Malayalam is aDravidian language featuring anagglutinative grammar. It's word order is generallysubject–object–verb (SOV), although other orders are often employed for reasons such as emphasis.Nouns are inflected forcase andnumber, whileverbs are conjugated fortense,mood, andcausativity. In archaic forms, verbs were also conjugated forperson,gender, number, andpolarity). Adjectives, adverbs, postpositions, and conjunctions are invariant and do not undergo inflection.

Thedeclensional paradigms for some common nouns and pronouns are given below. As Malayalam is an agglutinative language, it is difficult to delineate the cases strictly and determine how many there are, although seven or eight is the generally accepted number.Alveolar plosives andnasals (although the modernMalayalam script does not distinguish the latter from thedental nasal) are marked with amacron below, following the convention of theNational Library at Kolkata romanization.

There are threepersons – first, second, and third. The first person has three forms – singular,inclusive plural (i.e. speaker, listener, and possibly others), and exclusive plural (i.e. speaker and others, but not the listener). The second person has three forms – singularinformal, singular formal and plural. Of these, the singular formal and, plural forms are similar. A fourth form ('respectful' or 'official') is sometimes used in certain official documents and announcements.

The third person has eight forms – proximal and distal forms of singular masculine, singular feminine, singular neutral and plural. The masculine and feminine genders are used for humans and anthropomorphised non-humans. Non-living objects, plants and most animals take the neutral gender. The plural form is used for multiple objects of any gender. The plural form can also be used for a single person to show respect or because the gender is unknown or irrelevant.

• These are the commonly used pronouns though in total they have rarer synonyms and dialectal/colloquial forms, for example 2SG "you" can have around over 10 forms likenī, niṅṅaḷ, tāṉ, tāṅkaḷ, aṅṅŭ, tvaṁ, sanskritic genderedbhavāṉ, bhavati, dialectal fornī: ī, iyyŭ, ijjŭ, ji etc. Some colloquial dialects useavaṉmār̠, avaḷmār̠ as (dist.) 3Pl. masculine and feminine pronouns.

Vocative forms are given in parentheses after thenominative, as the only pronominal vocatives that are used are the third person ones, which only occur in compounds.

The mnemonic 'നിപ്രസം ഉപ്രസം ആ' (niprasam uprasam ā) created by combining the first sounds of the case names is used.

The suffix -കൾ (-kaḷ), which changes to -ങ്ങൾ (-ṅṅaḷ) when the nouns ends in -അം (-aṁ), is the most common suffix for denoting plural nouns. It is used by all inanimate nouns, concrete or abstract, and most animate, non-gendered nouns. Two other suffixes, -മാർ (-māṟ) and അർ (-aṟ), are used exclusively by a few animate nouns. All suffixes follow thesandhi (സന്ധി) rules where applicable, and are not used when preceded by numeral adjectives. The following are a few examples.

• A person from a place is denoted with -kāraṉ/kāri whose plural is -kāṟ. other ways includemalayāḷikaḷ, tamiḻaṉmāṟ, kannaḍigaṟ.

The following are examples of some of the most common declensional patterns.

Malayalam is thought to have no semantic category for adjectives, and instead relies heavily on using participial relative clauses for modifying nouns.^[1][2] There are two classes of words that typically act as adjectives.^[3]

1. Native roots +-(iy)a: This includes words such as നൽ > നല്ല (nalla, good), വൽ > വലിയ (valiya, big), നനഞ്ഞു > നനഞ്ഞ (naṉañña, wet), and ചെറു/ചിറു > ചെറിയ/ചിറ്റ (ceṟiya/ciṟṟa, short). All such words can be directly used as adjectives, without further modification. The conventional view regarding this category of words is that they typically encode the possession of the property they signify in the participial marker (-a) attached to them, meaning a word such as നല്ല (nalla) would actually mean "having goodness". For instance: ഇതൊരു നല്ല പുസ്തകമാണ് (itoru nalla pustakamāṇŭ), translating to "this is a good book", could be thought to mean "this is a goodness-having book". Note that when used in typical relative clauses, the marker -a can be inflected for tense, but not when used here in an adjectival sense.
2. Removing the noun formative -am: This includes words such as സങ്കടം (saṅkaṭaṁ, sadness), മരം (maraṁ, tree), and ഉയരം (uyaraṁ, height/tallness). As inmarattaṭi "timber",mara vīṭŭ "wooden house". Another way is in the form of -ഉള്ള (uḷḷa), the suffix for the non-finite existential copula. For instance: അവൻ ഉയരമുള്ള കുട്ടിയാണ് (avaṉ uyaramuḷḷa kuṭṭiyāṇŭ, translating to "he is a tall child") could be thought to mean "he is a tallness-having child". Since the suffix is non-finite it does not vary with tense or person. The exception is with color words like (skt.nīla >)nīla "blue" which can act as both a noun and an adjective.

• Words ending with -ṟu, -tu, -ṭu can have the plosive doubled to make an adjective as inkāṭŭ > kāṭṭŭ, kāṭṭu tī "forest fire";cōṟŭ > cōṟṟŭ,cōṟṟupātram "tiffin box".
• Words ending with -vu can have the suffix removed to make an adjective, eg. nilāvŭ > nilā niḻal, rājāvŭ > rāja putraṉ.
• Another adjectivizing suffix is -m added to some words ending with vowels,pai > paim "green, gorgeous,"paiṅkiḷi > "green bird, parrot";pū > pūm "flowery",pūmpāṟṟa "flower lizard, butterfly".
• Another adjectivizing suffix is -aṉ, eg.kaṭu > kaṭṭaṉ "strong, thick",kaṭṭaṉ cāya "strong tea, black tea".

Inflection of Malayalam verbs occurs fortense, aspect, and mode (TAM), and not for number (plurality) or gender. The dictionary form of verbs typically have the ending -ഉക (-uka), although some verbs have the ending ഇക (-ika) too.^[4]

Broadly, there are three tenses in Malayalam language: present, past and future. Verb forms in different tenses are created by either simply replacing the citation form ending (for present and future tense), or by suffixing the verb stem (obtained by removing the citation form ending and the preceding consonant) with a special marker depending on the class of the verb (for past tense).

The present tense is formed by replacing the citation form ending with -ഉന്നു (-unnu). For example, the present tense form of പറയുക (paṟayuka, 'to say') is പറയുന്നു (paṟayunnu).

The future tense is formed by replacing the citation form ending with -ഉം (-um). For example, the future tense form of നടക്കുക (naṭakkuka, 'to walk') is നടക്കും (naṭakkum).

For most verbs the marker -ഇ (-i) (or യി, (-yi) if the verb stem ends in a vowel) is added to the verb stem to create the past tense form, but other verb classes have different rules. A non-exhaustive list of the rules for different classes, as well as some exceptions, is given below.

• നക്കുക (nakkuka, to lick) →നക്കി (nakki). (Exception to the -akkuka rule).
• ഇരിക്കുക (irikkuka, to sit) →ഇരുന്നു (irunnu). (Exception to the -ikkuka rule).
• നിൽക്കുക (nilkkuka, to stand) →നിന്നു (ninnu). (Exception to the -lkkuka rule).
• തിന്നുക (tinnuka, to eat) →തിന്നു (tinnu).
• വേകുക (vēkuka, to cook) →വെന്തു (ventu).
• നോവുക (nōkuka, to pain) →നൊന്തു (nontu).
• ചാകുക (cākuka, to die) →ചത്തു (cattu).

Verb conjugations for the verb "പോകുക" (pōkuka, to go) based on the commonly recognized aspects in Malayalam are given below.^[5] The past tense marker in this case is -ഇ (-i).

Bare root can act as an imperative, eg.cey! "do!", another way is by suffixing -ṇam,ceyyaṇam "must do!".

-ām is used for potential mood,ceyyām "will do",ceytēkkām "may do".

Malayalam employs two defective verbs as itscopulas. The first, -ആക് (ākŭ), is the plain equative copula. The second, -ഉണ്ട് (uṇṭŭ), is the locative copula and also used to indicate possession (with the subject/possessor in the dative case). These verbs change forms in different tenses and are usually suffixed to the noun phrases that are specified by the copula. The table below lists some examples.

Malayalam has 3 levels of causatives, usually verb happening, 1st person causing it to happen and making someone do it. Usually the last consonant is doubled to make the 2nd level but some verbs can use -kku- for it; 3rd level suffixes -ppikku-. Exampleōṭuka "to run",ōṭikkuka/ōṭṭuka "to make someone run/ to drive",ōṭippikkuka/ōṭṭikkuka "to make someone make someone run/to make someone drive". Another suffix for 2nd level is -ttu, eg.cāruka/cāṟttuka/cāṟttikkuka, akaluka/akaṟṟuka/akaṟṟikkuka, kāṇuka/kāṭṭuka/kāṭṭikkuka, last 2 with sandhi for -ttu. 2nd level can be made 1st by addingpeṭuka after it, eg.kāṇappeṭuka "get seen". Not all verbs have causatives likepōkuka.

Standard negation is expressed through the use of the negative particle/suffix -ഇല്ല (-illa, literally "no"), regardless of tense.^[6] The equative copula -ആക്, however, is negated by the negative suffix -അല്ല (-alla) in the present tense; in all other tenses -ഇല്ല is used. When these particles are suffixed to their corresponding noun phrases,sandhi (സന്ധി) rules must be obeyed.

• Old Malayalam -ā is rare, used mostly in the standard language, eg. paṟakkā kiḷi "flightless bird", commonly paṟakkātta kiḷi / paṟakkillātta kiḷi.

Prohibitive

• -kāḷ and -kāṭṭi are used interchangeably as comparatives after adding the accusative case, eg.pattiṉekkāṭṭi/pattiṉekkāḷ valutŭ nūṟāṇŭ. -um can be added for intensificationpattiṉekkāṭṭum valutŭ nūṟāṇŭ.

Malayalam is an agglutinative language, and words can be joined in many ways. These ways are called sandhi (literally 'junction'). There are basically two genres of Sandhi used in Malayalam – one group unique to Malayalam (based originally on Old Tamil phonological rules, and in essence common with Tamil), and the other one common with Sanskrit. Thus, we have the "Malayāḷa Sandhi" and "Saṁskr̥ta Sandhi".

There are basically four Sandhi types unique to Malayalam – the "lōpa sandhi", "dvitva sandhi", "āgama sandhi" and "ādēśa sandhi".

The Lopa sandhi occurs when the varna (vowel) at the end of a word is lost when it merges with another word. In most cases, the varna is the "samvr̥tōkāram". (the "closed u sound").

In Malayalam, gemination is more in tense consonants and less in lax consonants. When two words combine in which the first is the qualifier and the qualified, the tense consonant initial to the second word geminates.

When two vowels undergo Sandhi, a consonant ("y" or "v") is added to avoid the pronunciation difficulty.

In this Sandhi, one letter is substituted by another during concatenation.

This sandhi also includes Sanskrit Sandhi forms like vi +samam = viṣamam, but the latter rule isn't absolute, its patisandhya, nissāram, vismayam not patiṣandhya, niṣṣāram, viṣmayam.

These Sandhi rules are basically inherited from Sanskrit, and are used in conjunction with Sanskrit vocabulary which forms approximately 60% of Modern Standard Malayalam (the entire Sanskrit vocabulary is also usable with appropriate changes).^[7][8] The rules like savarṇadīrgha sandhi, yaṇ sandhi, guṇa sandhi, vr̥ddhi sandhi and visarga sandhis are used without changes.

All the Sanskrit samāsa rules are adapted to Malayalam compounds. In Malayalam, the tatpuruṣa compounds are classified according to the vibhakti they are based on, during compounding. The "alaṅkāraṁ" is also used to classify tatpuruṣa compounds. There are 4 types of samasam: 1) āvyayi bhavaṉ, 2) tatpuruṣa, 3) dvandaṉ, and 4) bahuvr̥hi.

The vr̥ttaṁ consists of metres of Malayalam prosody. Like Sandhi, there are specific vr̥ttaṁs unique to Malayalam apart from the metres common with Sanskrit. As in case of Sandhi, the Malayalam vrittams are also named in Sanskrit.

Alaṅkāraṁ or "ornamentation" is also based on Sanskritic grammarian classification. It consists of the differentfigures of speech used in Malayalam poetry. Being successor to Sanskrit and Maṇipravāḷam, most of Sanskrit alankaras are used in Malayalam. Thus, the common figures of speech in poems are rūpakaṁ, utprēkṣā, upamā etc.

When words are adopted from Sanskrit, their endings are usually changed to conform to Malayalam norms:

1. MasculineSanskrit nouns with aword stem ending in a short "a" take the ending "an" in the nominative singular. For example,Kr̥ṣṇa -> Kr̥ṣṇaṉ. The final "n" is dropped before masculine surnames, honorifics, or titles ending in "an" and beginning with a consonant other than "n" – e.g. Krishna Menon, Kr̥ṣṇa Kaṇiyāṉ etc., but Kr̥ṣṇan Eḻuttaccaṉ. Surnames ending with "aṟ" or "aḷ" (where these are plural forms of "aṉ" denoting respect) are treated similarly – Kr̥ṣṇa Potuvāḷ, Kr̥ṣṇa Cākyāṟ, but Kr̥ṣṇaṉ Nāyaṟ, Kr̥ṣṇaṉ Nambyāṟ, as are Sanskrit surnames such "Vaṟma(ṉ)", "Śaṟma(ṉ)", or "Gupta(ṉ)" (rare) – e.g. Kr̥ṣṇa Vaṟma, Kr̥ṣṇa Śaṟmaṉ.^{[citation needed]} If a name is a compound, only the last element undergoes this transformation – e.g. Kr̥ṣṇa + dēva = Kr̥ṣṇadēvaṉ, not Kr̥ṣṇandēvaṉ. This is also done to personify something like śukraṉ, śvāṉaṉ etc.
2. Feminine words ending in a long "ā" or "ī" are changed so that they now end in a short "a" or "i", for exampleSītā -> Sīta andLakṣmī -> Lakṣmi. However, the long vowel still appears in compound words, such as Sītādēvi or Lakṣmīdēvi. The long ī is generally reserved for thevocative forms of these names, although in Sanskrit the vocative actually takes a short "i". There are also a small number of nominative "ī" endings that have not been shortened – a prominent example being the word "strī" "woman".
3. Nouns that have a stem in -an and which end with a long "ā" in the masculine nominative singular have a "vŭ" added to them, for exampleBrahmā (stem Brahman) -> Brahmāvŭ. When the same nouns are declined in the neuter and take a short "a" ending in Sanskrit, Malayalam adds an additional "m", e.g. Brahma (neuter nominative singular ofBrahman) becomes Brahmam. This is again omitted when forming compounds.^{[citation needed]}
4. Words whose roots end in -an but whose nominative singular ending is -a – for example, the Sanskrit root of "Karma" is actually "Karman" –are also changed. The original root is ignored and "Karma" (the form in Malayalam being "Karmam" because it ends in a short "a") is taken as the basic form of the noun when declining.^[9] However, this does not apply to all consonant stems, as "unchangeable" stems such as "manasa" ("mind") and "suhr̥ta (friend)" are identical to the Malayalam nominative singular forms (although the regularly derived "manam" sometimes occurs as an alternative to "manasa").
5. Sanskrit words describing things or animals rather than people with a stem in short "a" end with an "m" Malayalam. For example,Rāmāyaṇa -> Rāmāyaṇam. In most cases, this is actually the as the Sanskrit ending, which is also "m" (or allophonically anusvara due to Sandhi) in the neuter nominative. However, "things and animals" and "people" are not always differentiated based on whether or not they are sentient beings – for exampleNarasimha becomes Narasiṃham and not Narasiṃhan, whereasAnanta becomes Anantan even though both are sentient.
6. Nouns with short vowel stems other than "a", such as "Viṣṇu", "Prajāpati" etc. are declined with the Sanskrit stem acting as the Malayalam nominative singular (the Sanskrit nominative singular is formed by adding a visarga, e.g. Viṣṇuḥ)^{[citation needed]}
7. The original Sanskrit vocative is often used in formal or poetic Malayalam, e.g. "Harē" (forHari) or "Prabhō" (for "Prabhu" – "lord"). This is restricted to certain contexts – mainly when addressing deities or other exalted individuals, so a normal man named Hari would usually be addressed using a Malayalam vocative such as "Harī". The Sanskrit genitive is also occasionally found in Malayalam poetry, especially the personal pronouns "mama" (my/ mine) and "tava" (thy/ thine). Other cases are less common and generally restricted to the realm of Maṇipravāḷam.
8. Along with thesetatsama borrowings, there are also manytadbhava words in common use. These were borrowed into Malayalam before it became distinct from Tamil. As the language did not then accommodate Sanskrit phonology as it now does, words were changed to conform to the native phonological system. For example: Kr̥ṣṇa -> Kaṇṇan, suṣira > tuḻiraṁ.^[10]

• Ravi Sankar S Nair 2012 A Grammar of Malayalam[1]

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