vi PREFACE.
ed Malayalim, abound with so many words, idioms,
and illustrations borrowed from the Sanscrit and the
Tamul, the latter having long been a cultivated language,
that judging of Malayalim from such writings, it is not
surprising that its origin should have been traced to a
wrong source.
It is indeed as indisputably true, as it is readily con-
ceded, that the Malayalim Alphabet with the exception
of ഴ, റ, and ള, which are never used as initials, is derived
from the Nagree; and that the language itself abounds
with Tamul, but more particularly with Sanscrit terms;
but these facts cannot, in fairness, be urged as a proof
of any radical connexion between these languages; they
merely show that the improvements of a more advanced
people have been borrowed, as in many similar cases of
other nations. Whereas, by comparing the different
structures of those languages, and by closely examining
into the derivation of words, the Student will not fail to
come to the conclusion, that the origin of the Malayalim
is altogether distinct from either that of the Sanscrit or
Tamul.
The same cause has, in all probability, given rise to
another mistaken notion respecting this language; viz.
that the Malayalim is considered most pure in the coun-
try of which Calicut may be denominated the centre.
Now as the actual experience of intelligent Natives
and Europeans, well acquainted with most parts of the
Country and with the various dialects spoken in them,
does not coincide with this opinion; it seems difficult
to account for it, except upon the supposition that as a
Sanscrit College, chiefly for teaching the Vadums, has
long existed in the North; more Sanscrit works have
