Loan words in Malayalam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 with Arabia, Persia, Israel and China spanning millenniums, and with European Colonial powers for several centuries.
Contents |
[edit] European contributions
[edit] 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 |
| varanda | verandah | varanda |
[edit] Dutch
| Word | Meaning | Original form |
|---|---|---|
| kakkūs | Toilet | kakhuis |
| Thapal | Post | Tapal |
[edit] English
Modern Malayalam dialects use countless number of English words; following are some of the unique ones.
| Word | Meaning | Original form |
|---|---|---|
| kappi | coffee | coffee |
[edit] Middle East contributions
[edit] 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).
