Suriyani Malayalam
Dialect of Malayalam written in a variant of Syriac alphabet
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Suriyani Malayalam (Malayalam: സുറിയാനി മലയാളം, Karshoni: ܣܘܪܝܢܝ ܡܠܝܠܡ), also known as Karshoni, Syro-Malabarica or Syriac Malayalam, is a dialect 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.
| Suriyani Malayalam | |
|---|---|
| Karshoni | |
| ܣܘܪܝܢܝ ܡܠܝܠܡ സുറിയാനി മലയാളം, Suriyāni malayāḷaṁ | |
Malayalam Karshon written in Karshoni | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Southern India |
| Ethnicity | Malayali (Nasranis) |
Early forms | |
| Karshoni script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | nasr1237 |
| Linguasphere | Nasrani 49-EBE-bas Nasrani |
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.[5] At present the dialect is not in popular usage. However it survives in historical literature of the Saint Thomas Christian denominations. Thomas Koonammakkal is one of the most notable experts in Garshuni Malayalam studies.[6]
Loanwords
Over the centuries, Malayalam borrowed Eastern Syriac words. A few of them are given below:
| Original Syriac | Suriyani Malayalam | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Immā[1][7] | Umma | Mother |
| Avā | Aavan or Bava | Father |
| Ar’ā | Aram | Earth, foundation |
| ‘almāyā | Almayar, Almayan | Laity |
| Nāṣrāyā | Nasrani | Follower of Nazareth Christ |
| Kna'nāyā | Knānāya | Canaanite |
| Piṣḥā[4] | Pesaha | Passover |
| Petturta | Pethurtha | First Sunday of Great Lent |
| Mala’ḵā[3] | Malakha | Angel |
| Maḏbḥā | Madbaha | Altar |
| Metran | Metran | Metropolitan |
| Malpānā | Malpan | Teacher (ecclesiastical) |
| Quddāšā[3] | Kudasha | Sacrament |
| Qaddīšā | Qandisha, Qandishan | The Holy one |
| Rabban | Ramban, Rambachan | Monk |
| Mšammšānā/Šammāšā | Shammashan, Shammachan | Deacon |
| Ma’mōḏīṯā[3][4] | Mamodisa | Baptism |
| Sāhḏā | Sahada | Martyr |
| Ṣlīvā | Sliva, Siluva, Sleeba | Cross |
| Īšō'[3] | Isho | Jesus |
| Qurbānā[3] | Qurbana | Sacrifice/Peace Offering |
| Mšīḥā[3][4] | Mishiha,Mashiha | Anointed, Christ |
| Duḵrānā | Dukrana | Remembrance |
| Qaššīšā | Kathanar/Kasnar | Syrian priest |
| Mār | Mar | Lord, Saint |
| Rūḥā | Ruha | Holy Spirit |
| Yaldā | Eldho, Yeldho | Nativity |
| Šlīḥā | Shliha | Apostle |
Writing system
| Suriyāni Malayalam alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
| Direction | Right-to-left script |
| Languages | Aramaic (Classical Syriac), Malayalam (Syro-Malabarica), |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Egyptian hieroglyphs
|
| Unicode | |
| |
There were numerous problems in writing Malayalam using the Syriac script, which was designed for a Semitic language. Only 22 letters were available from the East Syriac alphabet to render 53 or so phonemes of Malayalam. This problem were overcome by adopting letters from the Malayalam script.[8] Basic Syriac ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ based on form with corresponding Malayalam letters.
| ܕ | ܓ | ܒ | ܐ |
| ദ് | ഗ് | ബ്, വ് | അ |
|---|---|---|---|
| ܚ | ܙ | ܘ | ܗ |
| ഹ് | സ് | വ് | ഹ് |
| ܠ | ܟ | ܝ | ܛ |
| ൽ | ക്, ക്ക് | യ് | ത് |
| ܥ | ܣ | ܢ | ܡ |
| അ | സ് | ൻ | മ് |
| ܪ | ܩ | ܨ | ܦ |
| ർ | ഖ് | സ് | പ്, വ് |
| ܬ | ܫ | ||
| ത്, സ് | ശ് |
Augmented letters from Malayalam script
 |  |  |  |
| ട് | ഞ് | ജ് | ങ് |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| ര് | ഭ് | ഩ* | ൺ |
 |  |  | |
| ഷ് | ഴ് | ൾ |
* Malayalam alveolar nasal encoded as U+0D29 for scholarly purposes.
Vowels
| ܘ݁ | ܹ | ܸ | ܘ݂ | ܝ݂ | ܵ | ܲ |
| ഒ, ഓ | ഏ | എ | ഉ, ഊ | ഇ, ഈ | ആ | അ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ܟܘ݁ | ܟܹ | ܟܸ | ܟܘ݂ | ܟܝ݂ | ܟܵ | ܟܲ |
| കൊ, കോ | കേ | കെ | കു, കൂ | കി, കീ | കാ | ക |
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+0700–U+074F:
| Syriac[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||
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) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+086x | ࡠ | ࡡ | ࡢ | ࡣ | ࡤ | ࡥ | ࡦ | ࡧ | ࡨ | ࡩ | ࡪ | |||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
Sample Text
The following text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
English
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.[9]
Karshoni
ܒ݂ܟܘܼܦ̱ ܘܿࡥ̱ܢ̱: ܲܡܢܢܘ݂ࡪܝࡧܸܠ̱ܵܒ݂ࡧܘ݂ܡ ܬܘ݂ܠܝܵܒ݂ܟܵܫࡠ̱ࡨܘ݁ࡣܘ݂ܡ ܐࡥܬܣ̱ܘܿࡣܘ݂ܡ ܣܒ݂ܵܬࡥܬࡧܝܬ̱ܘܿࡣܘ݂ܡܟܘܼࡣܝܼ ࡡܢܢܝܼܫ̱݁ܝܼࡣ̱ܘܼࡨ̱ܒ݂ࡧܵࡤ. ܲܢܢܝܘܿܢܢܝܡ ࡦࡧܵܬܪࡦܵܒ݂ܬ̱ܘܿࡣܝܼ ܦܸࡧܘܼܡܵܪܘܼܒ݂ܵܢܢܵࡤ ܡܢܢܘ݂ࡪܝܢܢ ܒ݂ܝܼܒ݂ܹܟܒܘܼܕܬ̄ܝܼܝܘܼܡ ܡܢܢܣܵܟࡪܝܼܝܘܼܡ ܣܝܼܕܬ̄ܡܵܝܝܼࡧܝܼܟ̱ܘܼࡥ̱ܢ̱ܬ܀[10]
Malayalam
മനുഷ്യരെല്ലാവരും തുല്യാവകാശങ്ങളോടും അന്തസ്സോടും സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യത്തോടുംകൂടി ജനിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളവരാണ്. അന്യോന്യം ഭ്രാതൃഭാവത്തോടെ പെരുമാറുവാനാണ് മനുഷ്യന് വിവേകബുദ്ധിയും മനസാക്ഷിയും സിദ്ധമായിരിക്കുന്നത്.[11]
Romanisation (ISO 15919)
manuṣyarellāvaruṁ tulyāvakāśaṅṅaḷōṭuṁ antassōṭuṁ svātantryattōṭuṅkūṭi janicciṭṭuḷḷavarāṇŭ. anyōnyaṁ bhrātr̥bhāvattōṭe perumāṟuvānāṇŭ manuṣyanŭ vivēkabuddhiyuṁ manasākṣiyuṁ siddhamāyirikkunnatŭ.
IPA
/manuʂjaɾellaːʋaɾum t̪uljaːʋakaːʃaŋŋaɭoːʈum an̪t̪assoːʈum sʋaːt̪an̪t̪rjat̪t̪oːʈuŋkuːʈi d͡ʒanit͡ʃt͡ʃiʈʈuɭɭaʋaɾaːɳɨ̆ ǁ anjoːnjam bʱraːt̪rɨ̆bʱaːʋat̪t̪oːʈe peɾumaːruʋaːnaːɳɨ̆ manuʂjanɨ̆ ʋiʋeːkabud̪d̪ʱijum manasaːkʂijum sid̪d̪ʱamaːjiɾikkun̪ːat̪ɨ̆ ǁ/