Suriyani Malayalam

Suriyani Malayalam (സുറിയാനി മലയാളം, ܣܘܼܪܝܵܢܝܼ ܡܲܠܲܝܵܠܲܡ), also known as Karshoni or Syriac Malayalam, is a version of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriac alphabet which was popular among the Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Syrian Christians or Nasranis) of Kerala in India.[1][2][3][4] It uses Malayalam grammar, the Maḏnḥāyā or "Eastern" Syriac script with special orthographic features, and vocabulary from Malayalam and East Syriac. This originated in the South Indian region of the Malabar Coast (modern-day Kerala). Until the 19th century, the script was widely used by Syrian Christians in Kerala.

Writing

There were numerous problems in writing Malayalam using the Syriac alphabet, which was designed for a Semitic language. Only 22 letters were available from East Syriac orthography to render over 53 phonemes of Malayalam. Both the languages are not related to one another in any way except for religious causes. These problems were overcome by creating additional letters.[5] Basic Syriac ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ based on form with corresponding Malayalam letters

ܕܓܒܐ
ദ്ഗ്ബ്, വ്
ܚܙܘܗ
ഹ്സ്വ്ഹ്
ܠܟܝܛ
ല്ക്, ക്ക്യ്ത്
ܥܣܢܡ
സ്ന്മ്
ܪܩܨܦ
റ്ഖ്സ്പ്, വ്
ܬܫ
ത്, സ്ശ്

Additional Malayalam letters

ട്ഞ്ജ്ങ്
ര്ഭ്ഩ*ണ്
ഷ്ഴ്ള്
  • alveolar nasal corresponding to U+OD29

Vowels

ܘܹܸ݁ܘ݂ܝ݂ܵܲ
ഒ, ഓഉ, ഊഇ, ഈ
ܟܘ݁ܟܹܟܸܟܘ݂ܟܝ݂ܟܵܟܲ
കൊ, കോകേകെകു, കൂകി, കീകാ

Unicode

The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0. Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.

Blocks

The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700U+074F:

Syriac[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+070x ܀ ܁ ܂ ܃ ܄ ܅ ܆ ܇ ܈ ܉ ܊ ܋ ܌ ܍ ܏
 SAM 
U+071x ܐ ܑ ܒ ܓ ܔ ܕ ܖ ܗ ܘ ܙ ܚ ܛ ܜ ܝ ܞ ܟ
U+072x ܠ ܡ ܢ ܣ ܤ ܥ ܦ ܧ ܨ ܩ ܪ ܫ ܬ ܭ ܮ ܯ
U+073x ܰ ܱ ܲ ܳ ܴ ܵ ܶ ܷ ܸ ܹ ܺ ܻ ܼ ܽ ܾ ܿ
U+074x ݀ ݁ ݂ ݃ ݄ ݅ ݆ ݇ ݈ ݉ ݊ ݍ ݎ ݏ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Syriac Abbreviation (a type of overline) can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark (U+070F).

The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:

Syriac Supplement[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+086x
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Loanwords

Over the centuries, Malayalam borrowed Eastern Syriac words. A few of them are given below:

Original Syriac Suriyani Malayalam Meaning
Emma[1][6] Amma - This word would've also originated from the Malayalam word Amma-chi. Mother
Aba Appan - The word would've also originated from the Malayalam word Appa-cha. Father
Nasraya, Nasrani Nasrani Christian
Knā'nāya Knānāya Canaanite
Pesħa[4] Pesaha Passover
Malakha[3] Malakha Angel
Qudasha[3] Kudasha Sacrament
Mamoditha[3][4] Mamodisa Baptism
Sliva Sliva/Sleeba Cross
Isho'[3] Isho Jesus
Qurbana[3] Qurbana Sacrifice/Peace Offering
M'shiħa[3][4] Mishiha Anointed
Dukhrana Dukrana Remembrance
Qasisha Kathanar/Kasnar Syrian priest
Mar Mar Lord, Saint
Ruħa Ruha Holy Spirit
Shliħa Shliha Apostle

Literature

Vedatharkam written by Kariattil Mar Ousep is one of the famous books written in Suriyani Malayalam.[2] Large number of documents written in Suriyani Malayalam are found among the Saint Thomas Christians or Nasranis of Kerala.[2] These documents include an alternate set of the Canons of the Synod of Diamper.[7]

gollark: Have YOU joined APIONET, "David"?
gollark: Also, this IRC-based server monitoring thing is surprisingly nonawful.
gollark: Yep!
gollark: Idea: what if ALL strings are to be TLDs, but you have to do some proof-of-work thing to get them?
gollark: Or apioform.expert.

See also

References

  1. "City Youth Learn Dying Language, Preserve It". The New Indian Express. May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  2. Suriyani Malayalam, Nasrani Foundation
  3. A sacred language is vanishing from State, The Hindu
  4. Prayer from the Past, India Today
  5. "Proposal to Encode Syriac Letters for Garshuni Malayalam" (PDF).
  6. Mar Thomma Margam by Fr. Varghese Pathikulangara
  7. Perczel (2014), 266-8.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.