Manipravalam (Tamil:மணிப்பிரவாளம்,romanized: Maṇippiravāḷam,Malayalam:മണിപ്രവാളം,romanized: Maṇipravāḷam) is amacaronic language found in some manuscripts ofSouth India. It is ahybrid language, typically written in theGrantha script, which combines Sanskrit lexicon and Tamil morpho-syntax.[1][2][3] According to language scholars Giovanni Ciotti and Marco Franceschini, the blending of Tamil and Sanskrit is evidenced in manuscripts and their colophons over a long period of time, and this ultimately may have contributed to the emergence of Manipravalam.[4] However, the 14th centurySanskrit workLilatilakam states that Manipravalam is a combination of Tamil and Sanskrit.[5] Generally, it is agreed that it was a combination ofMiddle Tamil andSanskrit.[6][5][7][8]
The twelfth century has been described as a watershed moment in the history of Malayalam, where it was finally accepted as a vehicle for literary expression. The two dominant schools in Malayalam writing were thepattu and the manipravalam, the former being influenced by Tamil poetic traditions and the latter designated for Sanskrit influences. Despite their extraneous regulation, the two schools would come to dominate the edifice of Malayalam poetry that they continue to shape its style to this day.[9]
Mani-pravalam literally means 'gem-coral',[10] withmani referring to gems (mainlyrubies) in Tamil, andpravalam referring tocoral in Sanskrit.[11] It likely played a role in the growth of theMalayalam literature and ModernMalayalam script. The Kerala scholars distinguished Manipravalam from the aforementionedpattu, the former being significantly influenced by Sanskrit and the latter predominantlyTamil.[12] Manipravalam has been used for poetry manuscripts that combine Tamil and Sanskrit, as well as South Indian works on eroticism. The 14th-centuryLilatilakam text states Manipravalam to be aBhashya (language) where "Dravida and Sanskrit should combine together like ruby and coral, without the least trace of any discord".[12][13]
It is suggested that the advent of the Manipravalam style, where letters of theGrantha script coexisted with the traditionalVatteluttu letters, made it easier for people in Kerala to accept a Grantha-based scriptĀrya eḻuttŭ, and paved the way for the introduction of the new writing system.[14] EventuallyVaṭṭeḻuttŭ was almost completely supplanted by the modernMalayalam script.
After about AD 1500, translations from Sanskrit did appear, and unassimilated words began to flood literary Malayalam; eventually a hybrid idiom (manipravalam) mixing Sanskrit and tamil words, and Sanskrit words with tamil inflections, was devised