalom-aayi (Jews) for 'died' (mariccu-pooyi in standard Malayalam). As with the parent language, Judeo-Malayalam also contains loanwords from Sanskrit and Pali, as a result of the long term affiliation of Malayalam, like all the other Dravidian languages, with Pali and Sanskrit through sacred and secular Buddhist and Hindu texts.
Because the vast majority of scholarship regarding the Cochin Jews has concentrated on the ethnographic accounts in English provided by Paradesi Jews
(sometimes also called White Jews), who are relative latecomers to Kerala, the study of the status and role of Judeo-Malayalam has suffered a great deal of neglect. As a result of their singular identity in Israel, Cochin Jewish immigrants have taken pride in participating in documenting and studying the last speakers of Judeo-Malayalam, mostly in Israel. A documentation project has been launched in 2009 under the auspices of the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem, where digital copies can be obtained for any scholar who wishes to study Judeo-Malayalam.
Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...
(also called Malabar Jews), from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, in southern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, spoken today by a few dozens of people in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and by probably fewer than 25 in India.
Judeo-Malayalam is the only known Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
Jewish language
Jewish languages
Jewish languages are the various languages and dialects that developed in Jewish communities around the world.Although Hebrew was the daily speech of the Jewish people for centuries, by the fifth century BCE, the closely related Aramaic joined Hebrew as the spoken language in Judea and by the third...
. (The only other Dravidian language spoken regularly by a Jewish community is Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, spoken by the small, and only very newly observant Jewish community of east-central Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. See related article: Telugu Jews.)
Since it does not differ substantially in grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
or syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
from other colloquial Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
dialects, it is not considered by many linguists to be a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
in its own right, but a dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
, or simply a language variation. Judeo-Malayalam shares with other Jewish languages like Ladino, Judeo-Arabic and Yiddish, common traits and features. For example, verbatim translations from Hebrew to Malayalam, archaic features of Old Malayalam, Hebrew components agglutinated to Dravidian verb and noun formations and special idiomatic usages based on its Hebrew loanwords. Due to the lack of long-term scholarship on this language variation, there is no separate designation for the language (if it can be so considered), for it to have its own language code (see also SIL
SIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
and ISO 639
ISO 639
ISO 639 is a set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization that is concerned with representation of names for language and language groups....
).
Unlike many Jewish languages, Judeo-Malayalam is not written using the Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
. It does, however, like most Jewish languages, contain a large number of Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s, which are regularly transliterated, as much as possible, using the Malayalam script
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write the Malayalam language—which is the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36 million people in the world. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an abugida, or a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and...
. Like many other Jewish languages, Judeo-Malayalam also contains a number of lexical
Vocabulary
A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...
, phonological
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
and syntactic
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
archaisms, in this case, from the days before Malayalam became fully distinguished from Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
.
In spite of claims by community members to have Ladino influence on Judeo-Malayalam, so far no such influence, not even on the superficial lexical level, is found. There is, however, affiliation with Mappila Malayalam, especially of North Malabar, in words such as khabar or khabura (grave) and formations such as mayyatt-aayi (Muslims) and shalom-aayi (Jews) for 'died' (mariccu-pooyi in standard Malayalam). As with the parent language, Judeo-Malayalam also contains loanwords from Sanskrit and Pali, as a result of the long term affiliation of Malayalam, like all the other Dravidian languages, with Pali and Sanskrit through sacred and secular Buddhist and Hindu texts.
Because the vast majority of scholarship regarding the Cochin Jews has concentrated on the ethnographic accounts in English provided by Paradesi Jews
Paradesi Jews
Paradesi Jews are a community of Sephardic Jews settled among the larger Cochin Jewish community located in Kerala, a coastal southern state...
(sometimes also called White Jews), who are relative latecomers to Kerala, the study of the status and role of Judeo-Malayalam has suffered a great deal of neglect. As a result of their singular identity in Israel, Cochin Jewish immigrants have taken pride in participating in documenting and studying the last speakers of Judeo-Malayalam, mostly in Israel. A documentation project has been launched in 2009 under the auspices of the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem, where digital copies can be obtained for any scholar who wishes to study Judeo-Malayalam.